UK’s electric car revolution stalls: Britain falling behind US and Europe 

The UK is struggling to keep up with the US and Europe in the race to become an electric vehicle powerhouse, industry experts warn.

A range of issues – from a lack of charging points to the failure of plans to build a £3.8bn car battery gigafactory – have revealed a lack of investment in the green revolution.

It is so concerning that Britain is now being accused of ‘sleeping behind the wheel’, especially in light of the government’s plans to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by 2030.

And in a stark warning to ministers, former Aston Martin chief and ‘godfather of EV’ Andy Palmer declared: ‘There will be winners and losers.’

The comments came after Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) owners demanded more than £500 million in aid to build a battery factory in Britain instead of Spain.

Tata Motors, JLR’s Indian parent company, has given ministers just weeks to pledge financial backing to secure investment in Somerset or see it choose a major European rival, the Financial Times said.

The aid would include grants and aid packages such as help for energy costs and research, rekindling hopes that Britain could play a major role in building cars, moving from petrol and diesel to electric vehicles (EV) .

While Tata declined to comment, a government official said: “We are in talks with them – whether the talks go anywhere will depend on whether a final amount can be agreed.”

If Tata opts for Spain, it would be another blow to the British car industry, which last year saw production fall to its lowest level since the 1950s. While some may disagree with Tata’s tactics, Palmer said the demands were reasonable.

He told the BBC Today programme: ‘If the UK wants to sustain a car industry it will have to compete with both the US and the EU on those stimulus packages.’

While the US has introduced an inflation reduction program making it increasingly attractive for automakers to produce EV batteries there, Europe has made it a strategic mission to pump money into electric motors through the European Battery Alliance.

‘Winners and losers’: Aston Martin chief and ‘godfather of EV’ Andy Palmer said Tata’s demands for financial backing to secure investment in Somerset were reasonable

Spain offers hefty subsidies to companies considering battery production and has some of the lowest energy and electricity costs in Europe. This makes it a fierce rival for the affection of Tata, Britain’s largest car manufacturer.

While the government has paid over £100m to Nissan for its Sunderland plant and £30m to Stellantis to make electric vans at Ellesmere Port, experts say more needs to be done to keep the sector alive.

David Henig, director of the UK trade policy project at the European Center for International Political Economy, said: ‘It feels like the UK is asleep behind the wheel when it comes to its EV strategy.’

Although he told the Mail he was concerned about Tata’s ‘give us your money or we’re leaving’ tactics, he feared the government’s car manufacturing policies lacked confidence.

Similarly, Professor David Bailey, a car industry expert at Birmingham University’s business school, said the UK was ‘on the sidelines’.

To make matters worse, the rescue of Britishvolt, once seen as the future of the industry, has been called a ‘missed opportunity’ after it emerged that Australian buyer, Recharge Industries, plans to focus on energy storage and then batteries for luxury sports cars instead of the mass market auto industry.

Shelved: Britishvolt planned to build a £3.8bn gigafactory near Blyth that would make 300,000 batteries a year for UK-made electric cars, but will instead focus on energy storage

Bailey said the change of course was a “disappointment” for Britishvolt.

“If they end up buying the site and storing energy, it’s a bit of a lost opportunity because it’s ideal for a gigafactory,” he said.

The plan was to build a £3.8 billion gigafactory that would make 300,000 batteries a year for UK-made electric cars.

And the situation isn’t much better for electric cars that have already been made.

A recent AA poll revealed an EV charging crisis.

It turned out that only one driver in 50 uses electric vehicles.

Almost three-quarters want to switch, of which almost 2 million within two years.

But AA president Edmund King said many won’t because of the lack of charging points and called on the government to expand their availability.

Fewer than 9,000 public electric charging devices were installed last year and almost a third of these are in London, with Westminster alone having more than Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Leeds, Sheffield and Birmingham combined.

So whatever the government decides to do with Tata, the reality is that the UK has to up its game when it comes to electric – or accept that it is simply lagging behind.