RAY MASSEY: How I wish they would get rid of the crazy quotas on electric cars

Automakers are being forced to build thousands of electric vehicles that customers don’t want – and if they don’t, they risk hefty fines.

That’s the strategy the government is following because of a green plan devised by officials that could lead to a glut of expensive electric vehicles.

Worse, it could create a shortage of low-pollution, petrol-electric hybrids for which demand is growing, crash residual values ​​and destroy what’s left of British car production as China steps in for a clean-up.

Ultimately, British consumers will pay the price, along with car industry workers and suppliers who stand to lose their jobs if factories are forced to close.

But don’t take my word for it. Ask Labor peer and former Wallasey union leader Lord Woodley, who has condemned the plan as ‘political suicide’.

He should know. As a teenager, Tony Woodley started his motoring career at the Vauxhall factory at Ellesmere Port in Merseyside.

When I first met him in the mid-1990s, he was the tough but highly respected chief automotive negotiator of the giant Transport and General Workers’ Union (TGWU), before becoming general secretary and joint general secretary in 2004 Secretary of the Union from 2007 to 2011. Like industry bosses, he has emphasized that the move to an electric future is good, but what is wrong is the unsustainable timetable and draconian fines.

This is about the government’s Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) mandate, which requires 22 percent of all new cars sold to British customers this year to be fully electric. That will rise to 28 percent next year and then to 100 percent by 2035. Carmakers will be fined £15,000 for every non-EV car sold up to the target number. “It’s ridiculous,” Lord Woodley told his colleagues.

So far the sector remains around 4 per cent short of that quota – on course for £1.4 billion in fines. Car companies already subsidize each electric car by around £6,000, adding another £2 billion to costs, according to Lord Woodley.

Fines can be offset by purchasing credits from manufacturers that exceed their EV targets – namely Chinese makers and US brand Tesla.

“The idea of ​​British manufacturers paying the Chinese or the Americans billions in credits is nonsense and, in my view, political suicide in automotive constituencies across the country,” he added.

“The market has collapsed, apart from fleet sales, so we need incentives to both build and buy.” Instead, VAT on new electric cars should be reduced and VAT on public chargers should be reduced to the same level as that on private domestic chargers. The higher road tax on expensive car purchases should be scrapped and the ZEV mandate timetable ‘reset’ to realistic levels.

Exported electric vehicles and commercial electric vehicles should be counted as ‘credits’.

Two Vauxhall factories – Ellesmere Port and Luton – are already “at serious risk of closure” as a result, he warned.

Robert Forrester, boss of car dealer Vertu, welcomed his comments, saying: ‘Finally, Parliament has debated electric vehicles, with a proper discussion on the damaging Zev mandate.’

Motorists are spared in Budget

Motorists who drive the vast majority of cars were spared a tax hike this week when Chancellor Rachel Reeves kept the fuel tax freeze in place.

But the real devil, as always, is in the broader details.

The RAC’s Simon Williams said: ‘Drivers will breathe a sigh of relief after speculation that the 5p cut would be scrapped while increasing excise duty above the long-term rate of 57.95p.

Eight in ten drivers tell us they are dependent on their vehicle, while 70 percent of commuters living in rural areas have no viable alternative to getting to work other than taking their car.”

He added: ‘It is also worth remembering that even today, 56 percent of the total price of a liter of petrol is already taxable in the form of fuel duty and the VAT charged on top of it.’