The UK government is celebrating a record month for electric car sales, but this apparent triumph is little more than a short-sighted, subsidy-fueled illusion that masks a failing long-term strategy. The surge in September is not evidence of a robust, self-sustaining market; it is proof of a market addicted to taxpayer handouts and propped up by weakened environmental regulations.
Let’s be clear: the sales increase is almost entirely attributable to a £3,750 grant. When the government pays people to buy a product, sales of that product will naturally increase. This is not a complex economic principle. The real test will come when this finite pot of money—limited to just 400,000 buyers and likely to run out soon—is gone. Will the demand collapse? The market’s continued weakness below pre-pandemic levels suggests it might.
Worse still is the duplicity at the heart of the government’s flagship environmental policy, the ZEV mandate. While ministers publicly tout a 28% EV sales target, they have quietly inserted so many “flexibilities” and loopholes that the real target is estimated to be below 22%. They have effectively moved the goalposts to declare victory, a move the Climate Change Committee has already warned will lead to higher emissions.
This is not a strategy; it is a magic trick designed to give the appearance of progress. Taxpayers are funding discounts for a select range of vehicles, many of which benefit established manufacturers over more innovative newcomers. In return, they get a compromised climate policy that allows the industry to avoid making the difficult changes required for a genuine transition.
Before we celebrate this hollow victory, we must demand a more honest and sustainable approach. A real EV strategy would focus on building a robust charging infrastructure and implementing firm, loophole-free regulations, not on temporary, market-distorting subsidies that create a boom-and-bust cycle.
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