• EU threatens tariffs on Chinese electric cars
• U.K. to force car makers to subsidise Chinese imports
• EU looks to restrict Chinese imports, U.K. could subsidise them
The U.K. is introducing a Zero Emissions Vehicle (ZEV) mandate, designed to force carmakers down the path towards eliminating the sale of combustion engine cars. If a car company misses its target of 22% electric sales starting in January, they will face fines or have to buy credits from companies that have sold electric vehicles. In this way, U.K. manufacturers could have to subsidise electric imports, mainly from China.
The EU is looking at restricting Chinese electric vehicle sales while the U.K. could inadvertently be subsidising them. This could be part of a post-Brexit strategy to help the British consumer with a free trade approach, but it remains to be seen if this route will lead to mass adoption of zero carbon technologies.
As the EU threatens to fight the rising imports of Chinese electric cars with big new tariffs, the U.K., under “farcical” Net Zero laws, is set to do the opposite and force U.K. car makers to subsidise their Chinese rivals. The BBC’s Faisal Islam explains.
In a few weeks’ time the Government will introduce its Zero Emissions Vehicle (ZEV) mandate, designed to force carmakers down the path towards hitting targets to eliminate the sale of the combustion engine.
If a car company misses its target that 22% of its sales are electric, starting in January, it will either face fines of £15,000 per vehicle, or have to buy a surplus credit from a company that has sold lots of electric vehicles.
It happens to be the case that the Chinese-made import brands are mainly all electric.
The net result of all this, fear some in the car industry, is a system where existing U.K. manufacturers, including of hybrid cars, will pay thousands of pounds to subsidise electric imports.
Essentially, U.K. factories, which face competition from Chinese electric imports, could have to subsidise them. While this is not the intention of the policy it could be the inadvertent effect.
The Government has not yet published its response to a consultation on this that closed four months ago. The expectation in the industry is that sufficient flexibilities will be introduced to prevent this issue. But the system is just weeks away from being introduced. And it is clear that the general architecture of the ZEV mandate is designed to provide a carrot for electric importers, including from China, and a stick for actual producers of existing cars in the U.K.
Right now, the EU is looking at restricting Chinese electric vehicle sales, whereas the U.K. could inadvertently be subsidising them.
Is this part of a conscious post-Brexit strategy to help the British consumer, with an anti-protectionist free trade approach? Does the route to mass adoption of zero carbon [sic] technologies go through Shanghai?
Worth reading in full.
