Will Labour be the party for drivers?

What do we know about Labour's attitude towards motorists and the UK car industry? Drivers have been pushed from pillar to post by successive Governments over the last two decades, encouraged to buy diesel, then petrol and now electric; squeezed by some of the highest fuel duties in Europe; introduced to new forms of vehicle excise duty and sliding tax scales on company cars. Will Labour finally offer us a break, in the form of financial incentives, duty freezes or VAT reductions? We’re not only a nation of petrolheads in the UK, with a love of cars and a strong motorsport heritage, but a lot of Brits are employed by the automotive industry: most of the world’s Formula One teams and luxury car brands are based here, alongside huge manufacturing plants for Nissan, Ford, Vauxhall and Jaguar Land Rover, among others. What will Labour do for our industry?
Labour’s manifesto pledges for drivers during the General Election campaign were: • Reinstate the 2030 ban on new petrol and diesel car sales • Introduced standardised battery death certificates for used electric cars • Set binding targets for charging point installations and speed up planning approval • Tackle the soaring cost of insurance • Part-finance more battery gigafactories • Commit to 10-year automotive research funding for the industry • On China, they will take “a long-term strategic approach to China” and “challenge where we must”. Let’s delve into the three most critical areas for drivers and the industry…

The strongest and most consistent policy that Labour has announced and stuck to, is that of reverting to 2030 as the deadline for the sale of new petrol and diesel cars in the UK. As Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak pushed that date back to 2035; Keir Starmer has pledged to bring it forward again. In practice, it makes little difference to consumers because 90 percent of us buy used, not new, cars, and there is no cut-off point currently for the sale of used fossil-fuelled cars. But what the restoration of the 2030 deadline does do is inject confidence back into the market; consumers have clarity and know that the Government is set on transitioning us all to electric cars.

By 2030, it is expected that electric cars from Chinese brands will own 30 per cent of the market in Europe. They are far cheaper, with more futuristic tech and more efficient batteries than anything currently produced by European companies. Much of their competitive advantage stems from huge Chinese government subsidies, and so the EU has decided to impose tariffs of up to 30 per cent on Chinese imported cars, in addition to the 10pc already levied, from November, subject to a vote. This is bound to invoke a backlash from China on European cars imported into their country. As the UK currently sits outside the EU, the question is whether Labour will side with the EU on tariffs or keep the UK out of the dog fight. If it does the latter, expect the UK to become the dumping ground for a lot of Chinese electric cars that they can’t sell in Europe. This will be good news for consumers yet to make the switch, as prices will fall further due to the enhanced supply.
It seems unlikely Labour can do anything to protect European car makers, no matter their approach: consumers will vote with their wallets, and Chinese car makers will find a way to keep prices lower than the competition.

One of the biggest worries buyers have around used electric cars centres on the battery: will it lose performance, will it become less powerful and have less range as time goes by, will it be more prone to catching fire? How will we know what state the battery is in when we buy the car? Many of these anxieties are understandable but not based in reality: the data is showing a loss in performance of just 1-2 per cent a year, which won’t be noticeable to most people. As for the fire risk, electric cars have been involved in very few fires - the Swedish fire service reports that 0.07 per cent of car fires they were called out to last year involved electric cars. But we need to give buyers confidence through a battery-health certificate on each used electric car.
Labour has pledged to do just that, which should help unlock more electric car sales as we head towards 2030.

• Maintain the existing salary sacrifice and Benefit-In-Kind company car incentives to support the new electric car market.
• Develop targeted financial incentives for used electric cars to support greater adoption. • Be proactive and transparent about future changes in road pricing and taxes for electric cars so consumers can plan accordingly. • Support the industry to increase the speed of installing chargers by removing planning issues and encouraging more creative ways to charge EVs near people’s homes.