It didn’t and hasn’t happened.
Things might have been different and more progress made if the politicians had incentivised the automotive industry to come up with alternative power units rather than dictating that they must cease present ICE technology and adopt electrical power units instead.
Of course some of the more enterprising companies are currently investigating alternative power sources but hardly with the same impetus and government support that is behind the push for electricity. I have no idea how many politicians have any actual inside knowledge of the automotive industry nor do we know who they consult to advise them on such matters, but they most certainly give the impression that Westminster is a closed shop to any outside thinking or influence.
Instead we get all these expostulations about clean and cheap power while ignoring the downsides. The simple thinkers thought an electric motor in place of an ICE unit would be less polluting, cheaper to run and able to be charged up at home. That may be fine for users who potter about city centres but not for other motorists. These actions further suggest that little thought was given to where the exotic materials for batteries would be sourced nor how they would be produced. The result is heavier vehicles with reduced payload which require stronger suspension and beefier brakes with the resultant detrimental impact on road surfaces creating more pot holes. And who knows, we might require new more costly construction methods of roadbuilding to withstand this increase in wear and tear.
And then there is the small matter of running costs. Who would for a moment think that ‘fuel’ tax on electric vehicles would not be increased as petrol and diesel revenues fall? The British motorist is just another tax generator.
However the motor industry must share some of the blame. They should have been lobbying their MPs and various governments long before we got to this stage. There was too much complacency in the belief that world trade was far too reliant on transport for anyone to interfere.
But I had to laugh this morning. Ineos, Mr Ratcliffe’s company which manufactures the Grenadier 4x4 SUV, has published a letter addressed to European politicians in which they call for action from the EU with regard to Mr Trump’s tariffs. They have accused the EU of not negotiating with the US before now.
Lynn Calder, CEO of INEOS Automotive commented: “This is what happens when politicians sit on their hands. As a growing EU-based automobile brand, we are vulnerable to tariffs, and we need our politicians to support our business, our jobs and our economies. We need urgent and direct political intervention on tariffs.”
This is the same company that declared six years ago, they would build its SUV at a new factory in Wales employing 200 people initially and building up to 500, and then intimated that France might be involved, and then Portugal, before siting their factory in Germany and using German engines to power the beast.
The Welsh government spent a lot of time and money on those initial plans and one can only wonder how much effort and cost was expended in France and Portugal to persuade them to consider alternative locations and in the end they chose Germany in which to build this ‘great British’ product.
So having pi**ed off the Welsh, the rest of the Brits, French and Portuguese they are now calling on Europe to save the motor industry.
Crikey the EU can’t even stand up to its own members never mind the Americans. If Mr Trump has achieved one positive result then it’s sounding a wake-up call to the rest of the world!
Electricity is not THE answer, it’s only part of the solution.
Oh, and here’s another thing. Suppose you want to pay cash at the charging machine for your electricity !!!!
