Committing to the road to electrification

By David Savage, vice president, UK and Ireland, Geotab. Consumers are increasingly turning to electric vehicles. At the turn of last year, the surge in EV sales outpaced diesel for the first time. Also in 2021, there were more EV sales than in the previous five years combined.

That’s great news for the EV industry. It seems that the penny has dropped, at least with consumers. EVs present an enormous opportunity to drive clean and live clean – saving money and reducing environmental footprint.

But while consumers and fleet managers are buying into the EV revolution, governments seem to be reversing course. Just as we need incentives to buy – let’s face it, the majority of EVs are still expensive compared to ICE vehicles – governments are reeling in the financial assistance to do so.

The Government has issued the directive to ban the sales of all new ICE passenger vehicles by 2030. But, at the same time, they are clawing back the grants and funding that help us to make the switch.

We now risk lagging behind some of our major European neighbours. In Germany, for example, buyers receive incentives worth £5,000 more on average compared to those in the UK.

It’s clear that EVs offer big benefits when it comes to reducing running costs and maintenance cycles. They also have undeniable environmental benefits over petrol and diesel engines.

But the journey has only just begun – and we need an ongoing commitment from the Government to a green future. We are on the cusp of a transport revolution, so let us all work to ensure that we make that journey a smooth one too...