22 Feb FIAT calls on Government to reinstate its electric car grant
FIAT has renewed its call on the Government to reinstate its electric car grant to achieve its 2030 target of 80% electric vehicle (EV) sales for the UK.
In January, EV sales stood at 14.7% of new registrations with private buyer sales down 25.1 percent year-on-year.
The Italian maker of the popular Fiat 500e and recently launched family-focused Fiat 600e has expanded its own £3,000 grant – the FIAT E-Grant – for customers, to show that it is ‘doing its bit’ to support the Government’s targets.
FIAT UK Managing Director, Damien Dally, said: “More needs to be done. Consumers need further support to have a reason to make the switch to electric.”
The move echoes the findings of the House of Lords environment and climate change committee report earlier this month. Under the Government’s own Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) mandate, 22% of new car sales in the UK must be pure electric in 2024, by 2030 that figure must hit 80%.
Industry expert and editor of Autocar Business, Mark Tisshaw, is among those who have highlighted the issue. He wrote: “The Government’s silence is becoming deafening. It has mandated that 22% of new car sales must be electric in 2024 – but it’s doing precious little to support this aim.”
Dally added: “The good news is the UK has now passed the one million electric vehicles landmark. However, the electric car market in this country is in real jeopardy. Private sales, as opposed to business and fleets, are softening and that’s a trend that needs a collective effort to reverse.
“With the Spring Budget just around the corner, we are urging the Government to reintroduce incentives for consumers or face stifling, or even undoing, all the good work achieved to date and risking endangering net zero climate targets. We’re doing our bit, but there’s only so far we can go.”
Last June, FIAT became the first manufacturer to launch its own electric car grant, 12 months after the Government removed any financial incentives to encourage retail customers to go electric.
At launch, the FIAT E-Grant was offered on the Fiat 500e and Fiat 500e convertible. The grant is now also available on the new Fiat 600e and Abarth 500e.
