Come on Keir… bring back Go Ultra Low

Certainty isn’t something we’ve had much of in the car world over the past few years. First, we’ve had the flip-flopping over the ban on the sale of purely internal combustion-engine cars from 2030 back to 2035. We’ve also had the now you see them, now you don’t plug-in car grants. As for road charging, various rumours and suggestions have been flying round that would mean even more taxation on car owners and drivers.

Now we have a new Labour government and the promise of service to the country. There’s also the manifesto commitment from the new party of power to bring that ICE car ban back to 2030. It’s a manifesto commitment so it must happen, right? But there was no mention of it in the King’s Speech this week.

So, what service can car owners and drivers, and the huge British automotive industry that serves them, expect from Sir Keir Starmer and his government?

A couple of weeks in, among the carefully chosen words and grandstanding on the world stage, I’ve not heard anything from government about cars, driving and the car industry. There’s been absolutely about electric cars, which play such a crucial role in the government’s plans for Net Zero.

Should I cut the government some slack? After all, it’s early days and all those shiny new MPs are still working out where the toilets are in Westminster before they go off on their (barely earned) summer recess.

Well, the clock is ticking. Businesses thrive on certainty; consumers need it, too. August might be a month where MPs kick back and relax, but for the car industry it’s vital preparation for September and one of the most-important sales months of the year when dealers roll out 74-plate cars.

A few words from government confirming the 2030 plan would work wonders for consumer and business confidence. The industry could plan with much-needed certainty, and it might just put a much-needed spring in the step of car buyers, too. 

It would be good to get government reaction to the call from SMMT, the car industry’s trade body, to halve VAT on new EVs and to match the rate of VAT on public EV charging to that of home EV charging. For the record, I support both proposals.

I’ve also called for the return of a body like Go Ultra Low – the now defunct organisation that was backed by government, car makers, energy providers and SMMT to promote the shift to low carbon vehicles. It died in 2021 and has never been needed more. Electrifying.com’s Ginny Buckley would be the perfect person to front it.

We’re seeing many of the barriers to EV ownership get removed, but the car buying public needs to know. More and more public charging points are being installed, so the network is more complete and more reliable than ever – although there’s clearly still much work to be done, especially in rural locations. The cars are also getting cheaper, while insurers are working with more data from EVs to bring premiums down. And with the right home energy tariff, running costs can be super-low, too.

Someone needs to make sure people get those messages, which is where Go Ultra Low – or Go Electric – comes in.

Playing a part in all of this is the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles, or OLEV. Like most government teams, it’s getting used to a new boss – in this case, two: it’s part of the Department for Transport and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. Louise Haigh heads up the former, Ed Miliband the later.

They’re two people I trust to make the right decisions for the consumer and business, but please guys, get on with it and say something before you go off on holiday!