Which could have been increased with a fuel duty increase, instead of freezing it again
Sure, could have been. But EVs are falling in price (my replacement MS was £20K cheaper 2.5 years later .. I had a lot more than £3K PIG back then), and the "government support" with it, which is normal when government wants to help early adopters and get manufacturers up to "economies of scale" - help more people, but with a bit less, at each reduction.
I'm annoyed about the £50K limit, as that rules out my own category of 300 mile range EVs and high mileage drivers, and those are the people who are disproportionately polluting. Of course low-mileage drivers also buy £high cars ...
Getting the nation to 100% EV is a different objective. Depends a bit on governments actual commitment (being lobbied incessantly by Big Oil / ICE that there isn't a problem / they are working on it / pleas to "
stop helping everyone else" / and the arm-twist "
not sure we should continue to provide £mega party fund donations" ...) <sigh>
Norway seem to have it fully sorted - no VAT on EVs (approx 50% new cars there are EV). But they stuffed all their North Sea Oil windfall tax income into sovereign wealth fund, whereas we ... didn't.
The only incentive our Government seems to be doing in that direction is company cars - 100% FYA and 0% BiK. I have no idea why they are favouring that route, rather than just handing a couple of £grand to any Joe Public that wants to buy an EV (I think Joe Public early adopters are far more likely to be on-side with EV than Average Car Company Guy, but ...). Perhaps there is some method there? (might be that the tax cycles round in practice and government money goes further? e.g. leaving some in Company's hands generates more growth / income and thus more tax - 2Birds/1Stone maybe?)
I think it it pants that green fuel duty element is still-not-increased year after year. Tax on Carbon / Polluter would force their hand. But taxing transport has the knock-on of jacking up the price of everything ... Come on Elon, get that Semi out there. I've thought about buying one ... "some" even maybe ... (I have no connection with haulage) because it will knock spots off normal haulage rates and it would be easy to run 24/7 until everyone has EV-lorry. Until EV-lorry available I'm not sure it helps to penalise Hauliers
But I would like GB-Ltd to be at the forefront of EV-takeup.
