Why 2021 was such a favourable year for electric cars
In the words of Erik Fairbairn, chief executive of LSE listed electric vehicle (EV) Pod Point, 2021 was the year electric cars became a mass market.
Not only did his company post record profits in the first results since its IPO but, overall, the industry has boomed in the last 12 months.
EV output emerged as the main highlight of a generally dismal year for British automotive production. “One in 12 cars made in Britain last year was pure electric and that is about 72 per cent up, while hybrid and plug-ins took a record share accounting for about 17.9 per cent of [all manufactured vehicles,” said Mike Hawes, chief executive of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).
Government, media and an appetite for EVs
According to Ian Exworth, director of emerging and specialist markets at automotive insurer Direct Line, a combination of factors made EV demand boom last year.
The UK Government’s decision to ban all new diesel and petrol vehicles by 2030, as well as the pandemic’s impact on people’s consciences and media portrayal of EVs played a part in the transition.
“I think there has been a real cultural shift,” Exworth told City PM “There’s a lot of things going on but feel like a mixture of government movements, media perception and social cultural shift.”
To demonstrate how easy it would be to electrify the UK, the insurance company in November launched a project to turn Bridlignton’s Bondville model village into a electric vehicle mini utopia.
“We worked in a partnership with the model village to take some very small EVs, charging points around the model village,” he added. “We wanted to show that if we could electrify a small motor village like Bondville, isn’t it and shouldn’t it be easier to do it in the towns and cities around the UK?”
A collective effort
Industry people like Fairbairn and Exworth believe the transition to EVs shouldn’t be an endeavour made by single stakeholders but it needs to be a collective effort.
On its part, Direct Line is trying to facilitate the adoption of electric cars by giving its customers access to different charging services and discounts.
“I firmly believe it’s not going to be the government alone, or energy companies or power companies, it’s going to be a collective effort to get us there,” Exworth said.
“There’s clearly a big ecosystem that goes around the successful adoption of electric vehicles and we for one believe that we’ve got to play a part in that but many others have as well.”