11:07 am, January 31, 2023
Middle-class households will need incentives to buy used EVs in order to meet climate targets.
That’s according to Auto Trader, which says the government is falling short on making the uptake of used cars, particularly used ones, attractive, unlike abroad.
Used EV demand is said to be dropping thanks to increasing electricity prices, and the cost of used EVs, especially luxury ones, has dropped, with The Times reporting the average price of a used Jaguar I-Pace, pictured, to have decreased by 14.6 per cent in a year, while the Tesla Model X is down by 12.1 per cent.
Meanwhile, the price of a used Nissan Leaf has gone down by 1.6 per cent, while the cost of a Smart ForTwo has dropped by 1.3 per cent.
A working group has been set up by the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles to look at the used EV market, including how to stimulate demand, and Auto Trader warns in a report that ‘with supply ahead of demand, the used electric vehicle market needs urgent attention to address the imbalance’.
Auto Trader brand director Marc Palmer was quoted by The Times as saying: ‘What we really need is more mainstream demand.
‘We need middle-income households to be able to access electric cars and to be reassured electricity is OK.
‘That’s the way to absorb the big volumes of stock that we are going to see come back into the market [in the next few years] and also get the government to meet its zero-emission targets.’
Having a middle income is seen as synonymous with being middle class. The latest available figures for UK salaries from the Office for National Statistics show that the median weekly pay for full-time employees was £640 in April 2022.
Think tank the Green Alliance wants the government to copy initiatives such as the ‘social leasing’ scheme that is being launched in France this year that will let people who are less well off to lease an electric car for €100 (circa £88) a month.
Meanwhile, up to $7,500 (£6,087) is offered as a tax credit to US buyers of electric cars who earn under $150,000 (£121,730) a year.
Green Alliance policy adviser James Fotherby was quoted by The Times as saying: ‘Accelerating the switch to electric vehicles is necessary to improve air quality, tackle climate change and ease the cost of living for families.
‘But unless [they] become cheaper to purchase and lease, many ordinary households won’t be able to enjoy the financial benefits of cleaner cars.
‘To put fairness into the heart of the electric vehicle rollout, the government must prioritise fixing patchy charging infrastructure, subsidising the cost of used electric vehicles for lower-income households and making financing simpler and cheaper.’
The plug-in car grant was axed last June, with the government saying the move would release cash to expand the charging infrastructure and help with people switching to other battery-powered vehicles.
The subsidy level had already been cut to £1,500 for cars costing less than £32,000.
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