7:34 am, October 28, 2022
Nissan’s UK managing director has said that the journey towards fully electric vehicles is a ‘boat that has left the harbour’ as more customers push for electrification.
Speaking at the recent launch of the firm’s new X-Trail, Andrew Humberstone said that infrastructure is improving by the day and that there’s a ‘bigger appetite for electrification’ among buyers.
‘I think that infrastructure is rapidly expanding,’ he said. ‘We’ve had a number of discussions with suppliers and with government and there’s huge investment going into that area.
‘The infrastructure is catching up fast and that’s where most critics sit. They’re not critical of the technology, they’re critical of the infrastructure.
‘For me, the boat has left the harbour now – it’s going to happen now and it’s going to move fast. It’ll become easier and easier for people to find solutions.’
Despite seeing electric very much as the future, Humberstone added that there were some remaining hurdles for EVs to vault.
He noted that many customers are not yet ready to make the jump to a full EV, highlighting the importance of hybrids as part of Nissan’s strategy.
He added: ‘For me, it’s important for the technology to be introduced that allows us to charge much quicker.
‘I think that’s the Achilles heel for some consumers. We’re at a part of that journey where a lot of customers are not fully ready and have not made that journey to a fully electric yet and they need that step.
‘It’s an important technology for us to introduce.’
‘We want to be at 75 per cent electrification by 2026 and 100 per cent by 2030 – we want to bring our customers along on that journey, both existing and new.’
