So, the Government made some announcements today about the ZEV Mandate (EV sales targets that manufacturers have to hit)

In other words, they're weakening it - and the changes aren't necessarily that great for industry, economic growth, or drivers

A 🧵
bbc.co.uk/news/articles/… So, first up, what's the context?

Well, the Government recently ran a consultation on the mandate - this was way before all this tariff malarkey kicked off

However, that tariff malarkey has now well and truly kicked off - and it's obviously very concerning for our car industry

In this article, Steve Rigby suggests Net Zero and the shift to EVs could see the UK lose its car industry

I'm afraid a report by the CBI found the complete opposite - going slow in making the move to building EVs represents the biggest threat to

A thread
80% of the cars built in the UK are exported

And global EV sales are only going in one direction - up, by 25% in 2024

The reality, whether people like it or not, is that the world is shifting to EVs
rhomotion.com/news/over-17-m…

This Guardian article on brake pad dust misses some fairly important context

EVs use friction brakes far less than internal combustion engine (ICE) cars, because of the magic of regenerative braking

Meaning they produce less of this toxic dust

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theguardian.com/environment/20… Particulate matter (PM) is a real problem for air quality, and can cause serious health problems

Cars have traditionally produced it from their exhaust pipes, from tire wear, from road surface abrasion, and from brake pad wear

The @MailOnline and @Telegraph recently ran stories about an electric bin lorry fire

This was despite the fact that the fire was caused by some flammable waste...

...and had nothing to do with the vehicle's electric drive train

A case study in EV misinformation (a thread)
Without explicitly stating that the fire was caused by the lorry's electric drivetrain, the articles HEAVILY imply that it was

The Mail article refers to the fact that the lorry is electric in its headline and the 1st paragraph

So, the @SMMT's new car sales figures came out today

Lots to digest - both in terms of what the figures are telling us, and how the media has reported on them

Here's a thread with some thoughts...

https://twitter.com/SMMT/status/1842116923342958827

So, the figures

In short, sales of cars with batteries have gone up, sales of cars without them have gone down

The headline is that more EVs were sold in September 2024 than any other month on record

They're at 20.5% market share for month, and at 18% for 2024 so far...

Media efforts at spinning today's news about rising EV sales into a negative are almost admirable!

Market share for EVs has risen to 19%

Sales 9% higher than last year

Yet @Telegraph leads with "Electric carmakers call for tax breaks as sales go into reverse" 🤣

How?!? A🧵 Well, they've arbitrarily decided to completely ignore total sales - which have unequivocally risen

Instead, they've decided that the only sales that count are those to private buyers, not those to fleets

Earlier this year, a report by the @UKHouseofLords warned of a "concerted campaign of misinformation" in the media relating to EVs

This @Telegraph article is a case in point - littered with errors and misleading claims, and lacking crucial context

A rather long 🧵... The piece starts by claiming, "Owners of electric cars are ditching battery power and returning to petrol as demand for greener vehicles drops across Britain"

But it links to an article about EV demand falling in Europe, not the UK

telegraph.co.uk/business/2024/…

I see @AllisonPearson is talking about EVs again in the @Telegraph

Which requires some corrections to be made

She states that @UKLabour "will compel everyone who purchases a new car after 2030 to buy electric"

Not true - a short thread on why (and some other stuff as well) Labour's plan is to restore the original phase out dates introduced by the Conservative Government in 2020

These would end the sale of new purely petrol & diesel cars in 2030

But they would allow the sale of petrol & diesel hybrids until 2035

gov.uk/government/new…

Article in @DailyMailUK today speculating that Labour might increase fuel duty

First things first, I'm not aware of Labour having said anything to indicate that this is something they plan to do

So the suggestion is entirely speculative

But some quick thoughts on fuel duty Firstly the duty we pay on the fuel we buy has actually been *falling* since 2011

Every year, since 2011, the Government has frozen the rate of duty we pay per litre of fuel at 57.95p

(in fact, it reduced the rate to 52.95p in 2022)

Another day, another columist at the @Telegraph sharing a few misleading thoughts on EVs

This times its the turn of serial EV-basher Matthew Lynn

So here's a thread debunking some of things that have been said (or not said at all) The main premise of the article is the claim that EVs are about to get more expensive to run

Remember EVs, for most people, can be A LOT cheaper to operate than petrol - its one of their main selling points

If you're 'anti-EV', then you might try and sow doubt about this

🚨NEW: A few weeks ago, @theipaper published an article about people 'turning their backs' on EVs

It caused quite a stir, as it was pretty misleading

Following an @ECIU_UK complaint, we secured some of the corrections we asked for (but not all)

A 🧵 on where it went wrong First up, here's a link to the original article

inews.co.uk/inews-lifestyl…

Some not entirely accurate comments on the UK's Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Mandate on @BBCr4today this morning

And a little bit of scaremongering to boot

A thread First, a reminder as to what ZEV mandate is

It's a set of targets for the % of cars sold by manufacturers that have to be EVs

These increase year-on-year

22% in 2024, rising to 80% in 2030 etc.

Disappointing to see @thetimes following the lead of @Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares in disparaging the Zero Emissions Vehicle Mandate over the weekend

Premise is that manufacturers shouldn't have EV sales targets imposed on them

Here's a thread on areas where I don't agree A brief reminder of what the ZEV mandate is

A series of targets for the minimum % of cars sold in UK that are electric

Starts at 22% in 2024, rising year on year until reaching 80% in 2030 and 100% in 2035

gov.uk/government/new…

Success in our efforts to tackle EV misinformation!

Our complaint to IPSO about a @MailOnline article that blamed EVs for the UK's potholes appears to have been upheld

Here are the pictures of the Mail's correction, the original article and the amended article

Details below



So, back on the 19th March, the Daily Mail published an article blaming the UK's potholes on EVs

It was based on a report by the Asphalt Industry Alliance

And it implied that @AIA_Asphalt blamed EVs for the UK's growing pothole problem

Another day, another comment piece in the Telegraph that:

a) has a pop at EVs

b) says stuff about EVs that is pretty misleading

This one, by @RossjournoClark, also says some fairly misleading things about road pricing

So here's a thread to correct the narrative - buckle up! Let's start with the road pricing stuff shall we?

Ross is correct in pointing out that the switch to electric cars will, as things stand, result in a £28bn hole in the nation's finances

Why? To put it simply, petrol cars pay fuel duty, electric cars don't

Some worrying comments from the CEO of @Stellantis - Carlos Tavares - being reported in @Reuters

He claimed that the battery weight of EVs would need to be halved for EVs to make electrification 'environmentally meaningful'

I disagree, here's why... First up - where I agree. Yes, obviously the more we can lighten our cars, the better

And this applies to all cars, not just EVs - petrol cars have been ballooning in weight for years now

The lighter the car, the less resources to build it and the less energy to move it

Now the @DailyMailUK has jumped on this bus recall issue with a typically bombastic headline:

Britain's e-bus ticking timebomb!!!

As I pointed out when the Times ran this story, its a tad sensationalist and not particularly accurate

A short thread... The main issue here is that the fire risk that has been indentified, and that these buses are being recalled to investigate, has absolutely nothing to do with their electric drivetrains

The issue is with the buses' Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems

Another day, another alarmist comment piece in the @Telegraph making some 'non-factual' claims about EVs

This one is courtesy of Matthew Lynn - who claimed that the iPhone "won't make a long-term mark on the industry"

I'd take what says about EVs with a pinch of salt

Short🧵 First up - apparently, under a @UKLabour government, "there is a real risk that the country may face power shortages and rationing"

"there might not be any energy available" to power the extra EVs coming as a result of Labour reinstating the 2030 ban on new petrol/diesel sales

Another iffy article on EVs in the @Telegraph

This time its the allegation that EVs charged using public chargers are more expensive to run that petrol, and its based on some figures released from @zap_map

Some important context has been left out, so here's a short thread Issue 1 - the article says that increases in the cost of charging on the public network means that "motorists who exclusively use public charging points now pay more per mile than those with petrol cars"

But...

Last week a House of Lords report criticised the media for spreading misinformation about EVs

As if trying to prove their point, the media responded with a deluge of -ve EV articles

Here's a thread (quite long sorry) to challenge some of what was said

committees.parliament.uk/committee/515/… The @Telegraph has led the charge, but others have weighed in as well

In the week since the Lords released its report, we've seen over 20 predominantly negative EV articles

Some examples below

So, electricity prices are forecast to fall over the rest of the decade & petrol prices are likely to continue rising

With an important vote on EVs in UK parliament tonight, what do these trends mean for the cost of fuelling an EV vs a petrol?

We've crunched some numbers - a 🧵 As you'll be aware, global events have resulted in the price of electricity skyrocketing

Whereas a UK consumer was paying 17p/kWh in 2020, by 2022 that had doubled to 34p/kWh before the Government stepped in and capped it from going any higher