Revealed: Tesla urged Labour to tighten EV laws
As Elon Musk's company 'applauds' Starmer's party for its strong policy stance on decarbonisation, growth and net zero
Hello, I’m Tom Riley, and welcome back to The Fast Charge, a British EV newsletter.
Top story today… I have obtained a private letter from Tesla to the Labour government. The exclusive correspondence and analysis is below…
Elsewhere… One in four new car registrations is electric, SMMT suggests this is due to discounting, and Auto Trader predicts 2024 is the year petrol peaks.
As ever, if you have any thoughts, please do get in touch via my contact details below or simply reply to this email.
Revealed: Tesla urged Labour’s Road Minister to tighten car and lorry rules
Context… I have obtained a private letter sent by Tesla’s Vice President of EMEA (believed to be Joe Wood) to Labour’s Minister for the Future of Roads, Lillian Greenwood MP. The note was sent after the General Election on 8 July 2024.
How? I obtained the letter via an information request submitted in August and received back in late November. The correspondence was shared with The Guardian yesterday.
What did Tesla say? Further below is a longer look at some of the revelations and a copy of the letter. However, here are the top headlines:
Tesla’s Vice President starts by saying the company “applauds” the Labour Party and its strong position on ‘decarbonisation, growth and net zero’.
They state the UK is “falling behind” Europe on HGV electrification and should consult on a mandate “as soon as possible” (note, their ‘Semi’ truck has been available for pre-order here since 2022)
Tesla suggests if purchase incentives return for EVs - as some carmakers like Ford have asked for - then in turn “the Government should ask those still choosing to purchase a new polluting vehicle to pay more”. Aka… tax ICE to support EV uptake
On autonomous vehicles… Tesla offers Labour its “support and expertise”, before concluding with the offer of a demonstration of its ‘AV future’.
Let’s dig into these headlines further. Starting with…
1. Would an ICE tax work?
The suggestion by Tesla is that, if carmakers want to subsidise EV purchases with public money (which is rhetoric we’ve seen recently), then this should be offset with a tax on buyers of new ICE vehicles. On paper, it makes sense. However… in a newspaper, it does not. Labour would end up facing a huge opposition. “How can Labour tax people when they can’t make the switch? Another pledge broken ‘SIR’ Kier”, is what Tory leader Kemi Badenoch MP would probably cry in the Commons. And she’d have lots of support, as despite the great myth-busting campaigns of late, it’s still going to take many full moons before that mainstream tide of public opinion starts to change.
But… While a straight tax, as Tesla seems to propose in their letter, is probably a bit too bold, Minister. One safer option that could do the same, Minister, might be to reform fuel duty. It makes no sense for a climate-leading government to have this remain. All Reeves would need to do is launch an internal review on whether the saving gets passed on, conclude - as is the case - it doesn’t, and she can reverse her decision under the guise of defending drivers. Maybe oversimplified but I’ve not spoken to a single person who believes keeping the freeze was wise.
2. Tesla is correct, the UK is now behind on haulage.
In 2021, way back at COP26, Grant Shapps (then Transport Secretary) committed to make all new HGVs sold to be fully zero emission by 2040. And for those weighing under or equal to 26 tonnes, they need to be electric by 2035. That’s a tall order, especially as infrastructure is severely lacking, and not much has been done by the government to help. Certainly, policies like further above - fuel duty freezes - will ensure many hauliers won’t take much interest in switching until pushed.
Given the huge challenge… In 2022, the government launched a call for evidence on its HGV targets. They were passed forward. However, the feedback led to a further consultation on exemptions around the first 2035 date. That was closed in 2022 and DfT has still seemingly not published a response.
Back in October 2023… The government revealed a new promise to publish a zero emission HGV and coach infrastructure strategy in 2024. This would “set strategic direction and outline the respective roles and responsibilities of both government and industry to ensure the delivery of the refuelling and recharging infrastructure”. Obviously, it’s been a busy year, but officials had over 8 months since that promise before the election was even called. So… where the sodding hell is all this clarification hiding?
A turn off for Tesla’s Semi? For several years, Tesla has been developing its haulage vehicle - the Semi - and clearly it’s an area of growth for them. The vehicle itself has been available to pre-order since 2022 in the UK (with deliveries likely starting after 2026), and I do wonder how much interest they’ve actually had - maybe the lack of urgency on UK plans has hindered it. It would explain why they want a mandate. Also not least as a mandate could provide a fresh avenue for selling others ZEV credits.
I don’t know loads about the Semi. However, if you want to learn more from a proper expert, my good friend Jaan, who runs the EV Universe, wrote an excellent feature on it here - as he was one of the first people to ride one in Europe.
3. Doesn’t Tesla hate Labour?
Every other public post by Elon at the moment seems to be some angry quip about Kier Starmer. So, I do find it hilarious that his company sent a letter praising the Labour Party’s policies in July after their election. And then, just under a month after it was sent, Elon started taking his very different approach to UK government relations - which began with stirring up rioting after the tragic murders in Southport.
Musk first attacked Labour during Summer by saying… “Civil war is inevitable” on X (which he also owns) and responded to the Prime Minister's posts on rioting directly asking, “Shouldn’t you be concerned about attacks on *all* communities?”. Ever since those events, the government has sought to distance itself from him. He was not invited to their recent Investment Summit, for example. Despite this, Musk has continued to chirpse in, such as saying things like the UK is going “full Stalin”, called us a “tyrannical police state”, and reshared a viral petition calling for a fresh election.
Tesla is a great carmaker. And I’m sure it will continue to be popular with consumers. However, it also has huge expertise in areas like energy management and autonomous vehicles. These are important and tough-to-deploy technologies, though could have huge benefits for the UK. Nevertheless… while their CEO continues to spout off about ‘two-tier Kier’ or indulging Farage politics, getting their ideas off the ground with this government I assume will be non-existent or through very, very clenched teeth.
Download or share… You can see a copy of the letter below. If you share it, just be sure to credit this newsletter.
Other EV stories…
⚡️ Last week new industry figures revealed that one in four of all new car registrations in November were electric, according to think tank New Automotive. Not only that but their latest report also found EV registrations grew by over 50% on November 2023. This is a very positive story after weeks of negativity.
⛽️ On the same day… Auto Trader predicted that 2024 would be the year of ‘peak petrol’ based on their forecasts. Ian Plummer, the marketplace’s Commercial Director, commented: “We expect to see a seismic shift in British motoring over the next decade as the number of petrol cars falls by nearly half and EVs take a much bigger share.”
🚗 On cue… the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders provided a slightly different view on the coverage, suggesting OEM discounts were driving EV growth amid wider market contraction. Mike Hawes, SMMT Chief Executive said: “Such incentives are unsustainable – industry cannot deliver the UK’s world-leading ambitions alone. It is right, therefore, that the government urgently reviews the market regulation and the support necessary to drive it, given EV registrations need to rise by over a half next year.” Read more.
🇪🇺 In a similar vein to SMMT, the CEO of car retailer Vertu has written a column for Auto Express saying the UK should align with the EU. See here.
🛠️ EV conversions have become very popular for classic car owners. The reason they’ve become popular is you get the ‘classic look’ but with much lower running costs and maintenance. In the Summer of this year, DVLA and the Department for Transport launched a call for evidence to gather views on how this practice meets their current rules (and whether new ones are needed). The results of their survey can be found here. One headline is the majority of respondents want to see specific policies for assessing classics converted to electric.
🏎️ The survey wasn’t just about EV conversions… it covered the whole spectrum of restoring classic cars. My favourite question was the response to this: what do you consider to be a historic or classic vehicle? 1,115 people answered. 27% said the vehicle should be aged 40 years or over… 20% said aged 30 years or over… And 18% said 25 years or over. What do you think?
📈 China’s share of the global EV market reached 76% in October, according to new figures from the China Passenger Car Association. Read more.
💰 Former founder and CEO of charging network GRIDSERVE, Toddington Harper, has this week launched ‘GIGATONS’. It’s based in Abu Dhabi and is set to mobilise up to $100 billion for scaling infrastructure globally and addressing the barriers to net zero. Learn more.
🚚 Big news for UK e-mobility start-up OX Delivers, which produces low-cost rural facing trucks, for nabbing a huge £127 million contract to establish its first franchise partner, OX East Africa. Read more.
🔌 Fastned, the ultra-rapid charging network, has formed a joint venture with Places for London, the Transport for London property company, to deliver up to 25 rapid EV charging hubs across London by the end of the decade. Read more.
💷 A council in Lancashire is preparing to launch plans to use £1.6 million of Local EV Infrastructure funding to install some 825 new chargers by 2030. The decision will be made on Thursday. See here.
👴 Nearby… a man in Oldham has decided to give up his EV because of a falling out with the council about trailing a cable over his pavement to charge his car. The reason he did this is because his nearest public chargers were three miles away. He also felt them costly and in an unsafe place. Oldham has in turn blamed the government for not having street charging guidance. Bonkers. Read more.