Saving the car industry

The UK and EU governments have launched an assault on domestic car manufacture. There need to be urgent changes to save what we have got.

The tax on producing too many petrol and diesel cars – or on producing too few electric ones- must be removed immediately. It is a great way to get people to close car plants here.

The subsidies for electric car and charger roll out should be removed. There needs to be further improvement in the technologies and products  before urging people to own these vehicles. It may well be that a cheaper and better way of going to net zero for autos is to work with the aviation industry on carbon free synthetic fuels, or with the haulage and heavy plant people who are favouring hydrogen. Until we are much further advanced with these possibilities it  is premature to force people into expensive and unpopular battery cars.

It is strange that green campaigners split transport and recommend syn fuel for planes, hydrogen for trucks and batteries for cars. There could be synergies and cost savings if a common set of answers was worked on to the issue of energy for propulsion. Instead governments rush to adopt answers that do not work well and are unpopular with those who need to buy them.

The UK is in danger of losing out badly in auto manufacture by creating such a hostile environment for petrol and diesel vehicles which remain popular and we  have been good at.