Polestar calls for used electric car grants to add a spark to the market

The Government is missing a “big opportunity” to boost demand for electric vehicles by not offering grants to used EV buyers, according to Polestar’s UK managing director Matt Galvin, who said manufacturers are “not really being listened to” by decision-makers.

”It’s a really big missed opportunity,” Galvin told Auto Express. “The big barriers are charging and the cost of cars; an incentive would shore up residual values, get more people into EVs and help make new cars more sustainable.”

He pointed to a Dutch scheme that ran until the end of 2024 where buyers of used electric cars between 12,000-45,000 euros would get a 2,000-euro government contribution. “The Netherlands did it so I can’t see why we can’t,” Galvin commented, although he admitted there’s not yet a groundswell of support from the industry to apply pressure on the Treasury.

Polestar’s UK boss said the Government’s “mixed” and “confusing” messaging has harmed confidence in electric vehicles, especially around the introduction of pay-per-mile on electric cars, where he felt the emphasis was more on the pay-per-mile element than the fact that it won’t come in until 2028. 

“We firmly believe that electrification is a pillar of sustainability going forward, and the messaging coming out of Government is confusing at best,” he said. “Customers’ transition to EV is a difficult decision to make, you need more certainty in what Government wants us to do; we’re a compliant people and if Government gives consistent messaging then people will say OK.”

Galvin pointed to the reported £5bn of discounting required to get manufacturers to their electric vehicle targets of 28 per cent of UK sales in 2025, and predicted the figure, which he said equated to around £11,000 per car, is likely to rise as brands push to the 33 per cent share of sales being electric in 2026. 

That’s not sustainable for anyone. As manufacturers we have invested billions and now have to give discounts to customers as there is little Government support,” he concluded. “We can’t invest in bigger batteries, more powerful processors etc if we have to keep discounting cars as heavily as we have – especially when customers want products to keep evolving and improving. I still think the ZEV mandate is a good thing, we shouldn’t change course, but we need more support on used cars.”

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