The automotive industry briefing
The latest news, views and numbers you need to know this month
News in Numbers
-12%
The UK’s used car market fell for the second consecutive quarter this year, declining by this amount over the three months of July to September, according to Q3 2022 figures published by the SMMT.
-6%
The consumer new car finance market reported a fall in new business of this amount by value and -13% by volume in September compared with the same month in 2021, the FLA reported.
7%
The consumer used car finance market reported new business up by this amount by value and 1% by volume in September compared with the same month in 2021, the FLA reported.
1,785,447
The number of vehicles that changed hands in the three months, July to September, marks the first time that Q3 2022 transactions have dipped below two million since 2015, the SMMT said. Used battery electric vehicle (BEV) sales bucked the trend, however, with Q3 2022 reflecting growth in the electrified new car market as activity rose 44.1% to 16,775 transactions.
Comment
If EV infrastructures like battery and charging points are not built, the government won’t be able to justify spending taxpayer money on these vehicles.
There are predicted to be over 27.5 million EVs made for the road by 2030, however, increased demand for lithium, from light-duty EV production, will outstrip supplies of battery-grade lithium by over 2,400 kilotons by 2030.
This will drive up EV prices and mean new innovative technologies that will rely on batteries, will be at the back of the queue, stalling their implementation. It’s not just battery metal shortages that we’re lacking but also public charging infrastructure.
When you look at EVs for example, charging infrastructure is often a key focus of specific government policies, but investments still lacking. Governments have started working on how to address battery metal shortages.
The production of lithium-ion battery cells is to rise from 1.2 terawatt hours (TWh) now by nearly five times to 5.8 TWh in 2030. Innovative transport technologies that many hope will be ubiquitous by 2030 – especially flying taxis – will heavily rely on battery technologies.
If there aren’t enough batteries for EVs, there definitely won’t be for flying taxis. The dream of extensive air taxi fleets won’t get off the ground by 2030.
- Emilio Campa, a thematic analyst with GlobalData
Quotes
Europe is embracing the shift to zero-emission mobility. European carmakers are already proving they are ready to step up to the plate, with increasing and increasingly affordable electric cars coming to the market. The speed at which this change has happened over the past few years is remarkable.
Frans Timmermans, executive vice-president for the European Green Deal, on the move by EU lawmakers to require all new cars and vans registered in the EU to be zero-emission by 2035. See EU will require all new cars to be zero emission by 2035
British Ports Association chief executive Richard Ballantyne, following UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s announcement that the Freeports selection process will see the first sites in England set up by the end of 2021:
“This is a welcome development and by being more inclusive in terms of the number of freeports there might be, the government can now explore how to better deliver on its levelling up agenda without picking regions over each other. Coastal communities are often in areas of high deprivation and have also experienced challenges resulting from the coronavirus pandemic and lockdown so this potentially transformative policy will be welcomed across a range of suitable locations.”
Commercial fleet vehicles account for a disproportionate percentage of emissions, so the transition to widespread electrification is critical. Zeti’s fintech platform serves as an important bridge between fleet operators and sources of capital by using real-time data to enable pay-as-you-drive financing.
Toyota Ventures Climate Fund partner Lisa Coca said this about its investment in Zeti, a digital finance platform for the transportation industry. See Zeti garners investment from Toyota Ventures