Theresa May, the former UK Prime Minister has signed off a £500m loan guarantee to Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) as one of her last big interventions before leaving Downing Street. The loan was granted as a means of encouraging Britain’s biggest carmaker to focus on selling a new generation of electric cars which would help the country meet its environmental commitments. The loan guarantee would also help the company sell electric cars around the world and keep the workers employed.
JLR has announced intentions to invest £1bn in building an electric version of the Jaguar XJ saloon at its factory in Castle Bromwich, West Midlands. The funding package – which includes £500m from UK Export Finance as well as £125m from commercial lenders – will go towards this plan as well as upgrades for the factory near Birmingham, thus safeguarding the existing 2,500 jobs in what is a troubled time for the industry. JLR has promised that it will offer customers an electric version of all its models from next year forth.
During the meeting of industry leaders at Downing Street regarding matters such as the loan, May also announced England’s commitment to increasing electric vehicle use by making it mandatory for electric car charging points to be installed in all new homes. The government is even investigating the use of “smart” charging technology that could automatically charge parked cars when electricity prices are at a low.
Chris Grayling, the former transport secretary, said:
[It is] clear there is an appetite for cleaner, greener transport. Home charging provides the most convenient and low-cost option for consumers – you can simply plug your car in to charge overnight as you would a mobile phone.
Now that Michael Gove, the former environment secretary, has announced the UK will end the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2040, these sort of requirements are a necessity for a smooth transition. It may not seem so, especially since the demand for electric cars remains below 1% of total car sales. However, the UK government has pledged to make the country carbon “net zero” by 2050 and that is something that demands total electrification of the transport network as soon as possible. To make things as convenient as possible for the citizens, the government is promising new “chargepoints” to provide pay-as-you-go credit card payments for car electricity.
The people that attended the meeting include executives from Aston Martin, BMW, Nissan, and Vauxhall as well as energy groups BP, Shell, and National Grid. All of them have “agreed to set up a green mobility transition board that will formally bring together government, industry and environmental groups to coordinate plans for a switch from traditional to electric vehicles”, reports The Guardian. In reciprocal, May said the government was pleased and would be committed to supporting the UK’s automotive sector and expected it to remain at the forefront of the design and manufacturing of electric vehicles.
