6 days Ago By Luke Chillingsworth
Car SOS star Fuzz Townshend has warned electric car manufacturers and customers may face years of uncertainty ahead of the UK's petrol and diesel car ban. Top motoring brands have switched their focus to electric models with many investing millions into production facilities. However, there is concern demand for electric models may be stalling, with particular worry over private car sales.
Fuzz suggested brands at the top of the pack now could soon fall away if more affordable electric models make their way onto the market. It comes just years before brand-new petrol and diesel vehicles will be banned. When asked if manufacturers were concerned over a lack of demand for electric models despite the investment by brands Fuzz said: “Yes.
I think there’s a strong case for saying that. But also it’s one of those things, who's going to move first, who's going to make the first move. Some manufacturers have gone into it and perhaps people have thought ‘oh it’s a little bit early, little bit too early for that yet’.
“And then their products have been quickly overtaken by the next generation and suddenly a very cheap version of an electric car comes out and kind of knocks them off the board kind of thing. “That’s very much like the dawn of the motor car when the internal combustion engine came in the early 1900s, you had companies being knocked about like skittles from an alley.” Data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) showed electric car sales were up in 2024 but sales did not meet expectations.
The statistics showed that electric vehicles took record annual volume and market share at 19.6% but sales figures were still below mandated levels. Private consumer demand is the biggest worry with interest in the new models falling to levels last seen in the pandemic.
The numbers suggest that just one in 10 private buyers were switching to electric models in 2024. Some brands have been left reconsidering their EV future with Aston Martin , Kia and Mercedes among those to continue to keep one eye on petrol and diesel models. Fuzz warned the UK car market could still be set for another overhaul in the run-up to 2030, just adding to the confusion for manufacturers.
He said: “There will be changes week on week. It’s like 60s pop music. One week you got one thing.
One thing you got something entirely different.”.
