Another subsidy for battery cars, another grant to a foreign government

By Sir John Redwood on July 16, 2025

For a UK government that has no money they are very good at spending. That is of course why they do not have enough money for crucial services and welfare benefits. This week it was the turn again of the battery car industry. This time they have been offered a £650 m bung to try to bring the price of battery cars down a bit. The subsidy is not even limited to UK car makers, saying it is for UK and other manufacturers. Broadcasts say it does not apply to Chinese cars, yet that does not appear in the official UK government press release. We await details of which cars do qualify. Whatever the outcome China will be a winner as they export many of the batteries or materials for the batteries which is such a big proportion of the total cost of a battery car.

In the same week the Foreign Secretary decided that Singapore, with GDP per head two thirds higher than the UK, needed a £70 m grant from UK taxpayers to speed transition to low carbon activity. Singapore performs so much better than we do economically thanks to lower taxes and better state spending control.

The government statement said that its spending plans now include £4.5bn to "supercharge the switch to electric vehicles". Battery cars enjoy tax advantages. When supplied free of charge through the Motability scheme they are also VAT free. The government is giving subsidy to companies to install charger points, benefitting Chinese car exports as well as domestic product. They are also spending on encouraging home charging, which tends to help better paid people who have driveways and larger homes where it is easier to fit a charger.

These policies are damaging as well as being expensive. They are hastening the collapse of the UK car industry, based as it is on successful petrol and diesel models. It is helping China with its dominant share of the battery and battery car market. The UK is not protecting its industry with high tariffs against Chinese cars in the way the EU and US do. As with the other net zero policies this is a policy speeding the de- industrialisation of the UK.

ED. It is far nicer living around electric cars and breathing less toxic fumes in towns. Nissan is making the next generation Leaf in Sunderland. Up to 375 miles of range, up from 90 miles ten years ago. The Chinese cannot match the quaity of Nissan. Solar panels and wind turbines can be installed on private property. There are many good reasons to move away from the old technologies. The expanding atmosphere is the environmental issue not the carbon or CO2. Turning liquid to gas expands the space required by the atoms by 1000 fold. It is not a middle class versus working class issue, Sir John. Shipping cars round the globe of moderate quality is not great..cars which can be made in England. Electric cars are costing less and less to build, and quality zooms. Sir john makes good points otherwise in my opinion.

I read in trade journals that by 2027 a new battery technology is being relelased, which will either double range or requre much smaller and lighter batteries. It is clear that hydrogen cars are not being helped at all which is a catastrophe. You can store electricity as hydrogen and move the whole energy system away from hydrocarbons, and stop expanding the atmosphere which could destroy humans as a species while our elites go and live underground. Hydrogen cars are electric cars. Wind and solar energy can be stored as hydrogen, in hydride canisters. This is where the subsidies should be going and get the hydrogen economy going.