By Jon Lawes, managing director at MHC Mobility

Jon Lawes, managing director of Novuna Vehicle Solutions

Across Europe, a tale of two EV transitions has begun to unfold as the region takes steps toward decarbonised mobility. While sustainability pledges and client demand are fuelling sustained corporate fleet transition momentum to EVs, consumer adoption – the linchpin of mass transport decarbonisation – is at risk of plateauing.

When looking at data from the entirety of Europe, fleet and private EV purchases are broadly neck and neck at 14% and 15% respectively in 2023. While this appears reassuring, Europe’s private market doesn’t benefit from the same support to transition that the fleet market experiences.

There are still several notable roadblocks to the private market’s journey towards a cleaner future – barriers that will demand corrective measures.

Reducing cost impacts

Despite recent strides to produce cheaper EV models for the European market, the primary threat to mass consumer adoption remains affordability due to the prohibitive upfront cost of EVs. While we have seen battery prices continue to fall, which make up the most significant cost of any EV, sticker prices for European EVs have failed to fall to the level required for mass adoption.

The initial uptake of EVs owed much to government support across Europe. The provision of attractive incentives ensured that early adopters were rewarded for their support of the technology’s growth journey. This continued up until recently, with many European governments bridging EV costs through tax breaks and subsidies. However, in recent months we’ve increasingly seen these same governments withdraw incentives, first in Germany and then in France.

Pulling the plug on incentives is often seen as a ‘quick win’, with many countries believing that the momentum of EV adoption will continue to move the needle without this support. Yet, this phasing out of support threatens to reinstall the entry cost barrier, shutting out a large portion of the consumer market.

Beyond government action, manufacturers can also play a crucial role in bridging the gap. A key step is to focus on affordability by developing a wider range of EVs at different price points to cater to a broader consumer base. Chinese automakers have made inroads into the European EV market in recent years by competing aggressively on price, but the European Commission’s anti-subsidy investigation into these brands could cut off a vital source of affordable EVs.

Patchy infrastructure, patchy adoption

Similarly, infrastructure remains a stumbling block for many consumers. While countries such as the Netherlands and France have more than 50,000 public chargers available, much of the Bloc, particularly in Eastern Europe, has yet to make the commitments necessary to create a viable charging network at scale.

Home charging is not an option for everyone, either due to apartment living or lack of private parking, and patchy public charging infrastructure makes daily EV use far less convenient. While there have been leaps in the speed of EV charging, there is still work to be done to convince consumers there is adequate public charging to make the switch, something that will take time and effort from member states to resolve.

Misconceptions and fears surrounding EVs also persist among consumers. Despite the compelling case for making the switch, many drivers remain unconvinced by the technology of EVs with scepticism prevalent when it comes to battery performance over time.

Here too manufacturers can play a role.

Walking the talk

The final piece of the puzzle lies with clear, coherent and consistent leadership. European governments talk the talk but need to walk the walk too. Setting ambitious long-term decarbonisation targets is commendable, but concrete short-term measures are needed to incentivise action. The need for financial incentives, investment in charging infrastructure, and promoting awareness of the benefits of EVs all lie in the purview of member state governments.

Consumers will shy away from EV adoption if there are frequent policy changes. This creates friction compared to the known territory of ICE equivalents. Without efforts to communicate the benefits of EVs, infrastructure plans, and long-term commitments to widespread adoption, consumers will simply choose the easier path.

A unified road

The current picture of consumer EV adoption in Europe may look robust at face value, but it is vital that both industry and policymakers keep their eyes firmly on the long-term goal and do not allow progress to stall.

By creating a supportive ecosystem that addresses affordability, infrastructure and awareness, European governments, ably supported by carmakers can prevent a divergence between corporate and consumer adoption – as is taking hold in the UK. This must include fostering partnerships between public and private entities to accelerate the development and deployment of affordable EVs, efficient charging infrastructure, and the clean energy sources to power them.

The stakes are high. Europe’s commitment to tackling climate change rests heavily on decarbonising transport. To do this, we must ensure that we don’t find ourselves on two separate and piecemeal journeys, and instead on a single unified road toward a successful ICE phase-out.