An EV charging supplier warned that weak retail demand for electric vehicles in the UK will hit annual revenues, sending shares down almost 40 per cent.
Pod Point, which is majority-owned by EDF and whose shareholders include Legal & General, Schroders and Hargreaves Lansdown, said on Monday that a “challenging backdrop”, including “near-term uncertainty” in the UK EV market, was to blame for annual results that it predicted would come in below current market expectations.
The company said a government consultation launched at the end of last year on the UK’s targets for EV sales had increased that uncertainty. The consultation followed complaints from carmakers that electric vehicle sales were not rising fast enough to hit the quotas.
The UK’s EV quota scheme, also launched last year, requires 80 per cent of car sales to be zero-emission vehicles by the end of the decade, with the percentage rising from 22 per cent in 2024.
Registration of new EVs jumped by 21 per cent to a record 382,000 last year, with the UK narrowly overtaking Germany as Europe’s largest battery-run car market for the first time.
However, discounts on EVs to attract customers reluctant to switch away from petrol vehicles cost carmakers billions of pounds. Also, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) trade group has warned that demand has not grown “in line with expectations”.
The SMMT has flagged relatively weak sales among private buyers compared with businesses, with only one in 10 private buyers in the UK choosing an EV in 2024 according to its analysis.
Full story Weak UK demand for electric vehicle charging sparks investor alarm
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