Is it time to change the language around electric cars? I was talking to someone in the industry recently who said that in America, something as simple as switching the word ‘recharging’ for ‘refuelling’ has helped to shift people’s perceptions a little, linguistically positioning the concept of charging at home as refuelling your vehicle and bringing it into a more recognised sphere.

 

But something even more core than that was a discussion point at the recent Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders’ Electrified event. The SMMT is the car manufacturers’ voice in the UK, and its chief executive, Mike Hawes, was vociferously blunt that the current mandate system, where car makers are fined for not hitting rising annual targets for EVs’ share of their sales, isn’t working.