The UK’s new Electric Car Grant scheme is “not fair to consumers” because it effectively excludes Chinese brands, according to BYD’s European boss – although she insists this won’t stop its rapid growth in the UK.
Eligibility for the ECG is determined by an EV's overall carbon manufacturing footprint, including the energy used for its production, which effectively excludes cars made in China from qualifying.
The Dolphin Surf supermini, BYD's cheapest UK-market EV, is priced from £18,650 without the subsidy (which is £1500 or £3750, depending on the carbon footprint of the EV in question).
Stella Li told Autocar the move would only “hurt consumers”. "They did that more to target Chinese firms, which is not fair to consumers," she said. "But we have to deal with that.
“We are not afraid, because I'm sure our sales numbers will continue increasing every single month.”
Li added that she was confident BYD could still win over customers without the grant.
“Our product is very strong,” she said. “And the people buying Dolphin Surf just love the technology. We bring more value to the customer.“
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