REVIEW


Declan Curry chaired this year’s Conference


He said: “What you need to pay attention to is the Zero Emission Vehicle mandate which will come into effect next year. This is for car manufacturers and it states that 22 per cent of the vehicles they sell must be electric and 10 per cent of the vans they sell must also be electric. “By 2030 each manufacturer will have to deal with these guidelines; 80 per cent of its car range must be electric and 70 per cent of its van range must be electric. “For now, manufacturers will try to sell their


12 A sustainable industry


The industry came together once again at the Retra Conference 2023, which was centred around the topic of sustainability. ERT was there.


Welcome by Howard Saycell Howard Saycell, CEO of Retra, opened the 2023 conference; as speakers gathered to have their say on where the industry is and what it can do to improve for the future, “sustainability is growing evermore in


the consumer’s mind, and all our minds”. “Sustainability is actually really great for your business,” he said. He added that the circular economy is expected to have a £4.5 trillion valuation by 2030 and that the business of sustainability could have a positive impact on retail businesses as well as the planet. Mr Saycell (above) also acknowledged that he understands it is difficult at the moment; with high interest rates and the cost-of-living crisis, which has impacted business across the supply chain as well. He explained: “There are big challenges and on a geopolitical basis, it is not just about the UK, we are a part of the big mix. Having said that, we have seen significant price increases


and plenty of you would agree in thinking that this was well overdue.”


Mr Saycell finished by acknowledging that these issues could go on for some time but work is being done by Retra and the British Retail Consortium to lobby the government to reduce business rates.


Electric vehicles Next up was Steve Fowler, Editor-in-Chief at Auto Express magazine, to talk about the potential electric revolution! He was quick to dismiss some of the myths about electric vehicles (EVs); he also explained that the fire at Luton Airport (that was in the news just days before the conference) was not caused by a fully-electric vehicle. He explained: “There are numerous tax benefits involved when purchasing EVs that make them hugely attractive. The overall cost can really work and save businesses and people lots of money. The reasons for purchasing EVs do begin to stack up but you have to take into consideration the range of issues.” Mr Fowler (right) gave his thoughts on the “very political” push back of the 2030 date of all vehicles being electric to 2035.


remaining stock of non-electric car. They will be saving their new EVs until next year.” Mr Fowler moved on to talk about the sustainability angle of EVs and how one might think that they are inherently good for the environment, but the battery can be “toxic”. He explained: “There are very strict regulations


around recycling already; the thing I would say about EVs is that most people are hesitant in buying second-hand ones because people are worried about the condition of the battery. “The value of the battery is always going to be £2,000-£3,000 and they could be used in home energy storage. Nissan is working with one of the big stadiums in the Netherlands, using a lot of old Nissan Leaf batteries to power the stadium.”


He continued: “So, the question now is ‘should I buy it now or should I wait’? I think the “whole life” cost sum is something that you need to look at. I always come back to this phrase “it is very difficult to buy a car well but it is very easy to buy a car badly”. This of course applies to vans for businesses as well. “You have really got to look at the incentives – the tax benefits and the cost of fuel – and you have to get the spreadsheet out and do the numbers to see if it’s right for you.” Mr Fowler concluded that for a lot of people it


isn’t the right time because the infrastructure isn’t there and the range of electric commercial vehicles isn’t good enough at this specific moment.


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