Steve Fowler

Car and tech journo. Apparently “just a fat Piers Morgan”😳 co-founder @carblah_ EV Editor @independent. Former editor of @autoexpress @autocar @whatcar

[Steve Fowler @SteveFowler]

Bloody hell. @tesla Cybertruck. #Cybertruck

[Steve Fowler @SteveFowler]

A new series where Kevin runs out of fuel, the journey takes longer than expected and somebody gets pregnant.

[BriteSpark Films @britesparkfilms]

Don't miss our brand new series – Kevin McCloud's Classic Car Road Trips. Starts Sunday 18 October at 8pm on Channel 4.

[BriteSpark Films @britesparkfilms]

Don't miss our brand new series – Kevin McCloud's Classic Car Road Trips. Starts Sunday 18 October at 8pm on Channel 4.

[Steve Fowler @SteveFowler]

Yup, Alfa Romeo can still do beautiful cars.

[Steve Fowler @SteveFowler]

Here’s the new Citroen 2CV. And - they say - the production car will look even better. On sale in 2028 for €15,000 (£13,000)

[The Independent @Independent]

Jaguar finally unveils the most talked-about car of the decade – and its eye-watering price https://t.co/QsWFoKfLYl

[Steve Fowler @SteveFowler]

Jaguar Type 01 is go. And it looks incredible. The best bit - the clever engineering involved. This is a car that has been built without compromises. Makes me proud to be British 🇬🇧. Not everyone will like it - that’s fine. Not everyone has to! What do you think?

[Steve Fowler @SteveFowler]

Bloody hell, that's cheap. New Hyundai Ioniq 3 starts at £18,495 😲. That's for the 213 mile range version, while the 308 mile car costs just £21,995. That's the government's Electric Car Grant doing it's job – all Ioniq 3s get the full £3,750 grant.

[Steve Fowler @SteveFowler]

Jaecoo top again for crucial September new car sales market – now vying for top spot year-to-date with the Ford Puma. And looks like a Tesla boat came in last month, too.

[The Independent @Independent]

Range Rover Sport Electric revealed – and I’ve driven it https://t.co/vfHveKGEok

[Steve Fowler @SteveFowler]

@93SamLFC I wonder why…?!

[Steve Fowler @SteveFowler]

Here it is... Bentley's first ever EV: the Bentley Torcal. What do you think? https://t.co/PZj0qCteMq

[Steve Fowler @SteveFowler]

I really don’t like giving tall people awards - I’m not that short, honest! But congrats to Markus Schrick and the @XPENG_Global team for the GCOTY Luxury Car of the Year Award for the Xpeng X9!

[Steve Fowler @SteveFowler]

Come on down…
https://t.co/uvTEv10ghY

[Steve Fowler @SteveFowler]

Car park winner so far at On Your Marques model car museum charity opening in Mumby, Lincolnshire this weekend. Can you beat it? Come along and show us. Sound on for this…

[Steve Fowler @SteveFowler]

This weekend! I’m opening On Your Marques model car museum for the first time in years - and the last time ever 😢 All in aid of dementia charities. Please come along - or if you feel inclined, please donate ❤️ https://t.co/ZKKszNvEfL

[RareDementiaSupport @RareDementia]

One last time 🏁

After 30+ years, On Your Marques model car & Scalextric museum is opening its doors for one final weekend — raising funds for RDS through @BrainAppeal
📅 29–31 Aug, 10am–4pm
📍 Mumby, Lincolnshire
🎟️Free entry — donations welcome
Donate: https://t.co/5HyMrvWFMG

[Dr. Andy Palmer @AndyatAuto]

As the Nissan Exec who brought the Nissan LEAF to the U.K., weakening the U.K. ZEV mandate would be a profound mistake @Heidi_Labour .

It will be presented as “pragmatism”: protecting consumers and manufacturers from weak EV demand. But it will achieve precisely the opposite — higher costs, less innovation, greater oil dependence and a weaker British car industry.

Start with cost of living.

Yes, EVs remain too expensive to buy in many segments. That is the problem we should fix. Once bought, they are considerably cheaper to run. HMRC’s benchmark for home charging is around 7p/mile. A petrol car doing 40mpg at £1.50/litre costs about 17p/mile — roughly £1,000 more over 10,000 miles.

Why slow the transition to the cheaper-to-run technology?

The problem is purchase price — and demand is price elastic. Put an EV beside an equivalent ICE car with a £5,000 premium and of course demand suffers. Close the gap and demand rises.

The mandate creates pressure to achieve the scale, competition and battery cost reductions needed to close that gap.

Then there’s the claim that the mandate is crippling manufacturers.

Show us the evidence.

The ZEV mandate deliberately includes banking, borrowing and credit trading. Manufacturers have met their obligations within these flexibilities in all years and likely in 2026.

If OEMs say this is costing billions, publish the TPVA data. Show actual transaction prices, not list prices. Show the real incentives on BEV versus ICE. Show the contribution margins. Demonstrate that incentives really are higher and profits lower on EVs.

Industrial policy involving billions of pounds of investment shouldn’t be rewritten on anecdotes.

And then there’s China.

You don’t protect an industry from technological change by protecting yesterday’s technology.

China became formidable by investing relentlessly in batteries, motors, power electronics, software and manufacturing scale.

Weakening our mandate doesn’t keep Chinese manufacturers out. It risks giving them more time to increase their cost and technology advantage while we continue investing in two powertrains.

Consumers will ultimately buy the best technology at the best price. British and European manufacturers must compete, not retreat.

Recent events around Iran add another dimension: energy security.

Around 20% of global petroleum liquids consumption normally passes through the Strait of Hormuz. A crisis thousands of miles away can therefore increase the cost of driving in Britain.

An EV can run on electricity generated from wind, solar, nuclear, gas or hydro. Electrification gives transport something oil never can: energy diversity.

And climate change hasn’t disappeared because the politics have become difficult. Transport remains one of Britain’s largest sources of CO₂. The physics hasn’t changed.

Finally, consider investment.

Automotive product decisions are made five or ten years ahead. Factories and battery plants require billions in capital. Constantly changing policy tells international boards considering Britain: the rules might change again.

Fix expensive public charging. Accelerate infrastructure. Bring EV purchase prices down. And if manufacturers can prove the mandate is damaging them, examine the evidence.

Don’t mistake difficulty executing a transition for evidence that it’s wrong.

If the problem is affordability, make EVs cheaper.

If it’s manufacturer profitability, show the data.

If it’s China, compete.

If it’s energy security, reduce oil dependence.

If it’s climate change, decarbonise.

Britain will not protect its car industry by slowing technological change. We protect it by making sure British engineers, factories and suppliers lead it.

If we slow down while China speeds up, don’t be surprised by who wins.

@Heidi_Labour changing the mandate doesn’t makes investment in the U.K. car industry more likely - it makes foreign owned Boards further distrust U.K. policy makers and their reliability

[Steve Fowler @SteveFowler]

ZEV Mandate review: @Heidi_Labour let’s just remember why we’re going electric. Hot innit? 🥵

[Steve Fowler @SteveFowler]

New Jaguar Type 01 interior revealed. No buttons. No rear-view mirror. No rear screen. Just beauty. What do you think?

[Steve Fowler @SteveFowler]

Want to have a look inside the new Jaguar Type 01? Of course you do https://t.co/bHjrPwBwsU