Tom Riley

Exclusive: DfT accused of favouritism by EV leaders As I reveal ONLY carmakers got the Transport Secretary's ear to discuss the ZEV mandate

Exclusive 🚨 Carmakers were the only ones to get the Transport Secretary's ear during the ZEV mandate consultation. It's led to one senior EV leader to brand DfT 'shambolic'. Eeek! www.fastcharge.email/p/exclusive-...

Scoop: UK’s first electric fire engine not used in 3 years Plus the latest EV charging statistics from the Department for Transport

Scoop from moi... The UK's first electric fire engine hasn't been used for real in 3 years - despite promises to have it on the frontline in 2022. Why? 🚒 Read about it 👉
www.fastcharge.email/p/scoop-uks-...

Idea for hospital machines that go ‘ping’.

Can we introduce daytime sounds and nighttime ones. For example, at 2pm when Paul’s heart is going wild. Have the big noisy ‘nee naw’ one.

But. Between 11pm to 7am. Why not a whale call? Or. If some calls for a nurse, what about a crashing wave.

Idea for a multi millionaire looking to revive their image. Please, please, please donate contactless payment to public car parks in Britain.

RingGo, PaybyPhone and all of the other apps are fucking nightmare.

Transport & Environment lobbied for hybrid flexibility Europe's biggest green transport NGO used its ZEV Mandate response to push a softer approach to hybrids

Scoop! The climate group Transport & Environment lobbied the UK to soften the definition of hybrids being sold after 2030, despite publicly calling for tough action on ICE vehicles.

Full story (including screenshots of their response) 👇
www.fastcharge.email/p/transport-...

Is a UK-China EV deal about to happen? As the UK government shows public support for NIO and potential investment

Is China's luxury EV behemoth NIO about to make a fresh entrance into UK manufacturing?

The government told me this week they’d support it.

Story from yesterday 👇 www.fastcharge.email/p/is-a-uk-ch...

Scoop: BT pulls plug on charger plans The FTSE 100 company is 'shifting focus' after testing just one charger in Scotland

Yesterday I revealed that, one year after BT Group announced grand plans to convert up to 60,000 old green street cabinets into public EV chargers, they have pulled the plug on their pilot.

They only managed to install one charger. Story below!

www.fastcharge.email/p/scoop-bt-p...

Blackstone snaps up £1bn of warehouses in a year Private equity giant, now one of the biggest shed landlords in Britain, buys 18 from PGIM to fold into Indurent

Ha! Best PR of 2025 so far by Blackstone who appear to have persuaded media their huge purchases of warehouses relates to logistics.

Meanwhile… no mention of their HUGE interest in data centres. Chapeau!

www.thetimes.com/article/cce2...

Peak Car Revisited Metrics matter

Great point made here about the auto industry. Why do we always skip to no. of vehicles sold versus the actual revenue of car companies for measuring success? glennmercer.substack.com/p/peak-car-r...

Ralph, this is inordinately kind of you to say! Thanks very much! I’ll continue to keep it up as best as I can 👍

4/4… We know No10 wants to ‘tell a better story’. Can they do that if people think there’s going to be a reshuffle in Q1? So maybe they used a tame scandal they’d long known of to push Haigh out, leaving the door open for a return, and putting in a fresh face before the consultation. (Tin hat off)

3/4… With the promise of a new consultation on the ZEV mandate imminent (Tuesday as I understand it), Haigh would need to be front and centre leading it and the eventual decision out of DfT. It could end up very messy between investors, OEMs and green campaigners.

2/4… Recently, perhaps due to either her non-interest or inexperience, she hasn’t been able to grip the media storm from carmakers. This has meant Reynolds increasingly having to step in to her policy space as carmakers felt ignored by DfT.

My take on Lou Haigh’s resignation… (Tin hat on)

1/4.. No10 was already unhappy with her and it was open knowledge in Whitehall circles that they planned to move her early next year.

Bizarre advert on The Times app within a story on Stellantis closing its Luton factory

Electric shock: carmakers battle strict UK electric car rules as big fines loom As Ford announced cutting 800 UK jobs it said rules forcing companies to sell more EVs each year are ‘unworkable’

Ford today: ‘The ZEV mandate is unworkable.’

Ford in 2022: ‘We don’t think the proposed targets go fast enough.’

🥴

Full story in Guardian, and featuring my newsletter 👍
www.theguardian.com/environment/...