While some dyed in the wool petrolheads may lament the rise of EV’s and their popularity, the truth is that EV’s have been a bit of a boon for some of the UK’s once discarded car makers. While Jaguar Land Rover is undergoing a significant EV makeover as it commits to shifting to a fully electric range, we’ve already seen some British brands get a new lease of life from the EV shift. MG, who were previously known for putting boy racer body kits on Rovers, now produce some of the most financially accessible electric vehicles on the market.
In fact, the MG4 EV was the second best selling electric vehicle in UK. On the other hand, Maxus, who used to be known as LDV, are at the forefront of selling electric commercial vehicles in the UK. It’s a long way from their previous iteration whose flagship vans dated back to the 1970’s.
Read more: Major change to Coventry buses set to come into force after Christmas Then there’s Mini down in Oxford. While the Mini isn’t so Mini anymore, over 15% of Minis now sold in the UK are powered from the plug. While it seemed from a consumer perspective that Mini were releasing a range of products that appeared to come from a policy of throwing things at the wall to see what sticks, electrification seems to be a steady niche for them.
What this means is that the shift to electrification means a shift in brand identity for a lot of these major manufacturers. And with companies like Tesla, MG, and BYD opening consumers eyes to new optio.