Aston Martin boss: Brexit strategy "laughable", EV policy "non-sensical", idea of full autonomy "absurd"

Battery electric vehicle focus "non-sensical"

Palmer also hit out at government strategy around future powertrain technology, and in particular its singular view that electrification is the answer to all transport environmental issues.

“EV is one route, it is not a panacea. The bit that pisses me off is when they try to pick a technological winner,” said Palmer. “The UK is trying to get on the front foot and say it wants to be a leader in electric vehicle technology but the truth is that nobody knows what the right technology is for 20-30 years time.

“Politicians can’t be taken seriously if they talk about 30-40 years ahead,” he added. “They are concerned with taking power and staying in power over a relatively short time, and they know they won’t have accountability over the much longer-term.

“Government should identify problems and set policy. The engineers should define the solutions. I am pretty sure that 40 years from now there will be solutions beyond battery-electric vehicles to consider. Why not synthetic fuels that are carbon neutral? Or where will hydrogen fit in? There are so many answers, some not even thought of yet.

“If reducing CO2 is the goal then diesel is a good solution. If it’s improving air quality then perhaps not. But which is it? They’re all mixed up. They are trying to bet on technology that they don’t understand.”

Palmer also suggested that the government’s oft-stated goal of establishing the UK as a leader in battery technology was “non-sensical” given the funding it has put up is significantly less than that of rivals.

“We can’t be a leader with the way we are approaching it currently,” he said. “At Nissan we spent in the region of $4bn establishing the Leaf; in Europe, led primarily by France and Germany, they are putting up 7.5bn euros; in Asia they have been working on this technology 15 years; and in the UK we have pledged £750m. How can we compete with the world with that? The idea that we could lead on lithium-ion battery technology with that level of investment is non-sensical.

“If that is the budget then we should pick a technological winner and put everything behind it rather than try to play catch up without the budget to do it. Personally, I look at some of the work on autonomy coming out of UK universities and see absolute leadership. Why not invest in productionising that?”

Idea of full autonomy in our lifetime "absurd"

In addition, Palmer spoke about the prospect of full autonomy in his lifetime, talking down the idea that the technology would become widespread.

"Unless it is in a geo-fenced area then you are not going to get full autonomy in the way many people are describing it," he said. "The idea of full autonomy being widespread in my lifetime is absurd. Full Level 5 systems are a moonshot.

"Yes, there will be a typical automotive cycle through stages, from Level 0 upwards - albeit with the mixed section of Level 3 when the car takes control but can hand back to the driver being skipped if commonsense prevails, in my opinion - but the idea of Level 5 in somewhere that isn't geo-fenced isn't comprehensible."

The Government response

Speaking at the same event Alun Cairns MP reiterated the Government’s backing for the automotive sector, saying: “We have committed £1.5bn to R&D in this sector and we will maintain that level of investment and do more if necessary. The Government knows the industry must have the tools to maintain its leadership.”