There’s a warning that switch to electric cars risks taking far longer than hoped as demand stalls in Europe and America.

The Telegraph says Liam Butterworth, chief executive of car parts supplier GKN Automotive’s parent Dowlais, said the scrapping of electric vehicle ax breaks in countries such as Germany had triggered a sales slowdown that was reverberating through the industry.

The report explains this is translating into smaller orders for component suppliers, as big car manufacturers including Ford, Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz push back production schedules.

Mr Butterworth is quoted by the Telegraph as saying: “Consumer sentiment associated with EVs – when you look at insurance, residual values and charging infrastructure – has clearly got to a point where the pace of the transition has slowed down significantly.

“My view is that transition is going to take much, much longer than anybody expected.”

It adds concerns continued to grow this week, as it emerged Volkswagen may delay the launch of a new version of its ID.4 electric car from 2026 until the early 2030s.

(Picture – Yay Images)