Sun Chariot
Established Member
Hampshire Constabulary has at least one Kia EV6 GT
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UK switching to electric vehicles discussion
- Thread starter MattA7
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The headline news of the launch of Govt subsidy funding worth £650mn needs expansion "the small print", the subsidy funding is for the purchase of new ZEVs until 2029, .Government announces subsidy grant for EVs priced under £37k
Discount of up to £3,750 on electric cars set to slash costs for thousands
Car manufacturers can apply for the Electric Car Grant from 16 July 2025.www.gov.uk
The FT reports, there will be eligibility scoring for ZEVs, the score will be based on, vehicle RRP with a maximum of £37,000, manufacturing -sustainability, carbon emissions of of the electricity grid of the country of origin.
ZEVs which meet the highest scores will be eligible a subsidy of up to £3750, some which are below the highest scores eligible for a subsidy of up to £1500, others will receive zero subsidy, the FT reports most Chinese-made ZEVs will receive zero subsidy.
Manufacturers to enter the funding scheme must have a net-zero target for their models , under the criteria for elegibilty, battery production and vehicle assembly will be treated as individual processes.
Irrelevant in the context of the thread discussion about the UK transition to EVs.
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So what? It's also easier to find a toilet than a petrol pump.
Snow1964
Established Member
There is update of the number of public chargers in UK
82,002 chargers, of which 16,677 are rapid (over 50kw)
www.gov.uk
Doesn't give any indication of geographic spread, although the average is about 120 per parliamentary constituency, it is known to be a very uneven distribution.
82,002 chargers, of which 16,677 are rapid (over 50kw)
Developing faster indicators of transport activity
To monitor transport activity on a timelier basis for topical issues relating to transport.
Doesn't give any indication of geographic spread, although the average is about 120 per parliamentary constituency, it is known to be a very uneven distribution.
In 2023, London had just under a third of all the UK's EV chargers. Even factoring in different EV ownership rates and populations, London has 3x as many EV chargers per EV owned as the national average.There is update of the number of public chargers in UK
82,002 chargers, of which 16,677 are rapid (over 50kw)
Developing faster indicators of transport activity
To monitor transport activity on a timelier basis for topical issues relating to transport.
Doesn't give any indication of geographic spread, although the average is about 120 per parliamentary constituency, it is known to be a very uneven distribution.
The Mayor also claims that by volume and by proportion, London has the most rapid and public EV chargers of any European city, which is a bold claim, but even if it's slightly off, it's a pretty good achievement.. for London.
The rest of the UK is lacking in comparison. Though equally I don't think it's as bad as some EV opponents make out. I know plenty of EV owners and none of them have mentioned finding a place to charge as a downside, except in remote places (e.g. one pal staying at Glenbrittle SYHA found both the Portree chargers were out of action).
As an EV driver I think current provision is adequate and getting better all the time as new chargers are going in all over the place.
I haven't queued for a charge for over 2 years now.
I noticed a small queue for the Ionity charges at Peterborough services, where there were only 6 bays.. but they are in the process of adding what appears to be another 10-20 bays so I doubt there will be queues then. There was also a small Gridserve area too, but these were chargers with CCS + CHAdeMO, so if you needed one charger type over another and it was already used by the adjacent bay, you couldn't charge.
Newer ones will have two CCS and maybe a third CHAdeMO, so only two CHAdeMO users will have to wait for a cable. I expect in due course, they'll all become CCS only and users of cars with CHAdeMO will just need to carry an adapter.
The British Vehicle Rental & Leasing Association has a campaign to increase the number of destination chargers It has a link to write to your MP.
It says:"EV charging infrastructure is expanding rapidly, but destination chargers, where drivers park for hours, are still underrepresented, affecting user trust."
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Given how much easier and cheaper it is to install a 3-7kWh charger than a 350kWh one, it certainly makes sense to push destination chargers - especially when most cars are sitting doing nothing for the majority of the day/night.
A look on Zapmap does reveal that there are still many more sub-50kWh chargers than rapid/ultra-rapid ones, and I've noticed that many Anti-EV posters are quick to point out that there are so few ultra rapids and that you'll need to wait 4 or 5 hours to charge your car. Because, naturally, you'd stop at a slow charger when doing your urgent 500 mile trip to visit your sick nan.
A look on Zapmap does reveal that there are still many more sub-50kWh chargers than rapid/ultra-rapid ones, and I've noticed that many Anti-EV posters are quick to point out that there are so few ultra rapids and that you'll need to wait 4 or 5 hours to charge your car. Because, naturally, you'd stop at a slow charger when doing your urgent 500 mile trip to visit your sick nan.
martin butler
Member
- Joined
- 9 Oct 2018
- Messages
- 883
The charging network needs to improve, and how vehicles charge possibly at the same time, The biggest issue is when you can't charge at home, because you can't guarantee a parking spot, if like many you have on street parking, so you will need to have somewhere where you can fast charge your car, So battery technology will have to change, to allow fast charging, in say 5 minutes,
It's the lack of infrastructure to support electric cars, that's the drawback, what's needed are a mixture of charging stations, with ultra fast chargers, and for longer stay car parks to have a plug in and leave capacity so that you can charge your car, whilst its parked, but I would guess for the majority, who for whom , home charging isn't possible then the only option has to be fast charging stations,
It's the lack of infrastructure to support electric cars, that's the drawback, what's needed are a mixture of charging stations, with ultra fast chargers, and for longer stay car parks to have a plug in and leave capacity so that you can charge your car, whilst its parked, but I would guess for the majority, who for whom , home charging isn't possible then the only option has to be fast charging stations,
Narrowgauge725
Member
As an EV driver my biggest gripe is where chargers are not maintained. Often local authority car parks have none working ones that never get sorted. Kirklees being particularly bad for this. Fortunately lots more chargers are appearing. In the two years I have always managed but sometimes it takes a visit to two or three different sites to find a working charger.
That said 90% of my mileage is done by home charging so most of the time it doesn’t matter.
That said 90% of my mileage is done by home charging so most of the time it doesn’t matter.
Councils seem to be very good (sarcasm) at doing deals with somewhat dodgy firms. There are many councils that are finding the slow charging stations they outsourced to go in their car parks aren't working most of the time - despite being the cheapest and easiest ones to install.
The companies seem to do very little to fix things (maybe little incentive to do so as they made their money installing the chargers paid for through council tax - which I assume is likely the case, rather than a firm taking on the risk themselves) until the media picks up, then they say 'sorry, we're working on it' and maybe does or doesn't do anything.
Our council is now getting involved with the Solar Together scheme, where potentially the worst of the worst low-end contractors and sub-contractors get to fit solar panels and batteries badly (if you look at numerous reports and videos online) and get the work because of the supposed endorsement of the local authority. The LA has no control over the work, and quite often the prices aren't even that good - but it's all done as if it's a community supported scheme and you're benefitting from economy of scale. Sadly, you're quite possibly getting badly fitted panels and batteries and electrical work that at best is untidy, and at worst potentially dangerous.
I do hope more hotels, pubs, restaurants, shopping malls and leisure centres look at installing destination chargers. There's a clear incentive to do so when their visitors are looking to charge and might pick you over someone who doesn't have chargers - and may also encourage people to stay around for longer. An extra hour can add a lot more miles, so after shopping, why don't we eat here too? Make it cheap enough so people will pick you over someone else, and you're now encouraging people to make more visits as few people are going to stay in their vehicle for slow charges.
The companies seem to do very little to fix things (maybe little incentive to do so as they made their money installing the chargers paid for through council tax - which I assume is likely the case, rather than a firm taking on the risk themselves) until the media picks up, then they say 'sorry, we're working on it' and maybe does or doesn't do anything.
Our council is now getting involved with the Solar Together scheme, where potentially the worst of the worst low-end contractors and sub-contractors get to fit solar panels and batteries badly (if you look at numerous reports and videos online) and get the work because of the supposed endorsement of the local authority. The LA has no control over the work, and quite often the prices aren't even that good - but it's all done as if it's a community supported scheme and you're benefitting from economy of scale. Sadly, you're quite possibly getting badly fitted panels and batteries and electrical work that at best is untidy, and at worst potentially dangerous.
I do hope more hotels, pubs, restaurants, shopping malls and leisure centres look at installing destination chargers. There's a clear incentive to do so when their visitors are looking to charge and might pick you over someone who doesn't have chargers - and may also encourage people to stay around for longer. An extra hour can add a lot more miles, so after shopping, why don't we eat here too? Make it cheap enough so people will pick you over someone else, and you're now encouraging people to make more visits as few people are going to stay in their vehicle for slow charges.
johncrossley
Established Member
Has anyone hired a small EV recently in the London and south east area and got a good deal?
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
Hired EVs in my experience seem to be grossly overpriced across the board. Shame, really.
Can you hire any sort of car for a good price these days, and not get stung with all the extra fees, covers, waivers and someone trying to claim damages when you return?
I've never had any issues with Enterprise. I take out my own hire car insurance for about £40/year with RAC. Don't bother with any extras.
Only once had someone from Enterprise try to claim some tyre damage - I showed the original video/photos I took and they agreed it was already there. I hadn't actually spotted it myself when I took the photos/video so it was easily missed.
They're not the cheapest to hire from but nevermind. Part of the reason I started using them was they let you hire the day you pass your test, whereas most others require 1+ or 2+ years gap between passing your test and hiring a car. They do have a minimum age policy instead. I was in my early 30s and needed to hire a car about 2 months after passing.
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
I've used Enterprise too (solely because they're the one directly outside Bletchley station) and found them fine (domestic car hire is nothing like as disreputable as that in holiday resort type places), but hiring EVs is much costlier than an equivalent ICE at present. Even an automatic adds a significant cost most of the time.
61653 HTAFC
Veteran Member
I wouldn't trust Kirklees Council to change a 9v battery in a smoke alarm, let alone handle the high voltage connections to an EV charger!
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Didn't all the big hire firms make a big stink about going electric a few years ago? You'd think they'd want to encourage customers to select EVs rather than ICEVs... The EV advocates keep telling us how much cheaper an EV is to own, so why do they cost so much to hire?
A cynic might say that it was all just greenwashing, and the hire firms now find themselves in a financial hole due to depreciation. I couldn't possibly comment!
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Hiring EVs tends to be a bit of a disaster, given how many hotels don't have charging and that the rental companies usually insist that they are returned with a high state of charge. Not to mention trying to find and use chargers abroad. Don't have any experience of it personally or in the UK though.
61653 HTAFC
Veteran Member
That's really something that needs sorting out if a wholesale transition is desired. With an ICE car, pretty much everything is familiar enough when you hire a car on holiday, but if an ICE owner hires an EV they'll have to adapt years-long routines and habits in an unfamiliar environment.
This will also be many people's first experience of living with an EV, and a poor experience (whether that's down to lack of preparedness, lack of charging facilities in the area, or poor customer service/support from the hire company) will likely put people off switching.
MicroLithium
Member
The pandemic was a problem (Hertz went bankrupt, for example), and they also bought a lot of Teslas which turned out to be a bad idea due to higher than average repair costs and big cuts to the list price of new vehicles cutting into residual values
Given how inept they are at everything else, I wouldn't trust Cardiff Council to charge my phone, let alone a car. Thankfully I have a driveway at home so when I buy an electric car, I will charge it here.
A fully EV? Usually lack of exhaust pipe, but that hasn't stopped some manufacturers or strange car owners putting fake exhausts on.
pokemonsuper9
Established Member
No exhaust pipe.
Also plenty will have the green licence plates.
Also all Teslas are electric.
Sun Chariot
Established Member
That's the "spot" I use.
@BingMan The vertical green bar, the left side of the vehicle registration number plate.
As other have said the green stripe on a licence plate is the best at a glance indicator although a lot of EV don’t have it especially if they are older.
Many many models are built as EVs only. For example the entire VW iD series, the Kia EV series, all Polestars (apart from the Polestar 1), the Ford Mustang Mach E, MG4, Volvo EX30.
For some models where there are both ICE and EV versions of the same model there are ‘tells’. For example the Ford Puma ICE has a grill at the front to allow airflow to the radiator, but this is blanked off with a solid plate in the EV version.
For the detailed specification of a UK registered car, type the registration number into https://vehicleenquiry.service.gov.uk/
martin butler
Member
- Joined
- 9 Oct 2018
- Messages
- 883
A dead giveaway is that there is no gear lever, even automatics will have some way of changing from Park to drive, and reverse, electric cars don't have anything, only a two-way switch, for go and reverse. that, and the numberplate, blanked off grills, often with the charge point in the grill on some models, but the model designation, often, will have some clues,
GusB
Established Member
There's a an interesting review of the BAW Pony on the Hubnut YouTube channel. It's a "quadricycle" rather than a car, but the price point is reckoned to be around the £12-14k mark. Range isn't huge, but it looks like a useful runabout for short trips; possibly more suitable as a delivery vehicle.
The video is here:
My only issue is with the manufacturer's name; the marketing team probably haven't considered how the name "BAW" will be received in Scotland...
The video is here:
My only issue is with the manufacturer's name; the marketing team probably haven't considered how the name "BAW" will be received in Scotland...