I think I see a typo, not 400kW, the poster meant 40 kW.
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UK switching to electric vehicles discussion
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Snow1964
Established Member
SMMT have issued May new car sales data.
May was few weeks after higher fuel prices, and a number of incentives (eg electric car grant) have pushed pure electric to over a quarter of sales.
Continuing upward volumes of electric cars, growing about 10,000 per week
BEV battery electric 43,931 (27.3%)
PHEV plug in hybrid 22,167 (13.8%)
HEV hybrid vehicle 20,719 (12.9%)
Petrol 66,223 (41.2%)
Diesel 7622 (4.7%)
www.smmt.co.uk
May was few weeks after higher fuel prices, and a number of incentives (eg electric car grant) have pushed pure electric to over a quarter of sales.
Continuing upward volumes of electric cars, growing about 10,000 per week
BEV battery electric 43,931 (27.3%)
PHEV plug in hybrid 22,167 (13.8%)
HEV hybrid vehicle 20,719 (12.9%)
Petrol 66,223 (41.2%)
Diesel 7622 (4.7%)
New car market grows as consumers respond to choice and incentives - SMMT
The UK’s new car market delivered its strongest May performance since before the pandemic, with registrations rising 7.1% to 160,662 units, according to the latest figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers...
www.smmt.co.uk
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SMMT have issued May new car sales,
May was few weeks after higher fuel prices, and a number of incentives (eg electric car grant) have pushed pure electric to over a quarter
BEV battery electric 43,931 (27.3%)
PHEV plug in hybrid 22,167 (13.8%)
HEV hybrid vehicle 20,719 (12.9%)
Petrol 66,223 (41.2%)
Diesel 7622 (4.7%)
New car market grows as consumers respond to choice and incentives - SMMT
The UK’s new car market delivered its strongest May performance since before the pandemic, with registrations rising 7.1% to 160,662 units, according to the latest figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers...
Encouraging, and naturally there will be variations around the country. Over 50% of the 26 plate cars I see are EVs; that is mostly in London and Hertfordshire. But what happens here will follow elsewhere.
I have a standard measurement for EV take up, and that is how many I count being driven (not parked) on the walk to the station, using the same route and exactly the same time of day. It naturally varies, and there are fewer types of all cars during school holidays. However for a few months now my record has been 31, which was equalled back in late March. However on Monday it was smashed, and went to 42. I assumed this was a statistical anomonaly. So counted again on Tuesday - 40. Then Wednesday - 41! So it seems the good folk of St Albans have taken delivery of some EVs in the last few weeks!
Peter Sarf
Established Member
Perhaps your walking route has gained some diverted traffic due to a road closure nearby ?. If your count fairly soon goes back down then that may be proof. Either that or you have taken to walking along the M1 !.
Definitely not the M1!
Peter Sarf
Established Member
I believe you - cos there would be more than 42 unless you walk very quickly !.
Following with the anecdotal evidence; in just a three mile drive, I passed FOUR Renault 5s! A neighbour has a family member that visits with a brand new Alpine version.
I'm not sure when the Nissan Micra variant goes on sale, and we have the Ford Fiesta version next year, but these snazzy small cars are bound to see numbers of EV sales rising - and other car makers seem to finally realise the errors made by going after big SUVs for so many years. Citroen now aims to bring back the 2CV and make it one of the cheapest EVs on the road.
(I've also seen a few Dacia Springs, but I think that car is perhaps a little too Marmite-ish and ridiculed such that a lot of people probably wouldn't even entertain the idea of getting one, despite the fact I took a test drive and it's a perfect car for many people. Too small for me, but a very good, cheap, city car and ideal as a second car).
Exciting times!
And the Cupra Raval (due on the streets next month) and the ID polo (next year). Both will fly off the forecourts. Cupra rang me this morning to say there is a special sales event on and would I like to go, no idea how they got my number!
Yes there‘s quite a few Dacia Springs round here, also Hyundai Insters which are similar. They do look a bit roller-skatey, but then so are lots of other cars.
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More anecdotes - there are at least SIX Renault 5s within half a mile of my house. Albeit 3 of them are GT Turbos
BananaRepublic
Member
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- 824
South Hampshire here and lots of EV's around.
In fact, loads of them.
Tesla's everywhere.
Just drive a couple of miles up the road and you are guaranteed to see at least half a dozen, various EV's within a few minutes of leaving home.
Renault 5's are an increasingly common sight.
Saw my first Micra out on the road last week, so deliveries must have started. I saw one in the flesh last year at Farnborough (the Everything Electric Show).
I also spied my first all-new Leaf on the M3, a couple of weeks ago. The only one I've seen out in the wild, since its debut at Farnborough.
Don't forget that the SMMT figures for Petrol & Diesel, include Mild-Hybrids.
Going on the previous 4 months of this year, un-electrified ICE (petrol plus Diesel combined) are now below 25% market share.
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In fact, loads of them.
Tesla's everywhere.
Just drive a couple of miles up the road and you are guaranteed to see at least half a dozen, various EV's within a few minutes of leaving home.
Renault 5's are an increasingly common sight.
Saw my first Micra out on the road last week, so deliveries must have started. I saw one in the flesh last year at Farnborough (the Everything Electric Show).
I also spied my first all-new Leaf on the M3, a couple of weeks ago. The only one I've seen out in the wild, since its debut at Farnborough.
Don't forget that the SMMT figures for Petrol & Diesel, include Mild-Hybrids.
Going on the previous 4 months of this year, un-electrified ICE (petrol plus Diesel combined) are now below 25% market share.
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My eldest had an event at their school at the weekend (for an activity which will be selected by those who are more likely to be sightly more affluent than not) now whilst the school is in a fairly affluent area, at least 1/2 the cars which did drop off were EV's.
Even doing some longer distance trips recently there's a noticeable number of EV's.
I've not been counting EV's recent on walks, but given 8 years ago it was a good day to see a total 2 and now without trying you can see 2 just trying to cross one road some days.
Even doing some longer distance trips recently there's a noticeable number of EV's.
I've not been counting EV's recent on walks, but given 8 years ago it was a good day to see a total 2 and now without trying you can see 2 just trying to cross one road some days.
Not seen an Inster in the wild but they're great cars from a flexibility point of view. One minute a standard 4 seater car, the next a mini van or overnight camper (if you get the version with all seats folding flat). This sort of innovation deserves more praise, but like the Spring I suspect a lot of people are put off because they think they'll look silly.
Aside from the price, you don't see people in cities here buying the Citroen Ami despite it being great for urban use (30mph and below) because people think they look silly. Yet you'll see the Ami all over Paris and the Fiat variant in other countries.
More anecdotes - there are at least SIX Renault 5s within half a mile of my house. Albeit 3 of them are GT Turbos
Not seen an original in some years, but did see two kids in a mint Escort RS Turbo not so long ago. Half expected it to be driven by someone in their 50s reminiscing the good old days, but they can't have been older than 20.
That's another car that should be brought back... and where are the convertibles of the 1980s and 90s? Brits used to buy more open tops than other countries despite our climate, but now they're simply not a thing. Was it crash worthiness that killed them, lack of boot space or reliability issues?
I don't know, but unlikely to be boot space, as with the top up the boot was huge.
Not that I ever owned one, but did drive one quite a bit as my driving instructors car was a Ford Escort Convertible, which meant that I learnt to use my wing mirrors quite well as the rest window was quite small.
Peter Sarf
Established Member
I wonder if aircon has become a more favourable feature then a convertable. Certainly aircon does not work in an opened convertable.
BananaRepublic
Member
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I've seen a few Inster's out on the road, but not a huge number.
It's subjective, but the gawky big round lights, clash with the sleek lights above, giving it a silly look, IMHO.
It's a bit of a Tardis inside.
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It's subjective, but the gawky big round lights, clash with the sleek lights above, giving it a silly look, IMHO.
It's a bit of a Tardis inside.
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Oh it works alright. And it does keep you cooler than you would otherwise be. Similalrly with the heating on in the cold with the roof down.
Not very efficient, though, granted!
I wondered that but the cars I drove always had powerful air con so you still got to blast cold air on your face. Obviously inefficient but did the job.
Snow1964
Established Member
Visiting my daughter in Dorset (Wimborne area), and went for stroll earlier, and must have seen 15+ EVs on her estate, so becoming lot more common where people have driveways for easy charging.
Actually this morning I had only taken about 10 steps from my front door when I saw 2 EV's driving past!
That's of course very unusual - I rarely see any 2 cars driving past even after about 50 steps!
Indeed, If market share keeps growing at current rates in 5 years EV's will be somewhere between 20 and 25% of cars on the roads.
HSTEd
Veteran Member
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The next question is HGVs.....
On conventional cars, I'm keeping my eye on the petrol sales stats to see if the downward spiral has got going yet.
Again, people who are perhaps sceptical of EVs vastly overestimate how much of HGV traffic is long distance hauling. From DfT stats Domestic road freight statistics, United Kingdom: 2024
There are easy wins and harder ones. Electric Rigid HGV deliveries to local supermarkets are pretty easy. Short distances travelled, lots of time stopped loading to charge, always return to the same distribution hubs overnight. Trans-Europe haulage is harder, but doable in time with the right investment in charging infrastructure.
Saw 2 x HGV EVs today.
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Peter Sarf
Established Member
It is only a matter of time - the switch to EVs.
HGVs not obvious yet.
Perhaps if some new technology comes along EV might not progress any further BUT I do not see it on the horizon.
Looking back
Diesel never completely took over from Petrol for cars.
Gas (LPG conversions remember them) never really got off the ground, did better then Hydrogen though.
I will stand back and watch as I am not often an early adopter with any technology. I might be too old to drive before an EV becomes inevitable. EVs for me will not be anytime soon as I run cheap good depreciated cars (bangers) and living in London I rely on walking and public transport as much as possible.
I really would like to see the human race rely on the car less and EVS don't make that likely.
BananaRepublic
Member
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With now over 2 million EV cars registered on British roads, I'd not surprising they are becoming a common sight.
There should be half a million more added in 2026, going by the current rate of new registrations.
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There should be half a million more added in 2026, going by the current rate of new registrations.
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Realistically, is there going to be anything other than electric as the future?
The battery chemistries and densities can change, but ultimately they'll all have the same plug socket to accept a charge as any other electric vehicle. They'll all be EVs and so will whatever we come up with in the next 10, 20, 30 or 50 years.
Are we looking at another way to propel electric trains in the future? To me, I see a future of electric trains with onboard batteries for areas where it isn't cost effective to put up wires - not switch to hydrogen or some other fuel.
I suggest you have a look at the electric trucker Youtube channel. Electric HGVs are probably closer than you think
I would have thought it was quite easy to electrify long-distance lorries given there are required breaks at regular intervals, which could be ample time to charge up at those rest times.
To me, the big challenge isn't packing in the biggest battery possible in a lorry but having lots of places to charge when you need to park up for your rest break.
The car infrastructure has moved on loads, with lots of places to charge between London and Penzance (there's a bit of a gap in choice options through the Black down Hills, but that's due to be down graded and traffic sent to Taunton, so why would anyone look to invest there).
That is very different to 2 years ago when there was noticeably less (we were considering a replacement car and so looked at EV charging and it was OK but there was a greater risk of finding a lack of chargers at sites and fewer sites to pick from).
We now have an EV (using rechecked about 7 months ago) and the choice is much better.
There's even sites which have a shed with a coffee machine and a vending machine (contactsless payments) so you can grab refreshments but the site doesn't need to be staffed.
Few sites are currently suitable for trucks, but as they change over that's likely to shift fairly quickly.
There are fairly struck rules about the use of EV trucks in the Netherlands coming soon (i.e. that they must be used type rules) so these guys have some:
StageTruck Ltd
Our two electric trucks are working hard from our Netherlands depot #100%electric #fullycharged #electric #stagetruckbv #stagetruckuk
www.facebook.com
Also one of their female drivers has used them and reported (favourably) on their experience on TicTok (as someone who hasn't even driven an EV car):
Maybe a decade or so to get there, but likely a faster uptake when it does happen.
It definitely seems more logical to charge often if you have to take breaks anyway than keep looking for the perfect vehicle that can do 1,000s of miles with no stopping.
I sold my diesel many years ago and, sure, it was nice to not fill up as often but it's not as if I was ever going to use a full tank without having stopped and had a chance to fill up a smaller tank (as I indeed did when downsizing to a car with a much smaller fuel tank and petrol).
With an EV, given you just plug in for a few seconds then go off and do something else, it's the easiest by far in my opinion. And I've been driving for a long time, so nobody can tell me that it's better to fill up a tank quickly - I've been there and done that probably thousands of times and don't miss it one bit.
I sold my diesel many years ago and, sure, it was nice to not fill up as often but it's not as if I was ever going to use a full tank without having stopped and had a chance to fill up a smaller tank (as I indeed did when downsizing to a car with a much smaller fuel tank and petrol).
With an EV, given you just plug in for a few seconds then go off and do something else, it's the easiest by far in my opinion. And I've been driving for a long time, so nobody can tell me that it's better to fill up a tank quickly - I've been there and done that probably thousands of times and don't miss it one bit.