UK switching to electric vehicles discussion

[jon0844]

I don't know what that means.

I am not entirely sure either, but I can imagine an older bus converted to electric would mean a smoother ride and give it a long lifetime boost - as well as possibly making it usable in low emission zones as more and more are created. We've had accessible buses for a very long time, so they should already be compliant in that regard.

Many classic cars get the EV conversion treatment by specialists, and it's amazing to see their transformation. Some will be devastated at the thought, but it gives new life to older vehicles that haven't rusted away to nothing by now.

 

[johncrossley]

I don't know what that means.

A modern ICE car is already very comfortable and reasonably quiet, although an electric car is better still. An electric bus is vastly more comfortable and quiet than a modern diesel bus.

 

[Bald Rick]

Related to this, I have had a hunch that I have been testign (amateurishly) through my own ‘survey’.

I reckon around 10% of the cars on the roads where I live are now EVs. However, I also had a hunch that there are more EVs than cars that are not ULEZ compliant.

So I counted them over a few days.

And yes, on the roads around here, there are more EVs than cars that are not ULEZ compliant (pre 2015 diesel, pre 2006 petrol).

I then checked autotrader national sales as a decent sample size. Natioanlly around 8% of used cars for sale are EVs, and a similar number are not ULEZ compliant.

I think that is a notable milestone, which I reckon we have passed in the last few months.

 

[styles]

Related to this, I have had a hunch that I have been testign (amateurishly) through my own ‘survey’.

I reckon around 10% of the cars on the roads where I live are now EVs. However, I also had a hunch that there are more EVs than cars that are not ULEZ compliant.

So I counted them over a few days.

And yes, on the roads around here, there are more EVs than cars that are not ULEZ compliant (pre 2015 diesel, pre 2006 petrol).

I then checked autotrader national sales as a decent sample size. Natioanlly around 8% of used cars for sale are EVs, and a similar number are not ULEZ compliant.

I think that is a notable milestone, which I reckon we have passed in the last few months.

Doesn't surprise me.

Two years ago, the percentage of journeys being made within the expanded ULEZ area which were compliant was 97.4%. It must be even more of a minority issue now. Makes you wonder about these 'Bladerunners' and whether they're really doing it for the average working person, or their own infamousy.

 

[Lucan]

A modern ICE car is already very comfortable and reasonably quiet, although an electric car is better still.

Except slightly when accelerating and going up steeper hills, I can't hear the engine of my 20 year old diesel car. All I hear is wind and tyre noise. Admittedly it was an up-market model with attention to sound deadening. I live by a country road where cars are passing at around 50 mph and as a bystander I don't generally hear their engines either, only tyre and wind noise - there is no difference here between EVs and ICs in terms of noise, and what the occupants hear is their concern. The exceptions are sports cars and of course the motorbikes.

This is a favourite biker's route. I've seen it recommended on their websites - with sweeping curves and gradients some treat it like the IoM TT course, and it is one that has had accident statistics signs on it as discouragement. Some motorbikes obviously have the baffles removed from their silencers by their owners in between MoT tests, and a first and easy step to reducing noise on the road would be to stop those riders rather than waiting for EVs to come along. They are not hard to spot; occasionally the noise of one reaches my hearing pain level and I hate to think what it is doing to to their own hearing. One regularly passing motorbike (I assume it is the same one) makes a sound like a shotgun but louder every 200 yards - you can hear it for miles, and I know how loud a shotgun is because the clay pigeon shoot half a mile from me is quiet by comparison. I understand that motorbikes, despite being the noisiest vehicle on the road, will be exempt from the future replacement of IC engines by electric; I'm open and hopeful of correction.

 

[Snow1964]

Some new figures have been published covering UK EVs at end of March 2026

1,864,018 EVs, up 461,382 (32.9%) on same quarter in 2025

Splits as
874,264 company owned (includes leased) up 183,265 (23.2%) vs 2025
860,334 privately owned, up 271,382 (46% increase) vs 2025

As at end of July 2026, approx 2,150,000 EVs in UK (6.2% of all cars)

Private EV ownership rockets as buyers switch on to electric

UK sees biggest quarterly rise on record as new models and petrol price volatility help power private EV purchases

evpowered.co.uk

Recent sales figures of new cars suggest about 45,000 more each month (327,683 battery EVs Jan-July), excluding hybrid and PHEV plug in hybrids

 

[Welly]

I was thinking about EV charging etiquette ie move your car to an ordinary parking space after your car got fully charged at a public EV charging space.

Suppose you plug your EV into a public charger and it finishes charging 100% at 3am in the morning - are you expected to move the EV out at that time?

 

[bspahh]

I was thinking about EV charging etiquette ie move your car to an ordinary parking space after your car got fully charged at a public EV charging space.

Suppose you plug your EV into a public charger and it finishes charging 100% at 3am in the morning - are you expected to move the EV out at that time?

With a slow charger, I would leave it until a reasonable time.

With a fast charger, you should check the terms and conditions for the specific charger. I used a Charging Scotland one last week which had a £30 charge if you stayed there for longer then 70 minutes. I fell asleep and woke up after 62 minutes.

Whatever the precise rules, if there is someone waiting, its polite to move your car as soon as it has finished charging, and not to keep using a fast charger going until your battery is 100% charged, as the charging rate will often drop dramatically as the battery is nearly full.

 

[Noddy]

I was thinking about EV charging etiquette ie move your car to an ordinary parking space after your car got fully charged at a public EV charging space.

Suppose you plug your EV into a public charger and it finishes charging 100% at 3am in the morning - are you expected to move the EV out at that time?

With a slow charger, I would leave it until a reasonable time.

With a fast charger, you should check the terms and conditions for the specific charger. I used a Charging Scotland one last week which had a £30 charge if you stayed there for longer then 70 minutes. I fell asleep and woke up after 62 minutes.

Whatever the precise rules, if there is someone waiting, its polite to move your car as soon as it has finished charging, and not to keep using a fast charger going until your battery is 100% charged, as the charging rate will often drop dramatically as the battery is nearly full.

If you’re using a rapid/Ultra rapid the etiquette is (or should be) to only charge to 80% and then move as it normally takes as long to go from 80 to 100% as it does from 10-80%.

As the OP was discussing finishing charging at 3am I am presuming(?) this is likely to be a slow AC charger. In which case I don’t think it matters as long as you move it at a reasonable time in the morning so another user can have it during the day time.

 

[MicroLithium]

I was thinking about EV charging etiquette ie move your car to an ordinary parking space after your car got fully charged at a public EV charging space.

Suppose you plug your EV into a public charger and it finishes charging 100% at 3am in the morning - are you expected to move the EV out at that time?

My last use of a public AC (slow) charger where this might have been a concern was in a multi story carpark at a hotel in Edinburgh which had dozens of Podpoint chargers, and clearly had plenty of available bays. I moved the car on my way out of the hotel after breakfast the next morning

 

[Noddy]

Some new figures have been published covering UK EVs at end of March 2026

1,864,018 EVs, up 461,382 (32.9%) on same quarter in 2025

Splits as
874,264 company owned (includes leased) up 183,265 (23.2%) vs 2025
860,334 privately owned, up 271,382 (46% increase) vs 2025

As at end of July 2026, approx 2,150,000 EVs in UK (6.2% of all cars)

Private EV ownership rockets as buyers switch on to electric

UK sees biggest quarterly rise on record as new models and petrol price volatility help power private EV purchases

evpowered.co.uk

Recent sales figures of new cars suggest about 45,000 more each month (327,683 battery EVs Jan-July), excluding hybrid and PHEV plug in hybrids

Evidence that the UK has crossed the chasm and is now moving into the ‘early majority’ phase of the Technology Adoption curve.



(Image shows the Technology Adoption curve)

 

[dcbwhaley]

Except slightly when accelerating and going up steeper hills, I can't hear the engine of my 20 year old diesel car. All I hear is wind and tyre noise. Admittedly it was an up-market model with attention to sound deadening. I live by a country road where cars are passing at around 50 mph and as a bystander I don't generally hear their engines either, only tyre and wind noise - there is no difference here between EVs and ICs in terms of noise, and what the occupants hear is their concern. The exceptions are sports cars and of course the motorbikes

I find the sound of motorbike and sports car engines much less disturbing than the tyre and wind noise from other vehicles. Walking or cycling along a major road is purgatory. Doubly annoying to know that the inhabitants of the vehicles are protected from the noise they are imposing on outsiders

 

[jon0844]

Splits as
874,264 company owned (includes leased) up 183,265 (23.2%) vs 2025
860,334 privately owned, up 271,382 (46% increase) vs 2025

Nice to see the data for privately owned, as I think a lot of people believe EVs are only purchased as company cars for tax reasons, or maybe salary sacrifice schemes.

The implication (by those against EVs) being that if there weren't incentives, everyone would want and buy an ICE car. Seems like that isn't the case.

 

[quantinghome]

Evidence that the UK has crossed the chasm and is now moving into the ‘early majority’ phase of the Technology Adoption curve.

View attachment 210930

(Image shows the Technology Adoption curve)

We crossed that in the first half of 2024. The last few months have seen BEV % of new sales in the high 20s, 30% last month (https://newautomotive.org/ecc). It's now a question of how quickly we can get the majority to adopt.

 

[Noddy]

We crossed that in the first half of 2024. The last few months have seen BEV % of new sales in the high 20s, 30% last month (https://newautomotive.org/ecc). It's now a question of how quickly we can get the majority to adopt.

Early majority (the pragmatists post Crossing the Chasm) starts in the low 30%… Thats when the pace picks up as the product (in this case EVs) goes mainstream.

 

[quantinghome]

Early majority (the pragmatists post Crossing the Chasm) starts in the low 30%… Thats when the pace picks up as the product (in this case EVs) goes mainstream.

OK - I took it from the chart that early majority runs from 16% to 50% adoption.

 

[Noddy]

OK - I took it from the chart that early majority runs from 16% to 50% adoption.

You are quite correct, apologies.

 

[quantinghome]

You are quite correct, apologies.

No need, the reality is a lot looser than the %ages on the chart anyway. But the key insight of the 'chasm' is important.

 

[jon0844]

Now we really need to see how many people waited to get a 76 plate on their new EV. Looking forward to the data next month.

 

[Noddy]

No need, the reality is a lot looser than the %ages on the chart anyway. But the key insight of the 'chasm' is important.

Thanks.

Yes, it definitely feels like momentum is shifting especially in the private market. I think the next couple of years will see a very rapid change in the market and those companies calling for a change in the quotas will simply be left behind to die by the others that prepared to make the rapid change the market is moving to.

 

[quantinghome]

Monthly SMMT figures out this morning (https://www.smmt.co.uk/vehicle-data/car-registrations/) which confirm 30% BEV market share for August. Tesla sales vary wildly from month to month which can skew the figures, and they were unusually low for August; in previous years this has meant higher sales in September - we'll see.

 

[Snow1964]

Monthly SMMT figures out this morning (https://www.smmt.co.uk/vehicle-data/car-registrations/) which confirm 30% BEV market share for August. Tesla sales vary wildly from month to month which can skew the figures, and they were unusually low for August; in previous years this has meant higher sales in September - we'll see.

Yes August figures are always low volume before the September reg plate change, and September figures will better show trend

BEV battery electric 28,063 ( 29.8% )
PHEV plug in hybrid 13,707 ( 14.5% )
HEV hybrid 11,940 ( 12.7% )
Petrol 36,048 ( 38.3% )
Diesel 4478 ( 4.8% )

Think it first time petrol has been below 40% for long time

Year to date (Jan - Aug)
BEV 355,746 ( 25.62% )
PHEV 185,198 ( 13.34% )
HEV 194,327 ( 13.99%)
Petrol 589,842 ( 42.47% )
Diesel 63,322 ( 4.58% )

 

[brad465]

Someone recently cited the ability to complete a nearly 200 mile round trip on about £2.50 worth of electric power in their EV, taking advantage of off peak renewables being nearly free of charge. Forget switching to EVs being unrealistic, values like this could be really bad for public transport, especially trains, if prices cannot compete with this.

 

[Noddy]

Someone recently cited the ability to complete a nearly 200 mile round trip on about £2.50 worth of electric power in their EV, taking advantage of off peak renewables being nearly free of charge. Forget switching to EVs being unrealistic, values like this could be really bad for public transport, especially trains, if prices cannot compete with this.

Not just that but the CO2 and NOx impact of train transportation (both passenger and freight) is going to take a real knock when compared to road in the next decade, unless there is a major effort to electrify and convert to battery. Clearly the are other benefits with rail based public transport, but rail may struggle to claim it’s the cleanest form of land travel within a decade or so, and an EV coach, bus or lorry is clearly going to produce less CO2 and NOx than a 20 or 30 or 40 year old diesel.

 

[Snow1964]

Someone recently cited the ability to complete a nearly 200 mile round trip on about £2.50 worth of electric power in their EV, taking advantage of off peak renewables being nearly free of charge. Forget switching to EVs being unrealistic, values like this could be really bad for public transport, especially trains, if prices cannot compete with this.

Without solar it is nearer £4 for 200 miles using overnight electricity
roughly 8p per KW x 50kW at about 4 miles per KWh

Public Transport already doesn't compete on price, I live within 2 minutes of both rail station and bus stop, so could take either instead of car. If I visit my nearest City (Bath) it's about 7 miles each way
Electric car about 30p plus 2 hours parking £3.80 = £4.10
Bus (diesel, noisy and rattling ) is £3 each way = £6
Train (noisy diesel, often broken a/c) off peak return senior railcard = £5.35

So train and bus fail on both ambience and price, not yet 67 years old to get free bus pass. If 2 of us are travelling, then still cheaper even if paying 4 hours parking (Bath charge less per hour parking for low emission cars).

Once have an electric car (quiet, comfortable seats, climate controlled), diesel public transport seems so basic and last century

 

[Harpers Tate]

Someone recently cited the ability to complete a nearly 200 mile round trip on about £2.50 worth of electric power in their EV, taking advantage of off peak renewables being nearly free of charge. Forget switching to EVs being unrealistic, values like this could be really bad for public transport, especially trains, if prices cannot compete with this.

I agree. I'd have preferred to make that trip by train. 2 adults, 2 bikes, unpredictable journey times. Even with railcards, and even with an extremely high probability that those bikes would have come with us (regardless of when we finished our ride and wanted to head home), that would have cost something like 40 x what it did cost. And taken at least twice as long.

Yes, I am comparing purely "fuel" cost and not allowing for the more fixed costs of car use. But, as is typically consciously avoided by those who cite these factors (eg in rail adverts etc.) the public transport provision generally makes car ownership (and thereby those fixed costs) a virtual necessity pretty much anywhere (except perhaps London). Hence those fixed costs are already and unavoidably in play and the meaningful cost of an extraneous leisure trip such as this down to marginal costs - fuel and some wear and tear on tyres etc.

My point, however, in mentioning it earlier in this thread was to illustrate in one small, perhaps untypical example, how cheap EV motoring can be compared to petrol/diesel, in which scenario the fixed and wear & tear costs are going to be similar.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 8 Sep 2026 ==

Without solar it is nearer £4 for 200 miles using overnight electricity

At the moment (and subject to increase when my fixed deal ends) it costs me 1.99p net per unit. When I did that trip, it was 3.99p. At the time, I had no solar. I do now, but still use purely overnight grid power for my EV.

 

[dcbwhaley]

I agree. I'd have preferred to make that trip by train. 2 adults, 2 bikes, unpredictable journey times. Even with railcards, and even with an extremely high probability that those bikes would have come with us (regardless of when we finished our ride and wanted to head home), that would have cost something like 40 x what it did cost. And taken at least twice as long.

Unpredictable journey times? There is nothing predictable about journey times by car. It has taken me between 2hrs and never to drive to Birmingham

 

[Harpers Tate]

Meaning: unpredictable time it would take to do the bike ride and therefore unpredictable departure time esp. for the return journey - hence no "Advance" fares, hence more expensive walk-up fares. In any case, even if we had some "open" type of ticket, the service being hourly would have meant that, had we just missed one, that would add ~1hr onto the elapsed time bringing it up from >3 hrs to >4 hours. The road trip took ~2 hours.

 

[dcbwhaley]

Meaning: unpredictable time it would take to do the bike ride and therefore unpredictable departure time esp. for the return journey - hence no "Advance" fares, hence more expensive walk-up fares. In any case, even if we had some "open" type of ticket, the service being hourly would have meant that, had we just missed one, that would add ~1hr onto the elapsed time bringing it up from >3 hrs to >4 hours. The road trip took ~2 hours.

Could you gaurentee the road trip taking two hours. If your life depended on making that trip how long would you allow?

 

[Harpers Tate]

No. Neither could I guarantee that a rail trip would take a specified amount of time. I make the elapsed time comparison purely to illustrate. In "normal" conditions (i.e. without any substantial delay) the trip by train would take around 2x longer than by car.

But my original post was not talking about elapsed journey time. I was talking about total flexibility of (esp. return) departure time which costs no more in a car than a defined one. I am talking about the fact that, in order to qualify for an unpredictable departure time by rail, one has to buy a walk-up fare, and it is therefore that fare against which I was making a cost comparison. And there remains the question of availability of cycle space.