Demand for electrified vehicles has overtaken that of diesel-powered models for the first time in the leasing sector, according to Leasing.com.
Sales enquiry data from the car leasing comparison site shows demand for electrified vehicles – consisting of battery electric vehicles (BEVs), plug-in hybrid (PHEV) and hybrid vehicles – has been steadily increasing since the start of the year and has outperformed demand for diesel vehicles throughout the second quarter of 2021.
This reflects the overall new car market’s shift away from diesel, as highlighted in the latest registration figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and traders. In the year to date diesel vehicles have achieved an 18% market share, while electrified vehicles have managed 21.7%.
Volkswagen ID 4 (Image: Volkswagen.co.uk)
Dave Timmis, managing director of Leasing.com, said: “We’ve been planning for the UK market to shift towards electric drivetrains, but the rate at which they’ve overtaken diesel has been surprising.
“The rise of electric vehicles is being driven by increased accessibility. The market was previously dominated by relatively expensive models such as the Tesla Model S, while newer cost-effective models like the Hyundai Ioniq and the Vauxhall Corsa E are now opening up EVs to all motorists in the UK and leasing is helping to make them affordable.”
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With any transformation of an industry – and in particular an industry that relies so heavily on consumer habits and preferences – there are a myriad of questions to be answered and hurdles to be solved. Anyone familiar the decarbonisation of transport could probably give you a list as long as your arm: the availability of chargepoints, the impact of increased use of electricity on the grid, electricity vs hydrogen, the high upfront cost of electric vehicles (EVs) etc.
Although these require long-term planning that must start now, most will not become problems unless mass uptake of EVs is achieved. However, this can’t happen without a clear, concise plan to support everyone – and not just your typical early adopter – in making the switch. Without a plan, the high upfront costs and lack of driveways for private home chargers in many communities run a real risk of remaining too prohibitive.
Early adopters of new technologies are typically not your average user, and often reflect not only those who are clued up but also those who can afford to shell out on a new bit of new kit. Seen time and time again across many different sectors, the example perhaps most well known by those in the energy circles is domestic rooftop solar PV, which in the heady days of the early feed-in tariff was predominantly adopted in more affluent areas with a high proportion of detached housing, according to statistics released by what was then the Department of Energy and Climate Change in 2012.
Indeed, this is also a trend that EVs are seemingly following. A 2015 report for the Department for Transport found that most private EV owners at the time were middle-aged, male, well-educated, affluent and lived in areas with households containing two or more cars, and with the ability to charge at home.
Ubitricity Electric Avenue project lamppost charging (Image: Siemens)
Of course, this was six years ago and there has therefore, been plenty of time for the demographics to change. However a 2019 report carried out by Frontier Economics on behalf of the Environmental Defense Fund found that wealthy people were still buying EVs at higher rates than those on lower incomes, and that half of all ultra-low emission vehicles were owned by households in the richest two income deciles, compared to only a quarter for internal combustion engines (ICE). Meanwhile, households in the lowest two income deciles made up just 4% of ULEV owners, but over 10% of ICE vehicle owners.
There are a number of reasons behind this, with the upfront cost of an EV – which is higher than an ICE equivalent despite lower lifetime costs – a key factor, although it will likely change as prices continue to fall.
A second factor is that many lower income households, particularly in urban areas, do not have access to off street parking via driveways, meaning they are unable to install a private chargepoint. This either results in them having to rely on more expensive public rapid charging, or being left out of the transition completely.
In fact, the 2019-2020 English Housing Survey by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government found that in the social housing sector, just 1% of dwellings were classed as detached houses – and therefore more likely to have a driveway – while 36% were purpose built high-rise flats, a significant increase on the 11% in the private sector.
On-street charging and moving away from the early adopter
So how do you solve this, and place the entire breadth of society at the heart of this transition? It would be easy for the EV charging sector to put this problem on the backburner and target the low hanging fruit of the typical early adopter, but just a quick glance at the work of some of the well-known names – and indeed lesser known – in the sector proves otherwise.
Enter on-street charging. Enter companies like ubitricity, Connected Kerb, Source London, Trojan Energy, Char.gy and many more. Enter a different way of thinking of EV charging.
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Royal Mail is to boost its UK electric vehicle (EV) fleet ten-fold as part of its plans to slash emissions.
An additional 3,000 vehicles are to be rolled out, with EV charging points to be installed at all the Delivery Offices set to receive the vehicles.
It follows the launch in May of Royal Mail’s first ever Delivery Office to feature an all-electric fleet of collection and delivery vehicles. Six electric charging posts and 12 charging points were installed to support the electrification of the 23 diesel delivery and collection vans at The Bristol East Central Delivery Office.
Now, other Delivery Offices across the UK are being considered for similar fleet makeovers in the coming months, with a particular focus on those in places with existing Clean Air Zones, or plans to introduce them.
BP Chargemaster Rapid Charger at Milton Keynes Charging Hub (Image: T. Larkum)
In early 2020, Royal Mail signed a three-year deal with EDF for the provision of EV chargers to support its fleet electrification. The following month, the French energy firm acquired EV charging company Pod Point, having already acquired battery storage and EV charging company Pivot Power.
Royal Mail, meanwhile, has been involved in several trials and fleet electrification projects, including the Optimise Prime project exploring how to mitigate the impact of commercial EV electrification on networks. It was also part of London Electric Vehicle Company’s real-world testing and trial phase for its VN5 alongside DPD and Octopus Energy.
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A new analysis from Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) suggests that global sales of gas-powered cars likely peaked in 2017, marking a major milestone in the shift to electric vehicles.
Demand for conventional vehicles fell in 2018 and 2019 before dropping sharply in 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic. While sales are likely to rebound as the pandemic ebbs, growing demand for plug-in vehicles means that gas-powered cars are almost certainly in “permanent decline,” according to the report.
BNEF projects that global EV sales will go from from 3.1 million in 2020 to 14 million in 2025, driven by falling costs for lithium-ion batteries and new policies that encourage the adoption of electric cars. The analysis finds that, in the business-as-usual scenario, EVs will account for a majority of new car sales by around 2035. To reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, however, electric cars will need to account for 100 percent of new sales by 2035. To reach that goal, governments must enact new policies to accelerate the transition to electric vehicles and instate new regulations on electrifying heavy trucks, according to the report.
2020 Renault Zoe (Image: Renault)
“The growth of electric transport is an amazing success story to date, and the future of the EV market is bright. But there are still over 1.2 billion combustion cars on the road and the fleet turns over slowly,” Colin McKerracher, head of the advanced transport team at BNEF, said in a statement. “Reaching net zero by mid-century will require all hands on deck, particularly for trucks and other heavy commercial vehicles where the transition has barely started.”
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Many motorists charging their vehicle at home don’t even know special cost-cutting deals exist
You’ve taken delivery of a shiny new electric car, and the plug-in charger is being installed next week. You’re almost ready to go – just don’t forget to switch to a specialist electricity tariff. If you don’t, your bills could end up at least £300 a year higher than they need to be.
Over the past few years, most of the big electricity suppliers have launched tariffs aimed at the growing number of electric vehicle (EV) owners who need to charge them up at home.
These tariffs, which are reminiscent of the Economy 7 deals popular in the 70s, typically reward drivers who are happy to charge their cars during the off-peak hours with the lowest prices. With most cars parked at home overnight, this is likely to apply to many owners.
Instead of the 12p-15p/kWh that most of us pay for each unit of our everyday electricity, users on the specialist tariffs can reduce the cost to 4.5p-5p/kWh at night. In some rare cases, owners will even be paid to charge their cars because there is excess capacity in the grid.
Despite the big savings, a surprising number of EV owners haven’t cottoned on to the fact that these tariffs even exist, and are therefore overpaying for their electricity as a result, say experts.
Charging with an Ohme smart charging cable
“You’d be amazed at the number of people who spend hours researching which electric car to buy or lease but don’t consider how they are going to charge it up at home,” says Laura Thomson, a co-founder of the specialist comparison website PowermyEV.co.uk. “Getting yourself on a specialist EV electricity tariff is not only one of the greenest things you can do, it will also save you hundreds of pounds a year.”
Until recently, Octopus Energy was the go-to electricity supplier for anyone charging an EV at home, with its Go tariff offering the best rate. While its tariffs will still be the cheapest deal for many EV owners, the company is facing growing competition from firms such as EDF, which has been pushing its new GoElectric 35 EV tariff.
On these deals, EV owners are typically paying a little over 1p a mile to power their cars. The last time driving costs were that low was the early 1970s, according to EDF.
So how do you find the right EV tariff for you?
As ever with energy deals, the best deal will vary according to your circumstances and consumption requirements. The Power My EV website is not perfect but it’s a great starting point that will calculate which tariff is best for your particular usage.
To find a deal you need to input details of your car, how much you drive, and your other home energy use, and the site does the rest. For ease, we found that it was better to exclude gas usage from the calculation.
We found a Renault Zoe owner who drives 10,000 miles a year, including a commute four days a week, and charges up at their Hertfordshire home would save more than £330 a year by being on the cheapest EV tariff.
PowerMyEV calculated that Octopus Energy’s Agile tariff at £617 would be the cheapest option – this compared with £950 a year on their supplier’s standard tariff. These figures assume a medium-sized home, with average electricity consumption apart from EV charging.
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BloombergNEF, an energy research firm, says 70 percent of new vehicles will be EVs by 2040. But governments will have to work harder to get to net zero emissions.
A new report from BloombergNEF (BNEF) estimates that, even with no new economic or policy initiatives put forth by global governments, EVs and other zero-emissions vehicles will account for 70 percent of new-vehicle sales by 2040, up from 4 percent in 2020.
But to meet the goal of having net-zero emissions by 2050, a goal stated in the current policies of countries including Canada, the European Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States, BNEF estimates there will need to be policy measures to encourage further adoption of EV and other zero-emissions vehicles, especially in the heavy-duty truck fleet.
Some policies encouraging EV adoption are already in place, but more will need to be adopted to meet the most aggressive emissions goals.
For all the news from carmakers about new and future electric vehicles, you’d think EVs already made up a big part of the global vehicle fleet. But you’d be wrong. Though sales of EV passenger cars are on the upswing—especially in Europe and China—EVs still only account for a small percentage of new-car sales and an even smaller share of cars on the road. A new report from research firm BloombergNEF (BNEF) projects that things could look quite different by 2040, when BNEF says 70 percent of passenger cars could be EVs or other zero-emission vehicles such as fuel-cell vehicles. But even that huge growth won’t be enough for the governments that say they’re targeting net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
BNEF’s report tallies three million global passenger-car EV sales in 2020. The report predicts that those sales will rise to 14 million by 2025 and will account for almost 70 percent of new-car sales globally and 90 percent of new-car sales in Europe by 2040, even without new investment or enticement from global governments. But some governments, including Canada, the European Union, and the United States, have announced ambitious plans to produce net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. And even given BNEF’s rosy estimates, there would still be internal-combustion-engine (ICE) cars on the roads gobbling up fossil fuels and spewing out carbon emissions by that date.
How to Electrify the Commercial-Truck Fleet?
To avoid a smoggy future, BNEF says governments will need to nudge the hand of the market by subsidizing EV infrastructure, setting stricter limits on carbon dioxide emissions, and implementing mandates for the electrification of commercial truck fleets, which have so far been much slower to electrify than the passenger-car segment. The report also suggests limiting vehicle traffic in urban centers.
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The big worry for most people thinking about buying an electric car is how to charge the thing.
But the real question you should be asking is how you’re going to refuel your petrol or diesel vehicle if you don’t go electric.
That’s because electric cars are going to send the petrol station business into a death spiral over the next two decades, making electric vehicles the default option for all car owners.
Why? Because charging electric vehicles is going to become much more straightforward than refuelling petrol and diesel cars.
This isn’t just because the government has banned the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2030.
Imagine we were going the other way, replacing electric cars with fossil fuel power.
You are writing the risk assessment for a new petrol station. You want to dig a big hole in the ground in the middle of town, put in some tanks and fill them up with an enormous amount of highly flammable fuel.
Then you’re proposing to attach a really powerful pump and invite in random members of the public.
They’ll arrive in vehicles with hot engines. You’ll hand them the really powerful pump that sprays the highly flammable liquid.
Without any supervision they’ll use it to transfer large quantities of the highly flammable liquid into their hot vehicle, they’ll pay you and drive off.
Electric car sales are expected to overtake petrol by 2040
Are you OK to sign off on that? Do you think Health and Safety will give it the green light?
My point is that fuelling cars with petrol and diesel is dangerous, which is why we do it at specially-designed centralised refuelling points.
Ubiquitous power
Electricity, by contrast, is pretty much everywhere already. Where’s your car now? Do you think it might be near an electricity cable? Exactly.
The only challenge is how to bring that electricity a few feet to the surface so you can start getting it into your battery.
And you don’t need to be Thomas Edison to work that out.
If you live in a flat or a house without a drive, don’t worry. The aim is to have an electric vehicle (EV) charging point at virtually every parking place.
Erik Fairbairn’s electric vehicle recharging company, Pod Point, wants to be part of this effort to rewire the UK.
“You’ll get to a point where you barely ever think about energy flowing into your car again,” he predicts.
Of course, we’re a long way from that utopia, and that should be no surprise.
We’re just at the beginning of the electric revolution: just 7% of new cars are electric and they make up a tiny fraction of vehicles on the road, so there isn’t a huge market.
But, as I argued in my previous piece, change is coming fast and investment in charging infrastructure is coming with it.
There will be good profits to be made when millions of us want to recharge, just as there was a boom in petrol station construction at the dawn of the age of the car a century ago.
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Following the acquisition of a 25% stake in March, GRIDSERVE has now fully taken on Ecotricity’s Electric Highway electric vehicle (EV) charging network.
When it took its initial stake in the network, GRIDSERVE announced it would be replacing all existing Electric Highway chargers, as the existing infrastructure had become outdated in the decade since it was created. In fact, it was ranked the worst public charging network in a survey of Zap-Map users in January, with common complaints including that the chargers are old, poorly maintained and frequently out of service.
GRIDSERVE said it is “ramping up investment” in the network through the replacement works, with the new chargers to feature all the latest advances including contactless payment. Indeed, last month the first high-power charging facility was opened at Moto’s Motorway services at Rugby, with this site featuring 12 350kW chargers.
Speaking to Current± following the initial replacement works being announced, Toddington Harper, CEO of GRIDSERVE, said the company was “moving heaven and earth as fast as possible to get new chargers in place in hopefully every location”.
The Electric Highway offers an 80% charge in half an hour for compatible vehicles
Having now completely handed the network off to GRIDSERVE – who Ecotricity founder Dale Vince described as the “ideal company to hand the baton to” as the network needs an owner with “access to serious funding” – Ecotricity is now able to focus on its core green energy business, with plans to bring forward a series of solar and battery storage projects to be built without government support.
“We’ve reached an interesting point in the electric car revolution, exponential growth is just around the corner, the technology for charging has evolved with one standard and an incredible rate of charging now being possible – using an electric car is almost on a par with using a fossil powered car, where you can just top up once every week or two,” Vince added.
In January, the energy supplier signed a power purchase agreement with Geothermal Engineering, becoming the first UK supplier of geothermal electricity.
It is also looking to expand its Sky Mining facility, a world first carbon capture and storage process that turns atmospheric carbon dioxide into diamonds.
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We all need to do a lot more to help the planet. We shared a guide on sustainable living to help people know what steps they can take. There are a lot of ways that you can live an eco-friendlier lifestyle, but you might not be willing to take the initiative.
One idea that you should try is switching to a vehicle that doesn’t leave as large of a carbon footprint. Cars are responsible for a large amount of pollution, so moving to a more sustainable vehicle can do a lot.
More and more motorists are making the switch to electric vehicles and this is for a few different reasons. One of the main reasons is that people are becoming more environmentally aware and making changes in their life with driving being an activity that can be particularly damaging. Everyone knows that electric cars are much cleaner, but not everyone knows exactly why they are better for the environment than regular petrol/diesel-powered vehicles.
No CO2 Emissions
CO2 emissions are responsible for a lot of the environmental problems that we have faced in recent years. CO2 contributes more to global warming than most other greenhouse gasses, so finding ways to lessen these emissions is very important.
Electric vehicles run on batteries that power the engine, which means that there are no tailpipe emissions with these vehicles. Petrol and diesel-powered vehicles emit a huge amount of CO2 into the atmosphere, which is a major contributor to environmental damage and climate change. A study shows that one electric car on the roads for one year saves an average of 1.5 million grams of CO2 – the equivalent of four return flights from London to Barcelona.
Other Tailpipe Emissions
Although CO2 is the worst greenhouse gas for the environment, others contribute as well. Fortunately, switching to an electric vehicle can reduce the amount of these greenhouse gases as well.
On top of CO2, suffer dioxide, nitrogen oxides and particulate matter are also emitted from vehicles and these are bad both for the environment and our own health. Noise pollution is also reduced with electric cars as they are much quieter, which is particularly welcome in busy cities where noise levels can be high.
Financial Benefits
It is clear that driving an electric is much better for the environment than a petrol or diesel, but this is not the only reason to switch. You can make huge savings in the long term when you make the switch as you obviously no longer have to fill up at a petrol station, plus you will also pay no road tax with an electric car.
Greater Choice
There are also now many different types of electric vehicles available, so choosing an environmentally friendly vehicle should not be too challenging and you can even lower the price with a Government grant. The charging network is constantly growing with charging points outnumbering petrol stations, so range anxiety is less of an issue these days too.
Bans
There is also a plan to ban the sale of petrol and diesel vehicles by 2030, along with an increasing number of cities introducing bans and fines on polluting vehicles. This means that now is a smart time to make the switch and start reducing your environmental impact as well as reduce your car’s running costs.
It is worthwhile being aware of how electric vehicles are better for the environment and hopefully this will encourage you to make the switch. Electric cars are not just better for the environment either as there is also a range of other benefits and many terrific cars to choose from, so those considering making the change should start taking a look today.
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A recent study commissioned by Nissan found that owners of electric vehicles on average travel 630 km (391 miles) more per year than owners of ICE-powered vehicles.
The results are impressive as they show that range anxiety about may not necessarily be a factor of electric car ownership.
“This research reiterates that electric driving is not only a smart option beneficial to the environment but also a fun, exciting, and convenient choice for the owners,” says Arnaud Charpentier, VP of product strategy for Nissan Europe. “It is no surprise that people now drive EV further than ICE cars. We are confident that with more EVs on the road dispelling myths, range anxiety will soon be in the past.”
Volkswagen ID 4 (Image: Volkswagen.co.uk)
The study found that owners of ICE vehicles travel an average of 13,600 km (8,450 miles) per year, while owners of EVs travel 14,300 km (8,885 miles) per year. Italian EV owners were the most eager to use their cars, averaging more than 15,000 km (9,320 miles) per year, with the Dutch close behind, moving more than 14,800 km (9,196 miles) per year.
On the whole, EV drivers sound pretty happy about the experience, too. One of the biggest fears keeping people out of EVs is anxiety about charging infrastructure. The study found, though, that 69 percent of EV owners are happy with the current infrastructure. Moreover, of the 30 percent of ICE-powered car owners who are unlikely to consider an electric vehicle, 58 percent cite driving range as their main concern. However, 70 percent of existing European EV drivers said their experience of range had been better than expected.
As more drivers make the switch to EVs in Europe, the infrastructure will be more heavily burdened. At the same time, though, as the market grows, so too will the availability of chargers.
To highlight the fact that European EV owners are less concerned about range than ICE drivers, Nissan has published a series of testimonial videos featuring Leaf owners around Europe, including the owner of the 500,000th Leaf, Norway’s Maria Jansen.
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