All posts by Repost

Oxfordshire’s charging network for electric vehicles finished

December 9, 2022Charge Your Car, Charging, Electric Cars, News, Reviews and CommentRepost

A network of 250 electric vehicle (EV) charging points has been completed in Oxfordshire.

The hubs in 20 car parks which allow people to park and charge their vehicle can also be booked overnight to aid residents without off-street parking.

The £5.4m scheme to install the chargers county-wide started in May – they have been installed by Bicester-based firm EZ-Charge.

It was funded through government grants.

An online map shows the locations of all the council-owned car parks with chargers.

The scheme has been supported by the University of Oxford, Oxfordshire county and district councils.

In July, a £41m energy hub with 42 EV charging points opened at the Redbridge Park and Ride in Oxford.

The Pivot Power site can recharge a car in as little as 20 minutes.

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Electric cars are still cheaper to run than petrol and diesel. T&E did the maths

December 8, 2022Charging, Electric Cars, News, Reviews and CommentRepost

Electricity prices have soared, but it’s still cheaper to recharge an EV than to refuel at the pump

Even if electric cars still cost more to buy than petrol cars, battery-electric vehicles have long been cheaper overall to own and run.

This is largely because recharging has typically cost much less than refuelling, so owning an electric vehicle (EV) would pay off after a couple of years. This is an irrefutable fact – or at least it was until recently.

Europe’s ongoing energy crisis, fuelled by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and threats to cut off gas supplies, not only stirs up fears of a cold winter but is also sending electricity prices sky-high, due to the high share of gas in power generation.

Oil supply, on the other hand, was less affected and many European countries are heavily subsidising petrol and diesel.

In September, the average EU household had to pay a staggering 72 per cent more for each kWh of electricity than a year before. At the pump, aided by governments’ generous subsidies, fuel prices have increased less: diesel by 36 per cent and petrol by only 15 per cent.

The unprecedented surges in electricity prices have thrown into question the notion that recharging is cheaper than refuelling, and some are already predicting that the transition towards e-mobility will come to a sudden halt.

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Electric car servicing and repairs in the UK: costs, pitfalls and finding a local garage

December 7, 2022Cost of ownership, Electric Cars, News, Reviews and CommentRepost

The popularity of electric cars is growing exponentially. But with more and more on the road, where do you go to get your pride and joy maintained and repaired?

Electric cars are here to stay. Before too long, they’ll be the only option open to new car buyers in the UK and a little while after that they’ll be the majority of all cars on the road. That, of course, means people are going to need to service, maintain and repair electric cars in rapidly increasing numbers.

The environmental angle is a big selling point for electric cars but to get the full benefit the car needs to be used for a long time, not treated as a disposable commodity. That means we need the availability of high quality servicing and maintenance from dealers and independent garages that know what they’re doing.

Kia Niro PHEV, Plug In Hybrid, Geneva Motorshow 2017 (Image: Kia)

This is a big challenge for the car industry. Electric cars are different to the internal combustion engined vehicles we’ve been using for a century. The right training and tooling are needed before mechanics used to petrol and diesel cars can turn their hand to EVs or even plug-in hybrids. Right now, electric car owners can take their cars to main franchised dealers where the investment in the necessary skills should have happened but in the future we will also need cheaper, independent options to keep older EVs on the road.

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IT’S COMING OHM I travelled around Qatar in an electric car – where the chargers are free but nobody uses them

December 6, 2022Away From Home, Charging, Electric Cars, Hyundai, Ioniq 5, News, Reviews and CommentRepost

“I HAD David Beckham in the car a few weeks ago,” says our guide Manu, as we buzz past Qatar’s Lusail stadium.

“To be honest I am not a big football fan, so we talked about our families instead.”

This quietly spoken IT engineer has a job for the next few weeks chaperoning the stars of the beautiful game around Doha in a fleet of Hyundai Ioniq 5s.

Spilling the beans on his celebrity clientele would not go down well so he discreetly refuses to spill Beckham’s beans.

We agree Lusail is an impressive stadium, but our favourite is the one close to Doha airport, through which 1.2million fans will pass over the next a month and a half.

The stadium we like most is 974, a structure made from 973 shipping containers. The 974th sits out front as a gate guardian.

From 974 to Lusail is 18 miles. The furthest any two of the eight stadia are apart is 25 miles. It is the most compact World Cup ever.

Qatar, the UK’s second-largest supplier of natural gas, is still wedded to gas-guzzling V8s

The immaculate streets of Doha are populated with Toyota Land Cruisers, V8 Land Rover Defenders and giant Chevy Escalades made popular by Hollywood’s red-carpet brigade.

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‘It’s so sad that Britain’s new electric car battery factory is already going bankrupt’

December 5, 2022Electric Cars, News, Reviews and Comment, OpinionRepost

As we approach the end of 2022, Mike Rutherford thinks motorists in the UK have never had it so bad

Much as we love it, the car isn’t always the star. Sometimes it’s actually less important than the people, the numbers, and the jobs in and around the automotive business.

First, a handful of (many) developments in growth-obsessed, recession-ravaged Britain as we approach the end of 2022: the population recently hit 68 million (in a land where our road ‘system’ is set up to deal with more like 50 million); the general annual inflation rate hit a 41-year high of 11.1 per cent; and hikes in the prices of new cars, and the petrol, diesel and electricity to power them, are even higher.

As for interest rates, they’re through the roof, too. And with few, if any, ordinary, working-class families able to save up the necessary £40,000(ish) for even a modest, medium-sized new electric car, increasingly expensive loans are more obligatory than optional these days. Yet, as our Government proves, large debts and high interest rates can be ruinous.

If you, dear car user, aren’t miffed at the rocketing MIF (Motoring Inflation Figure), you bloody well should be. The motorist has never had it so bad.

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Why solar electric vehicles might be the next generation of EVs

December 2, 2022Electric Cars, News, Reviews and Comment, Solar CarsRepost

The world’s first commercial solar electric vehicles are hitting the U.S. and European markets in the next few years. German company Sono Motors, Southern California-based Aptera Motors, and Dutch company Lightyear are all producing electric vehicles with integrated solar panels, which can harness the sun’s power to provide around 15-45 additional miles on a clear day.

These vehicles also have regular, lithium-based batteries that can be charged using electricity from the grid, so for longer drives these cars essentially function like a standard EV. But for commuters and other short-distance drivers, the majority of their miles could be fueled almost entirely from the sun, free of charge.

Dan Kammen, professor of energy at U.C. Berkeley, said he expects this tech will make good financial sense for many consumers.

“Solar panels are so inexpensive and integrating them into the skins is so easy that once you get over that initial learning curve, those initial couple thousand vehicles out there, it’s hard for me to envision that this won’t be cost-effective,” Kammen said.

The cars coming to market

The Sono Sion, which is expected to begin production in Europe in mid-2023, is priced starting at just $25,000. Its battery has a 190-mile range, and while the car also has 465 integrated solar half-cells on its exterior, the boxy, five-seat hatchback appears unassuming and practical.

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New ECIU study shows EVs are cheaper to own than fossil fuelled vehicles

December 1, 2022Electric Cars, News, Reviews and CommentRepost

A study commissioned by the Energy & Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) has shown that electric vehicles (EV) owners in the UK are currently saving £600 a year, totalling £8,300 over the 14-year lifetime of an EV, making them cheaper to run than fossil fuelled vehicles.

The research organisation’s Global Momentum on Clean Transition report also found that the number of EV sales doubled globally in 2021 reaching 6.6 million cars and the market is on track to double this figure again in 2022. The number of EV models available has also grown to 184, five times more than there was five years ago.

It is unclear how the removal of the Vehicle Excise Duty exemption for EVs in 2025 in the UK will effect this continued growth.

More positive findings highlighted by the report include that owners of second-hand EVs could get a battery bonus, with the potential return of 10-20% of the vehicle’s value, by selling its battery for recycling at the end of its life-span.

“This is a UK snapshot of a global story, of a car market that is speeding ever faster towards an electric future. EVs charged, increasingly by cheap renewables, will bring down the cost of driving for everyone, particularly as more and more EVs find their way on to the second-hand market,” commented Colin Walker, transport lead at ECIU.

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Comment: What will electric car tax mean to EV drivers like me? How much will it cost?

November 30, 2022Buying/Leasing, Electric Cars, Fleet, News, Reviews and Comment, OpinionRepost

After any budget announcement there is always a great deal of hand-wringing from those who are suddenly being taxed more, or feel that incentives don’t go far enough.

This time, it is the turn of electric car drivers like me.

The chancellor stood up today and said that the zero rate for road tax on electric cars is going to end. In addition, benefit-in-kind rates for company car drivers making the switch are going to rise 1% per year from 2025.

There are concerns, of course, but generally the reaction from electric car drivers across social media has been much less angry than expected.

Drivers seem to acknowledge that the change was inevitable as electric cars became more popular and the hole in the government’s finances became bigger.

Battery electric vehicles have accounted for 14.6 per cent of the total new car sales so far this year, outstripping the demand for diesel.

The share is growing fast, with registrations up nearly 40 per cent this year, meaning there are now more than a million plug-in vehicles on British roads. That’s a lot of tax to give away for free.

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Autumn Statement: Company car tax to increase by one percentage point

November 29, 2022Electric Cars, Fleet, News, Reviews and CommentRepost

The Government has announced in the Autumn Statement that benefit-in-kind (BIK) tax for electric vehicles (EVs) will continue to be kept low to increase uptake.

The Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, said he had listened to the fleet industry and would increase company car tax for EVs by one percentage point year-on-year for three years from 2025.

Currently, BIK for a pure EV is 2% (2022/23) and remains at that rate up to April 2025. The Chancellor’s announcement means that it will increase to 3% in 2025/26, to 4% in 2026/27, and 5% in 2027/28.

Paul Hollick, chair of the Association of Fleet professionals (AFP), said: “We have been strongly expressing that the position of EVs in the UK fleet sector remains at a relatively early stage of adoption and the increases in company car taxation, of 1% percent per year, seems well-judged to us at first glance.

“Crucially, they will allow fleet decision makers to plan for the second half of the decade as they continue the process of electrification.

“This is something for which we have been campaigning in conjunction with BVRLA and it is to be welcomed.”

Ashley Barnett, head of fleet consultancy at Lex Autolease, said that the publication of company car rates beyond 2025, “reaffirms” the Government’s commitment towards a greener future and gives decision makers the clarity they need to accelerate their transition towards EVs.

Long term report: Cupra Born makes a case for EV motoring masses

November 28, 2022Electric Cars, News, Reviews and CommentRepost

It is easy to see the potential velocity of UK new car buyers’ uptake of electric vehicles in the years ahead. The more drivers that have an EV, the better the understanding their friends and family gain and the fear and ignorance begins to disappear.

Around AM’s home city of Peterborough the game of spotting other electric cars by their green-edged number plate has become a routine, and even on the brief school run we’re counting into double figures.

In the months I’ve spent running this Cupra Born it has convinced my wife that the next car after her current diesel Volvo estate will be an EV.

Her remaining reservation is that we have “only” one Podpoint charger at home, which amuses me given that I plug my Cupra Born into it just one night – occasionally two – per week.

The fully charged range of around 220-240 miles is sufficient for most private motorists, I would contend.

The Cupra Born has converted our friends too. They first experienced EVs on a night out to a neighbouring city almost a decade ago in a first generation Nissan Leaf I was testing, when, I admit, we were all slightly nervous as its 120-mile official range rapidly diminished.

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