Category Archives: Electric Cars

News and reviews of the latest electric cars (full electrics and plug-in hybrids).

Watford Council secures substantial grant for EV charging points

June 2, 2023Away From Home, Charging, Electric Cars, News, Reviews and CommentRepost

Watford Council is pleased to announce that a grant of £592,500 has been successfully secured through the On-Street Residential Charge Point Scheme (ORCS).

The funding will enable the installation of 79 new electric vehicle (EV) charging points across the town, bringing the total number of locations to 112.

The 29 new charging columns will be installed on-street in a mix of 2/3/4 charge points per location, providing residents and visitors with more convenient access to EV charging facilities. This will significantly contribute to our efforts to become a net zero carbon town and promote sustainable transport in the borough.

Elected Mayor of Watford, Peter Taylor, said: “I’m thrilled that we have secured this funding. It will help us expand our EV charging infrastructure, making it easier for people to use of electric vehicles. The council is committed reducing carbon emissions in the borough through a range of initiatives.

Thousands of people already drive electric vehicles in Watford and we know that these reduce pollution and improve air quality locally. It’s important that we have the charging infrastructure needed to support this, so I want to thank the team that worked so hard to secure this grant funding. It will make a real difference.”

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Electric dream? What it’s really like to drive 285 miles to The Lakes in a leccy car

June 1, 2023Away From Home, Charge Your Car, ChargePoint Services / GeniePoint, News, Reviews and CommentRepost

With its rugged landscape, winding country lanes and laidback lifestyle, you wouldn’t necessarily put The Lake District down as being an electrifying hotspot.

However, the folks at BMW have teamed up with 15 UK National Parks – including The Lakes – as part of a three-year initiative called Recharge in Nature, which aims to install electric vehicle (EV) charging points at some of our best-loved beauty spots.

It’s a wise move. With sustainable tourism and off-grid adventures being big business these days, eco-friendly destinations are becoming a must-have on our in our holiday tick list. (Not to mention the boom in staycations due to the pandemic and cost of living crisis.)

Being England’s largest and most visited National Park, The Lakes are the first to be kitted out with charging points in three locations, Windermere and Ambleside, Hawkshead and Coniston.

But just how well will this eco-conscious initiative work in reality?

To find out I was loaned the newly launched fully-electric BMW iX1 and told to head to the Langdale Hotel just outside Ambleside – a mere 285 miles away from my Essex home.

Advised that the car had a range of between 259 and 270 miles on a single charge, and able to recharge up to 80% of the range in less than half an hour, it looked like we’d need just one pit stop along the way, so we were more than excited to jump in our fancy new wheels and head towards the M6.

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Electric vehicle sales leapt 55% in 2022 – here’s where that growth was strongest

May 31, 2023Buying a new car, Electric Cars, News, Reviews and Comment, OpinionRepost

Global sales of electric vehicles (EVs) increased by 55% in 2022 from the year before, according to data from the EV Volumes sales database.
China remains the world’s largest EV market, with 59% of global sales.
World Economic Forum estimates annual EV sales need to increase 18-fold by 2030 to meet global emissions targets.

Many people around the world will have noticed an increasing number of electric vehicles (EVs) on the roads in the towns and cities where they live. The latest data on global sales of EVs confirms a growing appetite for green motoring.

EV sales rose by 55% in 2022, reaching a total of 10.5 million, according to the EV Volumes sales database. These figures include both battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrids (PHEVs).

Where were EV sales strongest?

Sales of new EVs in China increased by 82% in 2022 compared to the year before. The country accounted for 59% of global EV sales last year, cementing its position as the world’s largest electric vehicles market. China is also the world’s biggest EV producer, with 64% of global volume.

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38% of UK drivers rate their understanding of Electric Vehicles as ‘poor’ or ‘very poor’

May 30, 2023Away From Home, Charging, Electric Cars, News, Reviews and Comment, Opinion, PeugeotRepost

New research conducted by Peugeot UK has revealed that less than a quarter of UK drivers say they have a good understanding of electric vehicles.

The survey of 2,000 UK motorists found that only 23% thought their understanding of electric vehicles was ‘good’ or ‘excellent’, while 38% described their knowledge as ‘poor’ or ‘very poor’.

Peugeot e-2008 electric SUV (Image: Peugeot)

Amazingly, less than half of those spoken to were aware that battery electric vehicles emit zero emissions while 12% also thought that plug-in hybrid cars and electric cars are exactly the same type of vehicle.

Perhaps less surprisingly, when asked about the EV charging network, 70% of respondents said they found the way different providers operate to be confusing.

The same percentage also said they found the language surrounding electric vehicle power, battery capacity and efficiency difficult to understand, with only 31% aware that Kilowatt Hours (kWh) is the unit used to measure battery capacity in EVs.

A generation gap comes into play here as 46% of 18-24-year-olds correctly selected ‘Miles per kWh’ as the unit commonly used to measure efficiency in electric vehicles, compared to just 20% of the over 65s.

Of the former group, 58% rated their knowledge as ‘good’ or ‘excellent’ while, half of those over 65 admitted that their knowledge was ‘poor’ or ‘very poor’.

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Best value small electric cars 2023: Volkswagen e-up! vs Renault Zoe

May 29, 2023e-Up, Electric Cars, News, Reviews and Comment, Opinion, Renault, Volkswagen, ZOERepost

Finding a cheap electric car isn’t very easy, so we’ve done the hard work for you

Finding a cheap electric car is still very difficult, but look in the right places and there are bargains to be had. Nowhere is that more clear than with our first contender, the Volkswagen e-up!. At the time of writing, we found an offer for the VW Group’s smallest EV for just £167.99 per month on a two-year deal.

Renault Zoe Volkswagen e-up!
Contract type: Personal Contract Hire (PCH) Personal Contract Hire (PCH)
Monthly cost: £206 £168
Length of contract: 36 months 24 months
Initial payment: £1,853 £1,513
Mileage allowance: 5,000/year 5,000/year

The dinky e-up! punches well above its weight when it comes to interior design. The finish is superb for such a small car, and the overall layout is well thought-out, right down to the neat smartphone cradle on top of the dash which, once an app has been installed, lets your own device act as the car’s infotainment system. A USB port hidden around the back of the mount keeps your phone charged on the move.

The fully-electric model first joined the up! range in 2013, but an update four years ago increased the battery capacity to 36.8kWh, which allows for a 159-mile range. The 80bhp output doesn’t sound like much, but at 1,235kg, the e-up! is much lighter than most EVs. As a result, accelerating to 30mph feels livelier than you might expect.

It’s Time to Go Green!

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Busting EV myths – Breaking down the biggest misconceptions surrounding EVs

May 25, 2023Away From Home, Buying/Leasing, Charging, Charging, Electric Cars, FAQ, News, Reviews and Comment, OpinionRepost

Despite the expected shift towards electric and zero emission vehicles, there’s still a lot of controversy surrounding them. Are they really any cheaper to run? What’s their true environmental impact? In this article, Simone Bruckner, managing director of resistor manufacturer Cressall, breaks down the biggest myths surrounding electric vehicles (EVs).

With more than a quarter of a million new electric car registrations last year, uptake of EVs is definitely on the increase. More than one in five of us expect to be driving an EV within the next five-to-ten years. But there are still a lot of misconceptions surrounding EVs that keep potential buyers on the fence.

EV’s have insufficient range

Many potential buyers are concerned about EV range. Their concern is well-founded in part, with the Nissan Leaf’s lowest range sitting at just 73 miles back when it was launched in 2011.

Thankfully, EV technology has improved in leaps and bounds since then, and most EVs now sit comfortably within the 200-to-300-mile range mark. And these figures aren’t restricted to high-end models either, with models like Hyundai’s Kona and Kia’s e-Niro entering the market at around £35,000 and offering modest real-world ranges of around 250 miles according to Autocar.

99 per cent of car journeys in England are less than 100 miles, and the average length of a trip was less than ten miles pre-pandemic. Based on these numbers, EVs have a perfectly sufficient range for the vast majority of travel.

It’s Time to Go Green!

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2030 vehicle ban may be ‘as simple’ as swapping petrol and diesel cars for electric

May 24, 2023Buying/Leasing, Electric Cars, Fleet, News, Reviews and CommentRepost

The switch to electric vehicles will not be a simple process, according to one expert who exclusively told Express.co.uk that a number of factors still need to be considered.

The UK is less than seven years away from the deadline to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles, the biggest measure in the transition to electric vehicles. Certain new hybrid vehicles will be authorised for sale between 2030 and 2035 provided they can travel a significant distance without releasing emissions.

Some businesses and fleets are already starting to switch to electric vehicles and preparing the infrastructure needed to cope with the level of charging.

Scottish Fire & Rescue ZOE (Image: Renault)

Paul Holland, Managing Director for UK Fleet, Allstar, commented on the global transition from petrol and diesel vehicles to electric and what barriers the industry faces.

Speaking to Express.co.uk, he said: “Going electric isn’t as simple as swapping every ICE vehicle for an EV – although it can be.

“A company that has a small fleet of company cars for salespeople and executives can simply change their existing vehicles to EVs as needed, and provided their drivers have access to home charging there should not be any major changes needed.

“Fleet managers may want to switch from general fuel cards to those specific to EVs (EV charging cards) so that their drivers could use public charge points, but otherwise day-to-day operations will stay the same.

It’s Time to Go Green!

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A California bill could help make EVs a blackout solution

May 23, 2023At Home, Charging, Charging, Electric Cars, News, Reviews and CommentRepost

The state might require every electric vehicle to be capable of powering your home — and the grid — through a process called bidirectional charging.

Chris Bowe was preparing for his daughter’s ninth birthday party in February when a drenching storm knocked out power to his neighborhood in Hayward, California. Minutes before the party began, Bowe connected his electric Ford F-150 Lightning to a panel in his garage, sending electricity from the pickup truck to his house.

“It was dark out, parents were dropping off their kids, and our house was lit up,” said Bowe, who works as a FedEx manager in the Bay Area. “They were like, ‘How do you have power?’”

Bowe kept the lights on using bidirectional charging, which allows electric vehicles to not only receive electricity but discharge it as well. It’s a feature that a proposed California bill would require that all EVs sold in the state offer by model year 2027.

Making an EV bidirectional capable is a matter of equipping it with the right software and hardware, and some, like the Nissan Leaf, Kia EV 6, and the Lightning, already provide the feature. Other manufacturers have been slower to roll out the technology. Tesla, for example, says its cars will be bidirectional by 2025.

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EV charging points increase by 8% in first quarter of 2023

May 22, 2023Away From Home, Charging, Charging, Electric Cars, News, Reviews and CommentRepost

The UK government has published new Electric Vehicle (EV) charging point statistics showing the number of installed devices increased by 8% in the first three months of 2023.

As of 1 April, there were 40,150 public electric vehicle charging devices installed in the UK, while the total installed devices increased by 3,095, an increase of 8%.

“Since 1 April 2022 the number of installed public devices has increased by 9,860, a 33% increase,” the government said. “The number of rapid charging or above devices increased by 39%, an additional 2,153 public devices installed.

Of the installed devices, “7,647 were rated “rapid” devices or above, this represents 19% of all charging devices”, while “22,338 were rated “fast” chargers, this represents 56% of all charging devices”.

In terms of location, 19,044 charging points were designated as “destination” chargers (47% of all devices), while 13,571 were “on-street” chargers (34%).

Since 1 January 2023, total installed charging points increased by 3,095 (8%), with rapid charging devices increasing by 760 (11%).

It’s Time to Go Green!

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10 Reliable Electric Cars That’ll Reach 250,000 Miles

May 19, 2023Electric Cars, News, Reviews and Comment, Opinion, Tesla, VolkswagenRepost

These cars of the future are robust and dependable enough to actually stay and thrive with you when the future comes.

As Bob Dylan once said, The Times They Are A-Changin’, and it rings true for the automobile industry more than one might think. Whether we like it or not, the future seems to hold predominantly electric cars for us. The depletion of non-renewable energy sources like petroleum and the rise of climate change will force us to let go of the gas guzzlers we hold near and dear to us.

Volkswagen ID.3 electric car (Image: Volkswagen.com)

But the advent of electric cars also brought problems with them, notably reliability and long-term ownership expenses. Take a look at Volkswagen for example; they once used to make supremely reliable cars, but their reliability standards have taken a hit lately, and shifting to EVs seems to keep it that way for a while.

Leading EV manufacturer Tesla is also notorious for making cars that tend to break down or even blow up. But it’s not all bad news, as there are some durable EVs that point to a bright future. Let’s check out some of the most reliable EVs we got so far.

It’s Time to Go Green!

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