Category Archives: Opinion

‘EVs will kill us all’ – Why are haters so obsessed with electric vehicles?

January 24, 2023Electric Cars, FAQ, News, Reviews and Comment, OpinionRepost

I’m not sure if you’ve noticed this, but some people – no, it’s actually a lot of people – seem to really, deeply hate electric vehicles.

I know this because every time I write about one, or even mention the acronym, in a story for the country’s only national paper the comments beneath the online version of my story erupt into a frothing splurge of spleen and outrage.

I have wondered at what makes some humans so venomously vicious about the idea of cars running on electricity – other than the fact that they’re the kind of people who simply hate “change” of any kind, also sometimes colloquially known as “old people” – and that led me to wonder whether there were people who hated the original cars when they first changed the world.

Sure enough, there were plenty, particularly in America, where laws were proposed that involved any car user setting off rockets every mile that they drove and then waiting 10 minutes for the road to clear before proceeding. This was to give unhappy horse owners and pedestrians a chance to get out of the way of the evil, noisy, dust-devilling machines.

In Vermont, they actually passed a law demanding that an motor vehicle must be accompanied by a person walking in front of it at all times, waving a red flag. Even accounting for how slow cars were back then, this seems crushingly pointless and annoying.

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Mythbusting the world of EVs: can we move forwards without arguing?

January 23, 2023Buying/Leasing, Electric Cars, News, Reviews and Comment, OpinionRepost

Making positive noises about electric cars doesn’t take away from all other cars

MYTH: “We must argue to progress”

If you say anything positive about an electric car, either online or in an actual human conversation, people often get surprisingly agitated, as if you’re ramming electric vehicles down their throats. They say “I couldn’t manage with an electric car”, in a tone that implies, “So all electric cars are fundamentally a bad thing”.

The purpose of this series of articles is to show that a lot of perceived objections to electric cars are actually myths. I believe electric cars are more suitable for more people than many people think. But to be clear I am definitely not saying they’re for everyone. So why the hostility?

Pictured: TRO has designed the first of its kind Electric Vehicle Experience Centre, launching in Milton Keynes in spring

If I turn up in a two-seat car, people don’t harrumph, “I have five kids so two-seaters are a thoroughly bad idea”. Caravan owners don’t get riled up by the simple existence of superminis, it’s just that they buy for themselves something more capable of towing. When I review a petrol car with a 350-mile fuel tank, I don’t get comments saying “My diesel goes 800 miles, so all petrol cars are obviously a conspiracy against ordinary motorists”.

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Ford’s Halewood plant set to become electric car factory

December 19, 2022Electric Cars, Ford, News, Reviews and Comment, OpinionRepost

An investment of £380 million will see the Liverpool plant ramp up EV production to 420,000 units a year

Ford has announced it will be investing heavily in its Halewood factory, creating Ford’s first European electric car component production facility. The transition from manufacturing internal combustion engine transmissions to electric power units will create 500 new jobs in the area.

Ford says the Halewood plant is integral to its European electrification plan, which will follow the EU’s target of manufacturers building only zero-emission vehicles by 2035.

Halewood’s annual production figure of electric powertrains was expected to be around 250,000 units a year, but with investment rising from an initial £230m to £380m, Ford claims 420,000 units per year should be feasible by 2024.

This means that 70 per cent of the 600,000 EVs Ford intends to sell in Europe per year by 2026 will be powered by Halewood-produced technology. Globally, the American giant also plans on selling two million EVs by 2026.

Ultra-low emission registrations up 386% on first quarter of 2014 (Image: OLEV)

Tim Slatter, chairman of Ford UK, spoke on the transition of the Halewood plant: “This is an all-important next step for Ford towards having nine EVs on sale within two years. Our UK workforce is playing a major role in Ford’s all-electric future.”

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Dogs are happier travelling in EVs than ICE: science says so

December 14, 2022Electric Cars, News, Reviews and Comment, OpinionRepost

A “first of its kind” study by the University of Lincoln in the UK, in partnership with British car sales website CarGurus, has concluded that dogs are more relaxed in electric vehicles (EVs) than internal combustion engine (ICE) diesel ones; diesel presumably chosen to represent the extreme opposite in electric in terms of noise and vibration.

The study was carried out in part as a response to “anecdotal concerns that the differences in vibration and/or noise experienced in an EV may cause dogs to be unsettled or have increased car sickness.”

The two-day study used 20 dogs. Each was taken on two 10-minute journeys, one in an EV followed by the same route in a diesel, before a range of scientific measures were used to analyse the dog’s behaviour.

In the findings of the study, led by Daniel Mills, Professor of Veterinary Behavioural Medicine at Lincoln, the dogs were less settled in diesel cars compared to EVs.

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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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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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First Drive: Is the MG4 EV the car to tempt buyers away from well-established brands?

November 22, 2022Buying/Leasing, Electric Cars, MG, News, Reviews and Comment, OpinionRepost

MG is broadening its EV line-up with the new MG4. Ted Welford gets behind the wheel.

The modern-day MG is a far cry from the one that produced classic British sports cars, but it’s proving no less successful. Owned by Chinese automotive giant SAIC Motor, MG is the fastest-growing car brand in the UK and sales have grown by 70 per cent in 2022 alone (up to the end of October).

It now sells more cars here than the likes of Land Rover, Mini and Skoda, and much of its success has come from its electric models – the ZS EV crossover and MG5 estate. The brand is now expanding further with the new MG4, its first electric hatchback and one that’s set to grow this brand even further. But is it set to succeed?

What’s new?

The MG4 is the first model to be based on a new electric car platform. (MG)

The MG4 is the first model from the firm to use a bespoke EV platform that will go on to be used in a number of electric MGs in future years – the key advantage to this being that it’s rear-wheel-drive and uses a thin battery that takes up minimal space.

The MG4 also shows a more adventurous design direction for MG, though more on that later. But crucial to the appeal of the MG4 is its price, which starts from £25,995, and undercuts rivals by a significant chunk of money.

Norway’s BEVs Still Growing Well, Even While PHEVs Fall Away

November 21, 2022Electric Cars, News, Reviews and Comment, Opinion, VolkswagenRepost

Norway’s auto market saw 86.4% plugin electric vehicle share in October, down year on year, from 89.3%. Full electrics grew share by 7.5% YoY, but were outweighed by a drop in plugin hybrids. Overall auto volumes were 12,558 units, up 8.5% YoY, and above the pre-2020 seasonal norm of 11,635 units. October’s bestseller was the Volkswagen ID.4

October’s overall plugin result of 86.4% comprised a near record 77.5% full electrics (BEVs), and 9.0% plugin hybrids (PHEVs). These compare with shares of 70.1% and 19.2%, YoY.

Only in March 2022, and December 2021, have BEVs seen substantially higher share, but the overall result was let down by the downward trend in PHEV share.

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Electric car terms: What do I need to know?

November 16, 2022Charging, Electric Cars, News, Reviews and Comment, OpinionRepost

There are all manner of terms and acronyms in the EV segment – we’re explaining the ones to keep in mind.

If you’re in the market for an electric car, you may have already encountered the sometimes bewildering number of terms and acronyms that are strewn across the segment. Knowing what they all mean – and which ones are important – can feel quite daunting, to begin with.

Drive Energi 50kW Tritium Veefil-RT chargers (Image: Drive Energi)

However, we’re going to be taking a look through some of the key EV terms that you really need to know. So let’s dive in.

Battery

A battery is the core of an electric vehicle. After all, without a battery, an EV has nowhere to store energy which wouldn’t allow it to travel.

You’ll see batteries measured in kilowatt hours – or kWh – and the higher the number that precedes it, the larger the battery, and likely the more range it’ll offer. For instance, the Mercedes EQS has a 107.8kWh battery, which is capable of delivering up to 453 miles of range.

Charging

Charging is how you’ll keep your electric vehicle topped up. Compared with filling up a petrol or diesel car, there are a number of options, however. Everything is measured in kilowatts – or kW – too, with a higher number of kilowatts meaning a quicker charge.

Slow charger

A slow charger, predictably, is one that’ll give a more modest supply of energy to an electric car. They’re usually rated around 3.6kW and might include charging locations such as those located in streetlamps and kerbs in urban areas. These are best for overnight charges, as they’ll need more time to fully charge an EV.

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E.U. plans for only electric new vehicles by 2035 ‘without precedent’

November 14, 2022Buying/Leasing, Electric Cars, News, Reviews and Comment, OpinionRepost

After months of negotiations, the European Union reached a political agreement this week to effectively ban new nonelectric cars from 2035 onward.

The agreement, reached at 9 p.m. on Thursday in Brussels and announced by the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament, amounts to a 100 percent carbon dioxide emission reduction target for new cars and vans by 2035.

“This agreement will pave the way for the modern and competitive automotive industry in the EU. The world is changing, and we must remain at the forefront of innovation,” Jozef Sikela — the minister of industry and trade in the Czech Republic, which holds the rotating council presidency — said in a statement.

The legislation still needs to be approved formally to become law in the E.U., one of the largest automobile markets and home to some of the biggest manufacturers. However, approval by the Council and European Parliament is expected, with only minor changes.

Many climate change campaigners, who hoped other governments would follow in the E.U.’s footsteps in effectively banning new gas and diesel vehicles, welcomed the news.

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