27/11/2020
The initial plan for a ban on the sale of new internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles in the UK was heralded by some as ambitious, but criticised by many green campaigners as far too slow and insufficient to address the climate change emergency. That initial plan, announced in 2017 during Theresa May's premiership, was for a ban on the sale of traditional petrol and diesel cars by 2040. In February 2020, this target was brought forward to 2035.
Now, with the country (and the rest of the world) tackling a major pandemic, Boris Johnson has announced intentions to bring this forward to 2030.
There has been a significant surge in criticism of the plans on social media, much of which has been accompanied by outrageous allegations as to the 'real reasons' behind the drive to ban ICE sales and complaints about the ability of 'ordinary' people to afford the new technology.
Others allege that the range of the vehicles is an issue, whilst others say that the availability of charging points is inadequate.
The thing is, on average UK cars travel less than 20 miles per day. Anonymised data on every MOT test in Britain, released by the Department for Transport, showed that cars travelled an average of 7,134 miles in 2017, down from 7,250 in 2016 and 7,334 miles the year before that. The RAC, using different data sources that include new cars, suggest that the average mileage of a car on the UK roads was 7,400 in 2019.
All of these statistics would suggest that PEVs would be perfectly suitable for the vast majority of UK motorists. The average weekly mileage of 137 miles (DoT) or 142 miles (RAC) would comfortably be managed by almost all of the electric cars currently on sale in the UK; only the Renault Twizzy and Smart electric range would fail to manage it and even these can manage a few days of service between charges.
I have created a summary of most of the PEV models available in the UK, along with a few that have been announced but haven't yet started being supplied, which can be found at the foot of this article.
With regards to charging points, the number is growing and will no doubt grow even more aggressively in the coming years. The information below is pretty up to date; 'Zap-Stats' as at today (27/11/2020) and the 545 'new devices' added over the last 30 days provide 911 new connectors.
The following graphic shows the increase in the number of public charging points over the past nine years. COVID-19 may have had an impact on the growth in charging locations this year, but there has still been a reasonable increase in the number of charging points.
In my opinion, we should all be getting behind the drive for reducing the reliance on ICE vehicles and, where possible, switching to PEVs.
For those who cannot overcome their range anxiety, even after noting the improving range of most PEVs, perhaps a hybrid car would be the answer. However, in my opinion, the 'mild hybrid' or 'self-charging hybrids' (MHEV), should be discounted when considering options. These cars require the running of the ICE powertrain in order to generate an ability to travel under electric power and I am surprised that these are still being pushed as the solution by certain manufacturers.
I'm even more confused by the decision by some manufactures to offer both plug-in hybrid (PHEV) and MHEV versions of the same car. The cost of developing both hybrid options and then building three different versions of the car; PEV, PHEV and MHEV, seems illogical to me.
With regards to 'range anxiety' and using a PEV in real circumstances, I thought I'd share a YouTube video by a UK based technology fan who did his annual family road trip in a Tesla Model 3. He left his home in Yorkshire to head for the beaches in Cornwall, covering 1,000 miles overall. This is, I believe, an eye-opener.
I really would urge people to give up 23 minutes of their time to have a look at this.
It's an interesting video and the availability of free charging points at a number of places throughout the UK might just help encourage more people to embrace the future.
Going further afield, into Europe, you should still find plenty of charging facilities; if and when we manage to start exploring the rest of our continent again. It should be no surprise that the majority of chargers can be found in Western European countries, such as the Netherlands (37,000), Germany (26,200), France (24,770) and the UK (18,200). However, the network is far wider than that and there are maps available that show availability.
The message is, people should be exploring the possibility of switching to a PEV. I'm not suggesting everyone should (or could afford to) buy one now. However, when it comes to their next replacement car, people should really give some thought as to whether a PEV might meet their needs. It doesn't have to be brand new, you could consider a used one.
Don't discount the PEV based purely on the up front purchase price.
Look at the actual cost of ownership. The purchase price is obviously a key factor, but look at the cost per mile of running the car; fuel costs against charging costs (noting that you can frequently top up your PEV battery free of charge), servicing costs, road fund licence and insurance.
If you watched the Tesla video (above), you'll have seen that the 1,000 mile trip cost the driver just £4 in electricity charging. Doing this trip in his previous car would have cost him £235. That really is a staggering difference.
I mentioned earlier in this piece, that I had created a list of some of the PEVs available in the UK at the moment, and here it is, showing their purchase price and the maximum range.
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