- UK Government Boosting £3,750 EV Incentive
- It states that 100,000 chargers will be installed in “the coming years”
- But the campaign leaves out some key points.
The UK government has launched a new advertising campaign across television, radio and digital media to highlight the benefits of switching to electric propulsion.
Suggesting there has “never been a better time to switch”, the Department for Transport (DfT) is pushing for the £3,750 electric car grant, claiming more than 50,000 drivers have already saved money on their shiny new electric vehicles.
The ‘Get that electric feel’ campaign also notes that charging will continue to get easier, as the government rolls out an additional 100,000 new local public chargers “over the next few years”, as well as future planning permission reforms making it easier for residents without private access to install home chargers.
But despite the many positives highlighted in the narrative, including the potential to save up to £1,400 in annual fuel and maintenance costs, it fails to address a number of barriers to entry that still worry potential buyers to this day.
First, while the public charging network is improving, it is not all-encompassing: rural or isolated areas are often the last to receive the infrastructure necessary to run an electric vehicle without having a charging point at home.
It also means that planning routes to any remote location requires the kind of care and attention that drivers of fossil fuel cars simply don’t have to worry about.
Chargers, chargers everywhere
Secondly, despite planned reforms to planning permission to make it easier for those who do not own a driveway to install a charger, there are still large sections of the population who rent and therefore have little say over what can or cannot be installed.
Similarly, there are properties that fall into covenant or are situated away from a road or where the car is parked, such as the house I live in, which makes it impossible to install a private charger unless you invest in a dangerously long extension cable.
Many councils have tried to combat this by increasing the number of chargers on lampposts and on pavements, but they remain uncommon outside of the UK’s largest cities.
As a result, my family relies on the public charging network to power a Kia EV6, which is available near me but is wildly expensive.
Much of the focus in my area (and beyond) has been on upgrading existing plugs to DC fast chargers to keep up with the trend of manufacturers installing larger battery packs. This is great for reducing charging time, but the cost per kilowatt is painful.
A road trip to visit family in our car, for example, costs twice as much as an efficient diesel or gasoline car, especially in winter, when the advertised range drops considerably.
The UK Government’s £1,400 a year figure for running and maintenance costs is clearly based on homeowners being able to charge at home, because this simply cannot be achieved by regularly charging at expensive public outlets, where companies sometimes charge more than £1 per kilowatt.
If you own a Kia EV9, it will cost you almost £100 to drive between 270 and 300 miles before another stop is necessary.
Electric vehicles continue to cost more
Despite pressure from manufacturers to reduce the cost of electric vehicles and a financial incentive from the government, they remain comparatively expensive, and this is compounded by low residual values. There aren’t many electric vehicles on the used market that hold their value like their gasoline or hybrid counterparts.
This fact is especially worrying for those who invested in premium or luxury electric vehicles, such as the Porsche Taycan or the Audi e-tron GT. You just have to scan the classifieds to realize that the owners lost a lot of money.
Finally, another limiting factor is choice, as not all car manufacturers currently offer a purely electric version of the entire range. Brands like Hyundai, Kia and Peugeot have done especially stellar work in this field, with the latter offering everything from the compact 208 to the E-Traveller van in an electrified version, but the same can’t be said for all of them.
Furthermore, even with the French brand’s impressive range of options, customers of the E-Rifter family MPV or E-Traveller van have to settle for 199 miles and 219 miles of range respectively.
These figures can be expected to drop dramatically, particularly in colder climates, to the point where E-Rifter owners can only go about 100 miles before the vehicle needs to be charged again.
While this is perfectly fine for owners and families who regularly take short trips during the week, plus the ability to plug it in and charge it cheaply at home, it’s not good for anyone commuting or traveling further afield.
Ian Plummer, customer director at Autotrader, said of the UK government’s latest campaign that “reinforcing the benefits of owning an electric car is key to ensuring consideration translates into purchase” and that “electric cars are a great option for many drivers”, which is true.
But they’re still not perfect for everyone, and anyone who has to do high mileage on a regular basis will attest to both the cost of the public charging network and its availability.
As electric vehicles increase in popularity, some of the most popular charging locations (highway gas stations, etc.) are becoming increasingly congested, only exacerbating the problem of range anxiety that has plagued this technology.
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