lol-lol

I can see the PHEV buyer shouting foul like Diesel buyer did a few years back. If someone does not get their PHEV registered by April this year then it sounds like the advantages they thought they were getting will evaporate. Art Intel gave this answer...... Yes, Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs) in the UK face significantly higher Benefit-in-Kind (BiK) tax from 2025/2026 due to stricter emissions testing (Euro 6e-bis) and increased Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) from April 2025. Furthermore, a new pay-per-mile "eVED" tax (1.5p/mile for PHEVs) launches in April 2028. Key Changes Affecting PHEVs: Higher BiK (Company Car Tax): From January 1, 2025 (and April 2026 in GB), stricter emissions testing will likely increase CO2 figures for many PHEVs, driving up their BiK tax bands. Some projections suggest rates could rise from 9% to 24% for certain models. Increased VED (Road Tax): From April 2025, first-year road tax for cars emitting 1–50g/km of CO2 (which includes most PHEVs) increases to £110. Expensive Car Supplement: PHEVs costing over £40,000 (or £50,000+ for some models) pay an additional fee. New Pay-Per-Mile Tax (2028): Starting April 2028, PHEVs will pay a 1.5p per mile rate, added to the existing VED, as part of a move to tackle lost fuel duty. End of Low-Tax Loophole: The significant tax advantages for PHEVs are closing, with 2028 seeing 0-emission mileage differentiators likely dropped, placing them in higher tax brackets closer to traditional vehicles. Drivers looking to lock in lower, current rates should ensure their vehicle is registered before the April 2025/2026 changes.

Some UK rags are touting that BEV sales have gone in to reverse and petrol is surging back, Can't see it. Diesel down to less than 9% of sales and continue to fall, petrol down 2%. The Rise in PHEV sales is the big story I think. PHEVs that can do over 50 miles on electric, sometimes 80-ish, cover the commute and the combustion engine used for those longer weekend journeys for pleasure etc. I think PHEV buyers will find out the do use more petrol than the advertised 400 to 800 mpg and higher road tax and BIX coming down the road and the 1.5p a mile of course in 2028 and higher fuel prices from September.

Maybe ten to twenty pounds rather than £30. 45 kwh is not a common size. There are some cars round the 40 kwh, both my 5 is and also our Mini Cooper E but they are cars for local transportation and when we do journeys of 200, 250, 300, 350 mile round trips we take the Scenic. My Scenic only has a 60/65 kwh battery and the more popular variant has a 87 / 92 kwh battery and now the price is similar to the 60 kwh version i bought 18 months ago. Either Scenic, mid sized somewhere between a hatchback and a SUV, European Car of the Year 2024, could do the 167 miles London to Sheffield and either have about 25% or 45% of the battery left. Cost about £3. On the way home both cars would need a partial top up. In my 60 kwh nominal battery size I would drive about an hour so battery warm to accept a charge and to up about 20 kwh to get me the rest of the way. Cost more like £20 but if I spent a few more thousand and got the 87 / 92 kwh battery, or bought now, just probably would only need about 10 kwh or just under £10, plus the original £3, to complete the journey. Quite a bit less than £30. One choose to cruise at a true 65 or 60 rather than true 70 mph and the efficiency is much better in miles per kwh and less public charging and therefore cost. Still think I am only spending about 3p per mile including my very occasional public charges, like many EV drivers it is high 90% home charging. I do plan A road, bypass etc routes rather than just take the longer motorway routes. Certainly will be doing even more of this if / when pay per mile comes in. Sorry in advance to town and village dwellers if it increases traffic through those places.

American press saying it was the winner in the winter test but looking at the data it is clear it is due to it massive battery as its efficiency and performance in the very cold weather was relatively poor. Is it not Rivian that VW Group invested billions in ? Surprise the Chinese stare brands did so well and Tesla kind of average.

The trucking model is a bit more complex than you illustrate below. We are top 20 in terms of number of trailers in the UK but own few tractive units. An efficient way to operate is for us to completely load the trailers, think we have nearly 2,000, and then we use a haulage company we have under contract usually, rarely a spot price, and get them to collect and deliver the trailer when ready. I mention 22 kw chargers as they are cheap to install, anything DC, even from 25 KW all the way up to 1 MW chargers are big money. I saw this when my company owned Source London before it was sold to Total. This is what is oft forgotten that the price of Public charging rolls in to it several massive factors ie capital investment in the equipment, the connection charges to the grid, possibly land rental off the site owner and then finally the actual electricity cost which can actually be as little as only 10% of the price charged to the user and hopefully the company is making a bit of profit so as to continue the expansion of their public charging network. So truck operates, and this could be the companies that operate the tractive units and not so much the trailers, have the three way choice. Of course get as many 22 kw AC chargers at their premise to top up the tractive units, for the EV cars they run, as we do at most of our warehouses to also help all those staff on EV Salary sacrifice schemes and other members of staff with EVs. Secondly many trucking firms will invest in their own DC chargers even if as small as 25 KW. Link their solar to their batteries and charge the trucks and cars with cheap grid and solar power. Thirdly, like us EV drivers, use the Public DC chargers to top up at the massive power they can do so ie hundreds of KWs. A forth scenario will be for EV trucks to charge up whilst discharging their cargo and grab a few tens of KWhs then and have some sort of discount/netting price off the transportation price for getting part charge when unloading. Another video on the Gridserve rollout for e trucks. I was initially disappointed on the spec that the Exeter and Baldock (A1M J10 Nr Stevenage) truck chargers are only 350 KWs but it is a start and it sounds like there will be charge more of the half and full MW in the pipeline in the next 12 months..........

You need to do more research rather than guess. The public chargers for the e trucks that Gridserve have just put online are 350 kw ones. I have 400 kw charger a mile from my house and provided by MFG who are a massive provider of EV charging as well as liquid fuel abd seem to be ready as anyone in the uk for the transition to electric motive power. The UK lags many European countries and perhaps this is due to the extra land needed for the charging slots for EV trucks but as with EV cars the existing disel pumps will ve converted to EV chargers. Something you have missed that us EV car drivers should ve careful what we wish for is as both more EV trucks come along and more massive battery mega packs come along they will buy the cheap night tine electricity, that 7 and 8 p per kwh stuff and we will have to pay much more or increasingly look at generating our own. This is where the UK National Grid us actually transmitting less because there is much more local generation. Whether it is individual companies taking MWhs of power or households generating KWh for their own consumption meaning less needed by the grid in industrial and residential areas. Road side will need more but bith the capacity of production is due to climb massively, I can see circa 100GWs being in the various electricity producing tech ie wind, tidal, solar, pump storage, with massive battery banks smoothing demand and production and oft placed at the car and truck charging sites. A fantastic business for thise companies that get it right. I keep looking at my battery storage options and I would not be surprised that I get a DC charger myself. Going from the batteries to DC for my EVs would be great. Get the earthing sorted out seems the challenge as AC from mains charging has earthing sorted but trying to charge from non mains charging seems challenging ie from batteries or V2L from one EV to another EV via a Granny charger. A tech problem to solve. In Europe my company is already doing long haul EV trucking. We have access to MW chargers from country grids that already have excess capacity from renewable so the electricity is half the price than in the UK. UK will get there eventually but, as usual, is lagging some European countries for a host of reasons.

Think you have made a a whole bunch of assumptions there that are incorrect. Truck firms, and my uncle had they largest private one in Cornwall with dozens of trucks, have choices which will suit each individual firm. Yes they will probably have 3 phase and therefore can install their own AC chargers. They would be 22 kw would have thought and act as we home charging people do ie how much do they need, maximise any cheap electricity periods and then top up more if they have not got enough ie what they need on the day rate if needed. Beyond that there is a whole bunch of choices. My uncle bought diesel by the tanker full, ie 20,000 litres at a time as it was cheap, of course, than going to the pumps. Bigger trucking companies, those that are smart and want to cash in on the saving better electric trucks and diesel powered trucks, especially with the rise in fuel duty coming in in just over 200 days time, would be preparing. Getting their own DC charger, with site battery, which go from 25 KWs last I heard. Another great part is one can, any many have already, get some solar panels on the roof, get your batteries charged up during the daytime and have some power from your batteries to further reduce ones traction power costs. There are other options that are operating in parts of the world such as the batteries which are mounted similar to the 1000 litre or so saddle tanks can be swapped in and out, depleted ones or fully charged one. Other systems like the top of the 40 foot container top or curtain covers having solar collecting covers, I have several portable solar "panels" which are flexible and they can collect several KWhs of power when driving or when parked, more energy on the cheap. Each haulage firm needs to look at its potential and cost savings. Most of our warehouses already have EV charging for staff but as more of the trucks become EV then we will no doubt put EV charging over for them as well. What JLR has been doing is awesome. 18,000 panels on their engine plant, over 10 MW at peak day time so probably tens of MW on a decent day. I am impressed the solar I am getting even on this January day, more than I need for the day time consumption.... https://media.jaguarlandrover.com/news/2025/08/jlr-powers-ambition-lower-carbon-global-operations-renewable-energy-drive

Another step forward for electric trucks .........

Had a company car about 20 years ago, not allowed Skodas as deemed too down market at the time but had SEAT, Volvo S40, basically a Focus at the time, awful 1.6 diesel engine in it, and Audi A4 and A3, 1.9 PDI, turbo variable blade geometry went on one of the Audis. Don't remember the company car tax being too bad but would have had an Octy if my own choice. Since 2010 had a car allowance thru payroll. Get whacked for tax but at least could what I wanted as long as 4 door and kept tidy. Since I resigned last week it is the loss of car allowance is one of the biggest outgoings i am concerned about. Renault 5 on interest free and after a 40% deposit it is only £86 a month. Scenic is over £400 a month and at 4.9% finance so need to do something about it, maybe payoff a third or half to bring the payments right down. It is a case of looking at those monthly payments that I am sure buyers do whether car company finance or mobility scheme. My company was suppose to get on the Octopus EV Salary Sacrifice EV scheme but did not round to it and new company did not get us taken over staff on their scheme but just kept us on the car allowance scheme. Got a sneaky feeling that not have my own cars will be the way forward and just getting one delivered when needed will be the increasingly common scenario, maybe keep the 5 at end of PCP. If uk drivers increasingly choose to not have a car on the drive the effect on government finances would be massive. Whilst I gave been happy to take on cars since the General election I would not do so if certain parties were in power in Westminster. Presumably the 3p per mile would ve collected from the hirer as part of the rental rather than after the annual check ?

91% of cars are bought on finance and I suspect the majority are on PCP arrangements. If one is gappy with that monthly PCP payment then that is what you pay for the next 2, 3 or 4 years. With electric cars the servicing can be as little as £9 a month, road tax is a tenner for the first year and then the standard £195 a year on many EVs. With PCP, whilst knowing your monthly outgoing you are protected from any dip in market value. If its lower you just give it back and walk away. If the value is higher then pay the balloon payment and either keep it or sell it and make a profit. Renault 5 I just got is on 0% finance for the balance after deposit. Both the 5 and the Scenic have modular battery packs so if the rare scenario happened that cells needed replacing this can be done at a module level. Six hours driving during last week, 230 miles, no need to public charge, cost about £5, nice.

The Public charging providers have been quite open about their costs ie the very high capital cost of the equipment, grid connection costs and lastly the electricity cost and of course the VAT at 20 %. What I think most public charge providers have been rubbish at is offering cheaper rates when electricity is cheaper like we have at home. I would like to see the combination of cheaper periods to charge, like 20p kwh as we have at home plus the 15% less of the VAT which should take about 30p per kwh on charging at certain times.

Good to hear the specs and actual F1 cars coming out and electric power being equal to ICE power ie with 350 kws coming from either ie total of 940 hp in a lighter and smaller car. Not quite sure how the boost / overtake feature works ie allows the electric side to go to near 400 kw ? I don't whether we have upped our sponsorship for Ferrari but our logo looks much bigger than last season's car. Test coming up soon so we will get an idea how they go. We will see the new Gen4 Formula-e at the end of this year and see how they compare !

If the 6p a litre rise on diesel, and petrol, does happen on September first, £5 a tankful or thereabouts, and EV charging drops by a similar amount per charge up due to the removal or eco costs on electricity the running cost gulf will be even larger. EVs are falling in buy price as the price of new EVs fall quickly as the power train cost ie particularly the batteries, is falling so quickly which has a big effect on the second hand market values naturally. Add to this EVs are increasingly getting more range, incredible performance the difference to ICE is just getting bigger. Whilst choice is something we pride ourselves with in the Western world the death of diesel car sales seems to be inevitable looking at uk SMMT data and how long the second hand diesels command value will depend on those running cost difference as well availability of diesel. The UK does not even produce half the diesel currently needed so it has to be imported. It is the very quick migration of goods transport vehicles from diesel to electric that will see diesel rapidly become a fuel not required much and unecomical for fuel retailers to sell. My company's move, and all others logistics companies transition from diesel to electric trucks and vans is moving at a blistering pace.

Just about to take out a service plan for the R5, it will be £9.99 a month for 3 year period by local Renault going to give me £36 back as they should have rolled it in with the buying process at 8.99 a month. Did not get organised on the Scenic so that is going to cost me nearly twice as much. Been in the upper 3s miles per kwh. Had a worst trip last Sunday, mainly motorway back and forth to Liverpool so needed to charge on way back on the M6. Gridserve and 89p per kwh. Just put in 18 kwh and charged at nearly 100 kws. So cost me £15 something and was there just over 10 minutes. Been fine with the smaller batteried Scenic as only charge about 5 times in a year and therefore only spent around £100, if that. Garages are not going to stock diesel once the sales dwindle below an economic point when they would ve better off having the pump dispense petrol or make way for EV charging points.

Had a lovely run in the Scenic EV from Worcester up to the stunning Betsw y Coed in Snowdonia yesterday. 225 miles in cool and rainy conditions and my Scenic is the nominal 60 kwh battery rather than the 90 kwh one. Got to Snowdonia with half the battery used. What i learnt on my drive to Felixstowe in mid 2025 is there is quite a lower buffer in the Scenic with ut going 11 miles past 0% state of charge before even the restricted performance warning came up on the dash. So again I hit 0% SOC miles before getting to Worcester. Did not heed that warning and did several miles with 0% SOC showing. Did not think the Google Maps were that clever as it advised me to do a good couple of miles further than I needed to. So fuel cost less than a fiver. Was with a couple of Land Rover enthusiasts, one was local the other from Liverpool. Probably cost the traveller from Liverpool 4 times the cost for half the distance. We also talked about servicing. One major service fir the Discovery was about the same a 3 years od servicing for the Scenic. Different worlds. In 7 months time the cost of a fill up is due to rise by about a fiver for them plus it is looking like less garages are going to even stock diesel over the next 4 years. Big changes ahead.

Dacia, Renault sub division, seem to be going great guns, whether the UK will get all the models is another thing. I hope people don't get sucked in to the hybrid thing. Our Clio hybrid was OK for most of the 2 year PCP but when they go wrong they can go wrong big time. I like the Hipster thing and I think there is going to be a Dacia version of the Twingo to. Even the revised Spring has had so much upgrades like roll bar, power. Seats were dreadful, bad enough to steer me away from getting one so went for base model R5. Estate could grab some more market for Dacia. Had a Daicia Logan estate about a decade OK, not too bad. It was £10k and then I got £1k back when I trader it back in. The 0.9 l engine was a bit over worked, blew the gearbox up, did get 115 out of it though, great value car. Would expect the Dacia estate to be more like 25K but deposit might be 40% as new Renault CEO is a different kind of guy to the previous one plus even though interest rates are lower the Dacia loan rates were not that great.

Summary of UK EV sales for 2025. Not quite the half million car target but pretty close. Tesla did well, so did Audi and the Ford (really a VW) also and the two Skoda EVs too. Renault not quite on the radar as they managed just under 20k EV sales split across the 4,5, Megane and Scenic but a big increase over last year. Some buyers have orders in for the Renault 5 and 4 + versions as they want to get the bigger £3,750 UK grant version and they are not due for a few weeks yet as the discount only applies to the models getting the locally made battery packs rather than those using the LG Chem made in Korean batteries.....

Congratulation to Mercedes for winning European Car of the Year 2026. The 60 publications vote across the 7 finalists and the all electric Mercedes CLA took the win. Personally not a fan of its styling but I suspect it is the product of much wind tunnel work as the car has a real work range of over 400 miles at motorway driving speed and base model is under £46k so does not get hit with Expensive car supplementary tax. CAR MagazineThis year's European Car of the Year is by a brand that h...This is your 2026 European Car of the Year - the Mercedes CLA

Send the apprentice out for some Sky Hooks. A spare spirit level bubble and a golden rivet whilst there at it. If I could put one of my 2 axis solar arrays in the front garden that could multi task but neighbours might not be happy and if the rate of cable theft continues then scum would probably nick the cable and the cable holder despite the area being illuminated like Crystal Palace by PIR.

I have got some of this. One of my issues is whilst the R5 and Scenic have their charge points left front wing looking forward ie Passenger side for uk rhd vehicles, the Mini Cooper has the cgarge port right side rear ie Drivers side where the dino juice filler would be. Thus means the cable can need to go a variety of routes across the drive and even a bit over front grass sometimes. More of a fan of the aerial route. Perhaps get myself one of those fake Victorian gas lamppost to hang it from, would enjoy the irony. As to charge ports it would be good if consistent. Quite liked the Zoe's on the nose. As Bjorn Nyland says, and Tom Robinson, the Left side is the right side and the Right side is the wrong side !

Got my last cable from Cord EV, a newish company in Birmingham, a woman orientated company i think, my order, less than £90 for a 10m 3 phase 22 kw capable cable, was supposed to come as bright pink ends but they range me and asked if I would accept white, OK I said. I have some yellow tie wraps to make it more visible in the darkness. The hanging basket hooks set a 2m work well but could do with one or two stands, like cloak stands, to hold tge cables up high so postie does not trip etc. Needs to be ultra stable and will not dent the cars if topples.

I use hanging basket hooks. It is the occasional clean that is abit of a pain. My 10m 22kw 3 phase one is a bit of a beast. I see Amazon are doing extensions to tethered cables now which could be useful if EV needing charging is in row 2 from the tethered charger, might try one.

Not a "Car", the word short for carrus /carrum which is wheeled vehicle but similar issues with motorcycle EVs as "car" EVs ...... Pretty amazing for range and charging speeds ie as good as ICE, or actually better for range !

An acceptable limit is still way below what current, and certainly ICE cars of the pervious decade and older belch out. A report summarizing several recent reports.... United KingdomAir pollution and United Kingdom research documents significant air quality improvements over recent decades whilst highlighting persistent challenges in urban areas and around major transport corridors. Studies reveal that whilst traditional pollutants like SO2 have decreased dramatically, NO2 and particulate matter continue to exceed health guidelines in many locations. The evidence shows both the success of coordinated policy efforts and the ongoing need for additional measures, particularly addressing transport emissions. Explore the research documenting the UK's air quality evolution and what challenges remain for protecting public health. OverallThe total cost to the NHS and social care system related to air pollutants between 2017 and 2025 is estimated to reach £1.6 billion (Moldoveanu, 2025) The contribution to the annual mortality of human-made air pollution across the country is roughly between 28,000 to 36,000 deaths every year (Moldoveanu, 2025) Air pollution in the UK is costing more than £500m a week in ill health, NHS care and productivity losses (Gregory, 2025) Killing more than 500 people a week Air pollution in the UK now kills 30,000 people and costs £27bn a year, according to the research, which also said there was no safe level of air pollutants (Gregory, 2025) Physical inactivity costs the UK economy an estimated £7.4 billion per year (Healthy Air Coalition, 2025) Air Pollution and United KingdomAir pollution and United Kingdom research documents significant air quality improvements over recent decades whilst highlighting persistent challenges in urban areas and around major transport corrido