lol-lol

So applies to 84% of the UK population, you are of course technically correct but new law will apply to the vast majority of the UK people.

Happy with GO and paying the little bit more. Just worried it will end sometime and not be so cheap hence continuing to up rate my solar and batteries.

Or just use GO, gain control of your own charging, no smart charging requirements, slightly less advantageous cost per unit but I like the control and simplicity even though I trust Octopus on most things (notable exception is DD forecasting).

Is your a Skoda / VAG EV ? Rumours swirling that there could be a new Vehicle Excise Duty system based on Gross Vehicle Weight. If you are in a newer VAG group car presumably the software is ok now after much complaints heard of ID 3 to , Battery Life guy did much on the issues. I do like the Goggle based system in Polestars and Renaults though my Evolution Spec R5 does not get the Google Nav so I will just use Android auto. But for barely more than £20k, a chunk of 0% finance i am not grumbling.

You can keep it simple with EVs if you want to, don't have to use the App that talks to the car at all. I don't bother with the Renault one. As I am on the simple Octopus Go rather than the more complex system Octopus Intelligent Octopus Go I just program the car sat out of the drive way. I set the charge time rather than Octopus and only real downside is I pay 8.5 p per kwh rather than 7p per kwh which both are so much cheaper than the 27-28 p per kwh people pay on normal day rates and I still get the Free electricity sessions which I can quickly adjust the car's programmed time slots and milk that too. I dont use the manufacture app and dont find it much of a hardship in fact still get all, or most, of the benefits of owning an EV but non of the App hassles. My reliable Octopus Energy App shows me when it is charging, how much the energy has cost, adds my UK and European EV charging on to my household billing and monitors the home charging ever 10 seconds. It was a nicety when the manufacture App was working ie with the Zoe, it seemed to struggle having 2 EVs on it but maybe when I get the Renault 5 and will try again to get in working all tickety-boo ahh go spiff but if not, no worries as still getting the mega benefits of running EVs just without yet another annoying App on the smart phone which is the curse of the modern age.

HMRC are increasingly using Big Data tools so expect much more out of the blue tax demands as they identify more and more sources of income and tax them accordingly. Still don't see a way it can work for Pay per Mile as even the SOS system, whilst mandatory on new cars, is oft stopping working and reporting mileage is not part of its function and introducing that is not going to be easy and as we have seen this is always driven by what the EU wants to do and not the UK as a much smaller market.

The EU has shown that China is giving substantial subsidies to some of its companies so puts Countervailing duties on Chinese companies ranging from Tesla and BYD being the least to SAIC ie MG, Maxus being the most, Ad Valorem... https://trade.ec.europa.eu/access-to-markets/en/news/eu-commission-imposes-countervailing-duties-imports-battery-electric-vehicles-bevs-china Chinese exporting producers are subject to the following countervailing duties for a period of five years: BYD Group: 17.0%. Geely Group: 18.8%. SAIC Group: 35.3%. Tesla (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.: 7.8% (upon application for individual examination) All other cooperating companies: 20.7%. All other non-cooperating companies: 35.3%. UK does not levy this, yet, China appears to be focusing even more on hybrids now as they do not get the BEV CV levy. One needs to add another 10% duty to the above figures as there is 10% normal car duty.

Renault one is / was so bad. Had the Zoe running OK then added the Scenic and lost both. When I get the Renault 5 just going to go along Renault dealership and ask them to setup. Son does not seem to have problems with his Mini and its App but then it is probably Chinese written. Does not help when the car's own software is pants.....

I am finding the nuisances of retiring. The tax minefield I am trying to avoid is pension recycling. I have told my employer I am going and am in the process of crystalizing pension pots. Trouble is I am still banging a grand or three a month in to pension savings as I work thru my notice period which will add up to about 3 months. Pensions and retirement is a complex as any tax scheme I have worked on with HMCE, HMRC or pwc !!

A knuckle dragging diesel drongo drove in to the car park not realising his car was in a dangerous state and had caught fire. Should have got him to pay for the damage perhaps. Parked in Luton airport last week and surprise surprise not a mention of any worry parking my mobile potentially fire hazard EV. Clearly Luton Airport cared somewhere between a rats ass and a monkey's cuss that it was an EV.

Started watching the Alpine A290 video with Tiff, frankly I was thinking he has started to enter his 7th age (See As you like it Quote below), did not even watch it thru. We know the Alpine 290 is luke warm rather than hot, even if fine handling, packed with gimmicks which do not translate to real performance. Mini rather than a A290 even the base model Mini E my son has. The old Twingo EV was very limited, the new Twingo on the Ampere S platform should be massively better. Wonder what battery they can pack in to the new Twingo, like my R5 ordered if it is even smaller, and like the Cooper E we have, range down to 100 miles on a cold day and blasting down the motorway might give shockingly short range. One just have to chill out and cruise at 60-ush to get a reasonable range. Like in the Oil Crisis drive at the Double Nickel "55". Even my R5 has a heat pump, R5 95 hp is due not to get one to save cost and maybe Twingo will not either, extra layer of clothing required maybe. Changed my R5 order to Pop Green as they found one at the Import Centre. £800 less so £320 less for the deposit and less than £92 aa month including 2Y 30k miles servicing, can live with that. All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances, And one man in his time plays many parts, His acts being seven ages. At first, the infant, Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms. Then the whining schoolboy, with his satchel And shining morning face, creeping like snail Unwillingly to school. And then the lover, Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad Made to his mistress' eyebrow. Then a soldier, Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard, Jealous in honor, sudden and quick in quarrel, Seeking the bubble reputation Even in the cannon's mouth. And then the justice, In fair round belly with good capon lined, With eyes severe and beard of formal cut, Full of wise saws and modern instances; And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts Into the lean and slippered pantaloon, With spectacles on nose and pouch on side; His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide For his shrunk shank, and his big manly voice, Turning again toward childish treble, pipes And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all, That ends this strange eventful history, Is second childishness and mere oblivion, Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.

Not getting my State pension until mid 2028 when I turn 67 but the fiscal drag introduced by the Con party is due to be still in place. As we know HMRC work with income providers, ie the pension funds and I see my recently setup Drawdown fund has the generic 1257L allowance showing on the webpage. Suppose when I do start to get state pension there will be a need to allocate my tax code against one of these income streams and I think the drawdown fund might be the best place for the code to sit. Take out the tax free allowance on April 6th each year, have all my private and state pensions apply a 20% tax rate and then if I do take more money out of the drawdown fund get HMRC to apply a 20% rate if I am only drawing out say less than £20k in that year or ask them to set at 40%. Probably wise to take the exact amount to take it to the £50,270 in that year applying the 20% and then if more wanted do that as a second withdrawal and ask them to apply the 40% tax rate but I will look to avoid that of course with such a painful tax hit. Borrow money to tied through the year and withdraw what would be up to the £50.27K on April 6th and go from there. In other news, EV pertinent, Renault dealership called and they can get me a Pop Green R5 Evolution saving me £800 on the car bringing it down to £20.5k with the EV grant. Will need to sort out cup holder, possibly an arm rest and the V2L adapter as one does not get those with the poverty spec Evolution R5. Not bothered about bonnet change indicator display, built in Google maps and beep beep rear parking sensor rather than camera. Performance is not much less at all than the 150 hp version, range is a bit shocking at motorway speeds, In France at their speeds they can empty the battery in about 150 kms ie about 93 miles, oops, but then that is doing about an indicated 85 mph which is dangerous for one's licence in the UK as I found out a few years ago. Thought the battery was LPF but now gather it is also Lithium ion, ah well. Actual battery is 43 kwh, will probably charge to 85% or 90% normally then and olny 100% before longer journeys but then that is not what this car is for but it should still do the 135 miles round trip from Worcester to Chepstow no bother.

More Marxist rhetoric ? Yes there should be a good financial safety net, Social Security is a good name for such and the UK state pension should be adequate for standard of live which includes being fed Ok and being able to kept warm. Government tax policy is, and has been for decades, crafted by politicians and my ex colleagues to raise the revenue needed to provide a decent society. Not helped by acts of vandalism as the last government did in its dying days to lower NI from 12% to 8%. This aided most those being paid £40k and above and did nothing for pensioners. Using taxes, as the Cons did with large EV grants, which was £5k in 2017 in the middle of their reign of terrible policies, no wonder the country is in so much debt. £5k in 2017 is more like £7k in todays money due to the massive inflation that happened during their watch. The £1500 I am getting on the Renault 5 is tiny compared to that grant. I perhaps will be allowed my 2025 Budget thread shortly as we have less than a month until RR's budget. Despite the dire financial state left by the last government I am hoping for some positive changes. The nominal level taxes is started to be paid to £13k I hope to see. The £50k start on higher rate is going to stay but that is not going to worry be as I am planning to be retired in a few days. Even on my cheapy version R5 the VAT is going to outweigh the EV grant I get so a net figure collected on the "sale/ pcp acquisition". Been talking to one of the daughters about her firm doing salary sacrifice for pensions and general a great thing as it has helped me put an additional large sum in my pension pot but also help the UK government sell its Gilts. Of course the negative side is less money visible in ones pay packet which does not help when buying a house !

Hmm.... ..

Good calculating. Lump sum got last week was closer to £80k, sum 3 times that into Drawdown fund but spending it fast to avoid £500 / £1k interest in the remainder of this tax year as already had some interest receipts. Current UK tax laws, I feel, are squeezing the large middle class but then encouraging people to spend, rather than stuff away in ISA etc is probably a good thing too else you end up like Japan did for a couple of decades ie stagflation. Clear the mortgage in the next few weeks, become debt free, enjoy retirement though with Trump in the White House my area of work has never been in such demand !

AVOIDANCE not EVASION. The tax rules are what the last Con government and now the Labour government now try and apply to keep itself funded. The £70B a year in Salary sacrifice AVOIDANCE fund the UK Gilt market which current and previous uk governments rely on to fund their massive debt which trebled from £1T in 2010 to £3T in 2024. Worked as a HMCE / HMRC Officer, raised millions in extra taxes, pwc made me a better offer, happens all the time with individuals who are performing well, shame civil service is not flexible to keep us, git £150 bones for one if the multi million pound under dec cases, wow. I will try not to pay any interest on savings so as well the EV i will buy some more batteries and solar panels. Provably won't even buy an ISA as I don't believe that tax avoidance measures is good form. One of daughters is being offered salary sacrifice scheme at work, she is not massively paid but that tax avoidance measure is a good one to help biukd a good sized pension fund and is why, j believe, RR had to raise the Employers NI % as more abd more firms are adopting SS. Not used SS for EVs so paid massive ta. On my car allowance. Continue to pay lots of Income tax and NI butvtgat will stop shortly when I retire in a few days. What will the government do without me I wonder.

Some monthly payments on the Renault PCP deals ie sub £100 a month, are less than the savings one is making on fuel over ICE cars. The pill to swallow is the big dollap off customer deposit which have been great ie on the Megane e it was zero to get on the zero percent but on the 5 it is a massive 40% deposit when it was only 30 % though but when the car is only £21k not so painful compared to some car purchases. Renault can get away with this due to demand for the 5 and, of course, with most European Car makers they are financially right up sh1te creek with the current Chinese invasion which is being partially being held back with EU Antidumping duty but not in the UK yet, Rachel Reeves should think about some ADD, not as high as EU but some. MG etc are effectively getting Chinese state aid. My problem is having £9k a year car allowance but that will shortly end. If I was to pay £1k tax pa on money sitting in savings accounts may as well spend it and dip under £1k / £500 interest earned, help government out with its tax receipts and have a funky little R5, must order my baguette holder.

Certainly seen that with my Scenic EV and the Zoe and in both cases if you are happy with the monthly payment and got it on pcp then one has the choice, give back to manufacturer or keep. Renault 5 might be my first EV that i buy after the pcp, £11k is the balloon payment and of course the R5 can do Vehicle to Load and my version is LFP monitor could earn ne money as a large home battery. Oddly Renault give the V2L adapter with the Lithion ion 52 jwh battery but not with the LFP 40 kwh version where the LFP should be capable of several times more charge and discharge cycles !

Only £500 before paying tax on interest from savings if one is a higher rate tax payer. Interest rates on savings have been falling though one of my accounts with Lloyds still get 6.25%. One of the reasons I have ordered/buying the Renault 5 is that having savings,, after getting most of my tax free lump sum, is getting savings interests will just attract taxation so may as well spend and enjoy. Just trying to figure out if one get taxed on interest in a cash drawdown account. Sound have put it in ISA I suppose, I gather there is more than a third of a trillion pounds in ISAs, mostly cash ISAs !

Ah, as the 5p discount is still on diesel and petrol ie it is almost exactly 53p where it was 58p a litre i can see that ramping up maybe back to 58p a litre in 3 or 4 stages over the next 3 or 4 years so it does not add to inflation too much. Bonus us there would be more VAT collected as well as there is VAT on the Excise Duty. I thought the excise duty collected was around £25B a year but it will decline as more drivers move to EVs. It has held up around the £25B pa as car drivers moved from the more thermally and furl efficient diesel to the less polluting, ie NOX, petrol engined cars. I just have not heard of a workable pay per mile system. Increasingly EVs are getting their electricity from their home solar panel systems and trying to tax EVs is like trying to move water with a sieve.

Dealers not able to give much discount at all as Renault set the price pretty low to start with. Not even 'Blue Light" discount whereas there is with the Megane e which brings the buy price on the two cars within 5k or so and tge Megane e has much bigger battery and more power but the R5 is just so iconic and a really looker in many people's opinion and Renault are quickly selling any stock arriving at the docks. Not the case with the R4 i gather, Rebaukr should bring in the LFP version I reckon.

Front is fine it is the back seat area that is short on headroom as I am 6 foot 1 inch. I would have preferred a car that could have a drink and be put in the back and someone else drive but it seems that is not the R5 or R4, megane e is better but not great, not in tge league of the Scenic. Just have to use the R5 when not expecting for me or any other of the six footers in the family likely to need to go in the back or just take the Scenic if that scenario expected.

What is the 3% you quote above ? Seems to me about 10% of private cars being driven on the road are EVs and with van it seems even more from what I see. Registrations does not mean miles travelled on the road. As EVs are so cheap to run and tend to be newer vehicles drivers and companies gave acquired to do lots of miles and not relics for occasional outing though both are registered. I have ordered another EV today, European Car of the Year 2025 Renault 5, cheapest version though with the yellow paint, EV grant applied so thank you fellow tax payers for the financial bung !

A very very small group of people talk about Budget measures, a handful of politians abd a handful of civil servants from Revenue Directorate and none of them would talk as it would be the end of their careers. Pure speculation and pay per mile and charging higher VAT are none starters as taxes gave to be efficiently collectable which is why Excise Duty on disel and petrol are just so easy to collect as well as environmentally sound. 3% of fuel ie less than inflation sounds like sensible policy.

Be interested to see what the Twingo EV spec is, what size battery, LFP I would pressure. Dismd a good few miles in the petrol Twingo. Just don't leave your cool shopping items ib the boot to long as boot gets pretty warm with the engine just beneath the floor