TO EV OR NOT TO EV, THAT IS THE QUESTION…

Back in Shakespearean times the thought of metal carriages transporting you wherever you wanted to go would have been a pure flight of fancy. Horse and cart being the transportation of choice, the idea of mechanical vehicles burning liquid to aid propulsion could not even be conceived.

Indeed, it wasn’t until 1885 when German Karl Benz put the Benz PatentMotorwagen into production that the prospect of motoring for the masses became reality and a new era of mobility solutions came to pass.

Through various iterations, body shell designs, engine displacements, technical & safety innovations and countless players entering the market over the subsequent decades, there has always remained one constant theme until very recently. The need to burn fossil fuel to make your vehicle move.

But now, we are in the era of electrification. A huge innovation in motoring and a massive push to switch to electrified powertrains is in progress. A well-documented climate crisis is upon us and the requirement to reduce Co2 emissions along with other harmful tail pipe emissions is gathering pace and will only continue to increase.

The ZEV mandate that became law late in 2023 requires 22% of all new vehicles sold in 2024 to be EV, rising to 28% in 2025, 52% in 2028, 80% by the original deadline of 2030 with 100% of new vehicles registered in the UK to be Zero Emission by 2035. That is just 11 years from now. Or to look at it another way, if you drive a ‘63’ plate car that doesn’t seem that old, that car was registered 11 years ago!

So, we know its coming whether we like it or not, the biggest question is when to change over. Or is it really that simple?

At Lexus Liverpool we sell BEV’s (Battery Electric Vehicles) in the form or RZ450 & RZ300e and the smaller UX300e along with PHEV’s (Plug in Hybrid Electric Vehicles) such as NX450h+ and RX450h+ and then our traditional offering of HEV (Self Charging Hybrid vehicles). This places us uniquely in the market as we

Left: Matthew Hine of Lexus Liverpool can offer a solution currently to anyone depending on which stage of the EV journey they are on, whether its full EV adoption or wanting to dip their toe in the water with a PHEV.

But, we are creatures of habit, we don’t necessarily like change and we pretty much as a person don’t like being told we have to do something, particularly if it’s going to hit us in the pocket! It is fair to say in the last 8 years that I have had the pleasure of leading Lexus Liverpool our customer interactions have changed quite a lot. We have gone from “how does this hybrid thing work?” to “do I have to plug it in?”. We regularly talk with our team about the lack of public understanding and our responsibility to educate with regards to the differences of BEV, PHEV and HEV. Consumers clearly know that they need to adopt to a new power train, but the main landscape for them is murky and there are so many questions along the way. The most common ones we hear are:

“Are there enough charging points. The infrastructure doesn’t seem to be there?”

Its true that this has been a concern for some time but both nationally, and in the Liverpool City Region, steps are being taken to increase the charging infrastructure substantially. At the end of August 2024 there were 68,273 public charging points in the UK which is a year on year increase of 41% with 19,823 installed since August 2023. A substantial increase which does not include private household chargers. In Liverpool as of October 2023, there were roughly 600 public charging points, but around this time the Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram announced a £10 million fund was being committed to increasing charging infrastructure in the City Region. Add to this the increase in charge points in retail destinations and Liverpool is well on course to being the most electrified charging friendly city in the Northwest.

Also, home charging plays a big part in the making ready of a BEV. Many manufacturers (ourselves included) offer discounted charger fitment and preferential public charging rates and a good proportion of energy suppliers have low rate tariffs after a certain time at night some as low as 0.9p per KW/h (kilowatt hour… its BEV speak for miles per gallon).

In short, had you asked me two years ago is there enough infrastructure I probably would have said no, now it’s well on the way and only accelerating!

“The range isn’t enough I need it to be 400 miles plus”

The reality is that we all love the reassurance a hassle-free full tank of fuel gives us. Depending on the car you drive, a full tank can be anywhere from 300 to 500 miles, or more in some instances. We often, when asked this question, ask when was the last time you drove over say 250 miles in one go? No comfort break, stop for food or simply arrive at your destination in that mileage bracket. The answer invariably is hardly ever, and in most cases, never. Industry statistics point to the typical daily commute being roughly 36 miles a day. Any BEV can cope with that and be cheaper to do it too compared to fuel, but on the longer journeys the next point always comes up.

In the Liverpool City Region, steps are being taken to increase the charging infrastructure substantially. At the end of August 2024 there were 68,273 public charging points in the UK which is a year on year increase of 41% with 19,823 installed since August 2023.

“Charging takes ages. I haven’t got time for that!”

You might be surprised to know that charging a BEV is like charging your phone. Your phone charges really quickly to 80% and then the phone trickles the remaining charge in to protect the battery. The same can be said for a BEV car. Our RZ450e for example can charge from 0% to 80% in 30 minutes and this is predicted to drop even more in the very near future as battery technology advances. So, on that 350 mile journey a 30 minute stop will have you on the road again and arriving with plenty of charge at your destination.

The truth of the matter is that we all adapt to new things at different rates. The pace of innovation in the BEV segment is huge, charging times will come down and the number of miles the cars can do will increase. But with the ZEV mandate in place, manufacturers including ourselves have had to look really hard at the pricing and offers available to retail customers and businesses too (where there are distinct tax advantages). This means that a very competitive part of the market just got even more enticing for consumers.

So… to EV or not to EV… in short you will have to, but at your own pace for now.

I hope that you have found this informative and enlightening. Lexus Liverpool are delighted to be the Headline Sponsors of the Liverpool Chamber Innovation in Business Awards 2024 and I look forward to celebrating with you all on the 24th of October at St George’s Hall.

Until then all the best,

Matt