[New] Something must be done!

Hardly an original headline but i jest only slightly. To what do I point my instruction?

To Electric Vehicles. The migration to EVs by the PH industry has not only stalled but gone into a sharp reverse. The surprisingly small number of innovators have innovated, the early adopters had as late as the summer, adopted.

The early majority are nowhere to be seen and we as an industry are quickly moving to become a community of laggards. So why is this the case rather than the policy makers’ theory of continuing gradual adoption. Well, I have it from the horses’ mouths.

There are three issues that are preventing and dissuading drivers from migrating from ICE to EV: range, charging infrastructure and cost. There are also some concerns among drivers as to how much replacement batteries might cost should they need replacing once the guarantee expires.

Dr Michael Galvin https://mobility serviceslimited .com

different connectors and despite the regulations, a lack of interoperability requiring multiple payment/ account facilities. People trying to run businesses need to have access to the charging infrastructure and it has to work.

Perhaps in time, the early forays by some companies into providing hubs where drivers can charge their cars, buy a coffee and use the facilities will become common. But we appear a long way from that at the moment.

Cost

If Government, Councils and for goodness sake the public really want cleaner air what possible benefit is there in a driver selling on his/her diesel or petrol vehicle to another PH driver or member of the public and have it chugging around polluting for many years?

However, it does appear that all three of the main issues listed above are resolvable with goodwill and some money, and like most issues the goodwill may be in plentiful supply – but once the M-word is raised…its goodnight Vienna!

Range

We are very good in Britain in fitting pretty awful experiences into tidy little meaningless words and phrases; miscarriage, bereavement etc. Range anxiety is just such term. It trivialises and understates what is a serious issue.

Having to charge a vehicle a few times during a shift makes the job almost unviable. It is not anxiety – it is financially crippling and mentally frustrating. Who wants to waste their working day looking for a charging point that works only to find a queue to charge? Or on a long journey, previously seen as a good thing, who needs to worry about where to charge/recharge en route? Answer – no one!

So, what is the solution? Drivers need good information on which cars actually could work as a PHV (we do our best – Ed!). Cars that can pick up 3/4 passengers and some luggage and can manage a shift comfortably on one charge. They don’t need manufacturers claiming ranges of hundreds of miles that turns into tens of miles or to swap a four-door saloon/estate for a biscuit tin on wheels.

Charging Infrastructure

My research has found that between 2530% of drivers have off street parking and therefore more importantly 70-75% do not. Unless councils and OLEV and the rest of the civil service can wake up to the fact that drivers need on-street infrastructure to make a move to EVs, no-one is going to rush anywhere to get an EV.

Likewise, it is inexcusable that around 25% of the network is out of action at any one time. And let’s not even discuss n www.mobilityserviceslimited.com

Surely it is time, perhaps even past time to operate a proper scrappage scheme where when a person buys an EV their ICE vehicle is crushed and the EV buyer suitably rewarded in fact over-rewarded for moving from the convenience of ICE to the environmentally and public-spirited EV.

The previous business case of EVs being more expensive to buy than ICE vehicles but then being a lot cheaper to run has pretty much evaporated as electric prices have gone up so much and many charging points are price gouging (55p per KwH has been reported). So what is the incentive to move?

With some 200,000 vehicles on strength, the private hire industry is in a good place to make a substantial difference to air quality. PHVs often cover 40,000 miles per annum in city centres. How much better would it be for the environment if they were all converted to EVs?

Our government of whichever colour has no concept of crossdepartmental budgeting. Therefore, expenditure from, say, the Department for Transport in a scrappage scheme that would save lives and improve health and thereby save the NHS resources would never see the light of day.

Instead, policymakers fall back on regulation and at a push legislation to force the issue. Meanwhile private hire drivers work out how to game the system to enable then to maximise ICE for as long as possible. Does any of it make any sense? Not at all.

The last point I would make is that anyone considering buying an EV will seek information from others. This includes drivers who will share their concerns and prejudices with their passengers about EVs, thereby slowing adoption of EVs further. It really could be very different.