Professional Driver Magazine June 2023

Short circuit?

The more I test electrIc cars, the more I become aware of the increasing numbers of EVs on the road. But things have changed. Ten years ago, when we first started testing EVs and trying to push the limits of their range, the EV users we met were pioneering sorts, happy to give cheerful advice about the networks and the pros and cons of EV ownership. Today’s EV user is not necessarily a cheery “first waver”. As the numbers swell, these are car users under stress, needing to get somewhere and not needing any added anxiety.

Trouble is, there’s still plenty of anxiety. Nowadays there are still pros and cons – but the cons are rather different. Instead of range anxiety from the feeble range of the firstgen EVs, the latest models offer comfortably over 200 miles, allowing most British cities to be accessed with one or, at most, two recharges.

And this is where the trouble starts. The UK Government set the clock ticking on EVs with its announcement that new petrol and diesel cars would cease to be sold from 2030, with an extra 5-year stay of execution for plug-in hybrids.

The announcement was typical of the shambolic Boris Johnson government. Not backed with data, just hopes and promises that somehow, this would all be achieved and would work properly.

It’s not going so well at the moment. Installation of infrastructure is lagging seriously behind the sales curve of EVs. By the end of the year, there will be more than a million EVs on UK roads, but the charge infrastructure is chaotic. There are some good operators such as Gridserve, Osprey and Instavolt, which are installing chargers wherever they can. But the RAC does not believe the target of having at least 6 rapid chargers in every motorway service area by year-end is not going to be met.

Meanwhile the numbers of EVs is rising – it’s not uncommon to find all chargers fully occupied and drivers waiting to use them, adding more time to their journeys.

And when they get on a charger, there’s very little chance of it running at the designated speed. 350kW? You might get 120kW. Or 70kW. And as for a 50kW charger, which at full speed is just about useable, you might get half that. Which means a handful of miles in a 45-minute charge. OK for local use, but not if you’re travelling any distance. The charge points do not do what it says on the tin.

It’s not the charge point operators’ fault. The grid is not always able to cope with the extra pressure that EVs put on it. If it’s struggling with 750,000 EVs, how will it cope with the five million that are expected on the road by 2030?

With a mish-mash of government funds, much of them left to local authorities to spend – or not – there is no joinedup strategy for EV charging. Motorway fast-charging if funded differently to on-street urban charging, and that is left to the whims of often poorly-advised or ignorant local councillors.

Operators meanwhile can charge what they like – with energy prices still through the roof, 69-79p per kW is common. That makes recharging a lot more expensive than filling up with petrol or diesel. And remember – the government takes a great lump of duty from the fuel – it only charges VAT on charge points. That lost revenue will need replacing somehow.

The effect is starting to turn people off EVs. We know anecdotally that many chauffeurs would prefer to stick with PHEVs as long-distance work via EV is increasingly difficult and expensive. And if there’s still a price differential (the new BMW i5 is £73,000 compared to a petrol 520i at just under £50,000), where’s the incentive to switch?

Meanwhile one of the lasting legacies of the dismal Brexit situation could be the end of most UK car manufacturing –unless the Government offers more bungs and sweeteners to the likes of Stellantis and JLR. That’s your money, being given to a wealthy multinational, because of the disastrous Brexit decision that has crippled our trading relationships with Europe and makes just-in-time supply chains very difficult to run.

Rejoining the single market would fix much of this, but it would appear the opposition party is as clueless as the incumbent government on this obvious solution.

There needs to be a long, hard look at the whole EV issue, led by people with greater competence than the current government. We all want cleaner air, and it’s clear that the latest EVs are in many cases technological tours de force.

But the problems are not going away. Maybe the Germans will get it right with their biofuel developments. Maybe a better battery technology will emerge, with less environmental manufacturing impact as well as longer range and faster charging.

Maybe. But it needs fixing quickly, if that 2030 deadline is to be met. Don’t hold your breath.