Latest Electric Vehicle News
BYD adds hybrid to electric at Geneva
BYD will unveil its first European plug-in hybrid model at the revived Geneva Motor Show on 26th February. The BYD Seal U DM-i is a variant of the Chinese brand's D-segment electric SUV which is expected to go on sale in the UK later this year.
Vauxhall offers additional £2,000 deposit contribution on EVs
During The Vauxhall Event, which runs from 14-29 February, customers purchasing a Mokka Electric Design 136PS on finance can benefit from a Vauxhall deposit contribution of £9,500. PCP payments of £349 per month can be spread over a longer period thanks to Vauxhall’s five-year PCP.
One year’s free charging with Vauxhall and Tesco
Tesco holds 2,700 charging bays across 619 Tesco stores nationwide making it the country’s largest supermarket charging network, with a mix of 7kW, 22kW, 50kW and 75kW charging stations. While the charge points are accessible for all EV drivers, new Vauxhall retail customers who purchase an electric Vauxhall car or van direct from a Vauxhall retailer will be able to benefit from one year’s worth of free charging credit when visiting Tesco.
Sad farewell to our Suzuki Across PHEV
One spell covering some six weeks and well over 1,000 miles saw an mpg return of 148.5! On a longer 250+ mile round trip with the petrol engine doing all the work, the Suzuki returned 44.8mpg which is nothing to be sniffed at. Overall, the return over the full 2,121 miles averaged out at 95.06mpg while the battery consumed an average of 2.8 miles per kWh
Discounts on electric cars have increase 204% in 12 months
Analysis of the discounts available through What Car?’s New Car Deals service has revealed that, from January 2023 to January this year, the average cash and finance discount on EVs rose by 204% (from 2.4% to 7.5%). This equates to a £3149 increase in the saving and means the average combined cash and finance discount for EVs is worth £4603.
Better range labelling on e-vans critical to adoption
WLTP labelling for vans needs to cover not just a load-free vehicle in warm conditions but a variety of payload and weather variations. Ideally, we’d end up with a grid that perhaps showed how vans operated with no load, a medium load and a full load in warm, normal and cold conditions.
Shadow Roads Minister says Labour will reintroduce 2030 ICE sales ban
Esterson said the reintroduction of the 2030 deadline would give confidence to investors and help encourage consumers to make the switch to electric. This comes after RECHARGE UK’s industry survey highlighted the importance of the 2030 deadline which if not reinstated could cost the UK over £100 million in investment.
Do your homework when switching to EV
Despite increasing numbers of motorists making the switch, a new survey of MotorEasy members has revealed that continuing challenges with the cost of charging, access to public charging and the apps used to facilitate charging are damaging the ownership electric vehicle (EV) experience.
Compleo Unveils Revolutionary 200 kW High Power EV Charger
With the capability to deliver 200 kW ultra-fast charging for two vehicles simultaneously, the charger allows EVs to tackle hundreds of miles in less than half an hour. The charge point’s innovative power distribution system ensures power is shared where it’s needed most.
Ohme and Motability Operations ensure no driver is left behind in EV transition
With an estimated 130,000 EVs expected to join Motability Operations’ fleet over the next 18 months, its collaboration with Ohme in 2023 alone has helped to save more than 13,500 tonnes of CO2 – the same amount absorbed by around 550,000 trees per year.
Used EV sales almost double in 2023
Bucking the grey trend in the new market, black cars were the most popular used purchases, with more than 1.5 million buyers (21.4%) choosing the colour. Grey, however, increased its ranking, displacing blue to take second place. At the niche end of the spectrum, 4,870 buyers opted for pink, while 4,686 cream cars found new owners, and maroon represented 4,585 transactions.
Car buyers reject electric in favour of petrol and hybrid
Most petrol owners (38%) say they will stick with the fuel and those thinking of changing are more likely to consider a hybrid (27%) than an EV (10%). Diesel owners are more likely to change fuel type with only 27% staying put and hybrid (22%) the most popular alternative, followed by petrol (13%), EV (8%) and PHEV (8%).
NHS Scotland opens first pop-up solar car park and EV charging hub
Papilio3 is built around a recycled shipping container and can be installed in under eight hours. It can be easily transported and set up almost anywhere in the world, making it the perfect solution for one of the most Northernly located hospitals in the UK. It is already in operation at several facilities across the UK, designed to solve many of the challenges facing transport, energy and infrastructure sectors.
Claim rates are key to controlling EV premiums
The fleet view is often that insurers don’t like EVs because they tend to be expensive to buy, that parts are often in short supply, and that the electrical, mechanical and bodywork expertise needed to repair them is still in short supply although insurers say that these things matter but only to a limited extent, and that the most important fact when it comes to controlling premiums is to do more to prevent EV accidents and theft.
Long term test – Suzuki Across PHEV, going the extra miles!
Our first fill up was after 547 miles and the return was 71.9mpg, since then we have covered further 1,200 miles before our second fill! A return of 148.5 miles to the gallon. Pretty impressive although most of those miles have been fairly short journeys and so the 50 mile electric range has been sufficient.
Nissan extends its partnership with Zapmap
Partnership allows most purchasers of new Nissan EVs will continue to be provided with a free premium subscription that includes in-car support via Apple CarPlay or Android Auto.
British Gas claims UK’s cheapest EV charging rate
Hive SmartCharge users can benefit from a 4p/kWh saving on all their EV charging. Customers could benefit from up to £298 per year in savings which British Gas will automatically credit to their energy bill each month. All you need to do is enable the free SmartCharge feature in the Hive app, leave your EV plugged in and British Gas will automatically charge your EV when energy is at its cheapest during that charging session.
EVs charge through the one million barrier
Volatility in BEV supply has been expected and is likely to continue as manufacturers adjust product allocation following the last-minute resolution over UK-EU rules of origin, which had threatened to apply tariffs to EVs, restricting affordability. However, while fleet and business demand for BEVs grew by 41.7% in January, registrations by private buyers fell by -25.1% – an ongoing trend that will undermine Britain’s ability to deliver net zero.
Electric record breaker – Iveco eDaily 3.5t
There's a lot of movement in the LCV market as fleet operators look to transition to electric and finding the right van for your business is key - is it big enough? Is it powerful enough? Is the range good enough? This is where the eDaily scores highly. It can be configured with one-to-three modules, which each have a capacity of 37kWh. Batteries can also be added or removed in-life if operational needs change.
Polestar 4 now on sale in United Kingdom
Polestar 4 transforms the aerodynamics of a coupé and the space of an SUV into a new breed of SUV coupé. Design cues first seen on Polestar’s concept cars are brought to production in the fastest Polestar production car to date. Polestar 4 is positioned between Polestar 2 and Polestar 3 in terms of size and price.
