Latest news with #RAC
Daily Mirror
6 hours ago
- Automotive
- Daily Mirror
Brits offered £3,750 to switchover to EVs but experts warn of huge catch
UK drivers are being offered generous grants worth almost £4,000 as the government unveils its latest investment to make electric vehicles (EVs) more affordable. However, many models won't be eligible Brits could get thousands knocked off the price of a new car if they switch over to an electric vehicle (EV) thanks to a major new investment. In an effort to encourage drivers to make the switchover from internal combustion engine (ICE) to electric vehicles (EVs), the government is offering grants cutting the cost of selected models by up to £3,750. However, insiders have highlighted a significant shortcoming with the scheme. The Department for Transport (DfT) has announced a new £650 million grant, which is available for three years and applies to any eligible model with a price tag of up to £37,000 — the most sustainably produced and environmentally friendly models qualify for the largest reductions — with the aim of making EVs more affordable for the average British household. Manufacturers can now apply for this grant, and once their models are approved, buyers will see the discounted price directly at dealerships. According to the RAC, these discounted vehicles are expected to be available 'within weeks'. The scheme is part of the government's wider efforts to increase EV uptake, helping the UK meet environmental targets and close in on its goal of banning the sale of new ICE cars by 2030. However, this incentive has prompted mixed reactions from the automotive industry — particularly in terms of its accessibility and effectiveness for ordinary buyers. An expert at Auto Express welcomed the introduction of support for consumers transitioning to EVs, but expressed several concerns regarding the scheme's reach. In a statement sent to the Mirror, Head of digital content at the automotive publication, Steve Walker, said: "EV registrations have been growing steadily and are up nearly 35 per cent year on year. But there are two problems. "First, the rate of uptake still falls below the levels required by the government's ZEV mandate targets for manufacturers. Second, most of these new registrations are being driven by the fleet sector. "It's no coincidence that while businesses and company car users have strong tax incentives to purchase and run EVs, the private buyer has had nothing, not since the old plug-in car grant expired in 2022. Therefore, the prospect of new government assistance to help ordinary families afford a new EV and access the running costs savings that an electric car can bring, will be welcomed across the industry." The ace went on to argue that while any incentive is 'good news', it does not address some of the main barriers to EV uptake. He cited how around 70 per cent of new EVs cost more than £40,000, yet the new grant of up to £3,750 is only available at the point of sale for cars priced at or under £37,000, meaning most models won't qualify. He went on to add that, since April this year, owners of EVs costing £40,000 or more have to pay an additional £410 a year in road tax for five years — a total extra cost of £2,050 — which Auto Express has asked the government to reconsider. While Steve said the new grant is a 'welcome boost', he stressed that it's not enough on its own, arguing that to really speed up private EV adoption, the government must drop the luxury car tax for EVs and improve access to charging points, especially for people without home charging. Responding to the criticism, a Department for Transport spokesperson told the Mirror: "The price cap ensures the Electric Car Grant targets the more affordable end of the market, ensuring funding can reach as many people as possible, rather than spending taxpayer's money subsidising luxury cars. The grant is in addition to the £63 million announced this week to support charging infrastructure, making it cheaper and easier for families, businesses and the public sector to make the switch."
ABC News
10 hours ago
- Automotive
- ABC News
WA's RAC electric-highway charging project ends despite rise in EVs
When West Australian car insurer RAC first launched its "electric highway" installing electric vehicle chargers in WA's south-west, it was the first network of its kind in Australia and opened regional travel to EV owners for the first time. Not that there were many of them. RAC general manager of external relations Will Golsby said there were about 80 electric cars in the state in 2015, when the highway first opened. In surveys the RAC conducted 10 years ago, people were interested in EVs, but the number one concern was "range anxiety", the fear that the vehicles would be unusable outside of Perth because there was nowhere to charge them. "The original intent of the electric highways was really to open Western Australia up and enable people from Perth to travel through the south-west and allow our regional members with electric vehicles to travel to Perth," Mr Golsby told Gary Adshead on ABC Radio Perth. In 10 years, the number of fully electric vehicles in WA has grown to about 27,000, and there are about 150 charging stations across the state. The state government has spent more than $43 million on subsidies to help people buy electric vehicles and committed $21 million to extending the charging network. Mr Golsby said that, having demonstrated that owning an electric vehicle was a viable option in WA, the RAC had decided to move on, withdrawing from its involvement in the electric highway. "We wanted to open up the state to EVs," he said. "We believe there's been significant growth. We hope there will be more growth in electric vehicles." For Australian Electric Vehicle Association (AEVA) president Chris Jones, it is the end of an era in the evolution of electric transport in WA. It was Dr Jones, along with two others, who first pitched the idea of building the charging network to the RAC 10 years ago. "It started because I was unemployed and looking for something to do. I wrote a 10-page document on how you would build charging in the south-west," Dr Jones said. "We found the ideal spots and what the layout would look like, and we pitched it to anyone that would listen." Many potential funders and government agencies said no, but the RAC took the idea seriously. "They came back and said: 'You know what, this is absolutely something we should be supporting', and they did," Dr Jones said. Dr Jones said he was not surprised the highway project had now come to an end. The RAC purchased and installed electric-highway charging stations, but they were then owned and managed by local governments. "Councils weren't prepared for what it took to look after this sort of equipment," Dr Jones said. "You have to learn new skills, get familiar with new technology. You don't make much money from it." Some of those stations will continue to operate on the Chargefox network, while others will close down. In the popular south-west holiday spots of Busselton and Dunsborough, the council has decided not to continue running the charging stations. City of Busselton Mayor Phill Cronin acknowledged the charging station in Dunsborough was popular. "I don't think there's one time I've walked past and they're not being utilised," Cr Cronin said. However, he said the council had decided the charging station was not in a great location and the technology was becoming outdated. "It's just not something we feel that we should be taking on," he said, adding that a local shopping centre in Dunsborough had installed four fast charging stations in its car park, providing drivers with other options. In the case of the Busselton charging station, the council is inviting expressions of interest from businesses who would like to take over the charger. While it is the end of an era for electric driving in WA, the RAC said it had achieved what it set out to do. "It was Australia's first. Other states now claim to have the bigger, larger, longer, wider highways, but certainly this was Australia's first," Mr Golsby said. For AEVA, it was a major boost to its lobbying efforts in WA. "Buoyed by [the electric highway], we put the effort into lobbying the WA government into building a decent charging network around the state," Dr Jones said. "I think the next effort we will need to see in public charging will be workplace charging."
BBC News
11 hours ago
- BBC News
Airport drivers try to beat drop-off charges by parking in laybys
It's a hot and sticky Friday in the middle of the summer holidays and cars are flooding onto Edinburgh Airport's approach are few places to stop, but in almost every layby a steady stream of drivers await friends and loved ones touching down from their are all parked in a half-mile radius from the entrance to the terminal building in a bid to beat so-called "kiss-and-fly" charges in the official drop-off by the RAC, released this week, found that more than half of the country's busiest airports have raised drop-off fees in the last 12 months. In Edinburgh, drivers face a £6 tariff for a 10-minute stay at a specific drop-off zone yards from the main terminal minute beyond that allowance will cost them an extra £1. Instead, drivers here look to beat the system, waiting in nooks and crannies along Eastfield Road for a message that their passengers have then drive a few hundred metres towards the Moxy or Hilton hotels and pick them up as they leave the airport complex, exiting hastily to avoid risking a fine for parking on double yellow lines. Close to the Moxy, next to a farm gate by a grass verge, Caroline O'Brien, 52, is waiting in a layby for her husband and children after they returned from a holiday to says she had previously been charged £24 for under 30 minutes in the drop-off zone and decided not to take any chances this time."You don't know if the plane is going to be early or late in and I don't want them to be standing around," she says."For pick-up and drop-off, I think a couple of pounds [would be fair]. You're only there a few minutes for them to get their cases and then right back in the car and away again." Drivers approaching via Eastfield Road pass three roundabouts on the way into the main terminal, the closest of which leads them on to a one-way system which means they have to pass through the drop-off is no signage on the approach to inform them of the charges, however there is when they are already inside the drop-off pay once they exit the drop-off area. London Gatwick, Bristol, Leeds Bradford, Southampton and Stansted charged the top rate of £7 in the RAC is level with London Heathrow, Birmingham, Liverpool John Lennon and Glasgow in charging £6 for the initial drop contrast, at nine of the 10 busiest airports in the European Union there are no drop-off Tschopp, 32, from Switzerland, had just dropped a friend off at the terminal but was unaware there would be a charge for doing so. He says his local airport, in Basel, did not charge for the same says: "I was a bit flabbergasted to be honest, because we don't have that in Switzerland."I think it creates a form of aversion to do the little things like drop off your friends. If I had known about the fees, we probably wouldn't have had such a heartfelt goodbye, it would have been: 'No, go now, there's extra fees'." Edinburgh Airport does have other road links with the city centre through bus services, while the tram network also stops just also has a free drop-off zone about half a mile (0.8km) from the main terminal building, across the tram line and near a car rental can park there for 30 minutes free of charge, but it costs £10 up to an hour after that and £18 for between one and three another side street, near a vacant commercial business, Shiela McPheely is waiting to collect her sisters from their holiday in Albufeira in says the cost of the drop-off zone is "appalling" and is planning to pick her sisters up at the free drop-off point, despite both having mobility issues."It's just greedy. You pay enough for your flights and when you get in there, you get a tea or a coffee, so they are getting money from you that way," Sheila, 79, says."There is a bit you can park in that is free, but that is all very well if you are young and fit, but one of my sisters has a sore back, the other one is waiting for a hip operation, so it's difficult for them." Back inside the charged drop-off area, a multi-storey car park provides a roof and shade from the warm afternoon Marshall, 45, has been waiting for some time for his in-laws to arrive on a flight from London, before driving them back to says he had not noticed the charge before he parked says: "It's a bit extortionate, £1 per minute is a bit of a joke.""The flat £6 I think is fair, this £1 per minute seems a bit silly, it's a bit much." Meanwhile, taxi driver Dean Carse, 31, says the charge has an impact on says: "Every journey is £6 more expensive."I pay it, but I get it back off the customer, which is ridiculous, it goes from the customer to me to the airport."The airport spin it like they care about pollution, but they don't. They're a business and they want to make money." Edinburgh Airport declined to comment when contacted by BBC News, but said that a free drop-off area was added that passengers could choose whether to use the free or paid industry body, Airports UK, said all hubs offered free drop-off options further from the said "park and ride" facilities where people can leave their car and take a bus to the airport were provided.A Police Scotland spokesperson said it regularly gave "advice" to motorists in the airport complex, but was unable to be specific on what that added: "Where necessary, appropriate action will be taken."
The Independent
2 days ago
- Automotive
- The Independent
Electric vehicles account for more than one in 20 car miles driven in UK
More than one in 20 car miles driven in the UK is by an electric vehicle, according to new analysis. Motoring research charity the RAC has found that at the end of 2024, zero-emission cars – the vast majority of which are pure battery-electrics – were undertaking 5.3% of all car mileage. That is despite comprising just 3.8% of the national car fleet. Last year, pure battery electric cars under three years old were driven an average of 10,054 miles. For petrol and diesel cars in the same age category, the average was 7,585 miles and 10,728 miles, respectively. The calculations are based on an analysis of more than 1.2 million MOT tests. Steve Gooding, director of the RAC Foundation, said: 'Until recently new car buyers, often fleets and businesses, have looked to diesels when they've needed something capable of racking up the big miles whilst still offering reasonable fuel economy. 'Now it seems that fully electric cars are starting to take over where the diesel left off, providing a practical alternative in terms of range and cost per mile, and because of the attractive tax breaks they come with. 'The world where many saw the electric vehicle as being a second-car option, handy only for short trips, is changing rapidly to one where the battery-electric car is being bought to be a workhorse.' Earlier this week, the Government announced that drivers buying a new electric car will be eligible for grants of up to £3,750.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Electric vehicles account for more than one in 20 car miles driven in UK
More than one in 20 car miles driven in the UK is by an electric vehicle, according to new analysis. Motoring research charity the RAC has found that at the end of 2024, zero-emission cars – the vast majority of which are pure battery-electrics – were undertaking 5.3% of all car mileage. That is despite comprising just 3.8% of the national car fleet. Last year, pure battery electric cars under three years old were driven an average of 10,054 miles. For petrol and diesel cars in the same age category, the average was 7,585 miles and 10,728 miles, respectively. The calculations are based on an analysis of more than 1.2 million MOT tests. Steve Gooding, director of the RAC Foundation, said: 'Until recently new car buyers, often fleets and businesses, have looked to diesels when they've needed something capable of racking up the big miles whilst still offering reasonable fuel economy. 'Now it seems that fully electric cars are starting to take over where the diesel left off, providing a practical alternative in terms of range and cost per mile, and because of the attractive tax breaks they come with. 'The world where many saw the electric vehicle as being a second-car option, handy only for short trips, is changing rapidly to one where the battery-electric car is being bought to be a workhorse.' Earlier this week, the Government announced that drivers buying a new electric car will be eligible for grants of up to £3,750.
