Latest news with #Startline
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Startline survey reveals Chinese car brands gain traction among UK motorists
More than seven out of ten UK motorists are open to purchasing vehicles from emerging Chinese car manufacturers, according to Startline's June Used Car Tracker. In the survey, 72% of respondents expressed willingness to consider Chinese cars. BYD emerged as the most recognised brand among potential buyers, with 28% awareness, followed by Maxus at 19% and Chery at 14%. Other brands such as Aiways, Denza, and Jaecoo each garnered 11% while Omoda and Xpeng stood at 10%. Nio, Skywell, and GWM Ora achieved 9%, with Leapmotor, Lynk & Co, HiPhi, and Zeekr trailing. Startline Motor Finance CEO Paul Burgess said: 'Chinese manufacturers are making a concerted assault on the UK market – almost 12,000 BYDs were sold here in the first four months of the year – and our research shows that consumers are receptive to the idea of buying a car from them.' Burgess further explained that differentiation is a challenge for these new entrants. Those investing in marketing and dealer networks are seeing increased consumer awareness, with BYD as a prime example. Despite this, 18% of respondents prefer established brands, 11% have quality concerns, and 7% wish to support British manufacturers. Additional concerns include parts availability and security, each noted by 4% of respondents, and dealer support, mentioned by 2%. Burgess stated that while a small group of car buyers exhibits some hesitation, significant concerns typically associated with the quality and support offered by new Chinese automakers are notably minimal. Compiled by APD Global Research, the Startline Used Car Tracker surveyed 301 consumers and 66 dealers, providing insights into consumer perceptions and market trends. Earlier this year, Startline Motor Finance secured a five-year credit facility worth £475m ($583m) from the US bank JP Morgan. Startline offers near-prime financing solutions to approximately half of the UK's top 50 franchised car dealers and 70% of the leading 50 independent automotive retailers, based on revenue. "Startline survey reveals Chinese car brands gain traction among UK motorists" was originally created and published by Motor Finance Online, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site.
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
‘250 in five': the psychological benchmark driving EV fast charging
A recent survey from Startline Motor Finance found that 72% of consumers would buy an electric vehicle if it offered 250 miles of range from five minutes of charging. Engineers say this goal presents significant technical hurdles. Yet the real challenge may lie not in battery chemistry, but in consumer expectations, infrastructure, and education. According to figures released by Startline Motor Finance, in their May Use Card Tracker, 72% of those asked say that if battery electric-powered vehicles could promise 250 miles of range based on five minutes of charging, they would make the switch to electric. The data is compiled for Startline every month by APD Global Research, which for this survey questioned a sample of 308 consumers and 66 car dealers. 250 miles of range from five minutes of charging. Why is that the magic number? As Paul Burgess, CEO of Startline Motor Finance, said when the survey results were announced, 'The promise of an electric car that can be powered with the convenience of a petrol equivalent clearly strikes a chord with many potential buyers, our research shows. Being able to pull up to a charger and add 250 miles of range in moments would remove the need for a home charger, especially important for people who don't have the space to install their own, and promises to make the whole process of highway charging much simpler.' 'Convenience of a petrol equivalent' is the key phrase. Those numbers are close to the experience of a driver operating a petrol-powered vehicle. 250 miles or 400 kilometres is a typical daily range for an ICE vehicle, while five minutes is how long you would expect to spend at a standard petrol stop. 'It represents a psychological promise of convenience. 'I don't have to change my habits,'' says Gerold Sluka, Head of Battery Development at hofer Powertrain. 'From a technical standpoint, 150 to 180 kilometres in eight minutes would be entirely sufficient. However, '250 in five' sounds better.' It sounds good, but can it be done? Sluka digs into the technical hurdles manufacturers would have to overcome to achieve those figures. 'The wish is understandable. However, achieving a 250-mile recharge in five minutes would require transferring approximately 72 kWh of energy into the battery in that time, equivalent to a sustained charging power of ~860 kW,' Sluka says. 'This level of power exceeds the thermal and electrical tolerances of today's production-grade battery systems.' Burgess points out that there are already companies working on it, but acknowledges that it is no easy challenge. 'While companies like BYD and CATL are announcing very high-speed charging of this type, it is almost certainly some distance away from becoming commercially available,' Burgess says. 'The chargers needed are two or three times more powerful than anything currently seen in the UK and would place huge demands on our electricity infrastructure, while the batteries themselves are unlikely to become widely available for several years. The cost of installation of the batteries is likely to be a significant factor, and the price of power is also high.' Sluka also points to exciting new developments on the technical side of things, telling us, 'That said, technological progress is evident. At hofer Powertrain, in collaboration with a global OEM, we've implemented a high-power charging system in which an EV prototype was charged from 10% to 80% state of charge (SoC) in just ten minutes. This represents a real-world gain of 200–250 km using validated components and a near-production system architecture. Vehicles capable of recharging a typical daily driving range within ten minutes are approaching series maturity as soon as next year.' As Sluka explains, the leap from that to five minutes presents a significantly more complex engineering challenge. It requires coordinated advancements across three key engineering sectors. The first of these is cell chemistry. 'Cells must sustain high continuous charge rates while maintaining long-term stability and avoiding excessive swelling behaviour. This demands novel chemical systems,' Sluka says. 'hofer Powertrain is actively developing and validating such chemistries. For example, lithium-sulphur cells offer both higher specific energy and lower internal resistance, enabling faster, thermally stable charging.' The other challenge is a familiar one for any engineering solution: heat. 'Fast charging increases cell temperature by 10–15 °C within minutes,' says Sluka. 'Without precise thermal control, reliable high-rate charging cannot be sustained. Requirements include: Smart cooling concepts such as direct cell-level liquid cooling. Swelling performance analysis at pre-development stages. Real-time monitoring via Cell Monitoring Units (CMUs).' The final design challenge within the vehicle itself is system design. As Sluka explains, 'Electrical energy must be transferred with minimal loss and maximum safety. This necessitates a high-current busbar system, advanced disconnect devices like our iBDU (intelligent Battery Disconnect Unit) and modular platform designs rated for extreme current densities. Every component - from cell to charge connector - must be dimensioned to withstand high currents. This rules out lightweight conductors; today, copper and aluminium remain the only viable options.' Further increases in charging power could be achieved through higher voltage systems and very high current, enabling 12C charge rates. But no matter how far you advance the technology inside the car and the battery, it all depends on the quality of the infrastructure around it. 'On the grid side, megawatt-level charging is only sporadically feasible today,' says Sluka. 'In China, instead of full megawatt chargers, the industry is raising standards incrementally to 750 kW (GT standard). In Europe, dual-port CCS charging is under discussion. In the future, additional options like MCS connectors with dual contactors and compact controllers could emerge. In the near term, CCS-based dual-port implementations appear more likely.' The hurdles that stand between existing technologies and consumers' fantasy EV range and charging time are formidable, but the work is ongoing. 'While charging an electric vehicle to deliver 250 miles of range in just five minutes is not currently possible in the UK, ultra-rapid chargers today can recharge a 60kWh battery in around 24 minutes, already enabling fast top-ups for longer journeys,' says Tim Dexter, Vehicle Policy Manager, at Transport & Environment UK (T&E UK). 'Battery and charging technology are evolving rapidly, with Chinese firm CATL recently announcing a major breakthrough on five minute charging that will likely filter through to the UK market in the coming years.' SLUKA also points to exciting developments that are already in progress. 'Some manufacturers - such as BYD - are already deploying five-minute charging via dedicated 1 MW charging systems. However, this level of infrastructure is currently not widely deployed in Europe,' Sluka says. 'Meanwhile, LFP cell technology is gaining momentum, offering 15-minute charging today, with a clear roadmap toward ten minutes. Their cost-efficiency, high thermal stability, and low fire risk are driving their adoption over NMC-based chemistries.' Sluka also refers to emerging chemistries like lithium-sulphur that can offer up to twice the energy density, lower mass, and improved material sustainability. 'Their application, for now, remains limited to performance and luxury segments due to maturity and integration complexity,' Sluka adds. Even if all of the technical challenges can be overcome, there is still a question mark over how much range and charging time are the real obstacles to widespread EV adoption. Startline's own survey also reported that 15% of customers believe that if chargers can provide power that quickly, it will be expensive, while 12% believe it will be difficult to build a charging network of that speed. As Burgess said when the report was released, 'We have, of course, yet to see BYD's charging in action, and it is comparatively rare to see chargers rated at over 300kW in the UK, never mind the 1,000kW that five-minute charging demands. Our most powerful public chargers offer less than half that capacity. Delivering this step change would require a massive investment in infrastructure and motorists are probably correct in assuming that this kind of power would be expensive to install and to access.' But speaking to us, Burgess adds that the development of these capabilities could have a huge impact. 'If these issues can be resolved, there is little question that this development, which essentially makes it as fast to charge as to refuel an ICE car, has huge consumer appeal, according to our survey,' Burgess says. 'The promise of an EV that can be charged with the convenience of a petrol equivalent clearly strikes a chord with many potential buyers.' Being able to 'refuel' your car in your own driveway is one of the big selling points of electric vehicles, but as Sluka has already told us, there is a lot to be said for not making consumers change their habits. 'One of the key difficulties surrounding EV adoption - charging for people living in terraced houses and apartments without off-road parking - might be largely solved,' Burgess tells us. 'Motorists could potentially pull up onto the forecourt and refuel in much the same way they do now. The need to install potentially hundreds of thousands, even millions, of roadside chargers could be sidestepped.' Yet the question remains: is it necessary? 'It is vital to recognise that this extreme speed is not essential for most drivers. The majority of EV owners charge their cars at home overnight, waking each morning with a fully charged vehicle, eliminating the need for regular public charging,' Dexter says. 'For those who do need it, the UK now has over 75,000 public chargers, growing 40% year-on-year, although it is crucial that deployment of these is more evenly distributed across the country and prioritised for those who are not able to charge at home.' While it would be nice to think that there is a simple technological solution to driving the switchover to electric, the truth is more complex than that. 99% of car journeys in England are shorter than 100 miles, most of those could be easily made by an EV without needing to recharge. At the same time, the average electric range for new EVs launched in 2023 was 300 miles, compared to 210 miles in 2020. The key obstacle might not be technological, but psychological. Dave Anderson, Motor Finance Sales Director at motor finance provider Tandem Bank, emphasises that the opportunity lies in educating potential EV buyers, noting, 'While range, price, and charging continue to be top concerns for prospective EV buyers, all evidence suggests that these factors don't have to be barriers for most people.' Anderson argues that, 'With used EV prices often lower than those of comparable petrol and diesel models, switching to an electric car makes economic and practical sense for many people, especially for those who can accommodate a home charger.' Anderson points to the Department for Transport's own recently published survey of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles. 93% of respondents to that survey had access to home charging, while 90% of them charged overnight. As well as helping drivers to avoid petrol station queues and the time spent filling up, Anderson points out that it is likely to save many people money. Charging a medium-sized EV at home can cost about half the price of filling up an equivalent petrol vehicle. Charging at home costs approximately 8p per mile, while a diesel or petrol vehicle can cost around 13p to 17p per mile to fuel, as of January 2024. 'The opportunity ahead is winning hearts and minds by educating people about the real-world realities of driving an EV, whilst addressing charging and range issues head-on,' Anderson argues. 'Manufacturers, dealers, and car finance lenders all have a role in helping people make the switch confidently. As well as choosing greener transport, the change to reduce their motoring costs is there for many people also.' Dexter also argues that educating consumers is as much of a priority as upgrading technical statistics. 'The biggest hurdles to widespread EV adoption are misinformation and policy uncertainty. Despite persistent myths about EV cost and usability, 85% of EV drivers are satisfied with their experience,' he points out. More low-cost EVs are entering the market, with over a dozen models expected under £23,000 by 2027. But recent government changes to the ZEV mandate could undermine this progress, with Transport & Environment UK analysis showing that weakened targets could delay growth in EV sales until the end of the decade. 'To maintain momentum, the UK needs firm policy direction, equitable infrastructure investment and more action from the government to ensure consumers have clear and accurate information regarding EVs,' Dexter says. "'250 in five': the psychological benchmark driving EV fast charging" was originally created and published by Motor Finance Online, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site.
