ZEVving in to 2024

Forget tax cuts, EV owners have more pressing needs. That's what we told the FT, anyway...

The Zero Emissions Vehicles (ZEV) Mandate is here, and as some commentators tell us, this could mean big discounts on offer for EV car buyers. Hoorah! So – never let it be said that The Green Edge doesn’t walk the walk where there’s a walking opportunity to be had – with our well-served hybrid coming up for renewal, we bit on the cherry and trotted along to our local dealer (and others) to find out what was on offer on ZEV Street…

We expected it, of course, but the first thing is the price shock. There’s a fair old difference between pretty much all the EVs we looked at and their internal combustion engine (ICE) equivalents. No doubt this will erode in the not-too-distant future with the growth of the new EVs coming from China and South Korea – reducing dependence on the East, are we? – but for now we can see why there’s been a fair bit of lobbying to knock off EV taxes. Ouch.

Source: SMMT

Once over the price shock, though, the next question is, which make and model? We found that the old grey matter had to be deployed more than a tad to figure out what we might pick so as not to give us too much range anxiety. There seems to be no agreed view on what is ‘the reliable and safe range’ and there are so many rules, you see. There’s the weather to take into account and the effect of cold on the battery, there are the various charging regimes, and so on.

Cutting to the chase, in the end we picked an EV from the new range by the same manufacturer as our previous hybrid, who was of course delighted to keep us. Needless to say, this wasn’t one of the two largest EV producers in the world, Tesla and BYD, who, with their 2 million or so units a year between them, may still be well ahead of the ‘legacy’ manufacturers like Ford and Renault, but there are a growing number of alternatives on offer. Our other car is, after all, a nice little Toyota hybrid.

So, October of last year, order placed. But then the fun started…

Our new EV, of course, would need charging, and here we found multiple options. Off-street charging would be great, but like most people we don’t have a drive or access to a dedicated parking slot. We found that kerbside charging is getting easier as more local authorities add EV charging points to lampposts – charging speeds and costs from lampposts also look reasonable. We read about new technology that’s starting to be applied to draw electricity from lampposts so that each one can supply up to 15 individual kerbside charging points. It’s also possible, we hear, to install EV charging point on terraced houses like ours, as long as it’s okay to run the cables across the pavement with the requisite cable guard cover and public liability insurance.

But here’s the thing. Whatever charging choice is available, we found that installing an EV home charging point required at least three sets of people to help us. First, there was the EV charger installer: there are approved lists of these, usually provided by the major car dealers. But, once their work is done, both the energy supplier and the network provider need to do their bits: the former to change the mains meter tails, then the latter to make a fuse upgrade, typically from 60 amps to 80/100 amps. For us, having the EV charger installed only took a few weeks. Some months later (and EV delivery coming close), our regular long waits on the telephone line to our energy and network providers are still ongoing.

While there are clear boundaries between energy provision, network provision, and drawing power into domestic sockets, we have to wonder why the whole project can’t be undertaken by one fully competent electrical contractor, properly approved, registered and audited.

This might be seen as The Green Edge simply sounding off based on an individual experience – ie. ours. But our concern is that demand is going to grow. Under the ZEV Mandate, 80% of all new car sales need to be EVs by 2030. By 2035, it’s 100%. For the next few years, the growth will be modest – 22% in 2024 and an extra 5% per year to 2026. But then it ramps up. And, between now and 2030 there is also a target for EV public charging points to increase more than sixfold, from 48,100 to 300,000. So, the energy providers and network operators do have a little time to sort out their handshaking. But on the basis of our observation at least, perhaps they need to get cracking.

Anyway, in good Green Edge fashion, we wrote to the Financial Times about it. If you have a subscription to the FT, you can read our letter here. If not, we’ve repeated it below:

As we read that electric cars’ share of the market stalled for the first time in 2023, we also hear calls for tax cuts to boost EV sales (Report, January 5).

There are a number of issues we need to consider. Having recently placed an order for an EV, the cost is around £13,000 more than the ICE (internal combustion engine) car it is replacing. It will need charging at home which adds a further cost of £2,400.

You also have to deal with both your energy provider (I put in a request in October 2023 and am still awaiting a confirmed appointment) and your network provider (it says it can only act after the energy provider has undertaken its work).

Until both the energy and network providers have completed their work you cannot use the EV charger. You then need to explore other charging options. For us, the local authority is installing 400 lamppost charging points. You then will need to see what are the charging options when on the move.

I have also been in touch with our local authority to see if they are exploring additional kerbside charging options (drawing power from lamppost sources and serving 15 properties) which has been pursued in other local authority areas.

Additional domestic charging options are required for all properties, like mine, that do not have off street parking.

So, the call for tax cuts on EVs for a period would be welcome, but I am finding other barriers to EV ownership and operation.