Wheathampstead Magazine
Electric Car Revolution
The popularity of electric cars in the UK has shot up over the last few years, with more than 190,000 plug-in vehicles on the road in 2018 compared with just 3,500 in 2013. This huge increase in electric cars has come about because of a greater level of choice for drivers, a change in the public's attitude towards electric cars and a constantly improving public recharging network.
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There has also been a huge increase in the number of pure-electric and plug-in hybrid models to choose from with many of the top manufacturers in the UK now offering a number of EVs as part of their model range.
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Whilst grants did change in November last year the government are still keen to encourage motorists to drive greener vehicles and so will now focus support on zero emission models like pure electric and hydrogen fuel cell cars. The cleanest vehicles will retain the grant of up to £3,500 – reduced from £4,500. According to the Office For Low Emission Vehicles ( OLEV) this reflects recent and anticipated future reductions in the price of these vehicles. They confirmed a commitment that the plug-in car grant will extend until at least 2020, encouraging the next 35,000 ultra low emission vehicles onto UK roads.
The number of rapid EV charging points on our Motorway network has skyrocketed and these rapid charging points are so powerful that a stop for lunch at a motorway service station would be enough time to charge the average electric vehicle up to 80% at a cost of less than £7 on average.
With fuel prices so high, anyone driving any distance or even taking short trips regularly will appreciate the enormous burden of fuel costs. Also, we are now much more aware of our environment and the pollution that the so called gas guzzlers can cause. So if there’s a government grant that helps to save money and help to keep things greener, then It seems to make sense to consider it.
Another aspect of government assistance in this arena is The Electric Vehicle Home Charge Scheme (EVHS) which provides grant funding of up to £500 towards the cost of installing electric vehicle charge points at domestic properties across the UK.
The cost of home charging varies depending on your tariff (and, if on Economy 7, the time of day). An average electricity rate is 10p per kWh, meaning your car could cost as little as 2p per mile to run.
Registered OLEV installer Stephen Brazil from Local firm BCS Electrical Services Ltd told us that as with all grants there are various terms and conditions and it’s worth noting that to qualify your home charge unit needs to be installed by a registered OLEV installer. Stephen’s company will be pleased to talk through a quote and the next steps and will help you through the grant application process too.
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