Car manufacturers have called for urgent action to reignite the switch to electric vehicles, after sales figures showed slowing demand among ordinary motorists for battery-powered cars.
While overall UK registrations grew by 1% in April year-on-year to 134,000, the increase was caused by fleet sales, with private buyer sales down by almost 18% on last year.
Manufacturers are alarmed by slowing sales growth in battery electric vehicles, which in the first four months of 2024 have only increased market share by 0.3% from the same period in 2023, to 15.7%, despite the rapid take-up in previous years.
While the industry expects the figure to improve this year, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said that BEV sales would be below government targets of 22% of all new cars, and called for steps to “re-enthuse” buyers, including tax cuts, incentives and more chargers.>
You have to compare like for like. A 60mpg is not equivalent to 3mpkwh. 60mpg is top end efficiency and 3mpkwh is bottom end.
If you can’t charge at home, right now, I’m not sure I’d advice an EV yet. Public chargers are normally a rip off. It’s pretty much the same kind of costs as fossil fuels. It needs tackling frankly.
If you got solar and a home charger , then yes, you can drive around even cheaper than my numbers. I know people whose mile cost is basically zero over summer and only the same as me in winter.
The upfront costs are coming down as the ranges go up. Long run, economics alone will kill ICE. Even without the negative feedback loops it will get in as there is less ICE so less economics of scale.