I think you are on to something here. The era of the SUV may be ending and the return of the MPV for families and these suffer from the same front end bluntness. The key though is the use of commercial vehicle exemptions which may mostly be pickups and 4x4.
Say what you like about Trump, but he never lets his allies down.
Heat pumps are the most efficient heating technology ever invented.
They harvest and compress pre existing heat in the air, ground or water and transport it where it is needed.
That energy is all around us. It does not have to pass through the Strait of Hormuz or any other geopolitical chokepoint.
Just go.
PPM is being introduced far too early. The Gov needed to sort out the disparity between home and public charging costs first so choosing EV is an obvious choice for everyone, not just those with home charging.
It is and removal of VAT on public charging would be a good start.
It’s a classic problem of allowing the private sector to control major infrastructure. They need to recoup their R&D and capital costs asap for shareholders. Governments can cost over long term.
I don’t have a problem with paying to use my EV, I’m just annoyed that the government has handed the anti-EV nay sayers an easy argument. The pay per mile should have also covered ICE and the many years of fuel tax freeze revoked.
That’s good to know. I’ve not been following ICE pricing as I no longer have any interest in owning one but was slightly worried that new UK plans for pay per mile for EV would damage the transition away from ICE.
Unfortunately loved ones aren’t the issue. It’s certain politicians that need to catch up (or drop the disingenuous rubbish).
Many supermarkets and shopping centres have opted for more expensive fast charging options so the early dream of just plugging in wherever you end up hasn’t materialised (except in Norway apparently).
Correct. That’s top whack at a motorway fast charger. Cheaper destination chargers are around. The park near me has fast at about 54p kWh.
There’s a mixed network of slower chargers at the 30p ish rate but not the perfect every destination that’s needed.
I was talking about the disparity between the cost to charge at home and the cost to charge at a public charger. In UK that can be 7p home, 85p public.
Fair. Until you take into account the price disparity which is what people are actually bothered about.
Gooseneck trailers seem to be a solution to a pickup created problem. Those whose vehicles are their whole work and home life like the European travelling communities tend to use vans with trailers or caravans.
EV load carrying market is hoting up though. Kia PV5 is a game changer on price. Europeans tend to buy vans for work because.. rain and theft.
Pickups seem like a weird niche product that just got fashionable despite all the drawbacks.
My understanding is that the industry exploited a loophole for commercial vehicles that increased profits but then went about adding passenger space because that’s what family (ie non commercial) buyers actually wanted. This meant less load space. Small Japanese pickup will carry same size loads.
I think over roads has been considered but the maintenance costs (as well as related disruption) and finding grid connectivity make it unworkable.
Throw in the game changer of Vehicle to Grid and all those parked EV batteries start to solve the base load issue for next to no cost beyond improvements to the grid that are already needed and being rolled out.
Agree although hydrogen would be an incredibly wasteful use of energy. Lots of battery tech coming along that doesn’t rely on rare or expensive minerals from dodgy places.
Battery and other storage methods plus trading across borders. Tidal is relatively untapped but predictable source. New efficiencies will also play a huge role.
All will cut into the headline cost but still be much cheaper and safer and less reliant on fat off countries for fuel.
£
Yeh, we are all paying the price for the great truck SUV con that car manufacturers concocted to increase profits (blame Chrysler/Jeep).
Many people need a big carrying car but most don’t. Increased size hasn’t meant increased load size (or safety).
A small European market car can do 40-60+ mpg
Used to enjoy the satisfaction of fixing my old 20+ years cars. Cheap motoring.
Moved to EV 2 yrs ago and never looking back. ‘Fill up’ less than every 2 months at public chargers. No maintenance. Not comparable £££ as this is a new lease and I have home charger but glad I moved on.
Now feels like a good time to remember that Big Oil is the reason why we're still hooked on dirty, dangerous fossil fuels.
The industry's lies have essentially stolen a generation’s worth of time that we could have used to transition to cleaner, safer energy sources.
It’s time for accountability.
Remember guys, you can’t afford a gas rig, or a coal mine, or a nuclear power station, but you can afford to put some cheap solar panels on your roof.
That’s why the fossil fuel industry has spent billions trying to kill renewable energy.
The dealer needs to keep you addicted.
I’ve always had cheap old ICE cars I maintained myself. I got to the point I didn’t want to do the maintenance and knew next had to be EV.
Leasing worked best for me whilst I waited for greater choice in the used market but there’s now some good options.
Crude oil prices, showing a very sharp increase in the last day, from around 65 to 101 dollars per barrel..
Oil prices wouldn't be all over the news today if more of our economy was powered by local, secure renewable energy.
This isn't an "energy crisis". It's a fossil fuel crisis.
44% of UK electricity came from renewables in 2025. More of that plus an electrified economy => no more oil shocks.
They are investing huge fortunes into disinformation about EV, renewables and climate change denial. Also pushing hybrids.
Exact same tactics used by tobacco manufacturers when bans started coming in; delay as long as possible then shift to build another market elsewhere.
That’s not very good mileage at all. Ok for a large suv I guess. Hybrid is just oil but a little bit more efficient. If you don’t have charging infrastructure I guess it’s the best option though.
Good. Transitioning away from oil could have been easy but humans (and capitalism especially) doesn’t work like that so it needs a hard and painful shock to move on.
Growth in renewables and green tech is benefiting from exponential evolution right now and high oil prices can only help that.
