Issues when moving to all electric towcars

Flatcoat. Perhaps you didn't read my post where I said our car was a pre-reg and didn't qualify for any subsidies at all. OH installed the charge point himself from an ebay purchase.  We made a decision to give it a go and four years down the line we're ok about it as a viable form of transport.

I'm not on CT to defend or promote EV use but as we have one I'm happy to respond to anything reasonable that comes up.

As purchases of EVs go up, the costs will come down.

The idea behind EVs is to reduce the use of dwindling stocks of fossil fuels and conserve energy for future generations. I can see the logic in that too.

Flatcoat

I am not sure how much investigation you have done on the price of EV's but the new, lower, threshold for the grant is set so that people who can afford to buy the more expensive brands no longer get any subsidy. When I have looked at prices of EV's, anywhere near what I could possibly afford, they seem range from around £28000 to nearer the new subsidy limit of £35000.As a result I doubt I will be buying an EV anytime soon as I feel the investment is far too high for the use I would give it so I wouldn't have any meaningful advantage of savings in running costs. Using subsidies has been used for years to change behaviour, perhaps where the Government has gone wrong is that it has not increased fuel duty inline with inflation for at least 10 years. If it is serious about persuading the public to buy EV's it has to wean the public off ICE vehicles and subsidies is one way of doing it and making ICE vehicles more expensive to own is another. Something has got to change for the 2030 change over to be a success. 

David

It will end in tears

Absolutely 1000% agree. The removal of the grant demonstrates just how commited the government are to this nonsensical, idealistic dream of a non-fossil fuelled environment. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for it and for "saving the planet" but if you think that our little tiny island, switching to electric powered vehicles is going to solve, or even put a dent in the problem, it's not. There's a much bigger picture which needs looking at. Can you imagine the USA switching to all electric? How about Russia, China, India and of course Africa?  I'll wager all our fossil fuelled, ICE cast offs will be snapped up and used for centuries to come in Africa alone. (Then the world will run out of vegetable oil). Currently, we cant even dispose of plastic which is littering the planet, let alone put the infrastructure in place to sustain a global electric driven society. As Flatcoat suggests, it'll end in tears.

and making ICE vehicles more expensive to own is another. Something has got to change for the 2030 change over to be a success.

So basically make it more expensive to rum an ICE vehicle for the ones who can not afford to purchase an Electric vehicle.

It will end in tears

So we will just ignore it.🤔

At least the dinosaurs had an excuse for becoming extinct.☄️

My brother has just swapped his Merc C180 for an e-Niro. He does fairly limited mileage so fuel savings aren't that significant. It is the more powerful battery pack version. Only the cheapest model comes under the £35K limit. It's hardly a "luxury" vehicle so the Government move seems unlikely to encourage the change.

ISTR reading a couple of years back that the overall carbon footprint is lowest driving a 25 year old diesel Land Rover! Our runabout is an eight year old i20 and, with an annual mileage around 3-4000, it certainly isn't cost effective to go for an electric car despite having a roof full of solar.

+1, I’m thinking that needing a new Planet because we’ve bust this one could bring on tears too🤷🏻‍♂️. In city centres folk are losing their lives due to increased exhaust particulates destroying their lungs☹️

I wonder how Mr Grant Shapps Tesla was "financed?"

I would think,  as is being seriously looked at by HMG that before 2030 all vehicles will be on a charge per mile to use on the roads 

It seems fairly obvious, that as the move to electric increases, not only will the subsidy be removed, but new taxing will come in to replace the current fuel taxes. If, as seems likely, there will be a huge investment in a workable infrastructure, putting enough charging points around the country, I am sure taxes will become even higher than now.