When are you going fully electric?

Soldato
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No, but it means you can purchase them if you wish to. The existence of this wish to purchase things then creates a market which manufacturers serve...

I don't get the fascination of embracing a situation where only a privileged few can own something. Some basics like owning your own transport shouldn't be a luxury - even if some people would rather an on demand service model.

I didn't get across properly as I intended. I don't mean so much that people will inevitably be priced out of ownership. I just think it will become nonsensical to many to do so when there'll be a fleet of uber self drives on demand. It was the same mindset for me of EV vs ICE. Sure, I could buy a nice new v8 and spank petrol down the motorway hooning it everywhere but my requirements, priorities and perspectives have long changed. It would be nonsensical to me to do that now.

Let's be honest, the roads aren't like when we were kids anymore. They get progressively worse, few people can say they honestly go out on an event free journey and enjoy grinding through gears and deafening exhaust sounds rattling their arse ring. Track days are for fun. Roads are to commute.
 
Man of Honour
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. I just think it will become nonsensical to many to do so when there'll be a fleet of uber self drives on demand

I got this the first time around, hence my reply. Car ownership is for many about more than simply convenient transport and cannot be replaced by a communal self driving car.

These people could already summon a taxi on demand whenever they want and yet don't... Instead they buy a car, spend time thinking about which one they want, how it should look, etc..

If having a car was simply about cost effective transport then Porsche wouldn't sell anything, the Ford range would be half the size and Dacia would be world leading.
 
Soldato
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I got this the first time around, hence my reply. Car ownership is for many about more than simply convenient transport and cannot be replaced by a communal self driving car.

These people could already summon a taxi on demand whenever they want and yet don't... Instead they buy a car, spend time thinking about which one they want, how it should look, etc..

If having a car was simply about cost effective transport then Porsche wouldn't sell anything, the Ford range would be half the size and Dacia would be world leading.
You don't think that rising fuel costs, increased VED, heinous insurance costs and greater pressure due to environmental costs won't make more and more people switch to alternative cheaper options when they become more viable? There's already enough cars on the roads. What's the answer, just keep adding more cars? Something has to give at some point.

Your porsche example pretty much sums it up though. Few people own a porsche, just those who can afford to/really desire to. The majority of people? They own a car that is cost effective and convenient. The ford/dacia point is a bit weak though.... How long have Dacia been making cars on any kind of scale?
 
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Soldato
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Who says income lost from fuel duty has to go on cost of electricity or a road charging scheme? That money can be clawed back from anywhere else. It could go on VAT, income tax/NI, other consumption taxes- any number of things.
 
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Who says income lost from fuel duty has to go on cost of electricity or a road charging scheme? That money can be clawed back from anywhere else. It could go on VAT, income tax/NI, other consumption taxes- any number of things.

No one says it has to.
There is some "fairness" however to recovering the tax from people using the roads, and in proportion to the amount they are driving

Tax is rarely fair however.
 
Caporegime
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Who says income lost from fuel duty has to go on cost of electricity or a road charging scheme? That money can be clawed back from anywhere else. It could go on VAT, income tax/NI, other consumption taxes- any number of things.

Better to tax the vehicles actually using the road rather than tax everybody in the country.

BIK starts for ev vehicles next April and I have no doubt that it will increase each year until its the same as what ICE cars were.

Same with road tax.

Long term with modern cars with all the tach on board, govts should be able to go over to a variable tax model based on the miles you do and when you do them

Want to drive on the M25 during rush hour? That will be £1 per mile. Want to go shopping in the countryside at 11am in the morning? That will be 10p per mile.
 
Soldato
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Better to tax the vehicles actually using the road rather than tax everybody in the country.

BIK starts for ev vehicles next April and I have no doubt that it will increase each year until its the same as what ICE cars were.

Fact check, started since ever. Just was 0% until April 2021 where it changed to 1%, then April 2022 increases to 2%.
 
Soldato
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Public chargers for long trips.
The Ionity 350kW charging network is the most expensive to use in the UK at 69p per kWh, but that does mean it's mostly always reliable and available. They have done a good job of spacing out their stations, so if your EV has 200 miles of range then you can drive from Lands End to John o'Groats, or, Dover to John o'Groats and back with no issues. A 20 minute break every 200 miles (3-4 hours) isn't at all inconvenient.

Ionity Charging Map

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Caporegime
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They’ve committed to keeping it at 2% for the next few years, so currently no further increases are scheduled.

Only from when they introduced it. There is talk the grants for EVs will be cut in next weeks budget, demand is strong enough for them already so you can see it will be a an easy way to get money into the treasury by increasing the BIK in the years to come as well.

Otherwise all those millions or billions pounds of Vehicle excise duty, fuel duty, BIK lost to the treasury will have to come from general taxation or more cuts.

Much more acceptable to tax EV cars rather than raise income tax, NI or VAT. Especially since they are in the Govt manifesto and AFAIK there isnt a promise to not increase taxes on EV cars
 
Caporegime
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