Written evidence from Timothy Grundey (ELV0022)

Electric Vehicles & Charging infrastructure. Lords consultation

Timothy Grundey 

3. There have been too many changes in incentives for vehicle purchase & fitting home chargers sometimes with little or no notice meaning people making decisions on finance have been caught out by changes after ordering but before delivery. I was scramling to get a home charger installed before Scottish Government additional support ended.

They also offered an interest free loan for car purchase which I enquired about before purchase. Before they answered the rules changed & they said my choice did not qualify. I argued that as it qualified when I first contacted them the loan should go ahead. After 2 months of appeals & arguments they agreed it was equitable to allow the loan.

Car manufacturers work on many years lead time so the cut off date for ban on petrol & diesel cars should not be changed. Having said that small manufacturers should be allowed to sell combustion engined cars that will only run on synthetic fuels or hydrogen

7. Fuel duty will have to be replaced by some mechanism so a very early decision needs to be made on what that is with long notice of introduction.

9. EVs are more expensive than ICE cars. The government need to support    building EV battery manufacture in UK so that UK vehicle manufacturers can compete.

16.  Car clubs offering short term EV hire should be able to purchase cars with no VAT to reduce costs & encourage take up.

17. EV insurance is more expensive than than ICE cars due to cost of parts & not enough trained technicians. Support more training in this field.

20. Dealerships need support to get more EV technicians trained. There can be long delays to get a simple part like a 12 volt battery needed to run lights, wipers etc. Will manufactures be encouraged to speed up spare part supply rather than keeping it for new vehicles?

My one experience of calling the AA for an EV faults seems they are up to speed.

21. There should be a cut of point agreed with EU when all vehicle need to be fitted with a CCS charging connector that will also accommodate type 2  for  AC charging. Those cars fitted with Chademo sockets should not be forgotten & thus unable to charge away fro home.

22. Public Charge Point Regulations 2023 seem to address the necessary points.

23. Charge point operators should be obliged to make data available so that others can make apps or other means to show if a charge point is available, occupied or broken.

24. Current provision for charging is not equitable for those who do not have their own off street parking to fit a home charger. Current incentives for developers to supply charge point for new flats must be maintained. Councils need to be incentivised to fit on street AC charge points in existing housing.

30. Network operators need less obstruction from planning to allow power to be laid to new charging hubs much quicker.

32. Unsurprisingly charge point operators are much more likely to set up in Metro areas as they need customers to make a profit. Rural areas may need to be subsidised to allow DC chargers to be fitted where usage may be low but still required to make EVs viable everywhere. Tourists are not likely to visit areas where charging capacity is scant.

Timothy Grundey  in a personal capacity                                 31/08 2023