AA teams with Chargemaster
The AA has teamed up with Chargemaster to provide advice, support and access to a UK-wide network of chargers.
The first of its kind in the UK, the new partnership will deliver a range of benefits, including bespoke home charging units, access to thousands of charging points and preferential charging rates. The partnership comes at a time when more local authorities are looking at Ultra Low Emission Zones and the government has an aspiration for virtually all vehicles to be ultra-low emission by 2050.
According to new AA research, the UK is at a tipping point, with electric car sales set to soar, once drivers overcome the many myths and misconceptions.
The AA expects that, based on AA members’ car buying intentions and future trends, there will be more than 500,000 electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles in use by 2020. Helping to dispel some of the myths associated with running such cars in the interim, could increase this projection dramatically.
With the sales of new ultra-low emissions vehicles (ULEV) doubling in over the last year, and 63,000 drivers taking advantage of the plug-in car grant, the AA and Chargemaster expect the market to grow substantially, contributing to the EV revolution as buyers overcome their misconceptions.
The AA research shows that old perceptions of the barriers to ULEV ownership are holding back market growth. An earlier AA Populus pollidentified the top five misconceptions about EV ownership.
- High purchase price (82% concerned)
Government grants are available to motorists of up to £4,500 off the list price of a new EV, meaning they are much more reasonably priced than you might expect. Many plug in hybrids are already priced at a very similar price to the equivalent diesel.
- Availability of public charging points (81%)
There are more than 4,000 publically accessible charge points available in the UK through Chargemaster’s POLAR network alone and a further 500 will be added in 2016. This means that motorists are never far from your next charge.
- Time to offset higher purchase price through fuel and taxation savings (68%)
It can cost as little at 2p per mile to power an EV, while drivers pay no vehicle excise duty (VED) or congestion charge in London. Fleet drivers also benefit from Benefit in Kind (BiK) savings, meaning motorists stand to save significantly.
- Durability of battery (65%)
Batteries in older EVs are already aging much better than engineers had ever predicted, so owners are finding that battery durability is much better than expected. Many EV car manufacturers are now providing battery warrantees of around eight years.
- Limited range for my day-to-day needs (59%)
National statistics show that 95% of car journeys are under 25 miles while 32% of UK households have two or more cars. Increasingly, new EVs coming on to the market have an extended battery range. Within two years it is expected that the norm will be around 200 miles on a single charge.
