Government-Owned Car & Van Fleets to Go Electric

Danny Alexander, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, has announced that £5 million will be spent on rolling out plug-in hybrid vehicles to car and van fleets owned by the government; but where will they charge them?

London already has plenty of charge points for EVs and plug-in hybrids but outside the capital, it is very different.

The DVLA only have 4 public charging points within 3 miles of its main office in Swansea; 2 of those are located in car dealerships which may be unavailable out of business hours.

Rise in low-emission vehicles

During the first quarter of 2014, registered low-emission vehicles went up by 130% compared to the same time last year and there are over 8,000 plug-in cars on UK roads.

With this in mind, there is an estimated 6,400 public charging points across the UK.

WeLoveAnyCar.com survey

A survey from WeLoveAnyCar.com, the UK’s biggest car review site, found that up to 40% of BMW, Mercedes, Audi and Jaguar car owners would seriously consider, or buy, an EV from their brand if it had a longer range.

WeLoveAnyCar.com commented saying;

“The fastest charging point will deliver about 70% of a full charge within 30 minutes for an all-electric car.

Although this is improving, consumer demand will plateau at a very early stage in many towns as queues grow in front of the few charging stations which are available to most car owners in many towns and villages.”

Unless the government take steps towards increasing the number of charge points, EVs may well be impractical for many car owners; waiting around to use a charge point isn’t very appealing at all.

Hopefully, the government’s plan to switch their fleet vehicles to plug-in hybrids will speed up the process and get more charging points in place.

If you have any opinions on the topic and would like to discuss them, tweet me @SamwaysCarTalk or if you interested in making the switch to a plug-in hybrid or an electric vehicle, call me directly on 01223 893260. I can source the car you would like as well as offer funding options that suit you.