interesting comments and in the bigger picture outside of the scheme, all that extra dead weight consisting of highly polluting mining and transport of cobalt, lithium, copper etc plus neodymium for the motor, inverters etc is hardly eco friendly. BIK bribery to achieve what, exactly?
Scaremongering and people are falling for it
I am no expert on the eco argument, so don’t really sit on one side or the other of that debate, but there is no doubt that the vast majority of BEV and PHEV drivers are company car drivers and their motivation has been primarily because these cars attract substantially lower company car tax rates, rather than a desire to save the planet! Years ago, those of us who had company cars all switched to diesels for the same tax reasons. Some years later it was discovered that they were more environmentally damaging than had been thought, so that all reversed!
As Motability customers we are also (to a lesser degree) being incentivised to move to BEVs and PHEVs as, whilst APs are quite high, we don’t face the same issues that private buyers do when considering these cars. Manufacturers are also throwing big discounts at lease operators to help meet their EV targets.
I’ve said it before but the next few years will be very interesting. Private buyers (who are the majority of car buyers) are still buying petrol and diesel cars in far greater numbers than they are EVs. There are countless reasons for private buyers shunning EVs, such as higher upfront costs, high insurance costs due to concerns over repair costs, concerns over residual values, range limitations and, of course, the lack of a home charging option for many millions. The hikes in manufacturer targets over the next few years are way ahead of the current (and projected) trajectory in EV take up. It’s all very well governments imposing targets and punitive fines on manufacturers, but if the consumer isn’t convinced they simply won’t switch. These consumers are also voters, so watch this space. There will come a time when common sense has to prevail.