EV driver have done so, via there own choice and morally many don’t want to drive ICE cars again.
I fully get why someone would choose an EV for cheap running costs and I don’t blame them for that but, morally doing so, is somewhat ignorant to communities where mining takes place, which has rapidly increased with the introduction of mainstream EV, turbines and other green tech.
You beat me to it! I was just about to make a similar point. The cost advantages (at present) of an EV are unquestionable (as long as you can charge at home) but when people go all eco warrior (after decades of driving ICE cars) the arguement is far less robust. As I understand it, EVs can be more environmentally damaging to build, and I’ve read a few times that it’s around 80,000 miles before the CO2 saving levels out and the EV starts to make a net positive contribution – a mileage that no Motability customer will achieve! I don’t know if that situation has improved? Doubtless someone will update me!
Whilst I agree that ideally we should get like for like cars if our car is off the road, there are some obvious challenges with that. Firstly, many car hire companies are either reducing or removing EVs from their fleets due to the residual values and the fact that the vast majority of their customers don’t want them. Secondly, hire cars don’t have tow bars fitted to them! Size is a different matter. On the ocassions that we have had a car off the road for multiple days I have always insisted that due to my wife’s disability and the need to carry a wheelchair we need an SUV with a decent size boot. That’s never been a problem and last time we had a Mercedes GLB.
One thing that would help this issue would be if Motability ‘recycled’ returned cars rather than just sending them off to auction immediately. A company that I once worked for did that. If a new person joined the company they could either choose a returned car to keep until the normal lease end, or use one of them until their new car arrived. I had loads of interesting cars under that scheme! This would be great for new Motability customers (with no existing car) and those whose cars are off the road for a long time (which would save Motability hire car costs). Doubtless one or two may even have tow bars!