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I’ll update with the CEOs response when I get it because that pertains purely to the fact that ONLY EVs are offered on grants, not the charger.
Regarding the charger, and the most recent comments regarding this, I am going to have one installed. Frustratingly this is going to cost a lot more than just £749, more like 1100-1400 but feel free to keep making assumptions. These quotes have come from both big names (PodPoint, Ohme, Octopus) and local installers, and mostly arise due to it being slightly more complex (sub-floor boards and secondary CU at least) so I’d have been paying extra on a Motability installation anyway, which I already knew.
My issue is with the fact that not all circumstances have been considered. The Enyaq itself is a barely suitable compromise but does at least hold both the wheelchairs, I’m just going to have to buy a roof box to store luggage when we go away and find somewhere to put shopping when I have more than 2 passengers. Motability Foundation have all the information they need about me including my previous lease and could have informed me that I wouldn’t be able to get a charger before I went and ordered the car. I also feel like if people need financial support from the Foundation, they maybe shouldn’t be assuming that they could then afford to install a charger or even afford public charging when to charge a Skoda Enyaq from 20 to 80% can cost £30-50 depending on the charger, as well as a lot of time out to do so. I have issues with the whole process, not getting a charger from them being one of the lowest but it was incredibly frustrating to find that out on the day I was supposed to pick the car up after having already done the survey etc.
Regarding why I paid the extra for the Suite option, I was quite happy to go for the Loft, I have no issue with basics, but I went into the dealership and asked for the car that would arrive the quickest. This one came in 2 weeks, a Loft specification would take between 8 and 12. At the time £304 didn’t seem like too much to lose considering I was under the impression I’d not have to fork out over £1100 on a charger. If I could go back now and make a different decision, I would, but I can’t.
It had to be left behind at our old property. We contacted electricians, bppulse who installed it, motability and the council but could not get anyone that could remove it either at all or before our move date. The council would not let us access the property after this date to be able to get it removed either.
We’ve been told by Motability that the subscription isn’t an option now, because it’s not my first electric car, and that we would have to buy a charger or pay for public charging. This also seems to be backed up by their website.
It’s more about not being coherent, I think. I’m not particularly mad in the email, I’ve just laid out the facts of my specific case and mentioned what he said about independence and how the current push for EVs is pushing people away from the scheme in some instances.
Thank you.
Part of me really wishes I’d never done this.
Reading over these replies makes me feel good in such a sad way for the most part. The way it’s handled is disgusting, the ways EVs are touted is just frustrating.
I’m so glad there’s been some success, though!!
Regarding my own, well, it’s been interesting. I managed to look at an Enyaq, it will just about fit the two wheelchairs but it was good enough! Put it across to my CM, she approved but only £995 of the £999 AP for the 85 Edition, bizarre but whatever. I put in the order, paying a little more for the Suite trim out of the NVP, supposed to pick it up today!
But wait, I can’t have a charger fitted as I had one with the MG ZS. I also can’t afford to install one (I wouldn’t ask for a grant if I had £1k spare, you know?) and the cost the charge the Enyaq publicly is as much as to fill the MG HS for half the miles. It’s impractical and I feel defeated once again.
I phoned tossee if there was a solution, whether it could be reconsidered or help given for a charger/allowing Motability to fit me one anyway, but nope. I was told I could have it reconsidered by a panel but that my chances were very low.
So now I’m stuck, and I don’t know what to do from here. I’ve just drafted an email to the CEO but I’m scared to send it in case it sounds bad.
I’m not afraid to admit it, I’ve been bawling because all I want to do is get out of my house more and it just feels like there’s a massive hurdle at every point.
I needed to rant, though, I’m so frustrated.
It’s nice to see that some case managers are somewhat helpful!This hasn’t been the case for me so far but it is a little encouraging.
The concern about miles is a big one for me too and I don’t think I (nor the case manager) considered the weight of all passengers plus the equipment with this. I would have a similar issue with weight as it would be two 30kg wheelchairs plus four passengers equalling to around 400kg, plus any added weight for luggage/shopping and potentially a hoist and/or electric boot lift.
I’m at a point where I’m reluctantly compromising and bargaining for the Skoda Enyaq long range (4wd on the 85x would be helpful due to the rural driving I do regularly but I doubt they would go for it) as the wheelchairs do barely fit in the boot with no room for luggage or shopping, but does still allow for us to have the back seat up. I do not want an EV again, the level of debt I racked up with the MG ZS is something I’m still paying off (and will continue to do so for the next 2-3 years) is staggering, plus I cannot afford to pay for both home charging and chargepoints. However, I don’t feel like I’m going to get anywhere in regards to the car that is actually suitable.
My complaint went nowhere and they reiterated that they feel the grant award is suitable –
“Reviewing the grant decision which was reached, I am comfortable with the options provided to you. Namely, that if we were to consider a whole-family solution (i.e, a 7 seater vehicle grant that would accommodate both wheelchairs) we would not increase funding to accommodate a powered tailgate as we understand that there are two carers who would be needed to stow the wheelchairs and they would be expected to operate the boot. If we were looking exclusively at a solution which you would be able to drive independently (i.e. with a powered tailgate) we would not consider your passenger’s wheelchair dimensions when reviewing the boot space, so we would consider a £749 grant towards a 5 seater grant to be suitable. Additionally, I understand your concerns about Electric Vehicles, however as a charity we are only able to award towards the best value solution and at this moment in time the best value solutions within both the 5 and 7 seater categories would be electric.
It is also worth highlighting that you are able to order on the scheme at no cost a boot strap, which would ease the closing of the boot if you end up ordering one of the 7 seaters listed but it does not have a powered tailgate.”
Unfortunately there are several errors and issues here –
1- The carers that accompany me and my passenger are not full time, nor do they need to be. They are also not required in order to put the wheelchairs in the car. They are purely there for social/behavioural support and as backup drivers for longer journeys/outings (ie not for the weekly shop and/or quick visits to see friends) and should not be expected to lift anything when that is not their job. I already have a solution for this that means I can do so independently, although a hoist would make this significantly easier.
2 – A boot strap does not ease bringing the tailgate down at all. The Berlingo is already fitted with one, or at least the one I viewed was, and I still had to wrestle with it, as well as stop midway due to pain in my neck and shoulder, before effectively bodyslamming it shut. I would not be able to pull this down independently on most days due to weakness and pain so it is not a suitable solution
3 – A personal use car becomes useless when I can’t travel with a necessary person. Due to my condition I need to drive with at least one other person present to ensure I don’t get myself stranded when I need to rest. My disabled passenger can do this as they are able to drive. This would mean I would need to be able to get both wheelchairs into the car or at least a wheelchair and a rollator.
No matter how many times I explain these things it always falls on deaf ears.
I’m sorry to see that so many people are struggling with getting funding for a suitable car when the APs are as high as they are.
I appreciate everyone’s input here, it’s been really helpful, thank you so much!
I’ve not gotten anywhere with the issue and I’ve basically been told that the need for power tailgate doesn’t matter because I’m expected to travel with other people that can load the wheelchairs and/or shut the boot, never mind the fact that 8/10 times there won’t be a need for a wheelchair, nor another (non-disabled) person, and I do in fact have to be an independent adult, even while having a long term health condition.
I apparently have to choose between “a family vehicle and one in which you can travel on your own”. There are several reasons why this wouldn’t work (I’m not able to drive alone – as of right now I usually go out with my disabled passenger who is able to take over driving when needed) but overall they would offer 749 towards one of these cars and they would all be electric. I’m already in debt, I’m not putting myself in that position again.
So I’m going to try to save £4000 or whatever the AP on the Kodiaq may be at that point and suffer without a mobility aid until that point, which also means rarely leaving the house.
The only other thing I’m going to do is make a complaint. Not necessarily about the decision, clearly there is no sense to be made there, but regarding her conduct and what seem to be data breaches.
The case manager, despite having my email address and having received my email from my email address specifically (as well as me requesting her to respond directly to me) has sent the email to the person who talks on my behalf. She also has a motability car and has not given any of her details in this process besides her name and telephone number to be used when contacting her regarding this application. The case manager also asked her what she was going to do with her car if I got one of my own, somehow already knowing exactly what car it was too. She hadn’t given permission for the case manager to access this information, nor was it relevant to my application at all, and I’m disgusted by the case managers conduct.
So that’s that, thanks again for your help, I wish there was a better outcome here but alas.
@kezo Thank you for the helpful additions to the email! I’ll make a few alterations and add in a few extra points along these lines! I have currently left an opening for her to open a conversation with me about it but we’ll see what happens.
The MG HS is what I have use of now and unfortunately isn’t suitable as it’s just not big enough for two wheelchairs while leaving the back seats up. If the boot was bigger I wouldn’t even dream of looking for another car as it’s almost perfect otherwise. I believe it’s around 500 litres and everything I’ve found under £2000 has around the same or upto ~100l more which doesn’t always translate to longer/wider.
@kezo it’s validating to see it written out that way but the process is utterly frustrating when you’re already struggling with transport and just want to be able to get on with getting a car to suit. I do get why they’d go the cheapest route, it makes sense but this push for electric cars is one of the most frustrating things.
I have had test drives in each of the vehicles as well as having gone to look at them and ask plenty of questions several times as the decision to possibly get a new car has been months in the making (my PIP was very recently renewed) so I’ve really put some research into it. I have written out an email for the grants advisor, as I can’t communicate by phone (they originally talked to someone else on my behalf) outlining the reasons each car is unsuitable in some detail, however I’m aware, even if I sent that, it could still be a flat out no. I just wanted to gauge whether it was worth pushing back on with how final she seemed to make the decision.
I’ve scoured the motability site so many times just looking for a hidden gem but unfortunately there’s nothing with the boot space needed within that AP. They’re all either slightly smaller or comparable to the MG HS. I’ve been to look at so many cars lately too, I used to love just window shopping but now I’m starting to hate all of it.
@DumfriesDik I wouldn’t say it’s too late to consider a WAV but it’s not really necessary for our situation. Both me and my disabled passenger are ambulatory wheelchair users so neither of us needs to be in the vehicle while also in our wheelchairs. From my short research post-The Big Event, I imagine the AP for a WAV would be up there with the cost of a Skoda Kodiaq too. Though I suppose it’s understandably justified by the type of vehicle it is.
