As a result of the Domestic Chargepoint Grant, there was a big push locally by various companies to install domestic EV chargers. Many of these installed were free-of-charge (Oh dear...), funded by the generous UK tax-payer.

A friend has had one installed (it was free and his home is located in an area with ideal demographics for innovators/early adopters) and the electric meter which accompanies the installation is quite a sophisticated device, with considerable logging facilities.

Whilst the initial £13m grant for chargers has ended, there's a new fund of £9m coming soon, so government obviously has an agenda to get UK households wired-up for charging EVs. Aside from the EU green house gas emissions consideration, I am wondering what the mid-long term plan is?

If there's a plan to get us all EV'ed-up, and with diesel powered vehicles targeted as public enemy number 1, in the medium to long-term, there will be a decline in the tax take from diesel and petrol fuel sales.

With the sophistication of the domestic EV chargers, I wonder if there'll be the facility to charge (oh dear #2...) a differing electrical tariff for electricity for vehicle charging?

Similarly, with the impending change to Road Tax - no tax disc required and the ability to pay monthly - 'pay-as-you-go' for what was once a fixed-cost element of motoring has arrived. How long before this is developed to the system of 'pay-as-you-drive'?

 

Road charging has been mooted before to the expected howls of protest, but it does make a lot of sense. If you use any other method of travel at peak times it costs more, so why not cars?

As for electrical charging, a separate meter would be required for the car charging point, which would be easy enough to do - my flat had storage heaters and a separate meter when I moved in.

But there's nothing to stop you using a different outlet plug to charge your car (albeit more slowly) instead of a charging point should car charging become expensive.

Then again, car charging, if done overnight, uses what is currently (oh dear) excess capacity.

 

That is the area the boondoggles make confusing; revoltingly so, since the puns are required.

You can go down the road & fuel up for free.

If I were the sort of high-useage entrepreneur who was up at Dawn's crack every day, I could park the S by the pump at the Supermarket/outside the dodgy pub in Welwyn before anyone else got there and it'd always have a full accumulator.

Or, I could get a grant (just) to put a solar array on the industrial unit & charge it there for free, when the day finally comes when the bullying idiots realise how much energy they are giving away/tax they are losing out on and buzz costs the same as diseasel used to.

 

A very good mate from uni' went out with a boiler named Dawn. He was, of course, always up Dawn's crack.

S'funny the stuff you remember...

 

We had an EV point installed at the end of August, timed so that the Leaf it charges had arrived a few days beforehand.

We have the ability to lock it to prevent anyone else from using it, though we are very early adopters of EV round here.

 

...because not all of us live in areas that are extremely congested - the majority of my commute is very quiet, even at 'rush hour'. Peak charges on trains are just another capitalist mechanism to make the rich richer. The time of day bears very little significance to the cost of running a train network, unless you consider electricity costs during the night too, when very few trains actually operate.

Charging motorists based upon the amount of usage, and the time of day, would only serve to shove the Chancellor of the Exchequer's cock further up John Q. Taxpayer's arse. We already get charged on the aforementioned basis' in the form of fuel duty. During peak times, MPG goes down, raising fuel consumption, and therefore fuel duty as well.

 

Charging for specific roads and specific times is no different to the way airlines or trains are run or the way holidays are costed - a simple case of supply and demand.

By the sounds of things, you would actually save money using the roads you do.

I'd save a fortune as I walk/take the train to work. This might explain why I am in favour!

 

...as I said, a capitalist mechanism for charging people more, and raising revenue - hardly anyone would be better off.

 

Well, not having to fork out £285 in RFL to start with would be a big saving. Then, as I don't drive all that often, and very rarely at peak times, I'd save a load of money.

Some people would pay more, as they use the roads more, and others would pay less, especially me

 

Back on topic, I am seeing more and more cars plugged in as I walk to the station each morning, as well as a few leccy cars swooshing past. One of those Mitsubishi Plug in hybrids, a couple of i3s and a fair few NissanRenos (I live near to their UK HQ). The Twizy's look quite a laugh, probably more suited to the Riviera than Rickmansworth, though.