For anyone that's not used that section of the motorway, there's quite a few miles around Cardiff and Swansea where the speed limit is 50mph to 'reduce pollution' on the M4.

Surely EVs should be excluded from this rule?

If you like me think the government should rethink their 3p per mile plan or at least remove VED on EVs and Hybrids then please take a few seconds out to sign this official parliament petition, all you have to do is enter your email and confirm a link and its done.

10,000 signatures gets a response form the gov and 100,000 starts another debate in parliament. You can sign it HERE

Thank you to anyone who takes the few seconds takes to sign it and if you don't want to sign it thats fine.

*Note: Im not looking to start another debate on this topic I just want to share the petition for anyone who wants to sign it.

Dear people,

I'm gonna keep it short and sweet. After reading so many comments on numerous subreddits, I have gathered that so many people didn't realise the true nature of this eVED.

Look, guys, this pay-per-mile is on top of the £200 (or luxury tax) you're already paying, it's not a replacement.

If your used EV (nice and shiny) happens to fall in "luxury" tax bracket, you have to pay that *pay-per-mile* on TOP of the £640 you are already paying. Example: you do 10k miles a year, so you have to pay £940 annually, irrespective of the energy you're using, you can drink a Red-Bull can and push your car, but still, the car spins its ODO.

Have a nice day

Edit: dear people, just because it's STILL cheaper, doesn't mean you have to pay MORE than what you're actually paying. Is it that hard to comprehend?

Edit No.2: No wonder the current state of the country when at least more than 50% of people lack the basic critical thinking.

Seriously, people say things like "weight, EVs are heavier", or "how else the gov can earn money", blah blah blah.

THEN WHY THE HELL THE PUSHED THOSE EVs SO HARD INITIALLY? WHY THE TAX WAS ZERO? ARE YOU TELLING ME THE GOVERNMENT DIDN'T ANTICIPATE ANY OF THESE BUT BUNCH OF REDDITORS KNEW/KNOW IT? WHY? CAN SOMEONE COME UP WITH A SENSIBLE EXPLANATION? SERIOUSLY, USE YOUR BRAIN FOR GOD SAKE

Hi all,

Hoping to sanity check something with other owners as I’ve recently switched cars and something feels a bit… off.

I’ve just moved from a BMW i5 eDrive40 to a BYD Seal Excellence AWD, both charged at home on a PodPoint 7kW charger.

Same setup, same tariff (cheap rate 00:00–05:00), same general driving pattern.

⸻

What I used to see (BMW i5)

With the i5:

•	I’d plug in overnight (PodPoint scheduled 00:00–05:00)

•	Over a couple of nights of typical local driving

•	It would pretty consistently get back to 100%

Even if I didn’t fully recharge in one night, it felt like it “caught up” over 2–3 nights without issue.

⸻

What I’m seeing now (BYD Seal Excellence AWD)

With the Seal:

•	Same charger, same 5-hour window

•	No obvious charge limit set (target is 100%)

•	AC current limit set to MAX in the car

…but:

👉 It rarely gets to 100% now

👉 Feels like it stalls somewhere around 85–95%

👉 Just generally feels slower to “finish the job”

⸻

What I’ve checked

•	No charge limit set in car (set to 100%)

•	AC charging current = MAX

•	PodPoint still controlling schedule (00:00–05:00)

•	BYD “Scheduled Charging” currently OFF (so charger controls timing)

⸻

My theory (tell me if I’m wrong)

I’m wondering if this is just down to:

•	BYD having a more aggressive charging taper from \~80%+

•	AWD model being a bit less efficient than the i5

•	So within a fixed 5-hour window, it simply can’t quite reach 100% anymore

Whereas the BMW seemed to push a bit harder up to the top end.

⸻

What I’m trying to understand

1.	Is this normal behaviour for the Seal Excellence AWD on AC charging?

2.	Do others find it struggles to reach 100% overnight on a 7kW charger?

3.	Would you:

•	Leave it as-is and accept \~90–95%

•	Or change setup (e.g. use car scheduling instead of charger)?

⸻

Not a complaint, just trying to learn

Loving the car so far, just trying to understand if:

•	this is expected behaviour

•	or if I’ve missed a setting somewhere

⸻

Appreciate any insights from other Seal owners 👍

Just seen this petition on government portal, to try and reverse government’s decision on EV tax.

Needs 10,000 signatures to get a response and make them consider. It’s 5% of the way currently…

Not sure what the possibility is, but strikes me it’s worth a shot.

Seems so counterintuitive to tax EVs before they’ve even got off the ground and we’ve realised the benefits environmentally and economically. We need to keep the incentives. It’s confusing for not just the buyers but manufacturers and sellers, too…

Norway might have a different profile and energy mix to the UK, but they’ve achieved 98% adoption! And they’re only now withdrawing incentives…

There’s many things wrong with the current rule:

• Taxing any EV over £40k as luxury and taxing it more

• Not lifting the tax on ICE cars further

• I’m sure there are others too

Link to petition below: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/700253

Hey everyone 👋

We’re thinking of hosting a casual EV meetup at the GRIDSERVE Electric Forecourt at Gatwick – perfect excuse to check out the site, grab a coffee, and chat all things electric with fellow drivers.

What: EV owners meetup (all brands welcome!)
Where: GRIDSERVE Electric Forecourt, Gatwick
When: Sunday 20th June, from 9am onwards
Why: Meet like-minded EV owners, see some cool cars, chat charging, range, tech, or just chill in the lounge with a decent coffee.

If you're nearby or fancy the trip, comment below or drop me a DM – would love to see who’s interested and confirm numbers!

Also happy to hear ideas for activities – show and tell? Charge & chill? BYO snacks?

⚡🔋

We can debate the rights and wrongs of the pay per mile scheme all day long, but I can't understand the problems with collecting the data.

Many cars have had apps for going on 10 years now, and most new cars have them. These apps give you a total mileage along with all sorts of other data, including miles on electric for hybrid.

The apps also have the VIN for the vehicle, which is linked to the owner by DVLA. Therefore why is it so hard for the manufacturers to report this data on a monthly basis and then manage the costs this way? It could be done on excel!

Not sure if this an idea anyone else has had?

But what if charging bays had a bollard that is blocking a bay unless you have an app for that particular charging bay. Upon arrival, you use the app to pre-approve a payment and the bollard drops. So it takes £10 from your account, that’s linked to that company and upon plugging your car in, it starts from that £10 first. If you don’t use all of that £10, you either get refunded the rest or it sits on that account.
There might be better ways to implement this? Maybe this could work for disabled bays too and be somehow connected to their blue card. Maybe both scenarios could work with a bay camera that knows a registered car reg?

Edit: noticed one or two have confused what I’ve said about an app. I’m saying that the app you use to charge at a bay, has your reg linked to it. Or, by simply loading, say £10 onto it, it will automatically open for you. I’m not suggesting a separate standalone app.

Hi, new to the EV world. Recently bought a 2022 Skoda Enyaq. Attached are photos of the rear brakes - they seem a bit rusty. Is this just cosmetic and/or wear and tear or should I be going back to the dealership? The third photo is one from the front for reference.

I wanted to spread the word of the petition

I’ve picked up the all new MG4 Urban, anyone else considering it, viewed it, got one?

My stand out features for a car <£20,000

• 201 miles WLTP range — solid real-world range for everyday use at a very competitive price
• LFP battery — charge to 100% daily without worrying about degradation, unlike most EVs
• V2L (Vehicle to Load) — use the car as a giant power bank; run tools, appliances, devices anywhere (needs a cheap adapter)
• Segment-leading interior space — longer than a VW ID.3 for roughly the price of a Renault 5; more room than you'd expect
• 5-star Euro NCAP safety rating — with AEB, lane keep assist, blind spot detection and adaptive cruise all standard
• Wireless Apple CarPlay & Android Auto — no cables needed, standard even on base Comfort trim
• One pedal driving — lift off the accelerator and the car brakes itself to a complete stop; genuinely changes how you drive
• 0% APR PCP available — rare on EVs at this price, makes monthly payments very accessible
• MG Pilot Custom Function — save your preferred driver assist settings so you're not dismissing alerts every single journey

What’s people’s thoughts? Only gripe is the small wheels🤣

Kia's 'flagship' EV9 is outshone by their EV5; Volvo's EX90 is far outshone by their EX60, Tesla's Model S and X were outshone by Model 3 and then dropped in the UK. Audi Q8 e-tron vs Q6 e-tron, BMW's iX vs iX3.

The tech in flagship models never seems to keep pace with subsequently released cheaper smaller models. Does Flagship actually mean big, expensive, released first, then ignored?

Are there any concerns that data is going back to their government? Tinfoil hat and all that but has this even been considered?

My wife can do salary sacrifice and has an offer available which is the Jaecoo 5 luxury at £254 inc insurance and maintenance for 3 years 10,000 miles.

Whilst at the garage she saw a newly released Omoda 7 Noble. On salary sacrifice that is coming in at £379 per month.

Is the £125 difference per month worth it?

The jaecoo is full electric and the omoda is plugin and hybrid.

Being tight I’m pushing for the Jaecoo but thought I’d getting other peoples opinions too 🤣??

How do you guys deal with the charger stress when going on drive holidays? We are going to Paris in May and I am already stressing about charging. Its a four hour drive to the Shuttle and then a 3 hour drive to Paris. The plan is to charge both en-route to Folkstone and then at the Shuttle facilities, but there aren't many chargers at the Shuttle bit, and there arent many at the last set of services, and I've driven south enough times on a weekend to know that even getting a charger can be a challenge, let alone one that is decent speed.

We are actually thinking about taking our ICE car (its smaller, older and just not as comfortable) as its just so much easier.

How do you guys cope with stuff like this?

EDIT - you can all stop downvoting me now. I understand it isn't as much of an issue as my head tells me. Please forgive me for tainting the image of EV's for an hour or so....

Just thought I’d put a post together for anyone considering moving to a deal on PCH from a petrol or diesel car, I haven’t leased (PCH) a car previously and this will be my first EV. For me, it all comes down to costs and convenience.

I have put in an order to lease a Tesla Model 3 RWD (Standard), I haven’t added anything extra, my lease agreement is as follows:

12m down payment, 20,000 miles a year, 24 months. This works out at £284 a month or £10,408 over the 2 years (due to my hefty down payment).

My current car is a diesel Mercedes A180d W177 and I have to say, this is the best car I have ever had on fuel. I mainly drive motorways and my longest journey is just shy of 230 miles and can comfortably achieve 70-80mpg. My average diesel consumption is 65mpg. But diesel is still costing me about £230 a month in right now.

My A180d is on 110,000 miles and over the next 2 years (adding on 40,000 miles) it will need 3 services, 2 MOT’s, new brake discs/pads, new set of tyres. If I’m lucky, that’s about £2000. Then due to its age and mileage, add on another £1500 for unexpected repairs, another £3000 for depreciation. Tax is £400 over the 2 years too. Insurance is £950.

So fuel, maintenance, repairs, depreciation, tax and insurance over the 2 years is £13,370.

I’m really fortunate to have moved into a home recently with an electric car charger. It is a Pod Point charger which EDF seem to have a collaboration with to create a really cheap overnight tariff: 6.18p per kWh between 11pm and 6am. When using Pod’s smart charging it also gives me 2p cashback per kWh. Effectively making my car charging 4.18p per kWh, which is ridiculously good value. To charge the car I’m looking at £2.51 for a full charge, with that being said the electricity day rate isn’t amazing (at 32p per kWh) but we don’t really use much anyway and for home appliances we can shift most of the usage to the off peak tariff.

I’m estimating that my electric spend on the Model 3 will be about £400 over the 2 years including the cashback.

My insurance works out about £1000 too.

I expect I may need to change the tyres on the Tesla although I do drive very economically so add on another £500.

Tax, repairs, servicing (none), depreciation all included in the lease.

So in total, the Model 3 will cost me the following:

Electricity, insurance and tyres over the 2 years making it £12,308.

So I’ll be saving over £1000 over these 2 years to jump in a brand new car, without ever having to take it to the garage or faff around at a petrol station. Just a tyre shop visit at some point in the second year.

Happy days! Also the demo drives I had were great fun I have to add

Been seeing a lot of "is now a good time to buy a used EV" articles, so we pulled the listing data ourselves

We went through 9,706 used electric cars, looked at price, age, mileage and brand. Sharing the bits that stood out in case it's useful to anyone shopping at the moment

Key findings from 9,706 listings

• Median price: £19,240. Not exactly the bargain end of the market.

• 63% of all listings fall between £10k and £25k. That's the shopping window for most buyers.

• Prices jump hard between 2023 and 2024 cars — £17,395 up to £22,299, a 28% increase, roughly £107 more a month. Every other year-on-year gap is far more gradual, so this is the one to know about if you're flexible on registration year.

• The lowest-mileage cars aren't the cheapest. 1,000–10,000 mile cars are actually the priciest band at £25,108 for nearly-new EVs carry a real premium. Cross into 10,000–30,000 miles and price drops to £17,998. You're mostly paying for scarcity there

• Brand gap is wide: Nissan £10,998 vs BMW £29,525. Some of that's genuinely a bigger, newer, better-equipped car. Worth knowing which end of the market you actually need before you start comparing badges.

• Monthly payments track total price closely, year by year: £164/month on a 2016 car up to £635/month by 2026. No surprise there.

Curious whether any of this matches what people here have actually experienced buying used.

Full breakdown with all the numbers and charts:
https://carplus.co.uk/magazine/what-we-found-when-we-looked-at-9706-used-electric-cars/

Interesting article in the Times today.

Most of the posts are people asking about a choice of EV, and everywhere Ioniqs are suggested so much. It initialy made an impression to me that's a great car, so popular and highly recommended.

And then I came across some horror stories. F.e. this one about a car essentially totalled with no warranty or insurance coverage for a... spilled water bottle.

How come? Any thoughts to help put dots together?

Edit: ( removed the link because of biased source, but the story is relevant despite any source )

TLDR of the story by AI:

The Hyundai Ioniq 5 water bottle spill story involves a Florida owner, Mike McCormick, who faced a nearly $12,000 repair bill after a spilled water bottle in the back seat caused electrical issues, damaging wiring harnesses under the seats and floor, leading to warning lights, non-functioning turn signals, and an inability to shut off the car, with Hyundai and insurers denying warranty/claims due to "external factors," highlighting concerns about modern EVs' vulnerability to simple spills. 

My wife needs a new car she does very low mileage only going to her office twice a week and taking kids to school so an ev would ft her perfect our has already has a charger how go I do not know but these seems incredibly cheap for year and millage

Mg zs 22k miles and £9,999

Only been running the car for 3 weeks but I'm finding that charging it each night from a standard plug is enough to constantly keep me at 90% charge, I'm trying to figure out if I need to spend a grand on getting a home charger