New analysis has shown that families might be set to miss out on saving significant amounts every year when it comes to choosing a new car, partly as a result of the government backtracking on changes to future sales balances between petrol and electric vehicles.
British families could miss out on almost £1,000 a year if they opt for a hybrid car instead of an electric one, according to new analysis.
The Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) think tank compared the potential running costs between buying EVs and their petrol equivalents, which shows that buyers could save £850 a year with the former. However, that saving drops to just £13 a year if a hybrid electric vehicle is purchased.
The fear now is that changes to the Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) mandate - which saw the government relax rules around the sales of cars with petrol and diesel engines - may encourage manufacturers to produce HEVs instead as they are seen as more profitable, leading to fewer choices to purchase second-hand EVs for families.
Further analysis of the UK’s best-selling plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) suggested a saving of £117 a year over petrol equivalents, but the ECIU further revealed an equivalent electric vehicle – rather than a PHEV – could yield a £1,050 a year saving.
Colin Walker, head of transport at the ECIU, said: “EVs are already at price parity with petrol cars on the secondhand market and are quickly snapped up when they become available, but these changes will mean fewer secondhand EVs available to the 80 per cent of us who buy our cars on the used market.
“Given how popular EVs are with their drivers, this looks like bad policy for families, driving up the nation’s driving bill. It also means billions of pounds of investment into the charging network is now in jeopardy, costing jobs and holding back economic growth.”
As well as the possible reduction in the number of vehicles available to choose from on the secondhand market, EV owners have been hit this year with another increased cost.
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For the first time in the UK, from this April EV owners have to pay car tax. The rates differ depending on how new the car is, but it remains another consideration for prospective electric car buyers that they would previously have saved on, relative to buying a petrol car.
“While [changes to the ZEV mandate were] pitched as a response to the economic chaos of Trump’s tariffs, these changes could actually make things worse, costing UK consumers,” Mr Walker added.
“With less onus on manufacturers to compete to sell EVs in the UK, and the government encouraging them to sell more hybrids instead, potentially millions of families could be left to foot a bill of up to £1,050 a year for more expensive driving.
“We’ve seen what this kind of policy flip-flopping has done before under the previous government when changes criticised by the then opposition confused consumers leading to lower sales even though EVs remain much cheaper to run.”
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