Public charging costs up 38% since 2021
- ChargeUK warns higher tariffs risk slowing EV uptake especially for the one in three drivers without home charging.
- Underlying energy costs for charge point operators remain 66% higher than pre energy crisis costs.
- Ofgem’s Targeted Charging Review (reforms to network standing charges) lifted site standing charges by up to 462% at rapid/ultra-rapid hubs.
- VAT gap: public 20% vs home 5%.
Van electrification still lagging
- Europcar: 61% of fleets run some e-vans, but 45% cite real-world range issues; 33% say public charging isn’t van-friendly.
- Among non-adopters: 38% say "e-vans aren't fit for purpose"; 15% cite cost. E-LCVs are just 1.6% of the UK's 4.7m parc.
- 2025 ZEV Mandate target for new vans: 16%. FleetCheck flags limited model choice (pick-ups, towing, specialist conversions); sales “about half” of target pace.
BYD UK scale-up.
- 100th franchised site opened in less than 2.5 years.
- 8,700+ UK sales in 2024, a 658% increase year on year.
- Chinese brands logged 43,500+ August registrations in Europe, a 121% increase year on year, outpacing individual tallies from some major European marques.
Department for Transport reveals EV charging behaviours tracker
- 40% battery electric vehicle (BEV) / 43% plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) drivers got cars via salary sacrifice.
- 90%+ have off-street parking; 91% BEV / 88% PHEV have home charging.
- 74% of BEV drivers use smart chargers.
- Most BEV home charging costs 0–9p/kWh.
- 9% of BEV drivers rely solely on public charging – mainly car parks (27%), hubs (23%) and work/school (19%).
- Main issues: unclear pricing (55%), poor reliability (49%), lack of chargers (47%).
- Drivers want cheaper prices (47%), faster charging (45%), better reliability (29%).
- Satisfaction remains high: 78% would choose EV again; 88% BEV / 83% PHEV recommend.
UK Vehicle Production down in August (SMMT)
- 37,072 cars built (low month due to summer shutdowns, pre-JLR cyberattack).
- 1,621 commercial vehicles, down 73.2% after Vauxhall consolidation.
- Combined output: 38,693 (–18.2%), weakest August since 1956.
- Electrified cars up +40.9% to 16,830 units, nearly half of output (45.4%).
- Automotive sector still on track for £110bn trade, supporting 796k jobs and £92bn turnover.
