{"id":4218,"date":"2018-11-10T00:18:29","date_gmt":"2018-11-10T00:18:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/government-subsidised-plug-in-cars-may-never-have-been-charged\/"},"modified":"2018-11-10T00:18:29","modified_gmt":"2018-11-10T00:18:29","slug":"government-subsidised-plug-in-cars-may-never-have-been-charged","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/government-subsidised-plug-in-cars-may-never-have-been-charged\/","title":{"rendered":"Government-subsidised plug-in cars may never have been charged"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n
<\/p>\n

\"PHEV\"Image copyright<\/span>
\n Getty Images<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span>

Image caption<\/span>
\n
\n Most plug-in hybrids in the UK are bought for company fleets
\n <\/span>
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Tens of thousands of plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) bought with generous government grants may be burning as much fuel as combustion-engine cars.<\/p>\n

\u200bData compiled for the BBC suggests that such vehicles in corporate fleets averaged just 40 miles per gallon (mpg), when they could have done 130.<\/p>\n

Many drivers may never have unwrapped their charging cables, The Miles Consultancy said.<\/p>\n

Subsidies for new PHEVs were recently scrapped, after seven years.<\/p>\n

The plug-in grant was introduced in 2011, gifting buyers up to \u00a34,500 off new cars.<\/p>\n

The incentive helped the UK become the biggest market for PHEVs in Europe.<\/p>\n

The majority of the tens of thousands of eligible vehicles sold were bought by company fleets, including more than 70% of the 37,000 plug-in hybrids sold so far in 2018.<\/p>\n

But data from The Miles Consultancy, a Cheshire firm which advises 300 blue-chip companies on fuel management, reveals that many businesses simply used the grant to save on buying regular cars.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/span>

Image caption<\/span>
\n
\n When regularly charged, PHEVs can achieve more than 130 miles per gallon
\n <\/span>
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Mileage records from 1,500 models, including Audi, BMW, Mercedes and Volvo vehicles, showed an average real-world mpg of 39.27, against an average manufacturer advertised mpg of 129.68. <\/p>\n

Figures for 2,432 hybrids – including non plug-in varieties – showed an average real-world mpg of 49.06, still vastly lower than the potential range.<\/p>\n

“There are some examples where employees aren’t even charging these vehicles up,” said Paul Hollick, The Miles Consultancy’s managing director.<\/p>\n

“The charge cables are still in the boot, in a cellophane wrapper, while the company and the employee are going in and out of petrol stations, paying for all of this additional fuel.<\/p>\n

This practice, he added, was “ridiculous”.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Image copyright<\/span>
\n Getty Images<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span>

Image caption<\/span>
\n
\n The UK government subsidised plug in hybrids for seven years
\n <\/span>
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association (BVRLA), which represents many fleets, said higher taxes on diesel cars incentivised companies to buy plug-ins, even if they had no intention of using their electric capability.<\/p>\n

“We unfortunately have got a situation where a poorly designed tax regime is driving some poor behaviours,” said Toby Poston, \u200bthe BVRLA’s communications director. <\/p>\n

“We have got some situations where company drivers are choosing the vehicle based on their tax liability, rather than having the right vehicle for the right job.”<\/p>\n

Some companies, he explained, were buying PHEVs – which are best suited to local trips – for employees who did a lot of motorway driving. <\/p>\n

When presented with The Miles Consultancy’s findings, a Department for Transport spokesperson said the government believed plug-in hybrids “bring significant environmental benefits”, but would “now focus its support on zero emission models like pure electric and hydrogen fuel cell cars”.<\/p>\n

Plug-in hybrid vehicles continue to receive some government support, through lower car tax rates, grants for charging infrastructure and, in some local authorities, free parking.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n


\n
Source<\/a> by [author_name]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Most plug-in hybrids in the UK are bought for company fleets Tens of thousands of plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) bought with generous government grants may be burning as much fuel as combustion-engine cars. \u200bData compiled for the BBC suggests that such vehicles in corporate fleets averaged just 40 miles per … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":4219,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4218","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4218","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4218"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4218\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4219"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}