How Mr Bean can show you the way to drive green

Dear Rocio,
New petrol and diesel cars will be banned from sale in 2035. What can be done to help people to transition?
Name and address supplied

Rocio says: An actor best known for playing bumbling Mr Bean wasn’t the most obvious target for electric vehicle (EV) evangelists. But according to a recent House of Lords report, Green Alliance told peers that a comment piece written by Rowan Atkinson, which has been roundly debunked, was in no small part to blame for damaging the public’s perception of electric cars.

While the actor professed to love EVs, in the article he wrote that he felt “duped” by them, claiming (disputedly) that they had much higher environmental costs to make than petrol or diesel cars.

While his analysis of the EV market may have been flawed, Atkinson isn’t alone in voicing concerns.

The reality is that, despite being a more environmentally friendly way of driving, many consumers are wary about the transition to EVs – and face several barriers to purchasing them.

Our research found that the number of people who would not consider one has risen 14 percentage points, from one in five (20 per cent) in 2021 to one in three (34 per cent) in 2023.

First, one of the reasons why the Prime Minister delayed a ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars (from 2030 until 2035) was due to the upfront cost still being too high – especially at a time when households were struggling with the cost of living.

Although upfront costs can be prohibitive, the overall cost of EV ownership, according to the Government’s Climate Change Committee, can end up being significantly cheaper than petrol or diesel cars (if you’re able to charge from home).

Increasing competition in the EV market and the growth of the second-hand market for EVs should also start to give consumers more choice and make EVs more affordable.

Second, changes and improvements to the public charging networks are badly needed. A recent Which? survey found that a quarter of respondents cited the cost of using public charge points as the primary reason for stopping using them.

Prices at public charge points vary but one of the reasons that charges are higher for public charging is that it incurs a 20 per cent VAT rate whereas the VAT rate for home charging is five per cent.

This double standard will become an increasingly important issue as more of the nearly 25 per cent of UK households that don’t have off-street parking switch to EVs.

Then there’s reliability. Three-quarters of respondents said they had experienced a faulty charger at least once in the past 12 months, while nearly four in 10 said it was difficult to find a working charger at all. When EV drivers do eventually find a working charger, they can often find them difficult to use, with the payment methods on offer inconvenient, too.

The Government has recently passed new rules that should lead to improvements in EV drivers’ experience of the public charging network. But there is more to do to give more motorists the confidence they need to rely on them.

All political parties should be thinking about the longer-term ways to ensure charge-point provision meets demand, specifically by finally freeing up the money for a proper Rapid Charging Fund and mandating minimum charge-point numbers at specific sites.

There is underlying demand for EVs. According to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, a record 119,000 used battery electric cars changed hands in the UK last year. It’s up to the Government to ensure the road to transitioning to them is smooth.

Get it right and we may yet see Mr Bean strapping an armchair to an electric version of his green Mini.

Rocio Concha is the director of policy and advocacy at Which?. To have your question featured on this page, email [email protected]