EV news Round-up: November 2024

New charge point regulations could make using a public charger even easier, Cupra offers a love it or leave it offer for sceptical potential EV drivers and Renualt revives the 4.

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EV drivers get their tax change letters

The days of tax-free EV driving are numbered as drivers receive letters from the DVLA informing them that they will start paying road tax from the 1st of April 2025.

The changes essentially remove the band A bracket from the existing road tax system (also known as VED), which currently sets the tax rate of low and zero tailpipe emissions vehicles to £0.

This means that electric and low-emission cars registered between 1st of March 2001 and 31st March 2017 will pay £20 a year, while the same cars registered between 1st of April 2017 and 31st March 2025 will pay £190 a year.

Hybrid and alternately fuelled vehicles are also subject to tax changes. As of 1st of April 2025, the £10 discount will be removed and cars registered before 1st of April 2017 will pay a rate depending on their CO2 emissions while cars registered after 1st of April 2017 will pay the standard rate of £190 (subject to change).

Electric cars costing more than £40,000 registered after the 1st of April 2025 will also need to pay the expensive car supplement for the first time.

New regulations for public charge points make charging even easier 

Charging at a public charge point is set to be made even easier thanks to new regulations coming in later this year.

Kicking off the list of changes is payment.

Effective almost immediately, all charging networks must display its charging costs either on the charge point itself or via a website or app.

Charging networks must also install contactless card readers to all existing rapid chargers rated 50kW or above and all new chargers rated 8kW and above starting on the 25th of November 2024.

Do you prefer to use a roaming partner such as Electroverse or Zap-Pay to manage charging sessions? Then you'll be pleased to know that all charging networks must support at least one roaming partner by the end of November 2024.

And to help those roaming partners offer information about charging points to their customers, the new regulations mandate that all charging networks must share data about their charging points including availability and working order.

Not that the latter should be much of a problem as charging networks will also need to meet a reliability requirement of 99%, which is calculated via an average.

Finally, in the event that a driver does encounter a faulty charger, charging networks must also offer a 24/7 free to use helpline that must be fully operational by the 31st of December 2024.

You can view the full list of current and planned regulations on the government website.

Want to know more about public charging? Our dedicated guide explains all you need to know.

Audi's new A3 PHEV offers a whopping 88 miles of all-electric range

Are you considering a PHEV but have been put off by the low electric range figures? Audi might have the answer for you.

This is the new Audi A3 and it packs some impressive electric tech including a whopping 25.7 kWh battery and an 85kW motor, which rivals that of some early full electric cars such as the 1st gen Nissan Leaf. All of this allows the A3 travel tailpipe-emission-free for to up to 88 miles on a single charge before needing the 1.5 litre petrol engine to kick in.

When you do need to charge the new A3, there are plenty of options too. At an AC charging point (home or public), the Audi's onboard charger is three-phase compatible meaning it can top up the battery at a rate of up to 11kW or charge the car from 0 to full in three hours.

There are rapid charging capabilities for the first time too. At a 50kW rapid charger, the Audi A3 can charge from 10 to 80% in less than half an hour.

Sales start in November with prices starting at £39,150.

Cupra offers three-month return option for first time EV buyers

Aiming to reassure potential EV adopters, Cupra launched their latest "love me or leave me" offer, which allows drivers to return their Cupra Born for a full refund within three months of purchase should it not suit their lifestyle.

The offer is available to both outright and finance buyers across the whole Cupra Born range, including the top of the line VZ which packs a 326ps (321 BHP) motor that can propel the hot hatch from 0-62mph in just 5.6 seconds.

More information can be found on the Cupra website.

Are you considering this offer? If so, the ePod or Home Pro by Cupra's official charging partner, Ohme, is worth taking a look at.

"It's back!" The Renault unveils the new 4 at the Paris Motor Show

Continuing on the path of reviving old icons, Renault announced the return of its iconic 4 hatchbacks of the 1960s.

Styling queues from the original 4 can be found both inside and outside of the car, particularly on the front grille which features circular daytime running LED lights that nod their heads to the original's headlamps. You also get a suede roof that opens at the touch of a button or via voice control.

Hop inside and you'll find that Renault has been working hard to make the most out of the small space. To start, not only can the rear seats fold down but so can the front passenger seat revealing a generous 2.2 metres of load length and 420 litres of boot space.

The driver is also treated to some great tech too, including duel screen 10-inch infotainment screens which feature Renault's OpenR Link system with Google services built in such as Google Maps with charging-optimised route planning which pre-conditions the battery ready for charging when the car approaches charging points.

There's also two powertrain options, a 52kWh battery with a 150hp motor which can travel up to 250 miles on a single charge and a 40kWh battery with 120hp motor which can travel up to 186 miles on a single charge.

The Renault 4 is set to go on sale mid-2025with prices having yet to be announced. You can purchase the R4R-Pass for £150 which grants you early access to information as well as first dibs when deliveries start.

Lower cost and more accessible V2G trials begin

Easily accessible vehicle-to-grid charging could be closer than ever thanks to trials with AC (alternating current) vehicle-to-grid (V2G) chargers being rolled out at workplaces across the country.

Codenamed the V2VNY project and led by Hanger 19 in partnership with CrowdCharge and DriveElectric, the trials aim to demonstrate a commercially viable way for fleet owners and EV drivers to save money whilst also reducing the load on the grid at peak times by using EVs that support bi-directional charging to feed unused energy back into the grid through one of their brand new AC V2G chargers.

Until recently, vehicle-to-grid technology in the UK has been exclusive to DC (Direct Current) chargers with a CHAdeMO cable which is not only expensive to install but also difficult to test due to almost all EVs having a CCS port over CHAdeMO.

Thanks to the emergence of bi-directional AC charging in cars like the Hyundai Ioniq 5 however, vehicle-to-grid AC chargers have become a possibility which are cheaper and easier to install.

The trial is currently ongoing and will run until the end of March 2025.

Head over to our bidirectional charging article to find out more how bidirectional and vehicle-to-grid charging could save drivers money in the future.