Why bother buying, when lying is the alternative in the eco-transport arena?

According to recent research commissioned by Kia Motors, no less than seven in 10 Brits feel pressured by family and friends to be more eco-friendly, reports Iain Robertson, with 34% ‘wanting to buy an EV’, just to boost their green credentials.

In a world of ‘smoke and mirrors’ promoted by both government and eco-activists, were you to believe Kia’s assuredly integrity-packed research, around 77% of the population intends to be driving an EV in the next three years, citing climate change as the driving force to ‘go green’. Research insights found:

• 60% of Brits are ready to embrace the electric revolution
• 21% of them are looking to purchase an eco-car within the next 18 months
• 33%+ are encouraged to buy an eco-car because they are ‘good for the environment’
• Sir David Attenborough is more influential than Greta Thunberg
• 46% of parents admit their children pester them to make greener choices
• 53% are influenced by colleagues and social media influencers.

Well, sorry, Kia, but much of that is just a lot of nonsnense aimed at the 10% of the UK market that is not company car related. As a result of the enormous pressure being placed on all of us by the media (The One Show, Blue Planet, Panorama, on TV alone), the immense amount of virtue signalling that is taking place is scarcely overwhelmed by the greater chunks of ill-advised ‘fake news’ and phoney statistics that have been pumped into public consciousness, boosted by recent pronouncements by the PM, who both admits to not comprehending the environmental issues and is unlikely to even be in power in 15 years’ time, when his ban on fossil-fuelled transport production MAY (not will) come into effect.

Naturally Kia is keen to foster its support of the EV scene but it has zero choice in the matter and neither does any other carmaker at present, unless they are making a commitment to hydrogen fuel cell technology. However, EVs are being rammed down our throats, with scant regard for the near-33% price premiums over what we are used to, or how many alternative fossil resources will be required to fuel battery production, or how much additional damage is being hefted onto Mother Earth, as we rape her more consistently.

Reinforcing Kia’s research, the aspects related to what holds Brits back from buying an eco-car reveal much misunderstanding. Top concerns include fears of running out of battery mid-journey (43%) despite assurances to the contrary. Well, that thought will never evaporate. An inability to find a charging point (40%) is sure to continue, as so many chargers are either ‘occupied’ by inconsiderate types, or just broken, while a general lack of knowledge (37%) about eco-transport is just unhelpful and confused by the EV perpetrators, who are only too keen to pile on the unsolicited guilt. Yet, panic issues related to recharge times (35%) will never go away and are likely to be exacerbated, creating an even greater divide between those who can afford superchargers and those who cannot.

It is all very well for those parties with vested interests to propose that Brits are ready to embrace the ‘EVolution’ but, apart from pumping the market full of more fake information, and an insistence on inventing new conditions, such as ‘green guilt’, none of them are embracing issues related to affordability, whether the National Grid could handle a pure EV situation, the exploitation of poorer nations, or the highly questionable impact on the environment made by EVs in the first place.

Kia, which has served faithfully with its worthy hybrid developments, intends to have 11 electric models in its line-up within the next five years. Yet, the real demand for them has not been ascertained. In addition, it is going to take at least another fifteen years (to 2050) before the used car market is exhausted. Put into perspective, Kia’s latest electric car, the Soul EV, is available for pre-order now, priced at £33,795 after the soon-to-be-removed PiCG has been applied, with deliveries commencing in April. That is at least £14k more than a car in the Soul’s class ought to be priced at but nobody seems to be questioning pricing policies, instead taking the hefty hikes for granted.

Kia’s Top Five (corrected) EV facts:

There are more than 29,000 electric vehicle charge points across the country in over 10,000 locations, meaning there are more electric car charging points in the UK than there are petrol stations. (You will care, when recharging takes at least 30-minutes for a restricted range, besides there are still more pumps available.)

There are four main types of electric car:

• Battery electric vehicle (BEV) – drives on battery power alone, there is no need to add petrol or diesel;
• Plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) – a petrol engine combined with an electric motor and a battery. The car can travel around 35 miles on battery power alone (but hybrids are on Boris’s future ‘banned list’);
• Self-charging hybrid, along with a petrol or diesel engine, hybrid cars also have an electric motor that is powered by a small battery (on the list);
• Mild hybrid, with a small battery but the petrol or diesel engine does the majority of the work and the electric motor is there to provide assistance to reduce emissions (also banned).

Kia’s electric car range includes the aforementioned Soul EV and award-winning e-Niro that can travel up to a stated (but unattainable) 282 miles (a more realistic 225-miles) of real-time motoring, on one single charge.

Government grants are available to support people purchasing eco cars including a £500 OLEV (EVHS) grant to help with the cost of a home charging point (wall-box) and a Plug in Car Grant, (for the moment), to make it notionally less costly to buy a new EV, (even though the prices remain astronomical).

You can charge a fully electric car (such as the e-Niro) from 0% to 80% in just one hour or less, (when it takes less than 10 minutes to refuel a regular car for up to 500-miles of range).
The amount of promotional hoo-hah set to emerge from the much-wounded motor industry is set to increase but the real winners will be those independent companies and consultants telling the true story about future eco-transport developments and not many of them, if any, will be carmakers, as we know them. The company car sector will bear the brunt of the extra costs, which is blatantly unfair.