By Press Release
When it comes to electric vehicles (EVs) the Isle of Wight has many advantages over other UK counties. Range anxiety, which is a concern for some, is eliminated.
Even driving a small EV with a ‘real life’ average range of 193 miles, you can drive around the full circumference of the Island’s roads three times, or travel from The Needles to Bembridge more than eight times without recharging. For Island EV drivers, it is likely that you won’t need to charge up at all during the day, and probably not every night either. Making topping-up using a standard 3-pin socket a reat home.
The number of ChargePoints across the UK is steadily increasing, making ventures to the mainland for work or pleasure simple. Whilst the Isle of Wight is still short on reliable rapid chargers, there are new standard ChargePoints springing up across the Island all the time, making driving an electric car without a driveway more accessible.
What you might not realise is that if, you do have a ChargePoint at home or work, you can make money! By simply registering with an app such as Co Charger. This offers a multi-platform payment system, where you offer your ChargePoint for others to book a slot to use it when it suits you. You set availability and usage price, then they pay you via the app. Great for you, other EV drivers across the Island that can’t charge at home or work and supporting those travelling to the Island on holiday or for business.
It’s no secret that any new car is not ‘cheap’, especially with recent vehicle shortages driving up prices, however the government’s current salary sacrifice scheme and extremely low company car tax can help employees save up to 40 per cent of the cost of leasing an electric car and also benefit their business. It can also help employees release the money tied up in the conventional vehicle they own.
But what about second-hand EVs? Due to quickly advancing technology, EVs over 3 years old will most likely provide less range than the new vehicles available today. However, given the size of the Island, a second-hand EV with a range of 100-150 miles will still be a practical option. Enabling you to change to an EV and reap the rewards for less than you may think.
With the increased cost of living, keeping costs down is an important consideration for all, including businesses. Even with electricity price rises, it is still much more cost-effective to run an electric vehicle than petrol or diesel.
Shockingly, the Isle of Wight suffers from a constrained connection to the National Grid, meaning that we make too much energy locally across the Island’s solar farms during sunnier periods for the network to cope with resulting in energy being wasted!
Although it sounds like science fiction, many organisations on the Island, such as Wight Community Energy and Vestas, believe that electric vehicles, together with vehicle-to-load charging, could be the missing piece in the puzzle of how to keep this energy on the Island.
Making the switch to an electric car isn’t simply about saving money on running costs. It’s an impactful way of drastically reducing the carbon footprint across the Island. If you’re a business, your customers will increasingly be interested in your impact on the environment.
Whether it’s saving money on running costs, such as fuel and tax, or to cut your tailpipe emissions, I don’t think that there is a more perfect place to drive an electric vehicle as a family or a business than our Island.