Peter Hilton
Car manufacturers playing the game with hybrid cars?
After all the bad press on diesel cars the car manufacturers have a lot of trust to build with consumers. Unfortunately here at Electric Car Experts we continue to be disillusioned by their actions.
Time and time again we speak with retailers to arrange test drives and get information on cars. What is getting clearer is that hybrid and plug-in hybrid cars are not really designed to minimise emissions and improve fuel consumption but merely to reduce taxation for company hybrid car drivers.
For example, when we asked a very well known executive car brand to test drive one of their hybrid cars the answer was not what we expected. We quoted 50 miles for our round trip daily commute when asked and that it was for a private user. We were then informed that the car was not really suitable. The representative stated that it was aimed at company car drivers to reduce their tax. The representative stated that the vehicle only had a usable 20 miles electric only range (lower than the quoted 30).
Obviously we were quite shocked that a representative of a major car manufacturer would actually admit what we in the electric car community have always thought. We clarified this by asking again if the car was aimed at company car drivers to reduce their tax bills. The response was again positive.
Real government targets
In our recent article on the 2040 government emissions targets we expressed that the targets lacked ambition. It is not surprising that the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders pushed back hard on the suggestion of hybrids capable of less than 50 miles on electric only power given their somewhat cynical approach to electric vehicles.
We at Electric Car Experts think that the government should set much tougher hybrid car targets. Company car drivers should be encouraged to make a difference to the environment and not benefit from ‘fake’ electric vehicles.
