I’m taking this newsletter on full time!

Plus, news and highlights from across Britain's EV sector

Hello, I’m Tom Riley, and welcome back to The Fast Charge, a British EV newsletter.

Today’s edition is a snappy one, though it includes some important personal news which I hope will ultimately benefit you all.

Elsewhere… Summary of the recent ZEV mandate chatter, Labour has a new Planning and Infrastructure Bill, and BYD really wants to be number one in the UK.

Finally, if you’re attending SMMT Electrified tomorrow, drop me a note as I’ll be there.

As ever, if you have any comments or feedback, please do get in touch by replying to this email or using the links below.

In the past week…

📊 Mandate chatter (1)… There have been numerous stories about the possibility that the ZEV mandate will be weakened. It started with Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds suggesting to The Times that a ‘substantial change of policy’ had been agreed. This came after he met the CEO of Nissan in Japan, who actually has since been fired from Nissan (awks). In any case, it’s got people believing the UK could follow the EU and offer a two-year ease-up, maybe from 2028 to 2030, to help some of those laggards. This idea has been floated by Nissan before (see here their submission to the last consultation in 2022). An easing up would be likely supported by carmakers like Ford, and maybe others such as Aston Martin, who are likely behind where they want to be.

📈 Mandate chatter (2)… After this story was shared, Whitehall sources told the Daily Telegraph the target trajectories would not be changed. A position I believe that comes from Transport officials in OZEV who appear to be in a very different position to Reynolds and his business officials. It’s not clear to me what the result will be but, at the same time, does it matter? This year has started with EV sales clearly firing on full cylinders (making up one in four registrations). On a webinar about EV charging consolidation hosted by consultants LCP this week with Zouk Capital and Osprey, the latter attendees suggested the targets are a bit moot by this point, as EVs are fundamentally inevitable - which is exactly right. All the tweaks are doing is confusing drivers on what it all means, as shown by AA’s recent survey of 14,000 people.

🛠️ Yesterday, the UK government unveiled a Planning and Infrastructure Bill that will be formally introduced to Parliament this week. Part of its aim will be to cut lengthy planning consultations and hopefully lead to faster deployments of EV chargers and other big projects overall. It’s a very positive move. However, the proof will be the fat lady in the pudding (or whatever it is). Read more.

📆 One for your diaries… The Spring Statement will happen on 26 March. That’s important to note for several reasons. Firstly, any decisions or financial updates from the Treasury will likely be indicative of what (if any) money might be around for the regularly called-for return of EV incentives. Secondly, it’s a pressure point for the campaign against the luxury car tax, which will undoubtedly hit many EVs in April. Lastly, if there are changes to the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) as the papers report, I wonder what this will mean for disabled drivers - a huge channel for vehicle sales across the UK is Motability.

🚛 Large news last week about HUGE vehicles, specifically trucks. Milence, the joint venture between Daimler Truck, Traton Group, and Volvo Group, officially launched its first UK charging hub in Immingham, which is near Grimsby. It looks fab. Read more.

Milence in Immingham. Nice.

🚚 Speaking of HGVs, the services group Moto is set to construct a number of charging ‘superhubs’ by 2027. The first two locations – Exeter and Tamworth – will begin next month. Moto is then set to create another 13 ‘superhubs’ across key trading routes by the end of 2027. Read more.

🚘 On Monday evening, Jaguar showed off its new concept car at Paris Fashion Week, featuring actor Brian Keoghan. The car looked extremely futuristic and was covered in a delightful Royal blue. See here.

🪧 Telford Council ordered Osprey Charging to remove an unbranded sign pointing drivers to their EV charging hub. This has reopened up a much bigger debate about the need for charge point signage. Read more.

🤑 At the end of last week, the Department for Transport revealed £40 million had been provided to 13 Midlands local authorities as part of the LEVI scheme. That could lead to 16,000 devices going in the ground. Read more.

💷 Talking of government money, supermarket chain Iceland has asked the government for more incentive support so it can transition its 1,700 vans to EVs. See here.

😲 I came across an interview between BYD’s UK head of sales with a Chinese business forum. It’s the clearest I’ve seen the Chinese carmaker be on their determination to be number one in the UK, and how important the country clearly is to them. Read here.

📝 If you fancy the chance to win one of ten £25 M&S vouchers, fill in this quick 10 minute form for the Energy Saving Trust, which is looking for views on the direction of EV chargers and how useful booking systems are. You can access the survey here. This offer will close with the survey at midnight on Sunday 16 March. (Note, I’m not being paid to share this - I just love a deal.)

🥶 A quarter of England’s A-roads have EV charging “cold spots”, according to figures obtained by EV charging company Zest. Specifically, DfT is monitoring areas on 29 out of 107 A-roads. Zest has suggested the £950m rapid charging fund could be repurposed towards bridging this gap. Read more.

📉 Talking of cold feelings, that’s how many consumers are increasingly feeling towards Tesla as Musk’s own brand continues to get hit. It has got so bad that President Trump said he’d buy a Tesla. Read more.

🏊 A survey of 3,600 Decathlon shoppers with charging network Be.EV found that EV drivers were more likely to do cardio-intensive sports than their petrol and diesel counterparts, such as swimming (57% vs 52%), running (51% vs 46%), and cycling (69% vs 61%). Read more.

💡 Vauxhall’s ‘electric street’ campaign published an update recently about fleets using on-street charging, such as those in lampposts. Find it here.

🔌 Last week, a new report from consultants EY and Eurelectric found drivers can reduce their annual charging costs by an average of 20% using vehicle-to-grid technology. It’s a big report covering many charging habits and how it can save on costs. Find it here.

💳 On the topic of costs, had I published last week if it weren’t for illness, I would have shared the fantastic research put together on the Cost of Driving Electric by New AutoMotive. It revealed that more than 80% of people buying an EV this year would save money compared to an equivalent petrol car. See here.

📰 Speaking of the cost of going electric, over the weekend The Times published a consumer focussed feature that asked if it’s still cheaper. See here (paywall).

😍 VW has shared more images of its ID.1 concept, which will be its affordable challenger to carmakers like BYD. I must say, and I know it’s only a render, but it looks ruddy good. Read more.

ID.1. Yes please.

🐕 Finally, last week it was the dog show Crufts. One of the sponsors was Skoda, who also released interesting research suggesting that dogs are happier being driven in EVs than their petrol/diesel equivalents. Woof! Read more.

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Personal update: Making a leap…

As many readers will recall, about a year ago, I collapsed at my desk in Soho and had my first-ever (and only) epileptic fit. After several days in hospital, I was told they’d uncovered a brain tumour. It was a real biggie. A trophy tumour, if you will. The doctor suggested it may have been hiding for years. My brothers and I called it Osama bin Tumour. And, two weeks later, my surgeons went in Black Ops style to take him out for some waterboarding.

That mission was a success. And in all the months since June, I have undertaken endless radio and chemotherapy. It’s been tough, especially while working full-time and on this newsletter. However, mercifully, it’s all been working as intended, and we expect Osama to be tied up in Guantanamo for a very long time.

Anyway, why am I telling you this? Well, as I’m now on the ‘home straight’ of my treatment, I wanted to share an exciting career update: I’m taking The Fast Charge on full-time.

Why? This newsletter’s impact has grown significantly this past year (thank you!). And while that growth has been fantastic, it has come with its operational challenges. After mulling it over and talking to lots of you since Christmas, I’ve reasoned that going full time and commercialising it will enable me to do three things that will lead to better content for you:

1. Refreshing what The Fast Charge delivers.

While many of my recent stories have been quite investigative, I do want to move the weekly newsletter back to its core role of maximising the number of insights into the smallest amount of your inbox. With the odd bit of gossip thrown in, naturally. While I don’t have immediate plans to turn on a paywall, I am exploring and learning from other writers about how best to do that.

2. I want to collaborate with you on longer projects and research.

Some of my favourite stories over the past year have included investigations into the accessibility of public chargers, or more recently when I called up 55 network helplines. Those stories always lead to high engagement and even change. However, they are resource intensive, so I will be exploring partnerships for projects like this, which could include collaborative reports, workshops, or even events.

3. Launching a consultant offer.

For the past four years, I’ve kept this ‘trade media’ gig separate from my day job as a senior PR advisor. I’ve decided it’s now time for worlds to collide. So, building on this newsletter, plus my 12 years’ communications experience in Whitehall and across the private sector, from May I’ll be launching my own consultant offer.

More to come on the latter, including a snazzy website, though I’ll be pleased to discuss how I could add value to your team - whether you’re in the transport and energy space or working on behalf of a client who is.

As always, thanks for staying plugged in. After a tough year, I’m very excited for the future!

By Tom Riley | Add me on LinkedIn | Email: tomrileylondon[at]gmail.com