James May on EVs, charging, and small cars
James talks about self-driving, Labour's plan, affordability, and lots more
Hello, I’m Tom Riley, and welcome back to The Fast Charge, a British EV newsletter.
Good news… in today’s edition I speak to TV presenter James May who tells me:
VAT on charging is “unfair”
SUVs are “slightly aggressive” and “wasteful”
Automated cars are “fanciful”; and
Labour should be “wary” of reversing the petrol ban to 2030.
It’s a bumper interview, so do enjoy it. And, as ever, if you have any thoughts or feedback, do get in touch via my contact details below.
James May talks EVs, energy, and the future
Background: James May is probably one of the biggest motoring influencers in the world. He’s featured on our screens for over two decades, mostly while presenting shows like Top Gear and The Grand Tour. And, despite a noticeable winding down from, in his words, “car stuff”, James continues to be a regular automotive commentator, with millions of people following his musings.
Given his CV… it’s clear James knows his automotive onions. And, interestingly for us, he’s also one of the world’s earliest EV adopters. Over the years James has owned several, tested many more, and continues to do hundreds of miles each week in a Tesla (the new Model 3). In mid-June, I had the opportunity to speak with James about his EV experience, including getting his thoughts on the future of cars, what a ‘James May Charging Network’ would look like, and much more…
We kick off by talking about his own experience with an EV, and it’s very positive. James reasons this is “because I've got two houses and they've both got garages with chargers.” His criticism, though, seems mostly saved for the lack of contactless options at many public chargers.
“I haven't had a great experience because I don't understand why you can't simply buy some electricity. It's always more apps and signing up. I just think we don't want all this f**king admin, just let me buy it like petrol. It's just electricity. I'll put my card on. So there you go. That's 15 quid.”
At the time we’re speaking, the election is in full swing. And, in their manifesto, Labour has confirmed they will reverse Sunak’s delay of the petrol ban. Is that positive?
“I’d be wary of moving the 2030 date back into place solidly because it might be difficult to achieve. It was fine for the Tories when they first came up with it because nobody there was going to be around to see whether it works or not. But now we're going to have, let's assume Labour do win, a government that will still be answerable when we get to 2030 and it hasn't happened. I think they should be a bit careful with that one.”
Despite his caution, James does make clear that he believes the ZEV mandate can move the dial.
“Every time legislation seemingly puts a barrier in the way of cars – so I'm thinking of catalytic inverters, unleaded petrol, various safety requirements – actually, it advances the car because the car industry is quite lazy in many ways.” James adds: “It's quite a good incentive if we believe that the future should be electric. It's a good thing, whether or not it actually happens.”
Earlier this year, the UK introduced a new law that has paved the way for driverless cars on British roads by 2026. Tesla is one company leading this technology. What does James think?
“There's some amazing things being done, and I can see a future not that far off where we have automated local delivery vehicles. But I think that the popular vision of a totally autonomous private car that you don't have to drive at all, I think, is fanciful. It's such a complicated problem. It's a complicated robotics problem, and robotics are always disappointing. Self-driving in the Tesla simply doesn't work.”
Speaking of politics, Labour has said it will establish Great British Energy to build a clean energy superpower by 2030. Does James have a view on it?
“When I first heard about it, I thought, ‘what a great idea’. Because, I mean, energy is the new industrial revolution, whoever cracks it is going to rule the world. I thought, that's a nice, noble, farsighted thing. But, then when people started digging into it, it seemed like something rather less impressive than it was first reported to be.”
James is speaking of how it has transpired that GB Energy will broadly act as an investment vehicle.
“It's not quite the same thing, which I think is a shame. I mean, even if it were sponsoring and funding university departments, for example, that dealt with the energy issue, for it to be prioritised, I think it would be a good thing.”
The ‘green transition’ is not always popular, and when it comes to EV ownership there are clearly challenges to solve – which often leads to misinformation in the news. As a huge influencer, does James feel a responsibility to myth bust?
“I feel because I'm a car enthusiast and, I'm also in a fairly fortunate position, I have a moral duty to take part in the experiment. Because it always starts with people who can afford to… I think there is a bit of a responsibility to do that. I wouldn't preach it, but I feel it. And it's incumbent upon us not to pedal or repeat misinformation. But at the same time, to be ruthlessly critical about it. I do love the Tesla, and I love electric driving. I think it has a great deal to commend it. But I'm not blind to the issues.”
One area that comes up throughout our conversation is how EV ownership can work fairly for all. Firstly, there is the charging conundrum.
“It will slightly punish the less well-off who don't have off street parking or garages or so on. They will end up paying more to run a car that was more of a struggle for them to buy in the in the first place. So that is an inequality.”
When I explained to James that the VAT rate is lower (5%) for people charging at home compared to on-street (20%), he criticises the difference.
“It is fundamentally unfair. It would be a bit like saying, I can have my petrol cheaper than my neighbour because I've got a garage. That's basically what it is, and that's not right.”
The second big challenge is the cost of the cars themselves, which has been historically high. Although this has been changing with new EVs, such as China’s BYD, James is currently very excited about the sub £15,000 Dacia Spring.
“I think with the Dacia, that is going to be a genuinely low-priced car and it's electric. It's a very significant moment, I hope.” He adds: “I'm very tempted to have one. I'll have to sell something, and I don't know what that is. But I really like the idea of driving around in Britain's cheapest new electric car.”
A central trait of the Dacia and other cheap EVs is they’re small, which has the added benefit of being kinder to roads and less resource-intensive. Should we ban large cars altogether?
“We should be having smaller and lighter cars. And, I don't like legislation as a principle, I think we should try and do with as little of it as possible, but if I was going to legislate something about the private car, it would be basically the axle load, because I don't like big, heavy stuff, I don't like SUVs. I don't like that trend. I can't see the benefit. And they are just heavy. They're not pedestrian friendly. They're slightly aggressive. They're wasteful. On the whole, apart from maybe the Lamborghini Urus, they don't look very good either.”
Many manufacturers have called for new subsidies to help people buy EVs. Meanwhile, European carmakers have warned of cheap Chinese imports undermining local industry. Recently, the EU and US put tariffs on Chinese EVs. Should the UK follow suit?
“I don't really believe in tariffs or protectionism. It might be in the interest of the car manufacturers, but it will only work for so long. It isn't in the interests of the public. His interests are the ones that should be served. I know why people have objections to Chinese cars, Chinese products in general, because of human rights issues and all the rest of it. But, in the end, I don't think you're going to stop it, except by building a car at least as good or better at a comparable price. We're going to struggle to do that.”
Outside his life as a motoring journalist, James has also bought a pub and started his own gin brand. My final question is this: what would it look like if James were setting up an EV charging network?
“It would definitely be contactless pay… There would be a lot of them because I think that, with the technology where it is now, I still believe with my ‘back of a fag packet’ calculations that you need a truly huge number of them. And I would concentrate first on putting them in public car parks, supermarket car parks, workplaces, industrial estates, retail parks, office things. And then I'd start at streets… That's actually where it needs to be solved.”
We will have to keep our eyes peeled for the launch of ‘Captain Slow's Charge’. In the interim, big thanks to James for speaking to me.
You can follow James on Twitter here, buy his gin here, or check out his pub in Wiltshire here.
By Tom Riley | Check my Linktree for LinkedIn, TikTok and Twitter