Latest news with #breakdownrate
Telegraph
18-06-2025
- Automotive
- Telegraph
Another wheel has just flown off the EV dream
They will save the planet, they are quieter, they will rebuild local industries, and they even come with attractive tax breaks. Re-wind a couple of years, and there were plenty of reasons for buying a shiny new Tesla or Polestar electric vehicle instead of an old-fashioned, high-pollution, petrol or diesel car. And yet, one by one, all those arguments have been punctured. They won't help the environment as much as we think, they are mostly made in China, the tax breaks are gone, and now we learn that they are more likely to break down as well. If you were not already worried enough about where the heck you might be able to recharge your electric car during a long drive over the summer, now there is something else to fret about as well. You are more likely to break down than the other cars on the road. According to a poll of 30,000 drivers by WhatCar, EV's suffer from a higher breakdown rate than petrol, diesel or hybrid vehicles, with 16.8 per cent of owners reporting some kind of fault, compared to 15.4 per cent for diesel, the second worst offender. It gets worse. The faults on EV's were less likely to be something that could be fixed on the side of the road by an emergency repair service, meaning that motorists were less likely to be able to complete their journey, and might have to pay for an expensive towing service as well. And of course, if something does go wrong it will probably cost more to fix, with surveys suggesting that EVs cost 30 per cent to 50 per cent more to repair than petrol cars, while replacing the tyres if you get a puncture will be pricey as well, with each one, according to one survey, costing £77 more on average than traditional vehicles. Perhaps not very surprising, the insurance is more expensive, given that the costs are higher if anything goes wrong, and that has to be recouped somehow or other. The costs start to add up very quickly. An EV is turning into a very expensive choice. That is not what we were promised. One of the strong selling points for EVs over conventional vehicles was that because they had so few moving parts compared to internal combustion engines, they were far less likely to go wrong. And overall, they were meant to be far cheaper to run than the vehicles they were replacing. One by one, all the arguments for owning an EV have been falling apart. It turns out that they cost more to run. The tax breaks are gradually being withdrawn; as of this year, they are no longer exempt from road tax, and from Christmas they will have to start paying the congestion charge in London, and probably very soon in other major cities as well. On top of all that, they are handing the auto industry to China, destroying one of Europe's major industries, and given the environmental impact of the manufacturing process, and all the minerals that go into them, they might not even be better for the environment either. In reality, the drive to force us all to switch to EVs was top-down. I was state-planning at its very worst. It set arbitrary targets, lavished subsidies and tax breaks on an industry, only to withdraw them when they became too expensive. Perhaps worst of all, it backed an unproven technology that may well turn out to be an expensive flop. The wheels are coming off the EV dream – and once drivers are convinced that they are not the right choice, it will be very hard to persuade them to start buying EVs again.
The Independent
29-05-2025
- Automotive
- The Independent
Smart motorways have higher rate of recorded breakdowns
Smart motorways have a vehicle breakdown rate nearly three times higher than conventional motorways, new figures show. National Highways statistics show 56% of breakdowns logged on England's motorways last year happened on smart motorways. That is despite the roads only making up 20% of the total motorway network. The 141,149 smart motorway breakdown incidents recorded in 2024 was an average of 387 per day. The AA described the statistics, released in response to a Freedom of Information request, as 'a major concern'. National Highways said the technology installed on smart motorways means breakdowns on those roads are more likely to be detected. Smart motorways are designed to increase capacity at a lower cost than widening roads. That can be done by converting the hard shoulder into a live running lane. There have been long-standing safety concerns after fatal incidents in which vehicles stopped in live lanes were hit from behind. Then-prime minister Rishi Sunak cancelled all future planned smart motorway projects in April 2023, citing financial pressures and a lack of public confidence in the roads. Some smart motorway stretches are controlled schemes, which use variable speed limits but retain a hard shoulder. AA president Edmund King told the PA news agency: 'For many drivers, fear of a collision on a smart motorway would be reinforced by witnessing a breakdown in a live lane, or frequently seeing vehicles in refuge areas. 'These new figures suggest that the chance of that happening is increasing – approaching 400 a day along 396 miles of smart motorway, even when including controlled stretches. 'Equivalent to one a mile each day, that inspires more motorists to stay out of lane one, thus increasing the chance of congestion.' For the first time, figures published by National Highways show 251,448 breakdowns on England's motorways were logged last year. That is a rise of 3% from the previous year and 47% compared with 2014. The AA said free breakdown recovery in roadwork areas and monitoring of smart motorways have increased the number of incidents recorded by National Highways. It believe the length of the motorway network can be ruled out as a major factor as it has only increased by 65 miles in the past decade. Mr King said: 'It is a major concern that we are witnessing more than a quarter of a million breakdowns a year on the motorway network – and those are just the officially recorded ones. 'The situation does not appear to be getting any better.' He added that drivers can reduce the likelihood of breaking down by taking measures such as having their vehicle regularly serviced, checking tyre conditions and pressure, and ensuring they have adequate fuel or charge. A National Highways spokesperson said: 'Our latest analysis continues to show that overall, smart motorways remain our safest roads. 'We have upgraded the technology to detect stopped vehicles, improved response times to live lane breakdowns and installed more than 150 additional emergency areas giving people a place to pull over if they break down. 'Unlike other roads, smart motorways have technology in place to identify stopped vehicles, including breakdowns. 'This means more breakdowns are identified on smart motorways compared to other road types, and as a result these stats are not a reliable indicator of actual safety.'
