Electric car owners reveal why they are pulling the plug on their green machines after House of Lords committee revealed slowing sales - and no, it's NOT Rowan Atkinson's fault

• House of Lords report published on Monday revealed EV sales are slowing in UK

Electric car owners have revealed why they are pulling the plug on their green machines after a House of Lords committee report showed that EV sales were slowing in Britain.

The report which was published on Tuesday said EV sales were ‘stalling’ among private motorists as many were struggling to finance them and because of limited public charging points – particularly in rural areas.

But MailOnline found this week that even where public chargers were installed, many EV charging bays lay empty.

That’s despite Prime Minister Rishi Sunak aiming to completely phase out petrol, diesel and hybrid vehicles by 2035 – something he pushed back five years in September.

As a blame game erupts in Westminster over the stalling of sales, even actor Rowan Atkinson has been held accountable by campaigners after he described EVs as ‘a bit soulless’ in a comment piece he wrote last June.

After industry figures showed new EV sales to private car buyers plummeted by 25 per cent last month compared with January 2023, drivers have fumed how their electric vehicles have dropped in value, charging costs have soared and incentives have been scrapped.

Paul Lane, who acquired his electric Volkswagen ID.3 on a Personal Contract Purchase (PCP) in November 2021, has seen his car’s value drop from £37,762 to £18,888 after 14,000 miles in two years, according to online tracker Motorway.

EV driver Paul Lane (pictured), 80, said he was abandoning his electric Volkswagen ID.3 (plugged in, right)

Mr Lane’s VW ID.3

The EV is plugged into his wall at home

The proportion of EV sales dropped from 16.6 per cent in 2022 to 16.5 per cent in 2023. It had been predicted to reach 17.7 per cent in 2023

Mr Lane’s EV was worth £37,000 when he acquired it but this graph on Motorway shows it is now down at £18,888 after 14,000 miles – almost a 50 per cent drop in two years

The 80-year-old parish councillor also told MailOnline how his insurance rose from £450 to £750 a year, he had to replace all four tyres after 13,000 miles and he also had to spend £260 on planning permission to install a charging point at his home.

READ MORE: Mr Bean is blamed for slump in electric car sales: Rowan Atkinson is accused of ‘damaging’ public perception of EVs after describing the vehicles as a ‘bit soulless’  

Mr Lane, who is also an IAM Observer, said it was a ‘disgrace’ that the Government is stopping incentives such as road tax exemption, subsidies and home charging grants.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced in November that electric car owners would have to pay road tax from 2025. Meanwhile, a ‘plug in grant’ for EV drivers previously entitled motorists to a £2,500 discount, but this was removed in June 2022.

Mr Lane told MailOnline. ‘There’s no incentive whatsoever from the Government to push people towards buying electric cars. There’s just no incentive.’

When asked whether he was surprised by the stalling of EV sales, he added: ‘Not given the Government’s complete and utter lack of incentives for us to buy them.

‘I think the road tax is disgraceful, all the bells and whistles several years ago. “Yeah come on, buy electric vehicles – no road tax, home charging grants, new car subsidies”. It’s all gone.’

It comes as annual figures showed that the proportion of car sales that were electric had dropped from 16.6 per cent in 2022 to 16.5 per cent last year – the first time it has fallen into reverse.

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) had forecast that EVs would account for 17.7 per cent of new car sales in March 2023. They also predicted that sales would rise to 59.6 per cent by 2026-27.

Business owner and self-confessed petrolhead Nigel Pullen said that he will not be choosing an EV again after leasing one for work. Pictured is his current EV on charge

MailOnline found that several EV charging bays were lying empty. This one is pictured in Morley, Leeds

Six empty charging EV bays are seen at a Tesco supermarket in Merton, London

A number of empty electric vehicle charging car park spaces at Cattle Market car park in Bicester, Oxfordshire

Mr Lane blamed the Government for the decline in sales and asked the question: ‘Do the Government really want to encourage electric vehicle? I don’t think so.’

He highlighted that the cost of charging at home versus public has become a major issue.

Mr Lane explained: ‘At home for my seven kilowatt charger I pay about 28 per kWh. Pod Point, which is the cheapest in the country and used to be free at Tesco is now 44p per kWh.

‘You can’t really have an electric vehicle without having to have a charger and for these people with apartments, it’s just not going to happen.’

READ MORE: Is the public’s love affair with electric cars over? 

The motor and technology buff jokingly revealed that he switched to an EV because of his age, but has now decided to abandon his green machine.

He continued: ‘I wanted to get in an EV before it was too late. Once you’re 78 or 79, the clocks ticking! And I’m very keen on technology.

‘So I was really attracted to electric cars. I just wanted to get in one before it was too late – you don’t know how long you’re going to live.’

While he loves the high-tech elements of the EVs, including the distance control, lane control and regenerative brakes, Mr Lane has been left with no choice but to decide to hand his car back in the next 12 months.

He said: ‘Why would you pay that premium when there’s no help from the Government? And the residual values of them are plummeting. There’s just no appetite for them.’

Mr Lane was joined by several other EV drivers who contacted MailOnline about issues they were facing with their cars which has made them hand the eco-friendly vehicles back.

Emma Shaw, who was driving an ORA Funky Cat EV, said: ‘I chose my electric car through my works car scheme, it arrived the end of September but after just 2 months of driving it had that many faults that it went back to the dealership.

‘It has been off the road since mid November, I’m still driving a hire car waiting for it to be fixed.’

The Bicester car park was almost full of petrol and diesel cars (right) but the EV parking points (left) were mostly empty

Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders figures published Monday show that 20,935 electric cars were registered in January – a rise of 21 per cent year on year. However, purchases by private buyers fell by a quarter (25.1 per cent). Pictured: An empty EV charging bay at Morley Leisure Centre, Leeds

The Government had set a target of installing six chargers at all motorway service stations by the end of 2023, but it was revealed in January it had failed dismally trying to achieve this goal. Pictured: EV charging station in Stretford, Manchester

She claimed that her car was meant to have a range of 189 miles but goes into low battery mode with 50 miles still left on the clock.

Ms Shaw said that she has run into numerous problems when it is cold or wet, including the car being unable to charge over the 100-mile range.

When she does charge it, Ms Shaw says she has been ‘massively over charged in a car park’.

‘£15 for a couple hours compared to work where I can charge it for £5,’ she explained.

‘Also charge points have that many different apps that you end up not having the right app on your phone so when you get stuck in a car park and no signal to download the app you can’t charge it.’

Joanna Fraser also fears she may have to pull the plug on her electric car. She told MailOnline her MG electric car has ;broken down for the 3rd time in three months’.

Ms Fraser said the garage blamed it on the wet weather. She added: ‘[It’s] horrendous and so dangerous. I want to get rid of it but it’s under lease for another year.’

Business owner and self-confessed petrolhead Nigel Pullen said that he will not be choosing an EV again after leasing one for work.

Rishi Sunak has already delayed the proposed ban from 2030 to 2035 to give consumers more time to make the transition to EVs. Pictured: A car park with empty EV spaces in Bicester

Electric charging points at the Tesco Merton car park were not being used, while other spaces were filled

He told MailOnline: ‘As a business owner, the tax breaks offered to us to replace my wife’s Mercedes SUV with a Skoda Enyaq 2 years ago were very persuasive so we leased a new vehicle. Two other directors were also supplied with leased EV’s.

‘When our current lease runs out, we will not T be acquiring another EV.

‘As a keen petrolhead I have never been persuaded by the driving dullness of the EV. Atkinson is spot on, it is soulless.’

But Mr Pullen said the ‘biggest downside’ was not knowing when you may need to recharge the batteries and the uncertainty of whether or not there will be any charging points available or whether they will be working.

He added: ‘Our car has, according to the manufacturer, a range of 330 miles…we’ve done 50 before we even get out of Truro! It’s a joke. Thank goodness we didn’t buy the car – we’d be looking at a massive loss.’

And Martin Hall said that while he was a ‘proud EV owner’ when he bought his Kia EV6 in December 2021, he has now sold it back to the dealership.

Having enjoyed the smoothness and not having to fill up at petrol stations, Mr Hall soon encountered problems.

He revealed: ‘I was discussing with Kia a potential purchase of the new EV 9 in late 2023 when alarm bells staring to ring, the residual value on my EV6 was diminishing week by week, something detrimental was happening to the secondhand EV market.’

Mr Hall also fumed at the cost of public charging. He explained: I had signed up with Pod Point in December 2023 not to charge my car between the hours of 4.00pm to 8.00pm, having never used the charger at this time.

Rowan Atkinson, 69, (pictured) described electric cars as ‘a bit soulless’ in a comment piece he penned in June last year

There are some hidden environmental costs of an electric car

‘Low and behold due to other commitments I found myself having to use two different public chargers in one week to get to my destination.

‘I was horrified when I saw the cost of the two charges and worked it out to be over double the price of fuel. I felt angry and betrayed that the dream I was sold was not reality with public charging being more expensive than buying fuel.’

Mr Hall hopes to return to owning an EV in the future but only ‘when the infrastructure has developed, public charging becomes competitively priced and there is less variability in driving performance dependent on the weather and speed’.

While many EV drivers were critical, others were more positive about them but highlighted shortfalls.

Scott Greenway, who has owned an EV for three years, said: ‘We live in a remote area and do not own chargers at home, just simple 3 pin plugs at home work perfectly and we drive them daily.’

He said that the 7kWh charging points at supermarkets are a ‘gimmick’, adding: ‘You need minimum 22kWh for anything worthwhile the bother.’

And EV driver Jeremy Bingham said: ‘I love my motoring more than ever. Chargers are cropping up everywhere too.’

Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders figures published Monday show that 20,935 electric cars were registered in January – a rise of 21 per cent year on year.

However, purchases by private buyers fell by a quarter (25.1 per cent).

The Government had set a target of installing six chargers at all motorway service stations by the end of 2023, but it was revealed in January it had failed dismally trying to achieve this goal.

This has only been achieved at 33 per cent of locations, chairman of the inquiry Baroness Parminter said.

In the report, Baroness Parminter said: ‘If we’re going to get to net zero in 2050, we’ve got to address surface transport, because that accounts for 23pc of our emissions.

‘And if the Government is serious about meeting its targets, then it needs to use all the levers at its disposal.

‘The message the public got from the delay in the [petrol car] ban was ‘This is not something that we need to worry about now’.’

Ministers have been instructed to start addressing the disparity in upfront costs between EVs and petrol and diesel cars, and revamp grants aimed at incentivising the purchase of new EVs.

But it’s not just Mr Sunak who has been taking the blame.

The Green Alliance pressure group said: ‘One of the most damaging articles was a comment piece written by Rowan Atkinson in the Guardian which has been roundly debunked.’

Atkinson, known for his starring roles in Mr Bean and the Blackadder series, has a degree in electrical engineering and control systems, and described the cars as ‘a bit soulless’ but ‘wonderful mechanisms’.

‘But increasingly, I feel a little duped… I’m feeling that our honeymoon with electric cars is coming to an end, and that’s no bad thing,’ he wrote in his comment piece.

The submission was cited by people as proof of misleading reporting about the negatives of electric cars and battery technology.

Member of the Commons transport committee, Greg Smith, said: ‘It’s total hypocrisy for people that don’t even drive EVs themselves to have the bare-faced cheek to tell others they should drop an absolute ton of money on one,’ he said.

‘People should be free to choose what cars they buy and drive. The reliability issues with battery electric cars are real and to try and sweep that under the carpet is just potty.’

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