EVs, cars, batteries, solar & energy. Real-world experience, honest reviews, useful news & the occasional bit of nonsense. 👇 Website + YouTube
England, United Kingdom
Joined September 2025
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On this month’s ‘Readers Rides’ segment, the super-interesting @DrMoragKerr wrote a comprehensive article for us about why she bought, kept and occasionally even sleeps in her @MGmotor MG4 on her travels 👇
ctrlaltrefuel.co.uk/blogs/li…
What a great looking car from
Chery. 🤤 And an estate! Yes please! 😍
Take a look at @InsideChinaAuto ‘s first look! 👇
youtu.be/N1Fwh0LcWqo?is=TFzw…
🚗 Who will really pay more tax in 2028 on? Let’s have a look:
The average UK car covers around 6,700 miles a year. But we’ll use 10,000 miles to compare.
At today’s fuel prices, a 40mpg petrol car pays around £931 in fuel duty and VAT over 10,000 miles. A 50mpg diesel? Around £783.
The more miles you do, the more fuel you’ll need, and therefore the more ‘pay-per-mile’ tax you’re already paying.
An EV doing the same mileage would face a proposed £300 annual mileage tax from 2028.
But here’s the bit worth remembering: EV drivers already pay VED “Road Tax”, just like petrol and diesel drivers. That’s currently £195 a year for cars in the standard VED band.
So the proposed mileage charge would mean £495 a year in VED and mileage tax for an EV doing 10,000 miles.
That’s still less than the fuel duty, VED and VAT paid by the example petrol and diesel cars, but it’s another charge for going electric.
Fair contribution to road funding, or another tax on going electric?
#EVs #ElectricCars #VED
The new electric Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) fee will see electric cars charged 3p per mile to use the road from April 2028, with plug-in hybrids paying 1.5p per mile.
And that's just to start. Guaranteed that will go up significantly with every budget. Don't you just love being taxed out of existance!?
⚠️ VW is restricting some EVs to 80% charge over a potential battery issue.
The affected cars are: ID.3, ID.4, ID.7 or ID. Buzz built between 2022 and 2025.
The issue concerns specific battery components and certain production batches.
The problem was identified through internal quality checks, with a manufacturing fault suspected. But the precise defect, battery supplier and total number of UK cars affected remain unclear.
Repairs could involve software measures or replacement battery modules.
So what went wrong, and how widespread is it?
We’ve been looking at what we know, what we don’t, and what happens next.
#EV #Volkswagen
On its website, VW said:“We are preparing for a recall for safety reasons on a number of vehicles equipped with a specific type of high-voltage battery.
For ID.3, ID.4 and ID.7 vehicles with high-voltage batteries that were produced by a specific supplier between 2022 and 2025, there is a requirement to carry out checks to ensure that the components in the battery meet our high-quality standards.
When the battery is charged to over 80%, overheating may occur, posing a fire risk. “
volkswagen.co.uk/en/owners-a…
CtrlAltRefuel retweeted
This is interesting. 🤔 👇
The UK isn't blocking Tesla FSD (Supervised). Nobody has applied.
Over the summer I asked the DfT and VCA through FOI requests and my MP. What the written answers say:
1. The route is open. VCA, 10 July: "It is now possible to type approve such systems" under UN R171. GB already approved Ford BlueCruise hands-free in 2023, using its own version of the Article 39 route the Dutch used for Tesla.
2. The Dutch approval doesn't carry over. DfT, 9 July: Article 39 decisions "do not apply automatically in Great Britain". Applying "would be a decision for Tesla".
3. As of June, Tesla hadn't applied. Asked for any record of an application, the DfT said: "not held".
4. Minister for Roads, 9 Oct: R171 is set to go into GB law, with later versions accepted automatically. And the VCA "would welcome early engagement" from makers approved abroad who want cars evaluated on British roads.
The door is open to Tesla, but they need to actually apply.
CtrlAltRefuel retweeted
This month’s ’Reader’s Rides’ segment is a fab read and some lovely pics of Morag’s Scottish adventures in her EV.
👇
ctrlaltrefuel.co.uk/blogs/li…
Have we just witnessed James Bond’s next car?
But did you know the Tesla Roadster comes in three model choices?
Performance has no thrusters, but it’s available for anyone to order. Fans suck the car to the road for superior grip.
Estimated 0-60 mph in 1.6 seconds
Thrust is a limited release and adds SpaceX cold gas thrusters to the rear for superior acceleration and multi-mode fans to suck the car to the tarmac. Ideal for racing.
0-60 mph in 1 second.
Rocket trim with SpaceX cold gas thrusters at the rear and underneath, but can only be bought by invitation only.
0-60 mph in 0.59 seconds, and targeted for Mach 0.5 top speed.
⚡️🛻 Ford wants to make electric pickups affordable.
Meet the Fathom.
Starting at $28,350 in the US (before fees), the new midsize electric truck offers five seats, a load bed, a frunk and bidirectional power.
It’ll also come with Apple CarPlay, Android Auto and hardware for next-gen BlueCruise hands-free highway driving.
🤓 The bigger story? It’s the first vehicle on Ford’s new Universal EV platform, designed from the ground up to cut manufacturing costs dramatically.
Range, charging speeds and plenty of other details are still under wraps, and Ford’s CEO has already flagged how hard it will be to hit both the price and the timeline at scale.
Could affordable electric pickups finally be about to take off? ⚡
🇺🇸 Sadly US-market only for now. Pre-orders planned for early 2027, with deliveries later that year. ⚡️🛻
CtrlAltRefuel retweeted
What a mad few days this was, but all was well, as I spent it with @notaguru3, so it was full of laughs and good times 😆
This episode was recorded in the Paris airport while we waited for our flight home. Enjoy...
NEW EPISODE: @alexlowe30 and @notaguru3 went to the Paris Motor Show this week and are now waiting to go home in a French airport. Discussed are the best cars at the show and much more.
Watch on YouTube - youtu.be/sifQBgA2Sa8
Watch or Listen on Apple Podcasts - apple.co/4s7LZ4T
The @chargingstatus podcast is published in the UK by @the_interface_ and is hosted by motoring journalists @notaguru3 and @alexlowe30
#podcast #evpodcast #parismotorshow
CtrlAltRefuel retweeted
Today with @rollsroycecars at @GrantleyHall_ in North Yorkshire on a Press driving day. @NGMWcars @eV_Newt
This looks super interesting. That and the L03.
Loving that green! 🤩
Newt.
CtrlAltRefuel retweeted
KIA have done it again! They continue to impress me, this is the EV3 GT Line S
⚡️🚕 Robo-taxis now in Manchester🤖🚕⚡️
Londoners are already getting the chance to ride in (supervised)self-driving electric taxis through Uber.
Now the company is testing autonomous vehicles on Manchester’s streets.
No passengers in Manchester just yet, but UK robotaxi rollout is gathering pace.
Would you trust an AI to drive your taxi? 🤔
CtrlAltRefuel retweeted
The latest @chargingstatus is now live, and quite topical. Much like @alexlowe30, it’s also quite short.
We went to the Paris Motor Show
youtu.be/sifQBgA2Sa8
@mondialdelauto
⚡️🤔What the frunk?!🤔⚡️
What’s in yours? Do you have one?
A frunk? A froot? A fartment? What do you call the storage space under the bonnet of an EV, and what do you keep in it?
My Kia EV6 AWD has a small one.
My wife’s Fiat 500e doesn’t, but I bought an aftermarket one with a decent amount of space for cable and an emergency @OctopusEnergy 🐙
So, what do you call it? And more importantly, is a frunk even necessary? 👀🔌
Newt.
