But the £140 rate covering all emission levels does mean limited incentive to buy/use lower emission vehicles
FWIW I bought a lower emission car (2nd hand in Aug last year) a 65 plate Focus 125 Ecoboost. Certainly will have to keep it as long as possible. NB the VED is £20
If I was buying a new car, I'd want it to my spec, especially on something over £40k. Not what the dealer has lying around in storage somewhere. Build dates on a lot of cars can be quite lengthy and on some you'd be lucky to have it by the end of March.
There's already talk about banning them completely from major town centres. Not sure how practical it would be given HGVs and similar use it to make deliveries.
+1. I was looking at a new Golf GTI and even that could hit £40k if I stuck on enough extras.
I've just got the sneaking feeling that the government will "rationalise" the bands to avoid confusion
The system to date has been biased toward global emissions (CO2) and has largely overlooked the very serious local health implications of NOx and particulates. One of the problems here is that diesel engines were sold as the cure-all when the only concern being considered was CO2 and this has resulted in too many diesel engined vehicles being used for short journeys and city/town driving and this has made the NOx/particulate situation worse than it was before.
Persisting in thinking that any one technology os the solution for everything isn't going to make the situation any better. It's going to be about the right fuel for the job. It might mean two car households thinking about having two differently fuelled vehicles and being flexible as to who drives which depending upon varying daily needs.
They're not. There are still advances being made in cleaning up diesel engines, and making them hybrids cleans them up a lot more still, meaning smaller, cleaner and even more economical diesel engines can be used assisted by electric motors.
Ford are launching a Fully Electric SUV within the next few years which will have a range of at least 300 miles, plus Ford along with other manufacturers have clubbed together to increase the number of fast charging points across Europe, Within the next 3yrs the US will get a Hybrid Mustang with the power of the V8, this will make it's way into Europe, if the market should arise. They will also be launching an Electric Transit and a wifi system for charging cars where you just have to park the car over a charging pad.
The problem is that if less people buy new cars, the availability of second hand falls, cet par, price increases.
Even if you bought 2nd hand it would have had to be registered before April otherwise it will still incur £310 a year after the 1st year, until it's 6yrs old. The initial buyer just gets the plus point of paying £0 VED for the 1st year. I've no idea how much they depreciate after the 1st year or so but each year they get closer to needing a battery replacement isn't going to do the value much of a favour anyway, you could end up taking a big hit further down the line.
I don't think that anyone would disagree with that, including me (who drives a gas guzzler )
There are static ANPR cameras too.I don't think that anyone would disagree with that, including me (who drives a gas guzzler )
There was a discussion on the radio the other day, ( I can't remember the figures) but it seems there has been quite a dramatic increase in the amount of non-payers since this new system has been in place.
Just as I suspected TBH, if you have something to "show" then its an easy catch for traffic wardens / PCO's or whoever.
Now of course you have to be caught by a ANPR van.
I do over a 1000 miles a week, and if I see one once a month, I think they are hunting in packs
Good
