Government-subsidised plug-in cars may never have been charged

[LeMarchand]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-46152853

 

It seems that if you make hybrid cars cheaper to buy than petrol-only ones, businesses will buy them and use them as petrol-only ones.

 

Still, does this mean that if you buy an ex-fleet one the battery will be in better condition (or not)?

[casey]

This story came out about a month after the PiCG grant was effectively scrapped for PHEVs and hybrids so it does seem that the government made the right call on that occasion. (Bit of a surprise there!)

 

Not sure how this will affect the condition of the battery, leaving LiOn batteries on zero charge is definitely bad for them but maybe the regen braking would mean there was always some charge in it and the battery management systems on these vehicles should stop the battery from being fully discharged.

 

So some of these cars will never have been charged/discharged which could be good for the next owner.

 

I guess any prospective buyers should ask for some sort of printout of the battery health before buying.

 

Part of the problem is lack of education for drivers. I'm guessing that many of the people who were given these as company cars had no instruction/information given when they had their cars delivered to them.

 

When I hear some of the objections about electric cars in general it seems like it's going to be a huge task to get people to 'unlearn' all of the 'facts' they read in the papers or from the esteemed Mr Clarkson.