News Bites: This Week’s Automotive Headlines, All In One Place

This week’s headlines have been pretty much dominated by the Autumn Budget, which Erin Baker has a handy summary of right here:

Electric-car drivers were the focus of this week’s Budget. The headline was confirmation that a pay-per-mile tax for EV drivers will start in 2028. EV owners will pay 3p per mile, and plug-in hybrid owners will pay 1.5p per mile, with both amounts rising annually. Drivers will pay up front, based on their own annual estimates. Any shortfall will be paid for at the end of the year, and any overpayment will be carried forward into the following year. Mileages will be checked at the annual MoT.
The Electric Car Grant (of up to £3,750 off cars costing less than £37,00) will be extended to 2030, and the threshold for the Expensive Car Supplement’, an annual tax of £440 on cars costing over £40,000, has been raised to £50,000 for electric cars, saving over one million motorists the extra £440 for the first six years of the car’s life. Fuel duty remains frozen.

• Jaecoo and Omoda have launched a limited “EV Tax Rebate” on their fully electric E5 SUVs. It’s a £600 saving that’s equivalent to about 20,000 miles under the planned 3p per mile road tax for EVs. This is currently available if you buy the car on a 48 month finance plan. All the details on that are right here.
• The UK government is extending the Electric Car Grant, giving up to £3,750 off new electric purchases, as more models become eligible. But a new mileage based tax is on the cards for EV drivers: from 2028, EVs could face a charge of ~3 p per mile (on top of existing vehicle tax). Learn more about that here.. • Changes to the Motability scheme see premium cars like BMW, Mercedes, Audi, Lexus, and Alfa Romeo dropped as the scheme focuses on supporting UK-built vehicles. • The world's most expensive car sold for a jaw-dropping 20 million this week - was it worth the money?

We also like to shine a spotlight on the random tidbits you might miss elsewhere, alongside the rumours and stories we hear on launches – here’s what we’ve heard this week.

Vauxhall plays to its strong ‘best of British’ heritage by unveiling the Vivaro ‘Electrici-TEA’ tea-making van concept. This one-off version of a Vauxhall Vivaro Electric medium panel van features a built-in tea-making station, with an electric kettle, fridge, sink with a 10-litre water tank, and sugar dispenser, packed into a tiny space within the Vivaro Electric’s 6.6-cubic-metre load space. So… why cram a tea-making kitchen into a van? Because we’re British! Seriously though, Vauxhall carried out some research showing nearly all UK tradespeople (90 per cent) said a good cup of tea has a positive impact on their day, while almost half (46 per cent) enjoy three to four cups of tea per day. So, THAT’S why Vauxhall put tea-making facilities into a van concept… because the British thirst for tea borders on obsessional and a mobile tea kitchen is the logical way to satisfy that thirst. - Tom Roberts.

Those of a certain age may remember when BMWs sold under the catchphrase ‘The Ultimate Driving Machine’ but, based on our experiences with the new iX3 this week, it seems the ultimate driving machine has taken control itself! We’ll have to choose our words carefully as iX3 driving impressions are still covered by an embargo. But we were able to try out BMW’s new Motorway Assistant and Active Lane Change, which is the first such system cleared for sustained‘hands free’ driving on motorways thanks to the ‘superbrain’ computers controlling the iX3’s next-gen driver assistance tech. Similar systems have been around for a while of course, and Tesla is among those pushing regulators to let more customers enjoy the benefits of its Full Self-Driving tech on the public road. In Germany BMW is the first to get sign-off for hands-free motorway driving under new Driver Control Assistance Systems (DCAS) regulations, the iX3 also getting a pass for Spain where we were testing it. While these rules cover the whole of Europe individual countries still get to decide on how much automation is legal on their roads, BMW geofencing the system so it turns off if you cross a border into somewhere less amenable. Much as your Lime bike cuts assistance if you try and ride it somewhere you shouldn’t. Even where you can use Motorway Assistant the driver retains full responsibility for the vehicle, though, so we’re a ways off being able to doom-scroll the socials or catch a nap as you cruise along the motorway. Check back next week for more on the iX3 and what it’s like to drive, and be driven in! - Dan Trent.