The government has set out new requirements for public electric car chargers that aim to tackle issues with unreliability and complex payment methods.

Announced yesterday, the rules, set out in the Public Charge Point Regulations 2023, stipulate various requirements for public EV charging providers.

One of the main demands is that rapid chargers need to be ‘on average, reliable for 99 per cent of the time during each calendar year’. Charge point providers will be forced to publish information on their reliability.

The government is also looking to address the grey area surrounding payment. Currently, some charging points require apps or pre-authenticated RFID cards to ‘unlock’ a charger. But for all chargers delivering above 8kW of power, they will be required to have a contactless payment feature to speed up the charge.

They will also need to enable ‘payment roaming’, whereby drivers will no longer need to have multiple apps from each charging provider in order to enable a charge to start, as is sometimes the case currently.

However, no official date has been given as to when these regulations will come into force, and once they are, operators will have a year to introduce this functionality.

Clearer pricing is another requirement, with charging operators being forced to display the cost of charging in pence per kilowatt hour before a charge has begun.

Toby Poston, director of corporate affairs at the British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association (BVRLA), said: “Public charging anxiety and frustration is one of the top reasons drivers give for not going EV, so these new measures represent a massive step in addressing them.”

It’s an exciting time in the electric car world at the moment, with more and more models going on sale.

There is big news today, too, with Dacia’s announcement that it will bring its compact EV, called the Spring, to the UK next year. The Spring has been on sale since 2021 in other European markets and has the title of Europe’s most affordable new electric car – something that it will likely be when it comes to the UK as well.

But if you can’t quite wait for the Dacia Spring to arrive, what are currently the cheapest new EVs today? Let’s take a look.

MG4 – £26,995

MG is now one of the key players in the electric car segment, with its affordable EVs really resonating with buyers that want to go electric, but without having to splash vast amounts of cash.

Its new MG4 is also currently the UK’s most affordable EV, with a starting price of £26,995. That buys the entry-level model, equipped with a 51kWh battery that’s able to achieve a credible claimed 218 miles from a charge. It’s also good to drive, well-equipped and offers attractive styling too. MG’s current offers mean you can get behind the wheel for £269 per month over a four-year deal, with a £6,000 deposit.

Fiat 500 – from £28,195

Fiat’s 500 continues to be one of the most popular cars across Europe, with petrol versions recently being joined by a new electric model, though based on new underpinnings and getting a raft of additional technology.

While substantially more expensive than the regular petrol version, this EV’s £28,195 starting price makes it one of the most accessible electric cars on the market. For this price, you are limited to cars equipped with the small 24kWh battery, which only allows for a claimed range of 118 miles. In terms of finance, a rough £6,000 deposit, and monthly payments of £290 can get you behind the wheel with a £6,000 deposit.

Nissan Leaf – from £28,495

Nissan has been producing EVs for longer than most manufacturers, with the Leaf debuting back in 2011, and helping to introduce many to electric cars. That remains the case today, with the latest car’s £28,495 starting price still putting it among the cheapest new EVs on the market. Thanks to the introduction of a new entry-level ‘Shiro’ trim level, it’s also just got £500 cheaper.

The Leaf is practical and generously equipped, with the entry-level 39kWh battery allowing for a claimed 168-mile range. Over a three-year finance contract, this Nissan is available from £350 a month with a £6,000 deposit.

Renault Zoe – from £29,995

Renault was another early firm to get involved in affordable, mass-market EVs with its Zoe, and this practical supermini remains a good option for those looking to make the switch without breaking the bank.

The Zoe starts from a smidge under £30,000, and comes generously equipped with a large touchscreen and front and rear parking sensors. A 239-mile range is also the longest of any model on this list. It is quite expensive to finance, however, currently costing £450 a month over three years with a £6,000 deposit, owing to its steep depreciation.

MG ZS EV – from £30,495

There are many electric SUVs on the market, but there are few at the affordable end of the spectrum. That’s where the MG ZS EV crossover comes in, by bringing this popular bodystyle at a lower price.

Available from £30,495, the ZS EV significantly undercuts its rivals, while still offering a respectable 198-mile range and generous equipment levels. Currently, to finance, the MG will cost £329 a month over a four-year agreement, with a £6,400 deposit.

MG5 – from £30,995

You might have noticed by now that MG dominates the affordable end of the electric car segment, with the MG5 also available for an attractive starting price of £30,995. It’s one of the few electric estate cars currently available and impresses with its practical interior and generous equipment levels.

As the MG5 is only available in ‘Long Range’ form, it means it’s also capable of a claimed 250 miles on a charge – the most of any EV on this list. It’s more to finance, however, as it costs £428 a month over four years with a £6,500 deposit.

Mazda MX-30 – from £31,250

Mazda is known to do things a little bit differently, and this is shown when it comes to EVs too. The MX-30 is quite an oddball choice, as this coupe-styled SUV might look the part but is let down by a poor range of just 124 miles.

That said, considering the level of equipment and high-quality interior, its £31,250 starting price is reasonable. It’s decent value to finance as well, as it’s available for less than £300 a month over a four-year contract, and with a £6,000 deposit.

London’s Ultra Low Emissions Zone (ULEZ) was first introduced in April 2019, and while initially focused on central areas of the capital, it was expanded in October 2021 to include everything inside the North Circular and South Circular.

On August 29, however, ULEZ expands significantly once again, and will cover all London boroughs. Motorists that don’t have a car meeting the ULEZ requirements face paying £12.50 to drive within the area, and fines of £90 for breaching it. You can check on Transport for London’s website to see if your car meets the requirements.

The ULEZ standards for cars and vans are:

• Euro 4 for petrol vehicles (all petrol cars from 2005 will meet this, and all light vans since 2006)
• Euro 6 for diesel vehicles (all diesel cars and light vans from September 2015 will meet this, or September 2016 for larger vans)

Such is the expansion of the zone, it means it won’t just affect those living in London, but also those driving to various places and attractions, even if they might not seem all that ‘central’. Let’s take a look at seven popular places where drivers will soon face paying for the ULEZ.

Heathrow Airport

Heathrow is the biggest airport in the UK, with millions of passengers travelling through it every year. Many in the UK also travel to it by car. However, from August 29, Heathrow and all its official car parks will be within the expanded zone. And only by a fraction as the nearby M25 is excluded from ULEZ.

It means thousands of motorists who don’t have a compliant car will suddenly face the £12.50 charge, which becomes £25 if returning on another day. It’s worth noting that you only need to pay the charge when your car moves – so you won’t need to pay for each day your vehicle is parked at Heathrow, just when you arrive and leave.

Wembley

Wembley is the home of English football, and with 90,000 seats, it’s the largest sporting venue in Europe after Camp Nou in Barcelona. Not only does it host football, but various other sporting events, such as NFL, as well as gigs from global megastars throughout the year.

While Wembley was previously just outside the ULEZ expansion, from August 29, it will become part of it If you want to avoid paying the charge if your car isn’t exempt, you’ll have to make your way to Wembley another way.

Hampton Court Palace

Hampton Court Palace in Molesey, West London, is one of the grandest buildings of its kind in the UK. Used by King Henry VIII and all six wives, more than half a million people visit a year, helped by popular events like the RHS’ Garden Festival.

It’s another popular attraction that drivers visiting Hampton Court Palace face paying the £12.50 daily charge for, however, if using a none compliant vehicle.

Twickenham

While Twickenham might be located further outside central London than Wembley, it’s another popular attraction that will soon be located within the ULEZ zone, due to its particularly large expansion into South West London.

Twickenham is known to be the home of English rugby, and it’s one of the largest stadiums in the world for the sport. After Wembley, it’s the second largest stadium in the UK too, with a capacity of 82,000.

Wimbledon

For a fortnight every summer Wimbledon in South West London becomes the global centre of the world for tennis. With roughly half a million people attending over the course of the tournament, it’s a hugely popular event.

But those visiting Wimbledon by car or van will now face the event being within side the expanded ULEZ, and face charges and penalties for driving a non-compliant car.

Chessington World of Adventures

Compared to many other similar attractions, Chessington World of Adventures is quite centrally located to the capital. Unfortunately, due to the ULEZ expansion on August 29, it means that it will soon fall within the area.

Chessington World of Adventures is a key attraction, especially for families, because of its theme park, zoo and aquarium. Because it is only just located in ULEZ, motorists with non-compliant cars might be able to park just outside of the area to avoid paying the charge.

Richmond Park

Richmond Park in South West London is the capital’s largest royal park, covering a vast area of 2,500 acres. Known internationally for its wildlife and conservation.

Popular with walkers, cyclists and those that want to escape from the hustle and bustle of the city, anyone wishing to travel by car should note that from August 29, it will be in the expanded ULEZ area.

Nearly a quarter (23 per cent) of motorists are delaying having their car serviced or carrying out maintenance themselves as a result of the cost-of-living crisis.

The survey from the RAC found that 10 per cent had postponed a service on their car by up to a year, but five per cent had delayed this essential maintenance by more than a year, and are relying solely on the annual MOT test.

A further 10 per cent had decided to start servicing their car themselves or called in the help of a friend to do so. Of the 1,900 motorists surveyed, nine per cent had opted for cheaper servicing, such as swapping a major service for a minor one. Elsewhere, eight per cent had switched to a different garage to help save money.

While it’s easy to see why motorists are keen to save money when finances are tough, the RAC has advised motorists “strongly against” skipping on maintenance as it risks safety and increases the chance of a breakdown.

RAC spokesman Rod Dennis said: “Not keeping on top of servicing a vehicle is almost always a false economy, as the probability of suffering a breakdown emergency and having to fork out even more for expensive repairs down the line go up massively.

“So, while drivers might feel the best thing to do is to put off servicing or opt for a cheaper service even if their car is due a full one, we advise strongly against it as repair costs are likely to snowball when things start to go wrong.”

A classic Ford Fiesta due to appear in a special Wheeler Dealers episode with Mike Brewer has been stolen ahead of its star appearance.

Wheeler Dealers is a long-running TV series that sees classic cars in need of repair being bought to restore, with the aim of selling them for profit once complete.

Now in its 20th year, the show has been working on a special 1979 Ford Fiesta 1300S to mark the anniversary, while also helping to celebrate the imminent end of the production of the best-selling Ford hatchback.

However, the star car was last night stolen along with the white covered trailer it was inside from the car park of the Premier Inn in Pontefract, North Yorkshire.

In a plea on social media, Wheeler Dealers’ Mike Brewer, alongside co-presenter Marc ‘Elvis’ Priestley, urged the public to try and locate the stolen Fiesta.

Brewer said: “We urge you to share those pictures and get them out to as many people as possible in the hope that the classic car community can come together and we can find our trailer and find our car and finish this epic show.”

In the video, Priestley adds: “Please do help as we’re heartbroken and it’s a car that deserves to be out there for the world to see, not being squirrelled away on the back of some thief’s trailer.”

The dark blue Ford Fiesta 1300S (registration JBY 10V) is said to have had a ‘nut and bolt restoration’, with Brewer describing it as ‘the best mk1 Ford Fiesta in this country’.

It was due to make a special appearance at an event at The Motorist car cafe near Leeds today (June 27), where it would be assembled alongside 500 other Ford Fiestas in the show’s biggest event.

In a follow-up post, Brewer said he had received CCTV of a white Mercedes Sprinter towing the trailer away.

Owners of one of Lamborghini’s most expensive and exclusive hypercars are now able to have a matching version of the firm’s Urus SUV to go with it.

The Lamborghini Essenza SCV12 was revealed in 2020 as a track-only hypercar. Based loosely on the Aventador, which has recently been discontinued, it uses that car’s naturally-aspirated 6.5-litre V12 engine, putting out a mighty 819bhp.

Just 40 examples of the hypercar were produced, with owners now having access to a special edition version of the Lamborghini Urus in a matching livery to the racing car. Only owners of the hypercar are able to purchase the special edition.

Called the Urus Essenza SCV12, it is based on Lamborghini’s flagship Performante model, and is worked on by the firm’s ‘Ad Personam’ division.

Cars can be chosen with a livery to match the hypercar, with Lamborghini said to work closely with customers when creating their SUV. The livery features a two-tone scheme, with the lower areas, bonnet and roof coming in a black and carbon-fibre finish. The number from the Essenza SCV12 hypercar is also used on the doors of the Urus.

Inside, the cabin comes in a black Alcantara finish with various carbon-fibre detailing used throughout. There are various Essenza SCV12 logos and silhouettes across the cabin, while a decorative element of the dashboard can have the customer’s name on it, or a Lamborghini 60th Anniversary logo instead.

Mitja Borkert, head of design at Lamborghini, said: “The Lamborghini Urus SCV12 Edition is the most expressive and detailed livery we have ever created. It is exclusively linked and designed personally for each of the 40 customers of the Lamborghini Essenza SCV12, and the result is a stormy, unique and colorful limited series of Urus.”

Lamborghini has given no indication of price, but with the Essenza SCV12 costing €2.2m (£1.91m), and a ‘standard’ Urus Performante costing £209,000, the combined price for both most certainly isn’t cheap.

Petrol prices have fallen to their lowest level in 18 months, as it slips under 145p a litre.

Motorists have faced steep prices at the pumps for an extended period, but prices have continued to fall in recent weeks, with the average cost for a litre of unleaded now standing at 144.95p a litre, as of May 14. It’s the lowest figure recorded since November 3, 2021, according to the RAC.

It means the average price for filling a typical 55-litre petrol family car is now £79.72 – a steep £25.60 saving on when prices reached their peak on July 3, 2022, when a litre of unleaded cost 191.5p.

The price of diesel has also continued to fall, with an average of 154.31p a litre recorded on Sunday. It’s the lowest figure since the end of February 2022, and a sharp fall on the all-time high of 199.09p a litre seen on June 25 last year. The average price to fill a 55-litre diesel car is now £84.87.

Despite that, the RAC has said that drivers ‘should be paying 20p a litre less’ for diesel. That’s because the wholesale price for diesel is currently 4p less per litre than petrol.

The RAC gives the example of an independent retailer in Shropshire, which is currently charging 131.9p a litre for diesel – 22p less than the UK average.

RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams said: “Seeing the price of unleaded fall back under 145p a litre for the first time in 18 months is good news for the country’s 19m petrol car drivers.

“While it’s good news diesel has also dropped below 155p a litre for the first time since the end of February last year, drivers of the UK’s 12m diesel cars and countless businesses who rely on it to fuel their vehicles, should be paying 20p a litre less as its wholesale price is now 4p lower than petrol’s.”

It follows yesterday’s announcement from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) that it was investigating supermarkets to see if they had been overcharging customers for fuel by increasing their margins.

A collection of 86 cars all owned by one person is being sold later this summer.

Called the ‘Carrera Collection’, more than half of that number is made up of Porsche 911s, with various BMW, Mercedes and classic American cars also making up the total.

The collection of cars is so vast that it is split across two sales by RM Sotheby’s – the main one in Switzerland for the models registered there, and then a second in Milan for the vehicles in the collection from the European Union.

Porsches are unsurprisingly the star of the collection, with a range of cars spanning various decades – the oldest being a 1959 Porsche 356 A Carrera 1600 GT Coupe, and the newest a 2017 Porsche 911 Carrera S Endurance Racing Edition.

Various cars are repeated in the collection, with two highly-desirable and rare 1973 Porsche 911 Carrera RS 2.7 Touring models being sold, each with an estimate of around CHF400,000 (£355,000). Another highlight is a 1997 Porsche 911 Turbo S, which was used as a prototype and includes more than 30 optional extras as a result, before later being sold to a German customer. This has an estimate of up to €400,000 (£347,000).

The BMW Z8 is one of the rarest and boldest modern BMW sports cars, and is usually quite rare, but there are five being sold as part of the Carrera Collection – three of which are the Alpina-tuned versions. Just 555 of these latter models were ever made.

Oliver Camelin, director of sales at RM Sotheby’s in Switzerland, said: “It is incredibly rare that a collection of Porsches of this quantity and quality comes to market. It features a wide and exceptional cross-section of 911s, many of which boast rare specifications or are limited-edition cars. With all cars offered across both the sales with no reserve, this is an exciting opportunity for Porsche enthusiasts.”

The larger Swiss collection is being sold at the Hotel Meilenstein in Langenthal on July 7, with the remaining cars being sold at Sotheby’s base in Milan on July 12. All cars are being auctioned with no reserve.

A Bentley Continental GT owned by Lord Sugar’s wife is being auctioned online.

The 18-year-old Bentley, which has just 18,230 miles on the clock, has been owned by Lady Ann Sugar since new and is now being offered directly by the family.

Auction platform Collecting Cars, which is selling the Bentley, says the car is ‘handsomely specified’ and has been ‘well-maintained throughout its life’. Its most recent service was carried out by Rolls-Royce and Bentley dealer P & A Wood in March 2020 at 17,686 miles, while before this it had been extensively serviced by Bentley Hadley Green.

Its most recent MOT test was on March 29, 2023, where it passed without any faults.

Finished in a dark-blue metallic shade, the Continental GT rides on original 19-inch alloy wheels, while inside there’s ‘Porpoise’ leather upholstery and a ‘Nautic’ secondary leather, which is applied to areas such as the dashboard, door tops and transmission tunnel.

Standard equipment includes front and rear parking sensors, cruise control and dual-zone climate control as well as a Breitling clock in the middle of the dashboard. Although the number plate ‘1 AS’ is shown in the images, the car will revert to its original number plate of ‘EY05 OCV’ when sold.

Powered by a 6.0-litre twin-turbocharged W12 engine with 552bhp and all-wheel drive, the Continental GT can go from 0-60mph in just 4.6 seconds and will top out at 198mph. It’s got a six-speed automatic transmission as standard, too.

The auction is currently ongoing and is due to come to a close on April 28.

A Land Rover Defender SVX used as a stunt car in the 2015 James Bond film Spectre is being auctioned.

The 2014 example was heavily modified for use in the 007 film, and though 10 were manufactured, it is one of just seven that survived the gruelling filming. While some of the remaining SVXs, nicknamed Bigfoot, were only used for very basic and easy filming, this example is said to be a ‘true stunt-filming car’.

When new, it was fitted with hydraulics which meant it could flip at the press of a button – in the case of Spectre filming, for when the Defender collided with an aircraft piloted by James Bond.

It was used in the famous snow chase scene set in Austria, although its crash left the chassis of this SVX bent and with just 16 miles on the clock.

Since then, it has been repaired by both Land Rover and specialists Bowler at a cost of £45,000 and is now presented as it was seen in the film, pre-collision.

This includes an external roll cage, Bilstein rally dampers, a roof-mounted luggage rack and a gloss-black front grille. Huge 37-inch Maxxis off-road tyres are also fitted.

Previously used overseas, it was UK-registered in April 2021 and has since overed just 177km (110 miles).

Gordon Ramsay also owns one of the other examples, with the chef paying £365,000, including premium, for an example at auction back in August 2018.

This SVX is currently being sold by online auction platform Collecting Cars, and is anticipated to sell for ‘more than £150,000’, with values for these Defenders softening in recent years. The auction ends on Thursday April 20.