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Primetime EV Free tool: can you run a charging cable across your pavement? Check your postcode ⚡️ https://www.primetimeev.com/charging-at-home/

18/09/2026

Cross-pavement EV charging has been given permitted development rights in England. If you park on the street, that means no separate planning application for a charging gully across your pavement. But it is not law yet, and your council can still say no. We explain exactly where it stands.

Also this week: from 1 October 2026 there is no VAT on domestic electricity, while public EV charging stays at 20%. That takes the gap between home charging and public charging to its widest ever. We look at what the Ofgem price cap actually does to your bill, and why HMRC is appealing a tribunal ruling that said public charging should be taxed at 5%.

Then the Polestar 5, filmed at Salon Privé — £89,500, 800-volt architecture, 416 miles of WLTP range, and what 800V charging actually means for the cars you will be buying in five years.

Plus: what happened to US electric car sales when America scrapped its $7,500 tax credit (they fell 46% in three months), and August's record UK EV registrations set against the ZEV mandate consultation that closes on 23 October.

Primetime EV Live is an independent UK EV media network. Verified first-party audience, no paid amplification, no commercial influence on rate comparison data.

CHECK YOUR COUNCIL
Find out whether your council funds, allows or refuses cross-pavement charging: primetimeev.com

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SOURCES
Department for Transport and EVA England (cross-pavement permitted development rights, September 2026)
Ofgem price cap, October–December 2026 · HMRC · Zapmap (VAT)
Polestar, Carwow, EV Database (Polestar 5)
Reuters, 16 September 2026 · Cox Automotive / Kelley Blue Book (US EV sales)
SMMT, August 2026 · New AutoMotive (registrations and ZEV mandate)

12/09/2026

The Elektron Quasar Hypercar is a very fast EV.

11/09/2026

EV charging vs petrol cost in the UK, September 2026: with petrol at a four-year high of 167p a litre, charging at home costs around 2–8p a mile against 19p for petrol. The average public rapid charger costs 23p a mile — still dearer than petrol — but the break-even rapid price is now about 64p per kWh, and Lidl just cut to 59p.

→ Is EV charging still cheaper than petrol? At home, massively. On the public network it depends entirely on where you plug in: Tesla's open Superchargers (63p daytime) are level with petrol, Lidl (59p via the Lidl Plus app) beats it, and InstaVolt costs 27.5p a mile at its 92p daytime rate — but just 55p overnight through its app. HMRC's own company-car rates are now 7p a mile home, 15p public.
→ VW ID.Polo UK price: full-range orders opened 10 September from £23,945. Only the 52kWh versions get the £1,500 Electric Car Grant, so the big-battery Life comes to £26,830 with up to 281 miles WLTP. (We estimated ~£22k in May — this is the real number.)
→ Elektron Quasar: our own walkaround from Salon Privé. A claimed 2,413hp electric hypercar with hydraulic steering, a mechanical diff, a simulated eight-speed gearbox and amplified motor noise. 99 cars, from 2.6 million. Every performance figure is still a manufacturer claim.
→ Why do EV drivers avoid whole charging networks? A World EV Day survey of 3,000+ drivers found 76% would write off an entire network after one warning from friends or family.

SOURCES
RAC fuel prices via Motor Trade News, 9 Sept 2026
Zapmap Price Index and Top 10 rapid network prices, August 2026
Lidl GB rapid tariff cut, 8 Sept 2026
HMRC advisory electricity rates from 1 Sept 2026
Volkswagen UK ID.Polo pricing, July 2026
Elektron Motors interview at Salon Privé 2026; elektronmotors.com (checked 10 Sept 2026)
Honda UK — Super-N
Driivz survey, World EV Day 9 Sept 2026, via EV Infrastructure News

Per-mile maths: petrol at 40mpg; EV at Zapmap's average efficiency (~3.35 miles/kWh).

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04/09/2026

Cross-pavement EV charging in the UK has no national price. In Haringey, a resident says the council quoted £678 after subsidy — then £120 every year after that, with the channel removed if you stop paying. Enfield charges £93 a year. Hertfordshire charges £200 just to look at your application. We go through what cross-pavement charging actually costs in 2026, and why the numbers are so hard to find.

Also this week: the biggest used EV battery study ever done says two identical cars at identical mileage can differ by 13.5 percentage points of battery health — about 26 miles of range. The ZEV mandate review is open to consumers and closes 23 October, and almost nobody has been told. Plus SMMT's August registration figures, read live two hours after publication, and Norway hitting 98.7% electric — with just 30 petrol cars registered in the entire country.

Primetime EV is an independent EV media network. 21 years covering electric vehicles.

SOURCES
Haringey cross-pavement figures — resident account of council letter, not published by the council
Haringey Council — Electric Vehicle Pavement Channel Grant award, £196,000
Hertfordshire County Council / St Albans — cross-pavement channel eligibility and cost
AVILOO Certified EV Battery Report — 500,000+ tests, 20 models, 2022–2026
GOV.UK — Zero emission vehicle mandate review, closes 23 October 2026
SMMT — new car registrations, August 2026
OFV Norway — August 2026 registrations

CHECK YOUR COUNCIL
Our cross-pavement checker tells you whether your council allows it, refuses it, or is trialling it.
primetimeev.com

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� JOIN THE PRIMETIME EV CLUB — FREE
Cheapest charging rates · best lease deals · weekly EV digest. Direct to inbox, no algorithm.
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� [email protected]
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29/08/2026

Some have been claiming rates as low as 3p per kWh for domestic charging over the last few months. How can public charging rates ever compare - especially with 0% VAT on home charging about to arrive.

28/08/2026

Ofgem confirmed today that the energy price cap rises 4% from 1 October 2026 - to £1,723/year for a typical household. We break down exactly what's driving it (almost all gas, not electricity), what it means if you're charging an EV at home, and then spend the rest of the show fact-checking Fuse Energy, the £200m-backed challenger supplier betting its whole pitch on owning its own power stations instead of buying wholesale like everyone else.

Does "we own the power stations" actually mean cheaper bills? We test the claim against Fuse's real tariff pricing, its Ofgem complaints record, and the EV-specific product it doesn't appear to have yet.

WHAT WE COVER:
→ Ofgem price cap October 2026 - the real number behind the 4% headline
→ Why electricity is barely rising while gas jumps 8%
→ What the VAT cut on electricity from 1 Oct actually saves you
→ EV home charging cost 2026 - how today's rise affects home vs public charging
→ Fuse Energy tariff UK - does the "no middleman" pricing claim hold up
→ Is there a Fuse Energy EV tariff - what we found (and didn't find)

Primetime EV is an independent EV media network - not a creator channel, no allowlisted reach, no paid amplification. Every number in this show is checked before we say it on air.

Join the free Primetime EV Club for the cheapest verified rates each month: https://primetimeev.com/club

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