WhatsAppHow does PCO car hire work with electric vehicles?
Electric vehicles have become increasingly prominent in recent years, not only as personal vehicles but also in a range of professional contexts. This is perhaps particularly the case in the private hire niche in London, thanks to their range of both financial and regulatory benefits.
A lot of drivers looking to get their hands on an EV will be wondering how best to go about that, especially given the often steep financial barriers associated with buying these vehicles. In many cases, some kind of PCO car hire solution works out to be the best option – here’s how that works with electric vehicles.
Private hire in London and electric vehicles
One of the main reasons behind the rise of electric vehicles in London’s private hire networks is the city’s clean air policies. Transport for London (or TfL), the main body responsible for regulating transport in the capital, has for a long time been tightening up emissions standards, placing a whole host of regulations on both petrol and diesel vehicles.
A primary goal of all of this has been to encourage the use of electric vehicles. They are fully exempt from ULEZ charges, and were, for a long time, also exempt from the Congestion Charge. While these exemptions have recently changed, becoming a little less attractive, there are still financial benefits that add up over time.
The bigger savings often emerge in the context of running costs, especially in terms of switching fuel consumption over to electricity consumption, which we will go into more detail on later on.
What kinds of EVs are typically used?
Over the past decade or so, the number of EVs that are available on the market has expanded massively. From just a few niche manufacturers pushing through countless teething issues, we’re now at a stage where most manufacturers have at least one electric vehicle in their range, often quite a few.
A lot of drivers choose to use models like the MG MG5 Exclusive and VW ID3 Life Pro, or even hybrid models from Toyota and BMW if they want to maintain a longer range with the help of an internal combustion engine backup.
Each comes with its own benefits, but all are perfectly workable options. With PCO car hire services, you can often try out a few different options before settling on one and getting a longer-term contract.
How do hire agreements work?
PCO car hire agreements for electric vehicles tend to work mostly in the same way that they do with conventional petrol or diesel cars. You get a vehicle that is registered for private hire work with the Public Carriage Office (or PCO), often on a rolling weekly contract.
The PCO car hire company will be responsible for vehicle maintenance and for repairing any non-accident-related breakdowns. Accident-related breakdowns will most often be covered by the insurance policy, which is also often included in the PCO car hire fee.
The driver is basically just responsible for carrying out regular visual checks to ensure the vehicle is in a good condition, keeping the tyres at a suitable pressure, and of course charging the vehicle.
Charging EVs
The fact that EVs need to be charged rather than refuelled using a pump was long a point of contention over how practical they were.
Now that there is a much more complete charging infrastructure in place, these concerns are much less pressing, but drivers do need to understand how they’ll fit this into their driving day.
Public fast charging
London has a large and rapidly growing network of public charging locations. These are offered by a range of providers, including private hire platforms like Uber.
Thanks to developments in charging and battery technologies, charging time can often be somewhere between 30 minutes and an hour, depending on a few variables.
Home charging
Plenty of drivers choose to use some kind of home charging solution to keep their vehicles topped up with electricity. Even comparatively slow domestic chargers can charge pretty much all vehicles overnight, leaving you with a full charge to start your shift with.
This tends to be the most cost-effective and convenient approach, and will often end up being a lot cheaper than comparable refuelling costs associated with petrol and diesel vehicles.
Range planning
Due to the fact that charging does take a little longer than filling up with petrol or diesel at the pump, range planning is something that takes a little bit more thought in electric vehicles, but it isn’t difficult to get the hang of.
Most modern EVs have a range of somewhere between 200 and 300 miles, which is often sufficient for either an entire shift or at least a big chunk. Brief charging stints between rides can keep this topped up, or longer charges can be combined with driving breaks.
The paperwork side of things
As alluded to earlier, one of the main attractions of using a PCO car hire service is that they take care of all of the paperwork-related things. You get a vehicle that’s ready to drive straight away, with all the requisite TfL checks and insurance documents already dealt with.
Combined with the fact that you don’t have to deal with vehicle maintenance or damage repair, this makes PCO EV car hire an incredibly convenient alternative to owning your own vehicle, or leasing one from a non-PCO-specific service provider.
Choosing a provider
Of course, you’ll want to make sure that the provider you’re considering actually offers all of these potential benefits. It’s worth checking that they have the right vehicles on offer, and that they provide a comprehensive service in terms of licensing and paperwork, so that you can get the most convenient option possible.
Driving an electric vehicle as a private hire driver in London is increasingly the way to go, and most people find that a PCO car hire service is the best way to get their hands on a suitable make and model. As TfL continues to strengthen restrictions on petrol and diesel vehicles, this trend is only set to continue.