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And now for something completely different: Chinese robot news readers

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

Typical of UK Gov penpushers not to require beneficiaries of "Eco-Tax" to actually use the thing. Having taken the money to buy their shiny status-symbol, they drive about using the petrol-engine to charge the battery. We all know where the nearest charging-station is - don't we? .... probably two which will be in use for at least 2-hours so you might as well continue your journey using petrol.
IMHO Eco-Hybrid cars are a thin-edge tech....so battery/motor tech can be given green credentials ( and their Users- Huh!), whilst using massive amounts of energy to construct and mine the raw materials.
If Gov really want to be "green" ( does anyone?), then any product over £2000 should have the energy-cost included in the User-Guide . . . so we can see how much energy has already been used . . . a clue possibly is the cost, which is "probably" the nearest measure.
For example a car that's mass-produced might cost £15k, whereas one that is more-refined, or hand-built ( does the same job), is £60k; then I believe it needs to last 4x longer to "repay" the higher energy premium.
Lithium is not easy to obtain... most is located at depths ( e.g. in Canada), so mining is not easy and then it has to be processed... finally batteries don't last for ever, their capacity "runs-down" from the day of manufacture - typically halving in just over 5-years. This means replacement is ever-looming and as our betters in EU didn't think to make Mfrs use a common battery-pack - the consumer is at the mercy of Mfrs who can "charge what they like"
I invested in [KOD], only as a "hope" their African mine might come good...
but not so far!
Grr!

Hubby has a hybrid, and plugs it in every night as we have a charging point at home, so he can have a “fast charger”. We worked out it has increased our electric bills by £2 a night (according to our smart meter). Thats an extra £60pm which seems a lot, until we compared it to the savings of £10 a day on petrol (5 days a week). He also has a charge point at work (isnt he good). We know lots of people who have hybrids, and we have realised they are all too lazy to charge them because they have not installed a charger, and they dont have a external plug.

He wants to replace my Diesel, with a hybid when it finally goes into production. Its a shame people dont charge their cars.

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little woman - Hybrid charging -
Hi, I guess many folks ( country-wide) will be parking in the road, so they can't run out a lead for charging. Also, if there is no external charge-point/socket that's probably going to be expensive to install. Do you have an isolation switch indoors? That would prevent someone else having a free charge when you are away. Furthermore, if it's a hybrid there is little incentive to do more than pour in Petrol - as you said Folk are Lazy.
Whilst I can't disagree with your running-costs, Hybrid cars are more-expensive than a similar model without all that extra stuff - and could have a greater loading space.... so you should factor-in the money you are losing by not investing the difference.
BTW does your husband declare the charging-benefit on his tax return? It is possible, as Electric cars become commonplace, "free" charges will have to be declared; - since it's a Benefit in Kind.
Also, you will need to budget for battery-replacement - probably well before 10-years -
New battery-tech is "aimed-for" - but so far Zippo . . . . When it happens that will give cars a 500+mile run, which might mean there is no point in having a hybrid.
I suspect this will not happen before 10 years - but it might . . . it's like LED's - now we have White and Blue, yet these were unavailable until fairly recently, at decent prices. Battery tech is lagging demands... er, IMHO.

A Reuters analysis of 29 global automakers found that they are investing at least $300 billion in electric vehicles, with more than 45 percent of that earmarked for China.

Nike's phone-controlled self-lacing trainers

😀

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European power firms aim to harness electric car batteries

That's very interesting and if our Governments can get to grips with this development in the future and cooperate with the car companies then who knows what the outcome will be.