Is there a case for Electric Vehicles for private ownership?

[PaulWhitt20]

Hi,

 

I love my IS and will probably keep it for a while yet, but when it is time to change I would like an EV. My car is parked on my driveway overnight and my daily commute is 7 miles to work. There are electric car charging points at work. I don’t often drive further than 100 miles a day so an EV would be ideal. I do about 8000 miles a year.

 

However as a private motorist I have to finance my car myself. Comparing price of an EV against an equivalent hybrid e.g. UX at £30K against a UXe at £44K for a similar spec, I would not spend £14K on petrol over the time I had the car, more like £7K.

 

So at the moment it seems as though it is a choice of paying 7K extra for an EV and helping save the planet or getting one of the cheaper EVs and have to compromise on luxury and reliability, or keep to a petrol car and try not to think of the environmental impact.

 

Thoughts?

 

 

Thanks

Paul

[royoftherovers]

Paul,your IS is only 5 years old, so don`t spend any capital sum at all. Keep it for another 10 years, then take another view.

You will save the Plant even more by doing just nothing.By then who knows?

As always, just my view.

[Herbie]

1 hour ago, PaulWhitt20 said:

a choice of paying 7K extra for an EV and helping save the planet

EVs are not half as 'green' or planet-saving as we are LED to believe.

[Boxbrownie]

Buy an EV and enjoy the better more enjoyable driving experience and as you have a drive you never have to visit a petrol station again.

If cost is an issue keep your existing vehicle until it falls apart.......😁

[LexIS200Sport]

7-mile daily commute, charging availability at work, 8000 miles per annum? You are a prime candidate for EV ownership.

My circumstance is similar to yours. Since I love my GS, what we did was buy a used Nissan Leaf as a daily driver. Compared to the GS, the running cost of the Leaf is laughable and it is just as reliable if not more so.

The result? My cherished GS stays warm and dry, while the Leaf and I have fun whizzing through town and winning traffic light grand prix 

 

[royoftherovers]

Smart move, Gan.

When you bought the Leaf, did you obtain a warranty with it and was the installation of the Charging Point expensive ?

[LexIS200Sport]

Cheers John, credits to Mrs Gan though for convincing us to go electric  😄

We bought it when it was two years old, and it came with a 1-year extended warranty. Back when we got it in 2017, home charge points + installation were practically free, thanks to the OLEV grant. It would have cost us £500 otherwise. If you were to buy an EV today though, I think you are entitled to claim up to £300 off the cost of the charger and installation.

[royoftherovers]

Thanks Gan--a really smart move.

Some useful advice for others. Buy the wife a nice bottles of wine.

[Barry14UK]

It has been suggested, I don't know how speculatively, that by 2024 it will be possible to produce all electric cars for the comparable cost of combustion ones.  So if this becomes the case more people are likely to make the change, particularly those of us that have solar panels.  Of course the number of electrical stations will need to be  greatly increased if people with one car will make the change. 

[Spacewagon52]

I read, somewhere, where a motoring journalist bought the demonstration Leaf when they very first came out. ( 2011?). The Battery, over the years, had lost quite a bit of capacity. He sourced a new one in Holland that was much cheaper than buying here. It was also the higher amp hour version. Sorry can't find the post.

[LexIS200Sport]

20 minutes ago, Spacewagon52 said:

I read, somewhere, where a motoring journalist bought the demonstration Leaf when they very first came out. ( 2011?). The battery, over the years, had lost quite a bit of capacity. He sourced a new one in Holland that was much cheaper than buying here. It was also the higher amp hour version. Sorry can't find the post.

That would be Robert Llewellyn I believe. During the Leaf launch event, he reviewed a blue press car and liked it so much that he bought it off Nissan.

 

 

[Spacewagon52]

Yes! That's the guy! Thanks!

[Malc]

1 hour ago, Barry14UK said:

that by 2024 it will be possible to produce all electric cars for the comparable cost of combustion ones. 

watch this space for the Toyota or Honda Hydrogen Fuel cell cars that should be coming our way after Brexit with the new UK Japan trade deals

and BP, Shell etc placing hydrogen refuelling points in " conventional " petrol stations

Malc

[malcolmw]

Ref the title of this thread, all the people I know who have got electric cars have done so because of the BIK saving for business users.

I will be considering electric only in 2 or 3 years time when it comes to change the NX but this will depend on the availability of charge points throughout the UK. 

[royoftherovers]

39 minutes ago, malcolmw said:

Ref the title of this thread, all the people I know who have got electric cars have done so because of the BIK saving for business users.

I will be considering electric only in 2 or 3 years time when it comes to change the NX but this will depend on the availability of charge points throughout the UK. 

And because of favourable Accounting write downs for Tax purposes.

[Boxbrownie]

1 hour ago, Malc said:

watch this space for the Toyota or Honda Hydrogen Fuel cell cars that should be coming our way after Brexit with the new UK Japan trade deals

and BP, Shell etc placing hydrogen refuelling points in " conventional " petrol stations

Malc

Well they have only just started putting charging points on their forecourts, so don’t hold your breath while they install 1H points......😁

[PaulWhitt20]

Ref the title of this thread, all the people I know who have got electric cars have done so because of the BIK saving for business users.
I will be considering electric only in 2 or 3 years time when it comes to change the NX but this will depend on the availability of charge points throughout the UK. 

That’s the point I was trying to establish. For a company car driver an EV makes financial sense but for a private motorist their isn’t the incentive to buy an EV. It feels like the private motorist can’t join in being part of the future just yet.

[steve2006]

Having worked in the power distribution sector for many years I often chuckle to myself regarding these “green” energy supplies and how companies can offer “100 % green electricity” when gas and coal fired power stations are still in use.

The distribution network is already close to maximum capacity but is being added to daily, new estates being built with electric only supplies off an already straining network.

Electric is fine if you have an off road driveway but what about all the rows of terraced houses with no option regarding parking except on the road outside. Bad enough trying to navigate past cars half on the pavement and errant wheelie bins without power cables wrapping around your feet or the connecting plug sticking out.

At least with a fossil fuel car there is a good chance it will start in the morning unlike coming out to your electric car only to find someone thought it would be funny to unplug it overnight. 

[Herbie]

Absolutely agree Steve.

I think I've posted this previously but for anyone who's interested, a great website to see the current situation of the National Grid and the proportion of fuels being used to generate the electricity is

http://www.gridwatch.templar.co.uk/

Here's a screengrab from a few minutes ago which doesn't look too frightening, but as we get deeper into winter and more demand, some people will be shocked (hehe, see what I did there ) to see just how close we come to 'lights out':

[Malc]

11 hours ago, steve2006 said:

Electric is fine if you have an off road driveway but what about all the rows of terraced houses with no option regarding parking

and apartment ( flats ) ............. and  where I live, in an old fashioned High Street in Kent where all bar about 10 of the maybe 200 houses have off-road parking and / or potential for electric charging .........  roll on hydrogen fuel cell cars ....... like the Met Police have with refuelling points at Heathrow, Hendon and Swindon ..........  and the simplicity of the refuelling when BP, Shell etc install these in their petrol stations

Malc

[David W Jones]

As Steve says, the electrical distribution network is near maximum capacity and is creaking. I believe we are close to widespread power outages unless some control is implemented. Energy suppliers are seeking powers to remotely control charging of EV's. They want the option of turning off selected electrical supplies if the grid is at critical level. How will they do this? My best guess is that they will utilise smart meters to control maximum demand.This is scary and potentially dangerous in many ways. Domestic health related issues are the main worry, nuisance power cuts could be common, and unreliable EV charging a result.

Back to Paul's original post, a factor in the economics must be vehicle depreciation. In years to come oil burners will be valued less and less whilst EV's should retain better value.

[Thackeray]

17 hours ago, Herbie said:

I think I've posted this previously but for anyone who's interested, a great website to see the current situation of the National Grid and the proportion of fuels being used to generate the electricity is

http://www.gridwatch.templar.co.uk/

Here's a screengrab from a few minutes ago which doesn't look too frightening, but as we get deeper into winter and more demand, some people will be shocked (hehe, see what I did there ) to see just how close we come to 'lights out':

This is a fascinating website. Thanks for providing the link. I hadn't seen it before.

[paulrnx]

If I was still self-employed I’d be driving round in an I-Pace given the attractive BIK and ability to offset the whole purchase price in the first year. I agree that they make almost zero sense as a private buyer unless very wealthy. I know so many people who drive BMW 330e and 530e models simply to reduce their company car tax burden. Which is fair enough really. And many have never charged their cars up. Just a financial numbers thing.

[royoftherovers]

41 minutes ago, paulrnx said:

If I was still self-employed I’d be driving round in an I-Pace given the attractive BIK and ability to offset the whole purchase price in the first year. I agree that they make almost zero sense as a private buyer unless very wealthy. I know so many people who drive BMW 330e and 530e models simply to reduce their company car tax burden. Which is fair enough really. And many have never charged their cars up. Just a financial numbers thing.

Now there speaks an extremely well informed Member. He has the ability to see the kernel of the problem. Paul, where have you been hiding ?

[paulrnx]

I like the Peugeot e208 but I always promised myself never to buy or drive a Peugeot 😀