Down the line cost of electric cars

[Barry14UK]

Have no intention of buying EV for a while so this is just looking ahead.  Let's assume that the infra structure for charging greatly improves so that you rarely have to queue for a charger, which is what I have seen happen.  The batteries (as currently available) form a large chunk of the total cost of the car.  Furthermore, in due course this Battery pack will need replacing at very high cost or at least some of the cells within it.  Also, the initial cost is more than a comparable Petrol or Petrol Hybrid.  Servicing is less expensive and less frequent and It seems highly likely that the UK Government will soon want to charge EV owners some form of road tax but not nearly so heavily as on ICE vehicles as they don't want to deter the change over to electric.  A lighter, longer lasting and more efficient Battery could make a great difference.  Generally, EV cars seem to fall into higher Groups perhaps due to costly batteries and the fact that initial acceleration is quick. I wonder why it is that there are so many and quite low mileage eVs for sale.

The following link shows the sort of cost for a replacement Battery which second or third owners might have to budget for and how Battery degradation could greatly lower the value of older cars.  Unless you are going to cover mega miles, the purchase of an EV seems to me to be a brave one at present.

https://bookmygarage.com/electric-vehicles/how-much-does-an-electric-battery-cost-uk/  

[Spock66]

And the environmental benefits (if any) are massively overstated when you like at the whole vehicle life cycle from production, in-life usage and disposal.

I think the biggest challenge in the short-term will be the sales targets of EV's manufacturers are obligated to achieve, so could be we see significant discounts / incentives for EV's and buying an ICE will become more expensive.

[Malc1]

EVs will, my thoughts tell me,  go the way of the diesel in terms of UK acceptability with Govt changing the goalposts on pricing for punters to keep them on the road 

Just reading today the demise of the USA Hertz boss following his failure in getting it wrong financially buying fleets of EVs that have settled unacceptable enormous costs of running, maintaining and depreciating their stock on the Hertz business 

Back to conventional cars for them ……. and maybe us probably ……. who knows eh ! 🤔

Malc 

[First_Lexus]

1 hour ago, Barry14UK said:

It seems highly likely that the UK Government will soon want to charge EV owners some form of road tax but not nearly so heavily as on ICE vehicles as they don't want to deter the change over to electric. 

^^ I think it’s likely that EVs will remain ‘zero cost’ in terms of VED, but that home electricity will incur (a further) surcharge for those properties with a home charger installed. With all new build properties required to have a charged installed from new for the last 4-5 years (and some prior to that) if you’re paying the surcharge then you may as well get an EV…but who really knows at this point?!

Other than that I fully agree with your post and am in a similar situation. The initial cost, added to range anxiety and fears over depreciation mean I’m happy to wait for now. 

[Tickedon]

2 minutes ago, First_Lexus said:

^^ I think it’s likely that EVs will remain ‘zero cost’ in terms of VED, but that home electricity will incur (a further) surcharge for those properties with a home charger installed. With all new build properties required to have a charged installed from new for the last 4-5 years (and some prior to that) if you’re paying the surcharge then you may as well get an EV…but who really knows at this point?!

Other than that I fully agree with your post and am in a similar situation. The initial cost, added to range anxiety and fears over depreciation mean I’m happy to wait for now. 

The government has already announced that EVs will start paying car tax (existing and new) from April 2025. New EVs from April 2025 will also (again) pay the luxury car tax if list price is over £40k. We can therefore expect nearly every new EV to be paying north of £600 per year in VED, and more as this increases yearly by inflation. 

[Ken R]

1 hour ago, First_Lexus said:

 With all new build properties required to have a charged installed from new for the last 4-5 years (and some prior to that) if you’re paying the surcharge then you may as well get an EV…but who really knows at this point?!

 

New builds haven't had that requirement in Scotland over the stated period and must be a recent change?

[Malc1]

New build homes ?  Apartment blocks too ……. one charging point for each flat then ? 

Malc 

[First_Lexus]

1 hour ago, Ken R said:

New builds haven't had that requirement in Scotland over the stated period and must be a recent change?

Looks like the legislation is England only. Believe it actually came into effect in 2022, but in reality most builders have been adding EV chargers for longer than that in order to meet sustainability targets. My current new build has one (2020) and my previous one did as well (2014). When I was looking at houses in 2020/21 all the new builds had them fitted. 

[First_Lexus]

2 hours ago, Tickedon said:

The government has already announced that EVs will start paying car tax (existing and new) from April 2025. New EVs from April 2025 will also (again) pay the luxury car tax if list price is over £40k. We can therefore expect nearly every new EV to be paying north of £600 per year in VED, and more as this increases yearly by inflation. 

^^ I didn’t realise they’d already done that. In which case, based on the ‘mood music’ coming from both main parties on how to fund future ‘carbon neutral’ policies, the electricity surcharge will be on top of EV VED! I mean, why would we be surprised…after all, Labour have said they’re stepping back from their £28BN ‘green’ investment plan based on the current financial situation, but that they’re not abandoning the idea. Clearly they won’t admit to doing it through taxation, but I do think an additional surcharge will be the way they go (and Conservatives too TBF). 

[ColinBarber]

4 hours ago, Barry14UK said:

I wonder why it is that there are so many and quite low mileage eVs for sale.

Tax savings for company cars, and salary sacrifice schemes, means that new EVs are relatively cheap  - but with leases typically only being 2 to 3 years in duration means these soon come onto the used car market and private buyers aren't purchasing them at the same rate - hence values have dropped.

But having said that the number for sale is not disproportionate. Last year the market share for EVs was 19.7% of all new car sales. Autotrader currently has 18.8% EVs for sale out of all the 2023 cars listed.

[javadude]

4 hours ago, ColinBarber said:

Tax savings for company cars, and salary sacrifice schemes, means that new EVs are relatively cheap  - but with leases typically only being 2 to 3 years in duration means these soon come onto the used car market and private buyers aren't purchasing them at the same rate - hence values have dropped.

But having said that the number for sale is not disproportionate. Last year the market share for EVs was 19.7% of all new car sales. Autotrader currently has 18.8% EVs for sale out of all the 2023 cars listed.

Charging at public chargers used to be occasionally free and usually cheaper than petrol. Tesla Superchargers are often still cheaper than petrol but with the rise in electricity prices with the Ukraine war, 20% vat and large amount of capital investment in new chargers its usually around petrol prices to charge away from home. If you can mostly charge at home then its about 10% the price of petrol but for those that can't cheaper fuel is not a draw towards EVs at the moment.

Then there's all the ridiculous FUD spread in the media and online from people who are just proving their lack of knowledge. That puts people off too. I keep being told by friends who've never driven an EV and needed to charge one that the infrastruture isn't there yet. It depends on where you are and your usage but I've never had a problem charging away from home.

[Tickedon]

4 hours ago, ColinBarber said:

But having said that the number for sale is not disproportionate. Last year the market share for EVs was 19.7% of all new car sales. Autotrader currently has 18.8% EVs for sale out of all the 2023 cars listed.

In 2023, in the UK, only 16.5% of new cars registered were EV - in percentage terms, this was down slightly on 2022!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68199898

[ColinBarber]

8 minutes ago, Tickedon said:

In 2023, in the UK, only 16.5% of new cars registered were EV - in percentage terms, this was down slightly on 2022!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68199898

Sorry my mistake. I was only looking at Dec 23 figures from SMMT not the full year.

The actual number of EVs sold was quite a lot more than 2022 but the whole market rose as lead-times of vehicles reduced.

[F.A.]

On 3/17/2024 at 10:06 PM, javadude said:

Charging at public chargers used to be occasionally free and usually cheaper than petrol. Tesla Superchargers are often still cheaper than petrol but with the rise in electricity prices with the Ukraine war, 20% vat and large amount of capital investment in new chargers its usually around petrol prices to charge away from home. If you can mostly charge at home then its about 10% the price of petrol but for those that can't cheaper fuel is not a draw towards EVs at the moment.

Then there's all the ridiculous FUD spread in the media and online from people who are just proving their lack of knowledge. That puts people off too. I keep being told by friends who've never driven an EV and needed to charge one that the infrastruture isn't there yet. It depends on where you are and your usage but I've never had a problem charging away from home.

We have never had any issues charging away from home either, and for our purposes, range anxiety is non existent.