If you can afford it, will you go electric?

[ShiteheadRevisited]

Genuine question - and I promise this is not a goady thread - if you can afford a £40k+ car, why wouldn't you get an electric vehicle (EV)?

I've scrimped and saved for a year and have just got the VW ID-4 (which I love), as I knew I wanted an EV for environmental reasons. A straw poll of my social circle puts cost as the main barrier to buying an EV.

Our daughter goes to an independent school and I've just observed the sea of Range Rovers, Audi Q7s, BMW X3s, Bentley SUVs etc on the school run, and I wondered why, if you can afford it, you wouldn't get an EV? As the EV options get broader and their driving ranges even better, I wonders whether we will finally start to see a significant shift to electric cars in ten UK?

[FakeColinCaterpillar]

No. Not till they sort out the dismantling and dispensing of batteries in 3rd world countries. They’re only ‘environmentally friendly’ as we ship the problem abroad.

[Donitta]

They’re too inconvenient to charge. The infrastructure isn’t in place yet. There aren’t enough electric car parking places with chargers, and it takes too long to charge at a garage mid-journey (filling up with petrol only takes 5 mins). At home I’d have to install charging points and remember to plug it in, and then try not to trip over cables when I went out to the bin. And I imagine the very rich have detached garages so it would be a right faff to run an electricity supply out there. It’s just too much hassle.

A BIG reason for not using electric cars however is if you have a company car. If it’s a petrol car the company gives you a fuel card and they pay for petrol. But if it’s an electric car you have to plug it into your home power supply and pay for it yourself. Free petrol vs paying for electric, hmm I think I’ll choose free.

[uggmum]

I have an ev. I lease it at £200 per month over 2 years.

I used to spend £250 pm on petrol and now I spend nothing. No road tax either

It costs me around £4 to fully charge it at home as I have a tariff for ev charging. I charge it around once a week at home and use free chargers whenever I park somewhere and there are loads of free ones in my local area.

I paid £450 pm to lease my previous car, with petrol and road tax on top. I am now saving a small fortune

[MrsArchchancellorRidcully]

Electric cars are dreadful for the environment. Batteries have to be created and disposed of. Plugging into mains uses electricity which does not help the environment at all. My 2 yr old diesel meets euro 6 Stds and is extremely clean.

If you're talking hydrogen fuel cells then I might listen but they're a way off yet.

Plus we tow a caravan and electric cars don't tow at the moment. Certainly not the van we have.

[BonnyEm]

I don't always have parking outside my property as it's a residential street. Therefore, may not be able to charge my car.
Definitely needs a lot more infrastructure in place.
What about people in flats too. Not everyone has a driveway.

[WinterStrawbsAreLikeTurnip]

No. I own a small efficient petrol car outright, I will keep it until it is uneconomical to repair. The cost of producing this vehicle has already occurred and the ongoing fuel is a smaller impact than buying a whole new car.

The batteries and the environmental impact and the fact the electricity has to be produced means as a full life cycle analysis it may not be as "eco" as you think.

[Shmithecat2]

Nope, not until you can drive from one end of the country to the other in one go. I hate stopping on long journeys. I'm also yet to be convinced about how green they actually are once manufacturing of them, the life of the batter my etc is taken into consideration. Pretty sure it's still more eco friendly to buy a second hand standard car than order a brand new EV.

[justanotherneighinparadise]

From what my DP tells me (who is a car nerd) we’re just not technologically advanced enough with the batteries to move over yet. He thinks electric won’t be the fuel of choice in the future anyway. Something else will come through that will be far cleaner and efficient.

[worriedatthemoment]

Won't get one until its forced on me as I don't buy that they are better for the environment, electricity used , batteries and disposals none of which is great environmentally, also nowhere to charge
These are so unpractical for many people ,as well as not being affordable to the vast mahority

[worriedatthemoment]

@uggmum luckily you can charge at home, many people do not have driveways , many cannot even park down there own streets
£450 is a lot for a lease car

[CovidCorvid]

Not until something can tow a caravan from the north of England to the West Country without needing to be charged.

[CovidCorvid]

And yes I can’t park on my street, it’s 30 mins only and no residents permits. So if I did have one not sure I’d be able to charge it. There aren’t enough lampposts for all the cars round here so unless they put a charging point every car length on the side streets then no.

[Tal45]

Remember when everyone was encouraged for years to buy huge diesel cars because they produced less CO2? Completely overlooking the awful pollution from particulate matter and nitrogen oxides.

I think electric cars are the new diesel. Not properly thought through at all.

[ShiteheadRevisited]

Thanks all, lots of really interesting comments and stuff I had not considered. Wasn't aware of just how much ecological impact the batteries have so I will definitely do some research into that.

Appreciate that not everyone has a drive/ability to charge at home etc - fair points there.

In terms of infrastructure, it does seem that new charging points across the country are popping up daily. We travel long distances infrequently so this issue doesn't bother me but appreciate that it could be a concern for others.

[Geekygeek]

Lots of interesting pain points being put forward, some feel like real challenges (on street charging) others more behavioural reluctance.

Had a 2nd hand ev as our “second” car since before 1st lockdown (11k). Been great. Does 90% of all our journeys, cost bugger all to run. MPV just being used for v.long trips and taking bulky stuff to the skip.

Will run both cars into the ground and likely replace with EVs as needed.

[1starwars2]

Yes, DH is getting an electric company car. Exhaust emissions are terrible for air quality, and though we wouldn't buy a new car ourselves we are taking this opportunity.

[TheDogsMother]

We live in a rural location and the range of EV isn't yet good enough for a return trip to our nearest decent town. Also I am not convinced these vehicles fully address the environmental question when it comes to mining of metals for the batteries then the disposal and the general electricity consumption. I might be missing something but how can these be zero emission when you look at the bigger picture ? I think I will watch this space and hang on to my old car for as long as it lasts me..

[uggmum]

@worriedatthemoment

Yes £450 pm was a lot for a lease. It was a Mercedes. We decided we didn't want a big car anymore and saw the EV on special offer at £200 pm.

We are lucky to have a drive and we got a discount on the charger.

We also have access to 4 high speed chargers within a mile of our house that are free. So we tend to use these on a regular basis.

[uggmum]

This is the latest EU study on electric vehicles. It's an interesting read

www.eea.europa.eu/highlights/eea-report-confirms-electric-cars

[FrothyB]

Not at the moment. I'm not against them, they just don't meet my needs for a car at this moment in time.

I don't like flying, so if we go across to Europe it will be by car (plus you can load up the car with things to take out to family or bring back home).

In normal times we would go to Eastern Hungary at least twice a year but we've also done a tour of Transylvania which I'd like to do again, maybe go into Serbia. I also like to do alot of exploring across country roads, staying off the motorways.

It will probably take a long time for the infrastructure to be put in place over there. Budapest has electric car initiatives, but the reality for the rural areas is they are unlikely to see people be able to afford electric vehicles for quite a long time. There are many cars older than me that are still kept going, and when people from the villages and small towns by a "new" car, it tends to be an 8-12 year old car brought in from Austria/Germany.

[user1471518104]

I have an Audi e-tron on it way as a lease. It was the same cost as a basic bmw 3 series. Comes with free home charger and a card for free public charging for 1 year

[Happynewtier]

We've just bought a new petrol car (awaiting delivery) We did consider a ev, but after a bit more research, we decided against it. We don't want to fit a charging point/plug while the technology is so new and ever changing, meaning it could be incompatible in only a few years. The U.K is still so new to the whole idea (especially where we live quite rurally) we could drive a huge distance without reaching a suitable charging point, which would panic me. I often see people sat in their cars outside the "big" Tesco which is 25 miles from us, and obviously a popular charging place... Just sat there reading a book, waiting for their car to charge. I don't have the time for that. The fact the technology, and cars in general are changing so quickly means that the batteries are not being disposed of responsibly or ethically, and I feel there's an all round false sense of how environmentally friendly they are at present. We will consider it maybe 4/5 years down the line, depending on how far the whole U.K has come on with ensuring the infrastructure is there to make owning a ev unproblematic. The car we are trading on is a 4 year old diesel SUV, that gives us on average 55 mpg, and it's emissions are extremely low. We haven't actually been able to find a new vehicle that comes even close to how economical it is. Not even a hybrid. We've decided to change car, as diesel vehicles are likely to at some point be heavily penalised, and we don't want to end up with an unsellable car. Shame really as the new one won't be as economical!

[dannydyerismydad]

Can't always park in my own street, let alone outside my own house, so it's just not practical.

We have a 10 year old car we intend to run until it can no longer be maintained and we only drive when our destination can't be reached by foot or public transport. If DS quit football we probably wouldn't need a car!

[Donitta]

Personally I don’t think we will be in a situation where every car is electric until every parking spot has a charger. Or until we come up with a quick way of charging in 5 minutes similar to filling up with petrol.

[FeistySheep]

I agree with some of the points made above.

I also think there's more to it than just electric vs petrol. I have a second hand fiesta with a small engine, and I will run it until it dies. This is my second car (previous was also a second hand hatchback) and I'm in my 30s. My personal contribution to new car construction has so far been nil. I walk and cycle whenever I can, and don't go on driving trips just for pleasure.
Compare this to someone who drives a 6 metre long SUV with a massive engine, and buys a new one every two years. I don't think they are the same thing at all!

I did read an interesting article on the BBC a year or so ago, saying that it would be better for carbon emissions / pollution to ban large cars and large engines altogether, than to ban all petrol cars by 2035 or whatever the deadline is. I can't find this article now unfortunately! But I think it would be well worth considering other approaches to reducing harm from cars, such as limiting big vehicles to those who need them because they are farmers or they are disabled etc.

I'd get an EV when my current car dies (despite the extreme difficulty of charging in my area - Scottish Highlands) if I could get one second hand and if the serious environmental issues with batteries are resolved.