Go electric or get one last petrol car?

[Orangeinmybluelightcup]

Has anyone tackled this one yet? 13yr old estate is now borderline unsafe. Would ideally like to go electric. Most charging could be done at home, so constraint 1: need to investigate getting a charging point installed. Constraint 2 is looking like getting something big enough for X2 kids in car seats and larger sized dog in the boot. Constraint 3 is the price, looking second hand but bigger electrics are newer technology still so look like £25k! Hybrids are an option but from the reading I've done the petrol kicks in soon and when they're running on petrol they're less efficient because they're heavier. But getting one last petrol car seems like a shame... Has anyone else had this debate, what did you do?

I’m doing this. But through a work salary sacrifice lease arrangement. I didn’t even know it existed until recently but depending on tax band it can be very cost effective and only a three year commitment. Audi do the Etron and VW do the ID4 which are both SUV estate type things.
Will need to organise charging point but on the flip side I won’t be keeping on top of tax, insurance, mot, RAC etc now.

Do you live somewhere with plenty of charging points? If not, can you guarantee to be able to park at home every night in order to plug in?

Go electric. My old diesel kicked the bucket last year so bought an electric, and I have never loved a car more! It's soooo smooth.

Doing this right now. I use the vehicle for long journeys that just aren’t supported by the current electric infrastructure so it’s (hopefully) one more petrol car for me.

I was considering going electric. I found one I liked but my daughter said the back was like being in a space ship the endows were so small. And I have to park on street so worry about charging. Plus I understand half the carbon footprint of an electric car is it's battery.
If I knew I could get it charged when I needed to I might consider it next tme. I was also considering hybrid but looks like the government is lumping those in with petrol.

I have had an electric city car for over two years.
Dh changed his car this past month and debated different options. He's gone full electric. We already had the charger because of mine. We do most charging at home.

However we have taken dh's car further afield - recently did a 3 hour each way journey and the one other longer journey. So used chargers out and about - used a couple of the fast chargers plus a couple normal types. All great.

In the summer we are driving for our summer holiday to Cornwall and back which will be the biggest journey we are ever likely to do.

Key is to plan ahead.

Electric cars just transfer the pollution elsewhere. There's no ethical reason. If you have the money and can get something suitable ( and can work round the charging issue) then grab any subsidies and bungs while they are there.

Considering this but price of cars much higher and not sure how much I’ll save to make it worth it

I'd go hybrid rather than full electric. I don't think we have the infrastructure yet (not in my area anyway!)

I explored this. This was 3 years ago though, but I didn’t think at the time the market was quite there. It now seems more and more vehicles are electric/hybrids. I bought a petroleum in the end. But, I do think my next one will be electric as they’d be more choice.
My dh has a hybrid and the only thing that annoys he that it’s really quiet and when we’re on country roads and people are walking in the road we have to open the window to say ‘so sorry’ they jump out of their skin as they can’t hear the car. Not that I expect it to make much noise, but worry about people not hearing the vehicle, makes ‘stop, look listen’. redundant.

Recently had this situation, petrol car coming to the end of lease. I decided to outright purchase a 3 year old petrol car that i will run into the ground, hopefully another 8-10 years in it. Then by that stage the issues and restrictions that i have around electric vehicles (namely cost and long distance travel) will no longer be there and will easily transfer to electric

I wanted to go electric but need to use the government scheme but only have a 2 year contract so unaffordable

DH reckons wait another 3-5 years. Depending on whether you want to buy new or second hand (if second hand maybe more like 5-10 years).

We're still in the experimental stage of electric cars, coming to the end of that, but it's only over the next few years they'll iron out the bumps and really start to produce great things.

Plus the amount of charging points is increasing but probably isn't sufficient yet - you'll always be wondering where one is.

My problem is we could go electric easily 48 weeks of the year - I wouldn’t even mind getting a charging point installed on the driveway. But I want to be able to drive the length of the country easily for holidays. I don’t want to plan every hotel, holiday cottage, day trip, car park etc around chargers on holiday. So I’m not ready for fully electric yet, we’re buying another petrol. If we had two cars one would definitely be electric tho.

We’ve got an electric, I love it. Just avoid the bp homecharge unit it’s beyond useless. Mine came free with the car but neighbours have much smarter looking units. It is nice to wake up to a fully charged car every day.

Try an online broker for cars. Much cheaper than main agents. I could only afford mine because dh is trade and I got a discount.

I’m with octopus energy for the cheap car tariff of 5p kWh. Here’s my ref code if anyone’s looking to join, it’s £50 credit each. share.octopus.energy/sand-jewel-588

We’re also pondering this right now. Tending towards electric, our council has loads of charging points (we have on street parking) and the ranges seem better than even a few years ago

www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/money/2020/nov/28/electric-cars-porsche-charging-network

Articles like this put me off. Plus the price of electric cars is way more than I could afford, not eligible for anything through work either. I’d be ok going to/from work as I’d charge at home but anywhere else... Until the price comes down and the infrastructure is more widespread/reliable then petrol/diesel for me.

I pondered this and went for a petrol car. We live semi-rurally and DC play a sport where it’s not unusual to do a 200-300 mile round trip at weekends for matches. The electric cars in my budget don’t have the range yet.

Another EV owner, I wouldn't go back to ICE. Absolutely love my car (egolf) and it's saved me so much money. Monthly commute costs would easily be £250 in my old petrol car, now it's £20! Also with octopus and charge between midnight and 0430 for super cheap rate, sometimes it's even free. Now looking to upgrade soon, The models released this year have much better ranges.
The new Skoda EV is looking a likely candidate.

Oh wow I would expect my work will do a scheme, will defo check!

Are you NHS OP?

Tesco, Sainsburys, Aldi and Morrison’s are rolling out charging points, they're free to use. I’ve used Sainsburys while dh was in hospital and it charged quickly.

@CadburyCake

My problem is we could go electric easily 48 weeks of the year - I wouldn’t even mind getting a charging point installed on the driveway. But I want to be able to drive the length of the country easily for holidays. I don’t want to plan every hotel, holiday cottage, day trip, car park etc around chargers on holiday. So I’m not ready for fully electric yet, we’re buying another petrol. If we had two cars one would definitely be electric tho.

Most of my journeys are local and I could charge on my driveway, in theory. If I need a different car for a day or a holiday then I'd rent one.

It’s a no-brainer for a company car, due to the tax benefits mentioned above. We’ll be getting one soon under a company scheme.

I don’t think I would if it weren’t for that element, however, as there are some off putting things. Equivalent cars being so much more expensive (so you have to downgrade unless you want to spend more), home chargers may involve cables everywhere, lack of choice of car (all seem to be city cars or SUVs - where are all the in-between cars? Just vw id3 at the moment) and, yes, infrastructure still catching up. Annoyingly, a number of vehicles come in a longer and shorter range version and the price difference between the two is significant.

I think the poster who mentioned waiting a few years is right. Appreciate that may not help if you keep your cars 10+ years and need a new one!

@FrankiesKnuckle

Are you NHS OP?

No, no-departmental public body with some civil service perks.