Electric car or not?

[ABBAsnumberonefan]

I’m thinking of getting a bigger car and weighing up my options. What’s everyone’s opinion on electric cars? Is it worth investing in one now or do they still need a few more years to develop?

the prices of them are eye watering even on finance so I’m not sure if it’s worth it yet!!

After months (years?) of thinking about, DH got his first electric car this year. He loves it. I was a bit reluctant, but it actually is brilliant to drive.

He's off to Scotland from the Midlands in a couple of weeks - that'll be a true test!

Two of my neighbours have electric cars and they both have them plugged in on their drives. The last time we bought a car was around 7 years ago and there really were not that many public charging points, In the last year charging points are popping up everywhere near us.

Our mileage has vastly reduced, my elderly parents have died so no 500 mile round trips. DH works mainly from home. I retired so no more commuting and gave my car to DS because if I really need a car I can use DH car. Rough calculation has us driving 7000 miles a year less over the last 3 years.

The car my neighbour has cost 55k, If anyone wants to do this they need a lot for that initial outlay and a drive for a charging point. We probably will go electric once our current car dies.

I drive to work and back an hour each way, and have done for 3 years.

The return trip (98miles) uses between 28%-36% of the battery depending mainly on weather. Passengers etc is a relatively small part of the total weight so makes a marginal difference. Full heating in the winter makes about a 10% difference.

New EVs start at half that price. A lot of reasonably sized ones are in the 30-40k bracket and if you lease are not significantly more at all.

also you don’t need to pay for a chargepoint. Normal plug is fine unless you do a high mileage every single day. We currently just use a 3 pt plug.

fwiw I was highly sceptical when my dh suggested an EV 3 and a half years ago. I wouldn’t go back to ICE ever. Have convinced several family members and friends to either get one or seriously consider. So much misinformation out there.

I have Zoe R135 with rapid charger year 2021. Range 240 miles. This is our only car, got rid of Volvo XC60 earlier this year. This is my second Zoe, previous model had 180 mile range. We are about to move 50 miles away so I will have a 100 mile round trip on the days I am the office won't need to charge except at home. Going to Lake District next month and will charge at destination for return journey.
We had no issues at all driving from Glasgow to Fife and Glasgow to Perthshire when house hunting over the last few months.
I lease my Zoe but will likely buy my next electric car.

I have a Hyundai Kona with the larger battery. The acceleration is amazing. Great car. Went to Scotland, no problem. 300 mile range - about 290 in summer, 270 winter. We have a home charger. If I have had to charge elsewhere, never had an issue as there is an app which tells you where they are. Charged at Holy Island where there were numerous charging points.
Don't know how i would cope with a petrol now!

Hyundai Kona ev premium 64kwh 2021

This is interesting. We're going to go electric with our next car, but not sure whether to do it this year or wait another year or two. Is it likely that the developments in battery tech etc will be in place within 12 months? 18 months? Longer?

We'd prefer to buy nearly new outright than get a lease car, because we do a lot of DIY and live down a rough lane, so keeping a lease car immaculate won't really be feasible.

We've been looking at the Renault Zoe. Do you think we're better waiting for the next generation of EVs?

@TheLeadbetterLife
there is vastly more on the market now, with much better batteries than 18 months ago. You are looking at 9+ lead times for most of them at the moment due to issues relating to Ukraine and huge demand. Prices are going up too. If you think you want one next year, I suggest ordering one this summer.

Tech has advanced enormously for EVs over the last 5 years, I don't expect them to carry on advancing at such a rate. Not at the cheap(er) end of the market anyway.

9+ months I meant above.

Wouldn't want a brand new one, for reasons above. We're not in the UK either, though prices are going up here too.

we never buy new cars. But will be replacing our EV with a brand new one next year as currently, here, a low mileage second hand is virtually the same price due to demand being so high. This also means we should get an excellent trade-in price for ours.

I adore mine to bits. It’s an electric Fiat 500 convertible. Perfect for C London - no C Charge, ULEZ, free parking permit, 80p to park in Westminster for 4 hours on a pay and display. I don’t have a garage or private charging. Charging infrastructure is great, and I charge for free at work.
The downside is driving lon distances, which is painful especially in winter when the range drops.

In your circumstances, I'm not sure there's any major advantage in waiting.

Significant advances in battery tech are more than two years away. It's more likely to be incremental until then. The big shifts will be towards the end of this decade. So don't hold out for major changes over the next couple of years (except possibly at the very high end, premium and large Mercedes and Porsches etc).

If you're specifically looking at a Zoe, it doesn't make a huge amount of difference really given that you're not buying new.

Renault won't be directly replacing the Zoe — the new Renault 5 will be its de facto replacement, but that won't be out until 2024 (or possibly early 2025). Used Zoe values will be hit when the new 5 comes out but not hugely, and you could conceivably be waiting up to three years anyway for the new model to launch.

The used car market is punchy right now generally but may cool a bit over the summer and into the autumn. EV values can go a bit limp when the weather starts to turn cold because a lot of people have rather blunt ideas about them being less efficient in the winter. (This is technically true but it varies model to model, and on driving style.)

My advice would be to keep an eye on used/nearly new Zoes now, work out what spec you want and equipment, and how the market behaves over them, and be ready to go when you find the one you want. They're comparatively plentiful for EVs, so you can afford to be choosy.

Thank you, this is very helpful, and is pretty much what I'm already doing (which is comforting, as it means the research I've been doing holds up!).

I live in a sunny country, so I don't know how much difference the winter will make, but I've been keeping an eye on the second hand market for a year and am waiting to see if the heat goes out of it in the next six months or so. We'll be installing the Myenergi wallbox and running it off our solar panels, so the EV will be free to charge. Most of our journeys are local, and we very rarely do trips of over 100km.

For these reasons, we're hoping that we could get maybe ten years out of a nearly-new Renault Zoe (based on what I've read about the battery life), and then not worry too much about the resale value in light of the battery technology that will be available down the line. We'll have had our use out of it.

Kia E Niro 4+ 2021 - 280 mile range

Skoda Enyaq 2022 - 240 mile range

We've ordered a Volvo XC40 electric. Won't be ready til May next year. Already wobbling. The Skoda enyaq has a longer range but vain old me preferred the Volvo brand and look. Regretting it now tbh.

Ooh we have a Niro EV (the 2023 version) and enyaq on our shortlist. Which is your favourite? I am very keen on the enyaq but have heard of many software issues which is putting me off. Have you had any?

@Frazzled2207 You can't ask me to choose!!!!

They both have their pros but we've only had the Enyaq for a month so harder to compare.

I love the E Niro. It was my baby! It's an amazing car, love driving it. Our negative was that with 2 kids and a dog it's not quite big enough to be our main family car. We like to take all our bikes out, camping trips etc.

So we got the Enyaq as well. DH was actually going to get an ICE car but we decided to go for it with 2 EVs. I also love the Enyaq. It's not got quite as many toys as the Niro, but the Niro is an amazing spec for a car that's not a luxe brand (or price tag!). The Enyaq is a great family car for us though and just gives us that extra that the Niro can't quite.

But if you're not trying to fit a load of kids, bikes, dogs and stuff in.... I don't know!!! I couldn't choose!

@mafsfanaw thanks for that. I too have concerns the Niro won’t be quite big enough for 2 children and a future dog (it will be our only car) , that said the 2023 version has a bigger boot.

both fabulous cars IMO.

Would those who already own EVs mind telling us what make and model and year they have?
MGZS 2020

I have a 2018 Nissan Leaf with a range of about 150 miles (less in winter).
DH has a 2020 Kia E-Niro with a range of about 250 miles.
We bought the Leaf second hand and the Niro new.

Not viable for us as of yet - we live in a house with only on-street parking and there's not even a guarantee we can park outside our own house on an evening to run a plug charger out of the window and do it that way - so I'd have to go down to charge it at somewhere like Tesco (and spend more in there than I would have done on petrol anyway). Also work in a community-based role so no option for work-charging really either.

Would have liked the option - especially since DH's work are offering them subsidised - but the charging situation doesn't work for families like us as of yet.

that's a shame and I totally get it.

Some families I know make do with just going to tesco twice a week and charging there but that is limiting especially as there is no guarantee you would be able to charge when you made the trip. Do look out for new charging points though as they really are springing up all over the place - is very bitty though and some entire counties continue to be blackspots. Eventually they will be as common as petrol stations (or part of the petrol stations).

We're in the same situation @CoffeeWithCheese, no off street parking and I often park way down the road when I get home. I might consider a self charging hybrid next (I quite like the look of the Mazda 2 hybrid) but I'll see