If you have an electrical car… over 5 years old, can I ask some questions?

[AnnaK12]

We are looking to upgrade our family car, my husband wants to go from petrol to electric. I’m all for that but I’ve never had an electric car before. I know they are better being electric compared with petrol but what are the running costs, are they more / less? Maintenance, at they more or less? I did read that insurance can be more expensive. One of my concerns is, will it last us, ideally I’d like another trusty car that will go comfortably for another 10-15 years. For me, electric cars that I see tend to be new or new ish so hard to compare how long they will last? Any electric cars owners, let me know your opinions and any recommendations for a family car is even better, thanks :-)

Mine is 5 years old and not had to have anything done to it yet, touch wood... Hopefully others will reply op

The primary risk with EVs (I think) is that the battery warranty is generally 8 years and if the battery fails after that, the repair cost is thousands. You can really see the impact of that on used EV prices, compared to used petrol cars.

I've go a leased EV at the moment and it is a lovely car. But there's no way I'd want to own it.

My EV is just over 5 years old. I still love driving it - needs adapting to the charging etc, but maintenance is cheaper (much less in the way of moving parts though I’d have said our tyres initially seemed to be made out of paper - much better since replaced) and the drive is just lovely!