Have you regretted getting an electric car and if so why?

[willieversleep]

Just as the title says really.

I live rurally and am considering an electric car as a second car. We have a diesel mild hybrid Volvo XC90 so it would be the smaller run around.

Bloody love my id3

Is it a Kia EV3? Ours is and we have the same range even in winter. I LOVE our 3rd EV.

I tripped over the charging lead whilst plugged in in June 2023 and dislocated my shoulder which has never been the same since despite an operation and several months of physio so no I wouldn't recommend

Not at all. We got our first EV in 2021 and haven't regretted our decision. We've always had a car with a long range, but the set up for charging is so much better than 2-3 years ago. In the early days you needed a didferent app for every charging station and it was touch and go whether you could find a working one. Now there are fast chargers everywhere .

I love mine. EV miles are like the opposite of washing machine minutes but even so 😂 I pre heat mine every morning, drive with the heat on full and my heated seat on from September- May and I'm still quids in. What's not to like.

The only thing I regret is not getting one with a longer range. Mine gets to about 165 miles fully charged, but on hot/cold days the AC/heating absolutely drains the battery. I once drove London to Birmingham and had forgotten to recharge overnight, so by the time I arrived I had 9 miles of power left and wasn’t sure where the chargers were. Luckily there were some free ones on the site of the conference I was attending.

The single best item I’ve purchased is my home EV charger. I installed it on the side of my semi a few months after I bought the electric car, and it’s been a game changer. I wouldn’t go back to a petrol car now.

What was your range? Ours is 300 miles so I very very rarely drive anywhere where I’m likely going to run out of battery.

😂

We’ve had a Skoda Enyaq for 2 years and won’t go back. We regularly go from our home in South Yorkshire to DS2’s in Norfolk on less than one charge. In the very warm weather in the Summer we probably could have got back too, but didn’t want to risk it so charged at Tesla like we normally do.

We do have a petrol car too, but we rarely use it now. It’s not cost effective at all, especially atm. The Enyaq was in for a service the other day so I had an automatic courtesy car but I really didn’t like it. I love the smooth drive of an EV, MIL even commented on it.

Probably not because he could fill up within 3 minutes at any petrol station…

That’s hardly the car’s fault. DS2 did the same thing playing rugby but he wouldn’t tell other people not to do it.

I know it’s not the point of the thread but I dislocated my shoulder tripping over the dog …bloody horrific,have never been the same since 😭

I do still have my dog though 😂

We'd love an electric car but don't have a driveway so feel charging would be too much of a faff.

Love love love my EV.
As long as you can charge at home and have a decent range, you really can't go wrong.

Tesla Modal Y here. Havent regretted for a moment, got it 3 years ago.

We are in Australia with family up and down the East Coast so regularly do very long trips.

The charging infrastructure here is fantastic so no range anxiety. People have crossed the Nullabor in EVs.

I actually have no idea about the range on ours. DH probably does. If we are doing a long trip, I just tell the car and it lets me know where to stop and charge. Doesnt take very long. Most charging locations here have facilities (my favourite is at a winery). So by the time I have gotten out, gone to the loo, maybe grabbed a coffee we are ready to go.

Day to day, we have a home charger and solar panels so just plug it in when in the garage and it is always charged.

I would find it very difficult to go back to an ICE.

Love mine

Would anyone mind sharing what electric cars they have bought? I am looking at a mini countryman but I am concerned about how many miles it would do on a full battery. Most people I have spoken to only have bad things to say but I am keen to swap to electric.

Love ours. Smaller battery as an older car, but can count on one hand the number of times in the last 7 years that’s been a problem. Much cheaper to run with cheap overnight home-charging and also much lower maintenance costs as there’s no internal combustion engine to service. Those saying hybrids are best of both worlds are servicing both the battery and the ICE, so not enjoying the full benefit of lower running costs. With bigger batteries becoming the norm and more fast chargers available in more places, I think the argument for starting with a hybrid is getting weaker and weaker.

Got an electric mini as our second car. Small range but perfect for local trips. Costs 77p to charge and that lasts a week if we do under 120 miles.We absolutely LOVE it

Definitely not. Mine has a range of 330 which for motorway driving reduces to c 250-260. Fine for most of the journeys I do and the costs are vastly smaller than for the diesel the car replaced. It can on longer journeys feel a bit time consuming when you have to charge on the go, but this is offset by the fact most of the time I now do not need to go anywhere need a garage. Invest in a battery for the house (we also have solar panels), and c90% of all your electricity will be less than 7p for a KW. Certainly worth it.

I have a Volvo XC40 EV and absolutely love it. You do need a home charger though as public charging is expensive. The range drops quite a lot in winter, but it’s still enough to get me where I need to be. I don’t think I’d go back to a petrol or diesel now.
The one pedal driving is superb. I’ve had the car 2 years and think I’ve only used the brake pedal about 3 or 4 times in total!

Love our EVs. I have been fully electric for 5 years, and now DH has swapped his plug in hybrid for a full EV. The hybrid was not economical to run.
Both our EVs have good range (mine c 250 and DHs c 350).
Charging facilities are so much better than they were, esp on motorways.
No range problems. Often do long journeys.
So easy to drive. Accelerate so fast, which really helps at junctions etc.
Charge at home overnight on a cheap tariff. So saving us a fortune.

I’ve had an electric car over a year and I can only think of a few times I’ve ever charged out and about for more than 5 minutes, so it’s not dissimilar. You don’t charge to full out and about, you just charge enough to get home. 300 mile range and it’s done about 15000 miles since August 25. It costs me 1.6p per mile to drive when charged from cheap overnight hours at home (a petrol car getting even 60mpg would be 13p/mile if £1.72 a litre of petrol) Also have a second car that’s a hybrid but we’ve used this a laughably small amount since getting the EV. Filling it with fuel now feels far more of an inconvenience than keeping the EV charged so we end up playing “hot potato” of deciding the other person can fill up when they next use it!

Kia EV3. Stylistically it's a box, but the range is very good and it is backed by a seven year guarantee. Lots of bells and whistles which I like such as heated seats and different driving modes.