to want an e-car but not to know which one

[TrickOrTreaty]

I'd like to do 'my bit' and reduce my carbon footprint.

I regularly travel for work and want to balance this out by being 'good' in other areas of my life.

Are e-cars worth it? Which ones are good and will I be able to afford one? I currently drive a very old Polo.

Get a hybrid.

Electric cars need a dirty great power station to charge them. Self-charging hybrids harvest the energy that the petrol engine put into the wheels back into the battery, effectively getting double use out of the petrol's energy.

Yep, what Smiley said.

While battery technology is improving rapidly, range between charges is still a big issue. I wouldn't consider one until they are capable of 250+ miles on a charge.

Battery life is an issue too. Last time I looked into it, the batteries only have a life of a few years before they need replacing, and they are bloody expensive to replace (this is why some electric cars are remarkably cheap second hand). And there are environmental issues involved in battery production (mining of minerals like nickel and cobalt is energy intensive and highly polluting) and disposal.

A hybrid is a much better idea imo. A colleague recently replaced his car for a hybrid Yaris and his petrol spending went down from £200+ a month to £30!

That's good to know. Thank you. Other than the Yaris, what small hybrid cars would people recommend?

My neighbour has an e-car. There's something she plugs it into at the front of the house, on the wall next to the door.

Other than that I know little about them. Interested to learn though, never too old for that.

A Tesla model 3 has a range of about 240 miles, this is perfectly fine for everyday use for most people, you wouldn't even have to charge it everyday. It will only need a bit of planning for longer trips and superchargers are getting faster all the time.
They are not cheap, though...

Yaris is by far the best small hybrid. Toyota have been doing hybrids for over 20 years and when I changed from my petrol Yaris to a hybrid one, my fuel consumption went from 51mpg to 68mpg.

Drive a Prius now and average 75mpg.

Beware though not all hybrids are equal - there are "full" hybrid and "mild" hybrids. Full can run on electric, petrol or both. Mild can run on petrol or both, but not electric only so you will always be emitting shite out the exhaust.

I wouldn't bother with a 'regular' hybrid. The miles per gallon savings aren't all that, and you're still burning petrol.

I think a plug in hybrid is a good choice for your only car if most of your journeys are short (within the all electric range). If you can reliably charge it at home or work you can do your everyday driving on pure electric. Electricity in Britain is going more and more renewable and even the fossil fuel can be used more efficiently in a power station compared to a petrol car. But you've still got the petrol engine for when you want to do a long drive. Should help the lifespan and resale value too because even when the battery's old and worn it's still a usable car.

Pure electric city cars i think only worth it as the second car in the household, unless you never do long drives. To get an electric car with the range and fast charging to drive the length and breadth of Britain you're looking at expensive stuff like the Teslas. Great if you have that kind of money, I definitely don't.