To think Electric cars just aren’t practical yet?

[Youngatheart00]

Car is due for replacement (4 year PCP cycle) this autumn.

I love the idea of getting an electric vehicle in theory, I’m trying to make clean choices and also worry about the future value / obsolescence of petrol cars as I’m hearing more and more about manufacturers going electric only well within the next decade.

But our home is a Victorian terrace with no parking. More often than not we are not even parked outside our own home. There isn’t charging infrastructure at most petrol stations. I see some at motorway service stations but clearly it’s not practical to go there each time you need a charge (and there is a greater cost I think?)

I’m drawing the conclusion I’m going to have to go for another petrol vehicle and revisit at the end of the next 4 year cycle, when I’m hoping the electric car infrastructure will be much better developed.

I’ve thought about a hybrid but models from my preferred manufacturers seem limited (and v expensive) and I’m concerned about power as I do like a bit of ‘oomph’ for confidence!

What do others think?

BarbaraofSeville I'm afraid that you may have another issue. The rate HMRC say you can claim for company mileage on an electric car is currently 4p per mile. This would easily cover the cost of charging at home but almost certainly wouldn't cover the cost of charging while on the road. Charging on the road is pretty much always cheaper per mile than Petrol/Diesel but would be more than 4p per mile.

Hopefully, this is something that will be addressed - it makes no sense.

[quote Frazzled2207]@BarbaraofSeville
I totally get that that an EV is not going to be practical for journeys like this, unless you can rely on charging it when you Get to your client. But frankly, and I’m not blaming you for doing what you’re told and presumably enjoy doing, it just isn’t going to be sustainable in the future for many of us to be doing that amount of driving. We (and I’m looking at companies here more than individuals) are just going to have to find more energy efficient ways of working.[/quote]
If the PPs job involves servicing equipment or surveying sites how do you propose it's done without travelling there? My DH would find it hard to sweep a chimney without being on site as would BIL find it hard to fit/service fire alarms. DN would find it a bit tough to install plumbing too.

Loads of employees travel about the country doing practical work. It is not unusual.
It seems from what I have read that the government are anticipating an exemption for people who use work vans.

Yes, some of my work is a practical thing that can't be done remotely. We do service clients remotely by video call and email, but in person visits can't be avoided.

We also don't use vans most of the time, although some of us could, sticking point would be those who needed their company vehicle to also serve as family transport. I'm not in that position and as it happens, the work I did earlier this week that I used a hire car for would have been easier with a van, and I'm going to investigate for next time as its a regular job.

I admit that its never occurred to me to use a van before and I'm not sure why. It's probably something to look into as I virtually never carry back seat passengers. But I do know that some years ago, DP used a van as his main transport and the insurance was twice the cost of the same vehicle in car form.

@countrygirl99
Of course there will always be practical stuff which needs to be done onsite
But the pandemic has taught us that a lot of us can actually do large amounts of work remotely. Seeing people in person less often. I have two friends that used to constantly zoom across the country seeing clients for various (non practical) meetings. Now they are doing about 50% on zoom and spending far less time and fuel in the car and able to fit in more meetings. Win win.

We have had an eGolf for just over 2 years now. Live in a tenement flat in the city centre. chargeplacescotland.org/live-map/ tells me exactly where the charging points are, what type (rapid, fast, slow). No issues whatsoever. We are not rich landowners with multiple cars.This is our only car. True, long journeys take a bit more planning but perfectly doable. We even went to one of the Scottish islands, on a ferry. Easy as pie. It has a button you can turn on so the car makes a “sound”. We pay a fraction of the price for our yearly residents parking permit due to the car being electric. Wouldn’t change it for the world. Even my parents in law who live in the deepest Highlands have got themselves an electric car now. The mileage range is getting better by the year. Because ours is more than 2 years old it “only” has a 155 mileage range. Theirs is about 250, I think. If not slightly more.

The only snag now is that more and more charging places are now charging (all used to be free before). But it’s still a fraction of the price you would pay for a tank full of petrol/ diesel. For example, if I charge mine up from almost empty I pay about £7. For a near-full top up.

@Frazzled2207 the irony is, if I were still doing my 60 mile round trip to the office an electric car would be feasible. I actually had to go to my nearest Sainsbury's today - no charging places in sight. I would love to change to electric but this government is talking the talk but not actually doing anything about the areas that are not commercially attractive. You only have to look at rural broadband and mobile phone coverage to see where that leads. I'm glad people are used to Teams now at work because last MarchI was having to join conference calls from my own phone and if someone called me on my work phone I had to stand on the upstairs loo to get a decent signal as only 1 network gives reliable coverage in my village. And we are un the South East not the wilds.