Electric cars

[veevee04]

With the price of petrol going up I've been looking at upgrading to an electric car I only have a 1 litre engine so very cheap to run compared to some. I can't get over the cost !! Even basic ones with an ok range are very very expensive. I'm now looking at hybrid cars which seem to be a bit cheaper than EVs I'm wondering what will happen when production of petrol/diesel cars are banned will everyone eventually have to lease a car ? Many lower paid jobs rely on having access to transport, nurses for example.

[quote twinsetandpearl]@Atlanticpa

Thankyou definitely something to consider as CB is worth £200 a month to us

I'd probably go for the cheapest on there that's looks to be a Nissan Leaf or Mazda XC30
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I've owned 2 Nissan leaf's - they are nice cars. Slightly old tech now though.

maybe look at an e-niro, a Kona, honda e and vwID3 just to get an idea what you are looking at as well. I would definitely test drive a tesla, if just for the experience!
www.topgear.com/car-news/electric/top-gears-top-20-electric-cars

I have had a second hand Kia eNiro for about six months now and to be honest it is far better than I expected. The range is about 265 miles and it comes with a seven year warranty from new. It is a surprisingly good drive and quite nippy even in Eco mode. Comes with lots of really nice features like a heated steering wheel and reversing camera.

I don't have my own at home charger for logistical reasons but the local supermarket chargers work fine for me. I just tend to go at night when they are always empty and walk the five minutes home.

The range works really well for me and I charge about every 2-3 weeks. I have done a couple of longer runs (70 miles ish) and I looked up the local charging points before I went but tbh I did there and back without even thinking of needing to charge. Any further than that and I would probably take the train anyway.

The only downside so far is that I have become slightly obsessive about regenerative braking (where you use a hand operated brake to put kinetic energy charge back into the battery)

We got one a week ago and love it. Don't think DH will go back.

I have just purchased a used but low-mileage Nissan Leaf which arrives next week. I think it will take a bit of getting used to with the charging but will hopefully be worth it!

@anne2650

I have just purchased a used but low-mileage Nissan Leaf which arrives next week. I think it will take a bit of getting used to with the charging but will hopefully be worth it!

There is a very good facebook group you can join, they will give you lots of help if you need it -"UK Nissan LEAF Owners Group"

Ive got a vw hybrid through work and i would be DEVASTATED if i had paid my own money for it. Last 6 months its been in the VW garage where they cannot work out what the problem is with it. Ive been given it back 3 times only for it to break down in a very spectacular way each time (ALL the emergency lights going off before total electrical shut down). Including on the motorway.
I really really want an electrical car, and to be honest maybe its more VW im pissed off with - but if feels like they are still testing the technology. Happy to be part of that with a company car - but no way would i buy one with my own money if i changed jobs

Thank you! I'll check that out.

Our tesla arrived this morning. ITS AMAZING 😍

@gingerbreadtea is it the golf GTE? if so I had the same fault and it only rectified when they replaced the smaller 12v battery which serves the engine part - it was tripping everything else.
VW were crap with it and completely flummoxed
The hybrid nature makes it much more complicated to fix than a fully electric car. Thankfully mine was a lease car so it was their problem to fix. I now have a fully electric car and have had no problems for the past few years.

@wonkylegs - yes! Golf GTE and sounds like the same fault.
It was VWs handling of it that really annoyed me. They were so baffled that they implied that it was either untrue or that i was somehow causing it (they couldnt get it to 'fault'). I had to get the AA to provide a report saying that they had witnessed it and that i wasnt doing something odd to make it happen!

Yep they were borderline incompetent when mine went in. Despite selling electric and hybrid cars they had no way to charge mine when it was taken in by RAC so I had to get the hire care and get my 3pin charging cable from home and take it in to them. They just weren't ready to deal with the next generation in their service department.
I should have guessed this when they had to Google what was on the service schedule when it went in for its first service!!
I now have a Jag and they have been much better

Bought a 2nd hand Hyundai self charging hybrid a year ago, which I adore.

“Especially if you shop and top up at the likes of Costco and Tesco who are free.“

don’t know about Costco as our nearest is miles away but Tesco hasn’t given free charging for quite a while now.

I am old enough to remember when the government was encouraging diesel cars and diesel was significantly cheaper than petrol. Not so now and if they will do this with diesel as soon as they think they have got everyone on the EV bandwagon then electric charging will go up significantly as well. I will stick with my small petrol car. I will probably only want to drive for another 10 to 15 years max so it will last me out.

We own two electric cars and one hybrid. all good things to say about them all

What about battery capacity when you need to put the heating on in the car? This is my biggest worry about EVs.

The power you use the quicker the battery drains but it depends on the capacity of the battery. Cold weather reduces the range as well.

Should say more power.