AIBU to not want an electric car?

[Elevenfourteen]

I know IABU for asking such a dull question, but my Dh wants to buy an electric car and I’m not convinced.
I guess they’re better for the environment so that’s one thing. But are we set up for them properly yet? Do all garages have charging points? Do you have to hang around the garage for ages while they charge? I just can’t imagine how they can be a practical option.
Driving to work and back and charging at night is fine, but what about going on holiday?

Do any of you have electric cars and can you reassure me?

@Fizbosshoes

Completely dumb question - what will happen with vehicle excise duty if a majority of people start driving hybrid or electric cars? If I understand properly it's a tax to maintain roads (which is obviously beneficial to all road users) but currently you pay it - at various levels - if you drive a ICE vehicle. What would happen if those vehicle owners didn't generate the required amount?

My feeling is that it will change from being emissions based or they'll introduce an EV specific tax to plug the gap.

I don't think anyone is under the illusion that EV's will be cheap forever but just until they reach the tipping point and there are more EV's than ICE on the road.

AFAIK VED just goes into the government pot, like VAT fuel duty etc. NI is ring fenced to some extent but it all goes to pay for the roads. Fuel duty is another one where the government will have to make up the shortfall so will have to wait and see how that one develops.

We're still in a bit of a golden period so if people can make an EV work for them, there are savings to be made.

I'd love an electric car and my trips are suitable for one. But I live in a village.I have to park on the road so can't charge at home and the nearest public charge point is miles away at a place I've been to 3 times since it opened 6 years ago so there needs to be a big improvement in the public charging network before I can consider it.

How much is the cheapest Tesla that everyone raves about and what is the range?

I have no plans to wait more than 15ish minutes for my car to charge. I can cover 2-300 miles with a 15 minute break and don't want to compromise that. Seems like the Tesla is the only car that would come close with its supercharging?

@Elevenfourteen

I know IABU for asking such a dull question, but my Dh wants to buy an electric car and I’m not convinced. I guess they’re better for the environment so that’s one thing. But are we set up for them properly yet? Do all garages have charging points? Do you have to hang around the garage for ages while they charge? I just can’t imagine how they can be a practical option. Driving to work and back and charging at night is fine, but what about going on holiday? Do any of you have electric cars and can you reassure me?

How old is the car you would be replacing?

The biggest carbon footprint comes from manufacturing so the greenest thing you can do in most cases is keep your existing car running for as along as possible. Boring but still true when we looked last year. If your car is 10-15 years old and high mileage or on its last legs then consider hybrids or electric.

If you want to replace a perfectly functioning car with electric because its currently very in vogue then don't kid yourself it is automatically a green choice.

The public charging network is patchy and really not geared up for mass adoption yet, more saliently there is no rapid growth plan in place to match the targets for electric cars so unless you have your own home and off street parking then charging can be an issue.

Like PPs I have an issue with large subsidies for electric cars, home charge installation and council provided free charging. Its a tax payer subsidy which overwhelmingly puts money in the pockets of the middle classes and owners of larger homes. I would rather see that money put into better public transport which benefits everyone.

I have an electric car as my only car and I LOVE it. I find that a lot of people without electric cars get very worked up about charging and the practicalities of it all, but anyone who has one will tell you that in reality those aren’t actually serious concerns.

I mainly use mine for errands and short-ish journeys around town, so charging is a non-issue. I just charge at home when I need to, every week or two. It doesn’t occupy any brain space beyond ‘oh I’m at 30%, better plug in when I get home’. It’s no more stress than hypothetically running out of petrol would be.

Longer journeys require a bit more planning but nothing like as much as people seem to think. There are SO many chargers out there and plenty of apps to help you find them. You just have to stop at a service station for 20-30 mins or so. Not a massive deal.

If you have to do long journeys of hundreds of miles on a weekly basis then maybe I’d think twice but otherwise, as long as you can charge at home, then it really isn’t a hassle at all.

There are people who manage without chargers at home too but that sounds like a bit more of a faff. Still doable though!

@oviraptor21 about £50k I think. We have the "cheap" one but we lease. Think it's about £500 a month with smallish deposit.

We went to a local exhibition of electric cars a few months ago. We came away concluding that we won't be buying one just yet. The range wouldn't get us to destinations we currently travel to to visit family/friends without having to stop and recharge and 2 lots of those friends don't have driveway parking so we couldn't recharge overnight there.
It was good to see what was on offer though and someone we know who works at one of the car dealerships told us the sold 6 EVs off the back if that 5 hour exhibition but we just didn't think it would meet our needs until technology improves.

Could you rent an electric one for a few weeks to see how you get on with it?

I'm personally not going to get an EV anytime soon as I don't think the recycling infrastructure is where it needs to be to support a vast move of trying to get all drivers to go 'green'. What happens to all the batteries after they're used. I think only around half of the minerals used in batteries can be reused, so there currently seems little incentive to invest in these technologies. No doubt they'll all get flown over to South East Asia and China to sit with the billions of tons of plastic the world has already sent over under the guise of 'recycling'.

@emmathedilemma

I’m with you, nothing appeals about them. I don’t even like driving automatic cars! I live in a flat so can’t install a charger and there’s no way I’m spending half my life hanging out at the local petrol station waiting for it to charge. None would get me to my parents without stopping to charge on the way whereas my current car gets there in half a tank of petrol. The infrastructure just isn’t good enough for me at the moment, let alone the cost of them.

What's the distance to your parents' house? Our EV range is similar to a 3/4 tank of petrol.

How long do they take to charge? If, for instance, you did need a top up on a long journey?

@Tumbleweed101

How long do they take to charge? If, for instance, you did need a top up on a long journey?

It depends on the charger. I think a Tesla supercharger does 100 miles in 7 mins. A standard charger in a supermarket car park does 100 miles in about 25 min. I find its rare to need to change away from home though as we have over 300 mile range.

@FollowTheLizards

Could you rent an electric one for a few weeks to see how you get on with it?

I'm personally not going to get an EV anytime soon as I don't think the recycling infrastructure is where it needs to be to support a vast move of trying to get all drivers to go 'green'. What happens to all the batteries after they're used. I think only around half of the minerals used in batteries can be reused, so there currently seems little incentive to invest in these technologies. No doubt they'll all get flown over to South East Asia and China to sit with the billions of tons of plastic the world has already sent over under the guise of 'recycling'.

What happens to old EVs was another question I struggled to get clear answers on in terms of its overall green footprint. Certainly the dealers I spoke to could only speak in vague assumptions and platitudes rather than any actual facts.

It would be helpful to see more details on how the companies are reclaiming and recycling from EVs.

My boss had one as his commute is huge and the amount they had to pay in charging it on their electric bill was much higher than they’d calculated. He replaced it with an Audi TT.

AFAIK VED just goes into the government pot, like VAT fuel duty etc. NI is ring fenced to some extent but it all goes to pay for the roads. Fuel duty is another one where the government will have to make up the shortfall so will have to wait and see how that one develops.

Actually VED is ring fenced for roads again since 2018.

Get it. Why buy a car that’s going to be I delete soon?
We have a hybrid had it 12 years and have not had a single issue with it, not one, still going strong and has saved us a fortune in petrol. next one will be fully electric.
They’ve really come in and prices are dropping.

@NeedAHoliday2021

My boss had one as his commute is huge and the amount they had to pay in charging it on their electric bill was much higher than they’d calculated. He replaced it with an Audi TT.

I find this hard to believe. He just wanted a TT. Charging over night costs very little.

My husband has an electric car through work. It's fine for local journeys and would consider one if that was all I did but the charge doesn't last long enough to go long distance and if we are going a bit further we can't have the heating on or it drains the battery faster. It takes a while to charge although I have to admit I don't know how long the rapid chargers take on the motorways etc. I think once the technology improves and the batteries last longer then anyone would be silly not to have one with the price of petrol at the moment!

@NeedAHoliday2021

My boss had one as his commute is huge and the amount they had to pay in charging it on their electric bill was much higher than they’d calculated. He replaced it with an Audi TT.

With a huge commute he would make a huge saving. The cost of charging versus petrol is much, much lower.

It would be helpful to see more details on how the companies are reclaiming and recycling from EVs. Quite. It feels like the Government and car manufacturers are somewhat infantilising people, by not providing full cradle to grave information for these vehicles, so that people can make a properly informed decision.

I remember in the early 2000s speaking to someone about recycling. He worked in the field, and was able to provide detailed evidence of how we were actually creating a larger carbon footprint by flying all this waste overseas. As a result I'm very skeptical when I see a Government try to quickly roll out a new 'green scheme' which is going to be the new way we combat climate change. Never say never, but let's see adequate evidence of the scheme being fully thought out before putting all our eggs in one basket.

I think the savings vs ICE cars will start to diminish as electricity continues to get more expensive. EV-specific tariffs will disappear in time — my SIL has already had hers doubled — and there will be some kind of road tax/VED type tax too. There has to be. Similarly, driving incentives will vanish as well — EVs are already going to be charged the Congestion Charge from Dec 2025.

So I think the incentivised case for EVs will shrink between now and 2030 — probably incrementally, but still.

@oviraptor21

How much is the cheapest Tesla that everyone raves about and what is the range?

I have no plans to wait more than 15ish minutes for my car to charge. I can cover 2-300 miles with a 15 minute break and don't want to compromise that. Seems like the Tesla is the only car that would come close with its supercharging?

Honestly If those are your requirements - Probably only a Tesla Model 3 or Y or a Taycan or an EV6 combined with the extremely expensive Ionity chargers could do it under perfect conditions.

200 miles of range is at least 50kwh in the most efficient of cars, if you're driving at motorway speeds. That'd require you to get to where you were at the best position on the charging curve and get an average of 200kw charging to deliver it in 15 mins. Forget about 300 miles of range in practical terms in 15 mins yet.

@axolotlfloof - the supercharger can deliver 100 miles in 7 minutes - in a Model 3 or Y - but not always as it's dependent on how much juice you have in the battery, the temperature and depending on the charging station whether others are using it. 7 minutes is perfect conditions.

My Model S maxes out at 135 KW/h charging and needs about 30 kWh for 100 miles. So it's at the very best going to be around 15 mins for 100 miles.

As far as supermarket chargers delivering 100 miles in 25 mins - I'd love to know what ones you're using! The usual 7/11 kWh posts they have at best could deliver 50-60 miles in about in a hour on a Model 3. You would need to find a rapid to get 100 miles in 25 mins - that's around 70-100 KW charging, car dependent.

[quote SwanBuster]@axolotlfloof - the supercharger can deliver 100 miles in 7 minutes - in a Model 3 or Y - but not always as it's dependent on how much juice you have in the battery, the temperature and depending on the charging station whether others are using it. 7 minutes is perfect conditions.

My Model S maxes out at 135 KW/h charging and needs about 30 kWh for 100 miles. So it's at the very best going to be around 15 mins for 100 miles.

As far as supermarket chargers delivering 100 miles in 25 mins - I'd love to know what ones you're using! The usual 7/11 kWh posts they have at best could deliver 50-60 miles in about in a hour on a Model 3. You would need to find a rapid to get 100 miles in 25 mins - that's around 70-100 KW charging, car dependent.[/quote]
Tbh we have only needed to charge away from home once : supermarket charger, in Cornwall. It might have been a rapid one.
We are taking Tesla to France for Easter though so will get a bit more experience.
We charge every other night for 4 hrs with Octopus Go night tariff at 5p per kwh, and that does all our everyday driving.

See we camp and do say Norfolk to the coast in wales with only a quick 5 minute pee stop. I don’t think an electric car would be very good.

Also what about towing and roof racks etc we are a large family with a lot of kit when we camp also a lot of heavy work stuff to transport. Easier to send someone to fetch a can of petrol if you run out that find someone with their own genny if you run out of electric. Also hilarious at that point using petrol to power an electric car.

@Grenlei

I agree, £7k is not really cheap.

My previous petrol car was £600. That is really cheap. I wouldn't even describe my current £1500 diesel car as really cheap.

However when an electric car can do what my current car does (400+ miles from a tank, tows a trailer, huge boot capacity), for the same price then I'd get one. Until then I'm sticking with this one. Unless that idiot Khan further expands the ULEZ into my area in the next year or so when I'll be forced to sell it - but hopefully that won't happen.

Agreed. But used car prices are crazy now. Relatively cheap motoring for me meant a ~£3k petrol estate car with 60k miles that I knew I could get at least 12 years out of, which was my previous car bought over a decade ago.

Now that same thing would have cost 13k. That's why I bought the Tesla. Over its life it's - fingers crossed - going to be cheaper than that 13k petrol car to run all in.

I think we are in a bubble for all used cars. Tesla offered me a trade in at what I paid for the car recently, having done 20k miles. And did I bite their hand off? No - the market says it's worth even more! And with free charging, I'll only bite if they give me a brand new Model S Plaid (100k) as a swap 😂.