To think there are no real perks to driving an electric car?

[MyHeartyBlueShaker]

You’d think there would be more incentives - cheaper parking, easier charging access, or some kind of priority. But in reality, it often feels like there are just extra costs and hassle. What are the actual rewards?

I don't think it would be cheaper for me, I only do 1k -2k miles a year, I would probably get one if I did more miles but it doesn't really seem worth the outlay. DH always fills it up so I never go to the petrol station anyway. My tax was £0, going up to £20 this year, I think EVs are more than that

You can charge quickly if the chargers are working. Although whether the car is fully charged is another matter according to research.

Time taken to drive anywhere is irrelevant in many ways. It’s speed that matters and whether it’s freezing cold or not. We are trying a 2 hour drive tomorrow. We will see what it needs but it’s non motorway and probably slow traffic. Hopefully no stops!

@Dymaxion An awful lot of EVs lose shed loads of money in the first 6 months. We didn’t buy new. However if sales stall (and they have) then fewer second hand are around but ours was an ex demonstrator. Garages sell them off to meet the quotas to try and avoid government fines. They discount them. Probably not a sustainable position.

I forgot to say that it’s anticipated we need 250,000 chargers to meet demand after 2030. (Or 2035?!) and at the moment we have 77,000. Not enough,

Just charged mine with 200 miles for £1.50. It's also beautifully smooth a quiet to drive. Plus I'd say not polluting the atmosphere or using fossil fuels is a perk of sorts?

Except none of this is true. Did you just make this up in your head?

It can be true in a car with a low range. Some don’t actually go very far!

Only till December

Yep. December 25! What a great Christmas present.

Pleased to see the positives comments (from
EV owners). I’m waiting for my EV to arrive over the next few weeks, can’t wait. It’s a lease scheme through work which covers all expenses (apart from charging). Wouldn’t be able to afford to buy one, sadly.

So get a car with a long range. It's just not true to say they are only good for short journeys and they need a half-hour charge. I can do 3 hours in mine (and everyone needs a break after 3 hours). Charge for 10 minutes (anywhere! The Dog and Duck in Little-Arse-End-of-Nowhere. A service station on the M11. A garden centre carpark) and be on my way.

Petrol burns too, in fact the energy density in petrol is far higher (that's why petrol cars can go further) so there is much much more energy in the fire.
Petrol engines wear out too, people I know who have replaced an engine quote figures in the 10-20K region
I charge on cheap overnight energy, roughly 2p a mile, or free from solar over summer
I charge on my drive, no problem with cables
I start every day with a "full tank", unlike a petrol car so 200 miles is plenty

These are the reasons we don't mention these things, they aren't actual problems

I'd love an electric car but sadly we don't have off street parking so not really possible. My car is so old it still has handles to wind down the windows so I'm ready for a new one!

Both myself and my DH have just converted to electric. Benefits for us are

No fuel costs - we charge up at work
Cheap ev tariff for home electric, so when we do charge up at home, it’s only 6p a KWh.
We also use this time for our white goods so it’s actually reduced our monthly electric costs
l ove driving the car too. I always have been a bit of a petrol head and thought I’d hate driving an electric car, but I love it. They are really quick, the power delivery is different and I love the regenerative braking.

I live remotely and I’ve never had issue charging on long journeys, plug it into a fast charger, go for a wee and grab a take away cuppa and it’s ready to go. 20 mins for 80% charge

I love mine and I’m not funding some of the most hideous regimes on the planet by buying petrol/oil.

Total electricity load has dropped by about 15% from a peak around 2005, and continues to drop due to energy efficiency. Typically the overnight load is around 50%of the day time load, There is plenty of electricity available

This is yet another non-problem

Makes them a great used buy

Agree @BlueTitShark is talking pure rubbish

our car does 330 or so miles to visiting a family member 100 miles away, and getting back again, is no problem.
and if I need to charge it, I find a rapid charger and in about 8 minutes I’ll be back to 90%. I’ve sometimes gone to the loo and got a coffee and it’s been 100% in the time it’s taken me to do that.

oh and we drove it to the south of France last year, and back, and it was no hassle whatsoever

Yeah it's a bloody cheek. Entice people with these benefits then remove them . Not 100% but think they might be charging for Dartford tunnel as well

Diesel cars dont tend to catch fire

The information about short battery life is from in house testing rapid charge followed by rapid discharge - in real life most charging is done slower overnight or from energy recapture on braking or going downhill so actually the batteries last longer.

I'm on my second EV (first got written off by drunk driver) and I wouldn't go back to petrol.

We charge at home - I would have reservations if we had to rely on the public charging network.

For those saying batteries need to be replaced after 8 years, I'm not sure that's necessarily the case. It's not like the battery suddenly stops working, more like the range gradually decreases. Obviously this wouldn't suit someone who does a lot of miles, but there are people who only do short journeys who would be able to buy an older EV with lower range. My first EV's range hadn't decreased at all after 8 years.

The recent high profile Luton Airport carpark fire is reported to have been started by a diesel Range Rover,

Cars of either sort don't actually catch fire often

My wife and I both have electric cars because, as long as you can charge them at home, they are better in every way compared with a petrol or diesel car except for range, and range is hardly ever an issue with modern cars with decent ranges.

Because its almost all incorrect tropes that have beeb trotted out ad infinitum.

10 times less likely to catch fire than a petrol/diesel car.

Battery degrades in efficiency at about tbe same rate as a petrol engine amd should last ten years minimum and often warrantied for 100,000 miles.

350miles, and none of mine have ever been off by more than 1% of what was predicted.

3-5 miles per kwh, 7p off peak per kwh = what they said.

Sitting in traffic uses 0 charge, much more efficient than idling an engine, or even stop-start engines, if its not moving, it used no energy other than heating/lights, and theyll last 50-60hrs.

I have a 77kwh battery and my range is around 330 summer 280 winter. Overnight charging is 7p kWh . 7x77 =539 kWh£5.39 for those miles.

Hmm they are easily set up to not allow this