Electric car

[AlmostOver22]

Hi all,

I see people on MN say that they wouldn’t buy an EV because the infrastructure isn’t good enough. Does this apply to London? I’m thinking of getting an EV because my work will contribute to it but I don’t have a driveway or garage. I’ve looked near my house and I can see loads of charging points. There’s an on street one on my road and a car park of 12 round the corner as well as individual ones dotted around, the supermarket ones at the petrol stations and a few Tesla charging stations on the way to and from my work. Would you get an EV in these circumstances or is it just as crap in London as anywhere else to charge a car? Worth saying that we never do long cross country trips but occasionally drive 40 miles to a family member.

…forgot to say thanks in advance!

Some bits of London are very well provided with charging points - for example Wandsworth started doing lampposts about 2 years ago and parts of the borough are now the areas with the most points per address nationally (jolly handy when next to no-one has off-street parking)

Other areas not at that level yet.

But it looks as if your area is - if you have several in places where you are happy to park and likely to be able to do so, then what more do you need?

I think the charging infrastructure is way, way better in London than pretty much anywhere else in the UK. (I used to live in London, now live in Edinburgh, which is pretty poor for charging points just now.)

It's quite telling; when I go back to London, I see so many EVs driving around compared to elsewhere.

I don't want to tell you what to do but I'd definitely be open to an EV if I still lived in London. Whereas here, I'm waiting for either the infrastructure to improve, or for us to buy a house with a garage and driveway so I can install a charge point at home.

I live outside of London and haven't had any issues with our EV. It's a Tesla so the network does help but our nearest Tesla charging station is about 40 minutes away anyway. We do the majority of our charging at home. The only times we charge elsewhere is when we're doing a long journey and we always pass several charging stations regardless of what direction we're travelling. We also charge at a nearby shopping centre because it's much easier to find a parking space for EVs.

I drive an EV and I live in London in a flat with no driveway or parking lot! We park on our street and charge as we go. We use the ZapMap app to plan where you park. It's actually great since currently there's no congestion charge for EVs, so for example, on a Sunday we might drive right into the centre of town and park in a charging space next to Tower Bridge or in Covent Garden or something. By the time we've finished our activity the EV has had a good charge. We've also then not had to pay for a parking space either!

I also park in a charging space whenever I pop to shops or go shopping in a mall (eg Westfield or Canary Wharf).

There are loads of chargers dotted around to use as you go about your business. Also if your workplace has one then you'll be all set as you can charge whilst at work.

I very occasionally use a rapid charger for a specific top up if I know we are going to be making a longer journey eg going on a weekend away. I'll find a petrol station with a rapid charger and get a coffee while I get it up to full.

It's actually better than you'd think outside of London too, with a bit of planning. We went on holiday to Norfolk and successfully charged throughout. We planned our journey up to include a pitstop for lunch next to a rapid charger, and once we'd arrived we found Norfolk had lots of chargers. We even found some in pub car parks so we could charge up whilst having lunch!

Do you have to charge every day? I’d be doing max 25 miles of driving daily. Looking at getting a Tesla model y or a Hyundai ioniq 5 or a polestar something or other

No not at all, of course not! We drive a Zoe and the full capacity is roughly 220 miles. A Tesla will be significantly more I think.

They advise you to keep the charge a vice 20% and below 80% for optimum battery health. (Though if I'm going on a long journey I'll top it up to 100%). Things like use of air con, cold weather and acceleration will impact on battery usage.

I just top it up a bit each time I'm out on errands basically - assuming it's convenient for me to do so.

Should have read above 20%

I think you have to look at your own needs as to how often/how long it'll need charging and where are the charges on your regular journeys. No one else can answer that for you.

But it sounds as if you're very well covered for charging options, which makes London sound a lot better than most other areas of the country.

In our small town, there are only 4 charging points that I'm aware of. Two on the on-street main shopping street and two in the Tesco car park. It's something that has put me off from considering an EV to buy. To charge at home, I'd have to run an extension lead across the pavement (on street parking, no driveway nor garage), which I don't think is allowable due to trip hazard. I really wouldn't want to have to keep taking it into town to park for a few hours (?) to charge it.

I work from home most of the time, and use my car mainly for dog walking (usually to the shore or countryside, neither having charging points) or driving to client's homes, and I don't think they'd appreciate me asking them if I can plug in my car!).

I think the reason I’m asking is that what seems fine now might become a nightmare if only a few more people in my area buy an EV. There’s a lot of charging points but also a lot of potential ev owners

Yeah this is a valid thought, but one which the government (this one or hopefully a new one🙏) will have to address urgently due to the petrol car ban starting in 2030. I wouldn't let that thought stop you at this moment in time at all though. A lot of people don't understand EV's and there's a lot of misconceptions. A lot of people will stick with what they know until they have no choice.

Being a pioneer is good! Go for it!

In our small town, there are only 4 charging points that I'm aware of. Two on the on-street main shopping street and two in the Tesco car park.

That's crap @Kazzyhoward - you should write to your council.

It's chicken and egg. Council say they will constantly review usage etc and will put in more charging spaces when the existing ones are used enough. But they won't be used more until more people buy EVs, and they won't do that because they're worried they won't be able to charge them.

It's a bit like how council's deal with dangerous roads - they won't act until there's been at least one serious/fatal road accident.

Just no proactivity at all. And no, contacting them is pointless as they won't do anything. I'm friendly with a local councillor and she tears her hair out trying to deal with the council officials who, she says, always have an agenda of their own and run the council as they want to, mostly ignoring/side-lining the councillors.

@DeanVillage that’s exactly what I wanted someone to say! I think I’m going to go for it… aside from the logistical issues it does actually represent a monthly saving for me even if I have to pay as much for the electricity as I currently do for petrol because of the employer contribution. I’ll let you know how I get on with the logistics…

Great OP! And in any case the price of a charge is minuscule compared to petrol!

My car scheme gives me free membership of a lot of the charging companies eg Shell ReCharge, BP Pulse and Source London. It might be worth enquiring in case your employer offers free membership to any.

Is it still cheaper with today’s electricity prices?

Oh goodness yes!! Miles cheaper! You honestly think EV's cost anything like a petrol car to run??!!!

Look, a lot depends on which charging company you're using as each has different charges (download the ZapMap app and you'll see the vast range - obviously in the future the gov will need to streamline these services). But by way of example I plugged my Zoe into a Source London one this week for a few hours whilst I took my child to soft play. It cost me £5 and gave me around 60% extra charge.

The rapid chargers can often cost more. Last weekend we went in a long journey to see relatives and so I took it to an ESB energy one located on a petrol station forecourt. I left it plugged in for 30 mins whilst I popped to a shop and went from 20% to 100%. This cost us £15.

I haven't had a petrol car for years but I seem to recall it costing me £50 to fill up my Renault 205 and that was 15 years ago! I expect it's twice that now?!

And as I said you generally get free membership of a number of the charging companies depending on your deal / package.

No road tax, my insurance is covered, no congestion charge.

That is insane - I’m sold! My car costs £90 ish to fill for not many more miles than you’d get from a Tesla charge

We’re leaning towards a Tesla because of the Tesla Superchargers at Westfield White City, but there are also chargers popping up in the street all over the place where we live in West London.