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Original poster

Come and talk to me about ELECTRIC cars, please?

57 replies

JustCallMeDory · 04/12/2015 09:43

I know this should be in the 'cars' topic, but I'm putting it here for more traffic (har, har)

We're about to get an electric car on trial for about a year. I'm very excited, but also trying to do my sums and work out how it will affect our monthly budget.

I can't be sure at the moment, but I think we'll probably need to fully charge it every night. At the moment I pay a set direct debit to our electricity supplier every month.

Can anyone give me any idea by how much I'll need to add on to my direct debit each month to cover the cost in electricity of a nightly recharge?

Any info, tips or practical advice will be very, very handy! Flowers

OP posts:
redbinneo · 04/12/2015 20:24

You need to factor in the cost of the occasional battery replacement. That's a few grand.

Girlwhowearsglasses · 04/12/2015 20:24

I thought you had to have a special circuit and outside socket fitted for it for the Nissan Leaf for around £500? Is that not true?

MoonriseKingdom · 04/12/2015 20:25

We have a Renault Zoe - had it about 8 months. Day to day driving with charging at home no problem at all.

www.ecotricity.co.uk
Would advise getting an ecotricity card for free charging at motorway services.

Some places are easy to get to, some not so much. We did a holiday to Holland (we live in Doncaster) in it earlier this year via Hull to Rotterdam ferry. On the other hand trying to plan a holiday to Whitby was pretty much impossible.

It does need a bit more planning for longer journeys but we love our car. Good luck!! Grin

00100001 · 04/12/2015 20:25

how much are you spending on petrol and tax each month?

TheFirstNoelHeadbands · 04/12/2015 20:27

You don't have to have the special socket no, you can use the charger that comes with the car with a normal socket.

The PodPoint was about £200 and Nissan paid for it.

Original poster
JustCallMeDory · 04/12/2015 23:25

gingham you think you're safe. But this car's got a range extender although I've no idea how to use it yet

OP posts:
Original poster
JustCallMeDory · 04/12/2015 23:36

moonrise thanks for the link - that sounds good.

We won't save on tax or have to replace the battery as it's replacing another company car and it'll go back after about a year. We thought it was worth trying for a year as there's no long-term commitment.

We'll be running our high-tech car from a plug socket in the garage dangled out through a cat-flap in the door classy

What I'm really looking forward to, though, is being able to drive into central London without the congestion charge. Does anyone know how easy / impossible it is to find a free parking space with a charger within shouting distance of Soho or the south bank?

OP posts:
Castrovalva · 05/12/2015 13:54

I think it upped the bills by a tenner or so (made some other changes to the way we used energy at the same time so hard to tell) but definitely worth the saving compared to petrol.

Pretty quiet in operation, just a gentle whizz from the fans and a whir from the motor. Really space age sound, not whiny and clicky like a milk float. It does feel like the future. We also have a petrol car and I now really resent putting petrol in, checking the oil etc it feels like maintaining a bloody steam engine compared to plugging in and forgetting.

We have a podpoint on the wall outside, no special circuits needed, took them an hour dope so to fit, it should have cost £100 but we didn't pay, Nissan did. You don't need one, but it charges faster. We ran an lead out the window until we got it installed.

moonrise we live not too far from you, N Yorkshire is crap for chargers isn't it? We hardly ever go that way now for days out which is a pity. We should all form an alliance of mumsnetters with charge points, there's bound to be enough in those areas with no chargers. :)

MoonriseKingdom · 05/12/2015 14:06

castrovalva
It's a shame that area is so poor for chargers. It's really shortsighted as the government has been subsidising there installation.

The Netherlands is amazing for electric chargers. The FastNed super fast chargers on the motorway generate their electricity by solar panels so it really is very green (although not cheap). We stayed at Duinrell holiday park and discovered when we got there a free charge point which wasn't mentioned on the website.

Another tip for new electric car users is that IKEA has free charge points. Combine that with a free coffee via the family card to feel really smug Wink

MoonriseKingdom · 05/12/2015 14:10

Also for anyone who is really interested in the latest electric car technology check out 'Fully charged' on UTube presented by Robert Llewellyn (Kryten from Red Dwarf).

VulcanWoman · 05/12/2015 14:17

This sounds great, looking forward to the future where I hope this will be the norm.

Castrovalva · 05/12/2015 15:30

IKEA does have free charge points but they are utterly crap at policing them, and they are usually near the entrance, so you get there and find some nugget in a petrol car parked so you can't charge.

Staff will put an announcement on the tannoy if you ask but freely admit the owner doesn't often answer, as they know damn well what they've done and don't care.

We've been sat waiting to get in to charge for ages, ( It's far from home,and without any intermediate charge points so we roll in on out last few miles and have to charge there in order to get out!)

Note to retailers, don't put charge points in prime locations, it only encourages the dicks to park in them, and please, please police them. Waitrose is good for this, no sooner you pull in the space then the security guard pops up and checks you are actually going to charge. It's fab.

Castrovalva · 05/12/2015 15:32

moon yeah, it's annoying, it costs so little to put the chargers in as ut is subsidised. I'm told it is town and parish councils being a bit nimby, and not wanting to lose parking spaces. Irritating and short sighted.

Original poster
JustCallMeDory · 05/12/2015 19:32

Thanks Castro all interesting. I'm going to have to do some research about local charging points, but as we're in the middle of the countryside I very much doubt there'll be any in the surrounding fields.

We're just hoping that DH's commute too and from work will be comfortably within the daily range, even though it's a very twisty up-hill-down-dale journey.

OP posts:
Castrovalva · 05/12/2015 19:34

www.zap-map.com

And the associated app are alll you need. Once you have an ev it is invaluable in letting you know what is live and working and a street view pic of it.

Original poster
JustCallMeDory · 05/12/2015 19:38

Sounds great - going to download the app now. 9 days and counting until the car arrives. Woooo hoooo.

OP posts:
Castrovalva · 05/12/2015 19:40

dory hilly routes are great as you get miles back through regenerative breaking.

The on board sat nav will offer you a choice of fast route, short route or Eco route wilt the lowest fuel consumption. Our Eco route to the nearest city takes us on a hilly route.

Have you considered a 24 or 48 hr test drive? you can do the route and see how it goes. Also range is variable depending on weather - heat inept a waste products from the engine so turning heating or aircon down will extend the range considerably. Also as the car gets run in a bit the range gets better and better.

Castrovalva · 05/12/2015 19:41

Must read thread dory sorry

How exciting. :)

Castrovalva · 05/12/2015 19:42

Inept =isn't

Original poster
JustCallMeDory · 05/12/2015 20:11

Regenerative breaking?! Really? That's great news. I had thought that the range would be drastically cut.

The chance to have this car was sprung on us only a week ago, so I'm completely under researched about the whole thing. This thread is very helpful, thanks all.

What's the best thing about having an EV have you found, day to day? (besides cost). Is it just the warm smug glow of knowing you're not adding hugely to the country's pollution problem? Or are there more practical benefits?

OP posts:
Original poster
JustCallMeDory · 05/12/2015 20:24

Oh, oh! Another question for all you EV owners - have you found that pedestrians can't hear you as you approach? Or is the electric 'whine' enough to alert them?

OP posts:
Crunchycookie · 05/12/2015 20:34

My neighbour has an electric car and says its 48p to charge each time but you can't really go long distances with it.

gabsdot45 · 05/12/2015 20:35

We find that we do creep up on people in our car. It's very quiet. Often pedestrians don't hear us.

Castrovalva · 05/12/2015 22:22

Cost

Smug environmental benefit ( DH calls the petrol car the planet killer)

Mechanically simple, no oil, air filters to change etc not much to check over

Regenerative braking, brake pads don't wear out as they are rarely used

Quiet, you do tend to creep up on pedestrians and cyclists, but you get used to it and adjust your driving accordingly.

Unbelievable acceleration ( will beat a sports car off the lights) - astounding torque and no need for gears

Not tiring to drive, especially easy in traffic. Very big benefit imo. The simple controls,no gears and in-cabin silence all contribute

You can do long distance, you just need to plan a bit. There's a good video on John o goats to lands end using public charge points. We do MORE long distance in ours, because it's so cheap, and smug.

Great for in cities, no congestion charge, and many towns and cities where parking is very expensive, or short stay only you can park right in the centre and charge all day for free or very low cost. Again, We visit more tourist cities than we ever did because of this.

Being part of a community in a nice old fashioned way. Whenever we stop to charge at a service station you have a chat and compare notes with fellow ev drivers, or get interested petrol car drivers asking questions. Fellow ev drivers are usually very helpful.

So, no no real benefit ;)