Maybe an electric car would suit us

[monkey_boy]

I'm curious how they work range wise in traffic with the AC, radio, lights on etc

In theory it's horrendous because in an hour you'd use 20% of you battery (in the Zoe) if you had everything on full blast.

In reality it makes sod all difference. On the coldest days this year having the heater on full, with radio and lights it uses 4kw/hr, so if you were to sit like that for an hour it would use 4 of the 21kw/hrs in the battery (for the Zoe, the Leaf has 24 or a new optional 30kw/hr battery). It might sound like a lot but in reality, you'd never want to get close enough to empty without charging that it would matter.

At this point its worth noting that cold weather itself will have a far greater impact on the range than your using the heater, so if you're running that close to the wire in terms of distance/charge on a daily basis it's probably not the car for you.

Surely an ideal electric car customer is one who does lots of miles* and can therefore maximise savings on fuel. Someone who does hardly any miles doesn't really need to stick 18 grand down on a Leaf.

* unfortunate that electric cars don't have a big enough range for their ideal customer

Of course it follows that with a more economical car, the more miles you do the greater the saving. A Smart ForTwo CDI will do 70+mpg so why do 30k miles a year in that?

depending on cost, maybe consider a hybrid car that can use both electricity and petrol/diesel/gas. while it seems unlikely your wife will really need the fuel part of the car, it does make sense to have it, as my current understanding of electric cars is that, they can take a long time to charge, and charging stations are not widely available, so on the off chance that she needs to make a long journey, she can have the reasurance of knowing that she wont end up stuck somewhere waiting for her car to charge/ to be towed to the nearest charging station.

I think if you do it on cost alone, you'll struggle to make a case for it except in very specific circumstances. The ideal usage profile for an electric car is someone who travels up to about 60 miles a day, can charge overnight on Eco 7, and can have it as their second car so that the first car is available for long trips.

 

[McPhee]

I bought a Zoe two months ago. Any questions, just ask away. I think it's fantastic. No regrets whatsoever!

 

[Mr_Sukebe]

As above, a Zoe.
Sure, it's not a particularly nice car, just an appliance.
It is however for the requirements suggested probably the cheapest way to run almost any car.

 

[Dis86]

Buy her a bike.

 

[Mr-White]

Electric is the way forward, I bought a V8 instead. Make the most while you still can

 

[Jamesyboyjim]

I bought a Zoe two months ago. Any questions, just ask away. I think it's fantastic. No regrets whatsoever!

One thing I've wondered is, do they come with a charge point/adaptor thing, or are they an expensive extra you HAVE to pay for? You are making savings on fuel but what about electric? If you are charging a car every night / every other night, has your energy bill risen by much? Do you expect it to rise by a lot?

 

[joeyjojo]

I suspect with the environmental targets the government have now they will continue to support electric vehicles for quite some time.

Yeah like they did with the green deal, feed-in tariffs, and solar subsidies. Oh wait...

One thing I've wondered is, do they come with a charge point/adaptor thing, or are they an expensive extra you HAVE to pay for? You are making savings on fuel but what about electric? If you are charging a car every night / every other night, has your energy bill risen by much? Do you expect it to rise by a lot?

You can usually plug them into a regular 13A socket but a full charge takes 8 ish hours. Otherwise you need to install a fast charger.

EVs cost typically <2p per mile, quite a bit less than an equivalent petrol (about 10p/mile). Without fuel duty there would be no competition but as it is plus electric car efficiency makes them cheaper to run than fuel cars.

 

[peter]

new car

Ours arrived yesterday, for £150 a month all in, and having other petrol cars it makes sense . After 2 years we can purchase or return, so in effect we are getting a new car for the same running costs as our old car. I would not buy due to the bad depreciation and upcoming new models. Surprised on how large it is compered to a golf.

 

[Bagpu55]

I have a golf GTE that has an optimistic range of 31miles on full charge. Radio and lights don't noticeably drain but heating and AC do a lot. Range also has dropped in the winter so I would say I get maybe 18miles realistically in an urban commute with no heating on. That being said its amazing and I love it and all my work, school drop off and community visits I can use pure electric as have a charge point at work. I basically pay very little fuel wise. Ive had it since December covering 2400 miles, of the petrol I have used on longer journeys the electrical offset means I am averaging +130MPG (even when I thrash it a bit in GTE mode). If the distances suit and you have access to a charger go for it.

 

[McPhee]

One thing I've wondered is, do they come with a charge point/adaptor thing, or are they an expensive extra you HAVE to pay for? You are making savings on fuel but what about electric? If you are charging a car every night / every other night, has your energy bill risen by much? Do you expect it to rise by a lot?

Most cars come with a free charge point, part funded by a government grant. I believe with BMW the charge point is £395 because... BMW.

I pay about 10p per kW for my electricity. I've done about 1600 miles since Jan 9th and my leccy bill has gone up by £12/month. That's about a fifth of the amount I was paying out for fuel last year. EVs are greatly affected by then weather, so I'd expect that do drop to maybe £9/month over the summer.

Temoerature, high winds and heavy rain are the main things that affect EV range. Winter range in the Zoe is typically 75 miles. I'm expecting 95+ in the summer. Heating has an effect too, but it's not as pronounced. A few miles from a full charge if you leave the AC to manage things. The Nav system, window wipers, headlights etc. use negligible amounts of power. Bear in mind these cars batteries are measured in kilowatt hours, while most bulbs use a few watts per hour. It's an insignificant drain. It would take days for the bulbs alone to drain one of these batteries.

 

[monkey_boy]

As above, a Zoe.
Sure, it's not a particularly nice car, just an appliance.
It is however for the requirements suggested probably the cheapest way to run almost any car.

I honestly preferred driving it to my e53 X5, and again for the money I don't think you can find a better equipped, quieter car. Unfortuantely I reversed into a tree so I have a hateful little corsa auto to punish me for being stupid while the Zoe is fixed.

One thing I've wondered is, do they come with a charge point/adaptor thing, or are they an expensive extra you HAVE to pay for? You are making savings on fuel but what about electric? If you are charging a car every night / every other night, has your energy bill risen by much? Do you expect it to rise by a lot?

Renault do a free 7kW charger whereas that is optional for some others. The Outlander PHEV comes with just a 13a charging lead and you have to pay extra for something won't take all eternity to charge.

Ours arrived yesterday, for £150 a month all in, and having other petrol cars it makes sense . After 2 years we can purchase or return, so in effect we are getting a new car for the same running costs as our old car. I would not buy due to the bad depreciation and upcoming new models. Surprised on how large it is compered to a golf.

Looks brilliant, where did you get that deal, is it still on and is there a link to it?

 

[peter]

Deal was on hot uk deals . Did not last long from baileys nissan Canterbury . Give jack there a call.