EV general discussion
- Thread starter Ricochet J
- Start date
Christ no, those things are made with slave labour, the batteries either catch fire or die within 7 years and make them worthless..
I thought a lot about this then decided to buy as I like to own my stuff. I think a big part of buying outright was actually having something at the end of the finance; spending £20k over 3 years on a lease and having nothing to show for it except the memories of driving to work and back in it didn't seem very wise. However, I've discovered it's no different to buying, with some caveats.
I decided to track my ongoing costs of buying versus the lease I was considering to see if I made the right decision. It would also help me decide when the time comes to change the car. Any excuse for a speadsheet lol.
- With leasing the costs are fixed and the ongoing cost is linear after the initial payment, predictable. No road tax increases, servicing and tyre costs. A lot less hassle unless you get a lemon. You hand the car back and start again.
- With buying (after a trade-in, large deposit and a bank loan) the monthly costs can vary because of the need for servicing, tyres and road tax increases. So the ongoing cost is not linear and more difficult to predict. Another factor is what to do when you decide to change the car, it's future value can be tough to know. For my calculations I followed a graph I found that compared depreciation of ICE vs BEV cars, which was quite bleak lol! Anyway, you've then got the decision to either have the pain of selling privately or take the kick in the nuts and sell it/trade it to dealer. Or of course keep it under your own terms.
What I've found is that in the 1st and 2nd years it's cheaper to buy rather than lease. Not easier, just cheaper and relies heavily on the future value of the car. Then for the 3rd and 4th years leasing becomes cheaper but not by much. For the 5th and 6th years the buying option becomes cheaper again because you can't lease a car for more than 4 years so have to start again (or buy the car if that's an option). The original loan for buying the car will have come to an end so you'll actually have something tangible at the end of the process.
After writing the above I think the OP was more interesting in people's concerns with reliability (car and brand) rather than the ongoing costs. Doh!
I think a lot of what you have found is determined by the deal you (the individual) take/make. Also you can continue to extend a lease for pretty much as long as the finance company will let you, unless you are confusing PCP (Personal Contract Purchase) with PCH (Personal Contract Hire) as PCP is not leasing. When you cash buy or pay off a great deal of a car a lot of folk don't take into account the opportunity cost of the money either.
For sure, plus I didn't mention salary sacrifice as that gets complicated to calculate with tax savings, insurance etc.
Soldato
- Joined
- 23 May 2006
- Posts
- 9,484
I am yet to go EV, but I've also got a trip to the Lake District in late August. It'll be about a 900 mile round trip.
Was very much debating whether I should hire an EV for the trip, as finding public chargers there don't seem to be an issue from what I've seen online, but I don't know whether the cost of hiring one would be worth it.
Soldato
- Joined
- 23 May 2006
- Posts
- 9,484
do you need to hire a car anyway or are you just looking for cheaper running? in truth if you will be relying fully on public charging you are unlikely to save anything and may cost you more.
if you have a car already then you are highly unlikely to save anything unless you will have access to home off peak EV charging
if you have a car already then you are highly unlikely to save anything unless you will have access to home off peak EV charging
Last edited:
Yeah already have a car. That makes sense. We'll be staying at an Airbnb, so no chance of home charging.
Man of Honour
- Joined
- 12 Jul 2005
- Posts
- 22,051
- Location
- Aberlour, NE Scotland
I own my 21 plate Leaf Tekna and had no worries about buying it. It wasn't because of some imaginary government order to buy one either. We had a 17 plate Ford B-Max Zetec Navigator 125bhp and when looking into the costs of having the timing belt changed (which would be next year) found out it was going to cost over £3k so said stuff that let's sell it while it's still worth something. So off I went looking at cars and doing some research which turned into a lot of research when the curve ball of a EV came up as I knew bugger all about them. After a few silly questions on here I had made my mind up and decided to go full EV. Originally I was looking at ICE or hybrids but most of the small engined cars seem to have engines which could be problematic due to wet belts (the person who thought that was a good idea should be shot!!) or other issues and hybrids seem to be the worst of both worlds unless you go for a PHEV and if you get one of those you may as well go full EV so I did. I looked around at what was available locally and saw that the Inverness Nissan dealer had a load of 21 plate Leafs in with low mileages. I was well aware of the mimitations regarding range but the furthest we drive is Aberdeen or Inverness, around 120 miles which the Leaf does easily so I picked out a favourite and a second choice and we went to look at them. My 1st choice was still there so I had a good look around it and it seemed fine so we went inside and spoke to the sales chap who grabbed the keys and showed us around the car then gave me the keys and told me to go for a drive. I was instantly hooked and came back half an hour later with a big grin on my face and paid for it there and then. I choose good because it has a shed load of options which my 2nd choice didn't have. I am now starting my third year of EV ownership and have zero regrets and will never go back to a ICE powered car. I am averaging 4.25 miles per kWh although stuck behind a lorry the other day managed a whopping 4.91 miles per kWh but that was a one off. In Winter it drops to around 3.65-3.75 miles per kWh. It costs pennies to run at 1.77p per mile so even when this 3p a mile farce kicks in it's still extremely cheap motoring. I just love driving it, it's very comfortable with loads of room inside and a big boot. The only thing I can fault it on is the back seats don't fold flat but then again nor did the B-Max's back seats fold completely flat so it's a minor detail.
Based on an average MPG of 50 and the current petrol p/litre going round here (which seems to be on the up again), I've worked out the Lake District trip will cost me around £125. Sheesh. Yeah, hiring an EV will still cost a lot more.
Soldato
- Joined
- 23 May 2006
- Posts
- 9,484
of course if you want to give an EV a really good go and experience it at its most inconvenient knowing that owning one will save you money most of the time if you can home charge ... then it may be worth it and to hell with the cost..
If it were me I'd be hiring an Aston Martin for the trip and having a blast!
Associate
- Joined
- 19 May 2010
- Posts
- 2,465
- Location
- Cheltenham
Best time to experiment - it won’t save you money but if you want to experience EV ownership at its most extreme inconvenience then it’s a good time to do it! If you want convenience, just stick to diesel.
Soldato
- Joined
- 14 Oct 2007
- Posts
- 10,409
- Location
- newcastle
Just to update, just traveled back to Newcastle from RAF leeming, 75mph the whole way and got 275wh per mile or 3.64miles per KWH, quite happy with that.
@Nabinium If you have chargers at your accomodation/destination, go for it. If you don't, I'd think more than once about it.
It's not the travel there and back, that will be fine but there are not that many public chargers in the lakes themselves. It's school holidays so the ones that are there are probably seeing higher than normal utilisation.
The only rapid chargers in the lakes themselves is 4 in Keswick and 12 in Windermere. There are some slow chargers scattered about but they are few and far between.
It's not the travel there and back, that will be fine but there are not that many public chargers in the lakes themselves. It's school holidays so the ones that are there are probably seeing higher than normal utilisation.
The only rapid chargers in the lakes themselves is 4 in Keswick and 12 in Windermere. There are some slow chargers scattered about but they are few and far between.
Yeah I can see why that's an issue.
In hindsight, I probably should have filtered for accommodation with EV charging before booking the Airbnb that we've got
I know for next time though!
Associate
- Joined
- 19 May 2010
- Posts
- 2,465
- Location
- Cheltenham
Yeah I can see why that's an issue.
In hindsight, I probably should have filtered for accommodation with EV charging before booking the Airbnb that we've got
On the plus side (if you follow my EV adventure posts here) I wasn’t the lakes recently on holiday and discovered on the way up that my DC charging was goosed - managed the week on AC charging only as there was a hotel one a few miles from the Airbnb and I just left it there charging overnight.
Usually I will filter Zapmap by dc rapid only becuase it’s so much more convenient, by an AC charger you can use overnight is also an option.
When family are involved it’s probably best to leave it - experiment when it’s only you in the car!