EV general discussion

As a general rule, Tesla chargers at motorway service areas are Tesla only (there are a growing handful of exceptions currently), elsewhere they are are usually open to all (again there are some exceptions).

There is usually a huge bank of Applegreen or Gridserve chargers right next to them at the services anyway.

While all chargers and cars (not withstanding those previously mentioned legacy cars) are CCS, there are two underlying battery voltage standards, 800V and 400V.

If you charge an 800V car like the Ionic 5 previously mentioned on a 400V charger, it’s slow as the car as to step the voltage up and it can only charge so fast when doing so. The vast majority of chargers are 800V anyway, except Tesla chargers which are 400V only.

There is no issues plugging a 400V car into an 800V charger.
 
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What about depreciation and battery capacity drain over time risks?

I have the option of leasing (something I've never done) or buying outright.
 
Buddy said:
What about depreciation and battery capacity drain over time risks?

I have the option of leasing (something I've never done) or buying outright.
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Depreciation happens on every car - as long as you’re not buying brand new then you’re fine. If you’re leasing or PCP then you know the costs beforehand.

Battery capacity isn’t a thing in reality that will affect 99% of drivers - in your case even less so with your mileage. Keep it topped at 90% during the week then go to 100% just before you leave for the long journey and it’ll be fine.
 
Been looking at leasing an ev. The majority of my trips are only small and even my big trips once or twice a month are only 40-50 miles

I have a drive and solar panels so quite honestly think I’d be an ideal candidate.

i don’t need anything big but also don’t like super small. The frontera deals at the moment look very appealing to be honest.
 
If you do a lot of motorway miles and have range anxiety, then just get a (used) tesla
Having access to the supercharger network at cost price for electricity is definitely worth it IMO
A 3-4 year old tesla has taken the brunt of the depreciation up front already that the residual depreciation follows the normal curve of an ICE equivalent
 
Buddy said:
What about depreciation and battery capacity drain over time risks?

I have the option of leasing (something I've never done) or buying outright.
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From what I understand the Depreciation of an EV is over exaggerated mostly to sell anti ev narratives, in can be worse than ICE cars in some cases but generally its similar. Pretry sure if leasing or using salary sacrifice the Depreciation isnt really much of an issue. In most cases they use the RRP then compare it to cheapest an auto trader, where as in most cases if you purchase a car outright or on PCP the price you pay can be several 1000s less than the RRP. As for the battery in my ioniq 5 after 2 years 20k ish miles according to the official battery test it still had 100% capacity, its not really something to worry about.
 
Buddy said:
Hello gents, I'm in the market for replacing my 2014 X5. I'm a little out the loop but I need a car that can do trips between London and Birmingham to visit the rents once a month. My daily work commutes are tiny and it would be great to get cost savings here. Therefore, I'm considering a plug in hybrid. The various (paid) reviews vary massively. Any recommendations for a family SUV with decent tech?
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You don't say where in London, but if you go the EV route then I would say you need a car with a proper 300 mile range, which rules out some vehicles but not all.

Yes, you can get a car with less range like an Ionic 5 and it will charge quickly but public charging is expensive. Though I guess if you are only doing it once a month it's not going to cost loads per year

Leasing can be a good if you get a stock vehicle that's on offer. If you want to stick with an SUV there's plenty of those about in the EV space as well.

Here's an example of an estate style car for a reasonable price.

www.leaseloco.com

Volkswagen ID.7 Tourer 250kW 4MOTION GTX 86kWh 5dr Auto Lease: 24 Month 10000 Miles 1 Months Upfront

Lease a Volkswagen ID.7 Tourer 250kW 4MOTION GTX 86kWh 5dr Auto Over 24 Months with 10000 Miles PA and 1 Months Upfront Today Via LeaseLoco
www.leaseloco.com www.leaseloco.com
 
LiE said:
as an EV ages are the concerns of the battery replacement costs not affecting resale values?
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Most batteries are warranted for 8 years or 100k from new as long as you keep them serviced as per the schedule. You can have them repaired and company’s now do cell replacements too for reasonable costs.
 
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LiE said:
as an EV ages are the concerns of the battery replacement costs not affecting resale values?
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MOOGLEYS said:
Most batteries are warranted for 8 years or 100k from new as long as you keep them serviced as per the schedule. You can have them repaired and company’s now do cell replacements too for reasonable costs.
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^ this

in the uk, all EVs are legally required to have 8 years battery-only + up to 100k miles warranty

with tesla, they have battery and motor warranty for 8 years + up to 100k/120k miles
one can argue this kind of drivetrain warranty is much, much better than any ICE equivalent seeing as it's normally only 3 years for any marque brand eg BMW (i know you can pay for extended warranty etc)
 
Journey said:
No, as they all come with an 8 year battery warranty.
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But if I buy a 3 year old EV to mitigate that initial depreciation, and keep it for 4 years, surely it’s going to take a hit when I come to sell with only 1 year battery warranty remaining. My current car is 8 years old and I’ve owned it for 7.
 
The evidence points to lower residuals on EV. Doesnt matter about personal logic.

The warranty’s are just if they go below 80% SoH.

We already saw a 104k ev6 being written off due to battery failure after 4 yrs. not sure how a private buyer could stomach that
 
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LiE said:
But if I buy a 3 year old EV to mitigate that initial depreciation, and keep it for 4 years, surely it’s going to take a hit when I come to sell with only 1 year battery warranty remaining. My current car is 8 years old and I’ve owned it for 7.
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How on earth would you know if it was worth less? All cars lose value - worry about it in 4 years time when the world has succumb to nuclear apocalypse and enjoy driving it now.
 
LiE said:
But if I buy a 3 year old EV to mitigate that initial depreciation, and keep it for 4 years, surely it’s going to take a hit when I come to sell with only 1 year battery warranty remaining. My current car is 8 years old and I’ve owned it for 7.
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So how much is your current car worth? How much did you pay for it and what is it worth now? Also why would you buy a 3 year old car if you last bought a 1 year old car?

EDIT: Closest or best ref I could find is a TM3 SRP 2019 @ £13.2k with just below UK average mileage - https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202510227335434? - so if you bought that brand spanking new it was £39k, £26k cost in 6 years or £4.3k per year, if you bought it at a year old knock about £7k off, so £32k, or £3.1k per year.
 
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LiE said:
as an EV ages are the concerns of the battery replacement costs not affecting resale values?
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Just compare a 7 year old Tesla model 3 price to a 2 year old for instance and find out yourself.


The first 2 years depreciation is monster! I'm happy I bought my Tesla model Y used for £26k 2 years old when they're near £50k new. It will depreciate further of course but I plan on keeping for a good while.
 
Simon said:
We already saw a 104k ev6 being written off due to battery failure after 4 yrs. not sure how a private buyer could stomach that
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is this not the same scenario if ICE cars are written off because of engine failure after the 3 years warranty expired and if the owner did not opt for extended/3rd party warranty?
 
Journey said:
So how much is your current car worth? How much did you pay for it and what is it worth now? Also why would you buy a 3 year old car if you last bought a 1 year old car?

EDIT: Closest or best ref I could find is a TM3 SRP 2019 @ £13.2k with just below UK average mileage - https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202510227335434? - so if you bought that brand spanking new it was £39k, £26k cost in 6 years or £4.3k per year, if you bought it at a year old knock about £7k off, so £32k, or £3.1k per year.
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Last I checked it’s worth £18.5k-£20k, I bought it for 32k in 2018 when it was 9 months old. It was 45k new, Audi press car.

Feels like 3 years old is the sweet spot in the initial depreciation curve. I like the look of the BMW i4 which seem to be about 30k-ish for a 2023 model. But as I said I’d worry about keeping it for 4-5 years then it not being worth much due to the battery being out of warranty.

It’s probably a psychological thing really with the horror stories about huge bills for replacing a battery.
 
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