Having a £7-9k electric car to do the odd bit of local commuting or a £2k 1.6 focus to do the same thing and still be able to drive to Scotland and back if needed.
As a second or third car for that kind of use they make even less sense.
It's like people who do naff all miles buying a 5.0 V8 to drove around in, the fuel costs are irrelevant as they are going nowhere, if they were doing 20k a year it's a big issue, but for 5kpa?
No issue at all.
Searches I just did show similar age/mileage Leafs going in the £10-12k range.
A £2k focus isn't quite as comparable as it will be noticeably older.
From an ecological standpoint... continuing to use a car which is destined for the tip in the near future is the better choice for various reasons.
Looking in a vaguely similar age and price bracket... I can see things like 2.0tdi Vauxhall Insignias... or a 1.2tdi seat ibiza for half the price.
Various other things that are in a similar class of car to the Leaf going for 50-60% of the price of the Leaf which will last longer and cost less in the long run.
Maybe, but the emissions on a 5.0 V8 can't be small. Personally, and it's not going to be a popular way of thinking, but I'd legislate any car over 2-litres out of existence on our roads (ie for track day or similar use only) as we're reaching a tipping point where we either think of our own enjoyment (part selfishness) or actually start thinking about what our legacy will be for future generations. And while I'm in control all new build homes would have to have solar panels, with the economic, environmental and employment benefits that would bring
That wouldn't make much sense.
I have a company car with a 1.8l petrol 4-cylinder engine.
I have a personal car with a 3.4l flat-six engine.
My 3.4l flat-six is MORE fuel efficient than the 1.8l... blanket rules on size are silly because it ignores cheap brands that make crummy small engines.
Basic emissions output is actually a small proportion of the ecological footprint of a car. You have to look at the production too and batteries have a massive ecological footprint.
However at least as battery technologies improve, that will be reduced and a relatively good way to help that process along is to invest in electric vehicles.
You need a wider viewpoint to really consider the impact... and even then, CO2 is not a viable statistic - it's just one that's easy to measure (and tax).
£6 for 60 miles isn't cheap.
I've only had to use Ecotricity once since they introduced the new payment model. Maybe I'm just fortunate, but Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Nottingham are all within range. I use Polar Plus to charge when I get to my destination instead.
Whether or not £6 for 60 miles is an obstacle largely depends on how you use the car. If you regularly need to recharge at motorway services then yes, an EV will get expensive. If motorway charging is a rare occurrence then the overall cost is going to be vastly cheaper than an ICE, even if the occasional long journey is expensive.
As for the expected life bit, it's an interesting question. With an ICE you have a few expected points of failure; the clutch, the cam belt, the exhaust. These parts wear out and need replacing. With an EV, the battery is the concern. It's considerably more expensive than any of those ICE parts, but it's also expected to last much longer. I'd be curious to see how much difference there is over the vehicle's life cycle.
What's the normal cost to recharge then?
Just to add more into the mix... there's also the "cost" to the road infrastructure... given that electric cars are noticeably heavier than their counterparts, they increase wear and tear on the road surface leading to more tar/etc production
And another thing.
What are the global Lithium reserves anyway?
How many cars can you make with that?
How much is lost each time a battery goes round the recycling loop?
How much is the price of Lithium going to go up (And therefore the cost of batteries) once production gets to the wrong side of the Hubbert curve?
And so on....
Battery recycling processes are improving at a surprisingly quick rate, which is nice to see.
