EV general discussion

If we have to i.e. other alternatives don't replace battery powered cars, I don't see me going electric for 10 years. Mine and the wife's cars are all paid for, low mileage and we pay £30/year tax between us. By that time we should have seen the full life cycle and given the politicians time to decide if they are going to "do a diesel" on battery powered cars. I'm interested to see what happens once the average private buyer has to part with their hard earned, the used market and who absorbs to cost of disposal/recycling the cars. Easier option for company car drivers with more incentives and a no risk, hand it back after a few years deal.
 
At the end of the day it’s a business so they will try and make as much as possible. Plus they have admin costs.
There is also a convince factor of not having to renew car insurance and VED yourself every year, going through that process is tedious.

I’ve always saved money (and time) on SS, over going it alone and sourcing everything myself.
Curious about this actually, do you still accrue no claims bonus if you end up going back to a private vehicle after a few years of SS with insurance included?
 
Curious about this actually, do you still accrue no claims bonus if you end up going back to a private vehicle after a few years of SS with insurance included?

Some insurer's allow you to use Company Insurance no claims discount - you obviously need proof from your employers car provider.
 
I survived my first long trip with an EV, w00t \o/ :p

So the trip up went basically to plan, charged to 100% overnight, drove to Bristol for golf driving more efficiently than usual so had a whopping 92% left when I got there, played golf and headed off. I'd looked at the Electroverse route planner and it had a stop at Baldock services on the A1M sop that was Plan A, B was South Mimms (~19 miles less), C was Reading and a new found plan after I'd got to the golf course as 'could I make it all the way without charging'...

Stuck to plan A, just under 3 hours to Baldock services, 38% battery remaining, only issue there was needing the toilet badly :p

Ionity 350kW chargers, plenty available, plugged in and got some food and realistically by the time I'd half-eaten my food I noticed it was already on 70% so kinda rushed myself to get back on the move, or to put it another way had no issues with waiting for the car to charge enough at all. It was generally a pleasant enough stop.

From there didn't really have to worry about efficiency as I had plenty of range.

Way back was slightly worse, charged to 80% before leaving rather than 100% but I'd checked electroverse again and decided on a charger at Milton Keynes, I was heading back to golf again cause I'm addicted and that was ~127 miles to the first charged, 111 from there to golf and a further ~35 home. Got the charger and I made a poor choice :p It was the Milton Keynes Coachway, basically a park&ride/National Express depot with some chargers...

Turned up and 3 of the Ionity chargers were in use and the other was out of order, not a great start, there were a bunch of BP Pulse 50kW chargers so plugged in to that as I needed something. Went in to some nasty facilities and at least some reasonable food (cafe bit in a bus station so bought food and ate in the car :p) and by the time I came out 2 of the Ionity chargers were free, and I was getting a pitiful 35klW, so I switched and got some of the good stuff before heading off. Made it to golf and then back home with 20% left, first time I've had the car tell me to charge it.

So overall it's not that bad but at the same time I planned the trip far more than I've ever had to before and making a poor choice of charger stop can alter the experience dramatically.
 
glad it went ok. 3 months into my 1st EV ownership I have done 3 long journeys.

and all were quite the dull tales.

drove to my parents normally 200 miles but took 50mile detour to drop mate off to buy a car. charged enroute at grid serve whilst grabbed a buttie with my lad . quite an unimpressive charge of 30kwh but made it to my parents with plenty left and prolly didnt need to charge anyway. charged fully at my folks on the 3pin over the weekend

journey home i hit the services at the worst possible time. 1 ionity space free but car behind me needed a charge and I didn't so I let them take it. there was gridserve free but didn't take it as I didn't need the charge. got home with 25% charge. didn't bother charging and drove to work and charged there.

rinse and repeat 2 more times but without the detour albeit done 1 ionity charge just to test it out and it maxed.my car charge speed at 104kwh.

unfortunately such tales of successful 200 mile trips with optional public charging just to test the network do not generate FUD or clicks so the sun won't be interested .

my one lesson I have learned is (and for me at least it's a useful one).

IF going on a roadtrip far longer than your cars range, for the lunch time charge make sure it is at a place with a lot of chargepoints (or failing that have a back up off the motorway which are less obvious).

ideally if you know your journey will need a charge try to grab one at a more off peak time and have a coffee. the ionity chargepoints which only had one free and a car behind me needing it when I hit Cambridge services smack on lunch time on a bank holiday were totally empty when I visited again at 2:30pm a month later (albeit a couple of chaps turned up whilst I was faffing about setting my charge up)
 
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I cannot find any strong details but I saw an Octopus announcement in regards being able to lease second hand Evs. I assume these are returned EVs from their brand new leases.
The prices looked to be around if not lower than half the price to lease the equivalent new car.

Would seem a good idea and would remove a lot of the barriers to entry for those who are happy with second hand, but cannot afford the outright cost right to buy now.

Will see if I can dig any more info up.
 
I cannot find any strong details but I saw an Octopus announcement in regards being able to lease second hand Evs. I assume these are returned EVs from their brand new leases.
The prices looked to be around if not lower than half the price to lease the equivalent new car.

Would seem a good idea and would remove a lot of the barriers to entry for those who are happy with second hand, but cannot afford the outright cost right to buy now.

Will see if I can dig any more info up.
The real issue is what's good for the first owner is bad for the second and vice versa. If values drop rapidly it puts off new buyers, if they hold their value used buyers aren't so keen. The only real answer is for the new prices to be lower.
 
I cannot find any strong details but I saw an Octopus announcement in regards being able to lease second hand Evs. I assume these are returned EVs from their brand new leases.
The prices looked to be around if not lower than half the price to lease the equivalent new car.

Would seem a good idea and would remove a lot of the barriers to entry for those who are happy with second hand, but cannot afford the outright cost right to buy now.

Will see if I can dig any more info up.

Nationwide Vehicle Contracts also lease some used cars - I got my Niro from them, think it just came off a 2 year lease (just over 2 years old on 16k), for quite a bit less (£300/month) than a new one would have cost (£500/month).
 
The real issue is what's good for the first owner is bad for the second and vice versa. If values drop rapidly it puts off new buyers, if they hold their value used buyers aren't so keen. The only real answer is for the new prices to be lower.

The real prices of second hand EVs in % of original list are now not that dissimilar to ICE, unsurprisingly.

But the raw cost for a 3-4 year old second hand is still higher as the original cost is higher.
They will likely have a higher value throughout their life, even at end of life since the value of the batteries for recycling, or for alternate use will be decent.
 
Nationwide Vehicle Contracts also lease some used cars - I got my Niro from them, think it just came off a 2 year lease (just over 2 years old on 16k), for quite a bit less (£300/month) than a new one would have cost (£500/month).

Oh thats interesting.

Historically they just sent everything straight out to auction. Wonder if COVID was partly behind this.
 
The real prices of second hand EVs in % of original list are now not that dissimilar to ICE, unsurprisingly.
even, the absolute prices of 2nd hand ev's is now similar to to similar spec ICE - petrol residual values 60%, ev's now 40% (having taken a uk hit of 30% last year) both of which, now similar to europe.
( had read this https://tableau.autovistagroup.com/t/Public/views/Monthlymarketdashboard_202307/Overall ... vw up/fiat 500 popular in france)
 
It's not just EVs, they have quite a few cars on their used list: https://www.nationwidevehiclecontracts.co.uk/car-leasing/used/personal

No idea when they started doing it though.

Yeah I had assumed it was across the range since the traditional lease companies were struggling during COVID so being able to offer decent examples would have made a load of sense.

My other halves company were struggling with no replacements coming through for cars hitting 4 years old, I bet lots of companies were.

even, the absolute prices of 2nd hand ev's is now similar to to similar spec ICE - petrol residual values 60%, ev's now 40% (having taken a uk hit of 30% last year) both of which, now similar to europe.
( had read this https://tableau.autovistagroup.com/t/Public/views/Monthlymarketdashboard_202307/Overall ... vw up/fiat 500 popular in france)

Yep but historical petrol was 45-55%. 55% being not that many models and the more sought after ones. The average petrol focus for example would be in the 45% range.
I think petrol rapidly became sought after again and of course with most fleets having switched to diesel meant petrols supply fails to meet demand.
 
Will only go fully electric when they prise the keys from my cooling corpse. Poor charging options near me, no place to park out side the house and run a charging cable from the house and a council that is no hurry to address the issue. Told to go charge in a public parking lot so absolutely no rush on my mind
 
Pulled the trigger last week on a Tesla Model 3 Performance

This is a replacement for my BMW M240i with bootmod3 running about 400bhp so not a slow car but the Tesla is like a rocket ship ! Impressed so far
 
Pulled the trigger last week on a Tesla Model 3 Performance

This is a replacement for my BMW M240i with bootmod3 running about 400bhp so not a slow car but the Tesla is like a rocket ship ! Impressed so far
Yeah, also it's not only the headline 0-60 times either. It's the fact you can do that whenever, no launch control or high revs. But the best bit is the general responsiveness, try drive an ICE after, even a fast one, they feel so dead as you put your foot down.

I always imagine that would be the first complaint is the world was in reverse and switching from elec to ICE. Everyone would laugh at how unresponsive they are.
 
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Yeah, also it's not only the headline 0-60 times either. It's the fact you can do that whenever, no launch control or high revs. But the best bit is the general responsiveness, try drive an ICE after, even a fast one, they feel so dead as you put your foot down.

I always imagine that would be the first complaint is the world was in reverse and switching from elec to ICE. Everyone would laugh at how unresponsive they are.

There is more to driving a car enthusiastically than in a straight line. EV's are a one trick pony in that regard. Aural pleasure and physical enjoyment as in being able to flow through corners nicely and having input into the enjoyment is more important to myself at least.

Driving an EV is akin to going through a McDonald's drive through and having processed food. It is very quick and does the job but leaves you empty at the end. Driving an ICE car is akin to making a lasagne from scratch and enjoying the fruits of your labour with a glass of red. There is no comparison.
 
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