Electric cars

littleredhen

looking at buying another car and wondering about the practicalities of them and how you go about charging them, please share your experiences

DrEskimo

My experience probably isn't going to be of much help to you.

Why don't you list what sort of car you are after, what your budget is and what your typical use pattern is. Theres not an awful lot of choice with EVs given it's lack of maturity.

Whether you have the ability to charge at home, and the sort of mileage you do will greatly dictate the practicality of owning one. I can't charge at home, but I do very little miles and own an EV that can do 150miles to a charge. That means I can happily charge every week or two using the public charger nearby,and fit charging into my daily routine.

I only needed a small car, so the the Renault Zoe was good match for street parking, and I had no immediate need for a car so could afford to spend months waiting for the right one (battery owned, didn't want a leased battery) for a good price.

Owned it since Feb and it's been great. Drives better than an ICE and is cheaper than anything (in fact, its appreciated in value).

littleredhen

Its a Renault Zoe and its £8,000 I do 10 mile round trip to work every day and there is a public charger at the leisure centre two minutes from my home - didn't know whether you had to pay to charge them??
Ah just noticed the advert says battery lease

Inner_Zone

Thought you wanted a motorhome:


https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6065316/campervan-motorhome-or-not

littleredhen

Inner_Zone wrote: »

Thought you wanted a motorhome:


https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6065316/campervan-motorhome-or-not

Yes I do but I also need to change my car and I have to wait for the sale of a property before I can buy a motorhome

DrEskimo

Yea a £8k Zoe is likely to be a 2016 22kWh leased Zoe.

You will get between 60 and 100miles to a charge depending on temperature. Expect about 80 on average. The lease is £49 per month and there is no method for buying out the battery at a later stage.

The price for using the charger is dependent on the provider. As will be the maximum charge rate. If it's a 7kW charger, then expect around 30miles added every minute. Zoe does not have DC charging, however it is unique in that it can accept up to 43kW AC. Some rapid chargers offer this, but will cost more.

If you search for the charger on Zap Map, you can find more information about it.

littleredhen

DrEskimo wrote: »

Yea a £8k Zoe is likely to be a 2016 22kWh leased Zoe.

You will get between 60 and 100miles to a charge depending on temperature. Expect about 80 on average. The lease is £49 per month and there is no method for buying out the battery at a later stage.

The price for using the charger is dependent on the provider. As will be the maximum charge rate. If it's a 7kW charger, then expect around 30miles added every minute. Zoe does not have DC charging, however it is unique in that it can accept up to 43kW AC. Some rapid chargers offer this, but will cost more.

If you search for the charger on Zap Map, you can find more information about it.

Thanks, electric cars are a whole new world to me!

iolanthe07

The cheapest battery lease for a Zoe is £49 a month, so you might be better buying an EV with the battery included. I looked at a Zoe for myself, but as I spend less than £49 a month on petrol, it seemed a bit pointless.

DrEskimo

I agree with the poster above. The lease cost makes little sense...as long as you find a petrol that does >45MPG you will spend less on fuel....

The Zoe can be had without the battery lease, but this is determined by the first buyer and cannot be changed. Finding one without the battery lease is a completely mess. Dealers generally don't know, and you have to check a few things to make sure (look for a 'i' badge on the rear, ring RCI and check, check log book, etc.).

I did help my mother in law pick up a 2016 22kWh battery owned Zoe for £8k from a car supermarket in Doncaster, but I think that was a lucky find. They didn't realise there were leased and owned versions. Cheapest I've seen since is £11,500.

The other aspect is that the battery on the 22kWh battery owned versions was only 5yrs, so 2015/2016 wouldn't leave you much warranty. It was this reason that led me to the 41kWh Zoe instead. That and the extra range (around double) and black interior. However you are looking at at least double your budget for a used battery owned 41kWh Zoe. Problem is new car sales were driven by PCP, and it was cheaper to get a leased Zoe on PCP (i.e lower monthly cost for same deposit), so they were sold much more. As a result, battery owned is rare and the prices are inflated....

For your budget, your alternative is a Nissan Leaf, but they lacked battery cooling, so battery degradation is not uncommon. Might be OK with the mileage you do though. Nissan dropped the leased battery model, so it's quite rare to find a leased one (called 'Flex'), but do check. The price will usually give you the best indication.

Any questions about general charging and running an EV just give me a shout.:beer:

MX5huggy

DrEskimo wrote: »

If it's a 7kW charger, then expect around 30miles added every minute.

I think you mean 30 miles added for every hour not minute of charge time.

I’ve had an i3 for 10 months now we charge at home nearly all the time. It’s a great car for rural life as most trips are 20 miles round.

I’m sure it’s not been the cheapest way to travel the 8000 miles but cars are not entirely about value for money, else everyone would drive Dacia’s

DrEskimo

Oops! Yes I did mean per hour, not per minute. Thanks!

30miles added per minute would be lovely....!