SLLM (Single Lady Large Mortgage)

Sistergold

Talking about electric cars. @Bibou22, you have said you have an electric car. How is it having one? Is your car fully electric? Do you charge at home? How about long journeys with an electric car? I just worry about long distances as it seems you need to actually wait until it charges? I am asking as I have been thinking about eventually moving to all electric. 

At present I am all fuel/petrol but I ordered a car which fingers crossed will be ready in May. I chose one which can be switched to all electric and I can switch it to all petrol also I can switch it to choose which energy is efficient to use, so three options. I was worried about being all electric but I think on the next model I will bite the bullet.
I watched some news that in Japan (I think) they have developed an all hydrogen car. So no carbon emissions as it burns to water(h2o). I think that might be the kind of fuel I would like as I don’t like the idea of having to wait and charge for hours an electric car. I hope all carbon free option will be available worldwide to just choose. I am sure they will develop self charging eventually but that will put service stations out of business so maybe they will deliberately not develop that?

Friday1989

I haven't done anywhere near all the things I wanted to do on my week off but I did book my smear test (a year late...) and got some samples for my bedroom blind so I now just need to decide if I want it to be inside or outside the recess (why did nobody tell me there would be this many decisions when you have a flat?!) Opinions very welcome!

I'm currently freaking out because I start my new job on Monday. I'm doubting whether I'm good enough to do it and worrying what I'll do if I don't like it since I've had a few jobs since qualifying and really need to stay put for a while. Realistically I know I am quick at picking things up and good at my job, but I'm panicking all the same! One of my new co-workers is meeting me for coffee on my first morning and this has made me feel so much better. I definitely haven't always had such a warm welcome in past jobs.

The new job is the same band as my temporary job so I'm keeping the pay rise but I also get more annual leave, sick pay and NHS pension. I need to decide what I'm going with my LGPS pension. I didn't stay two years so if I don't return in 5 I can't rejoin. I can take what I've paid in back out. If I do that I'll throw it at my mortgage. Just trying to decide whether to do that now or wait to see if I rejoin a local authority in the next 3 years. I think that's unlikely but you never know. The more my life comes together, the more out of my depth I feel!

Sistergold

@Friday1989, oh the feeling of starting a new job? I am sure you will be good at your new role no matter what as you are a highly qualified person. As you have said you do pick up quickly. Good luck on your fist day and please tell us how you get on! Tell us how you get on with the blinds. I guess inside recess will work with or without curtains and outside recess if you know you will never add curtains. 🤷‍♀️ 

Bibou22

Sistergold said:

Talking about electric cars. @Bibou22, you have said you have an electric car. How is it having one? Is your car fully electric? Do you charge at home? How about long journeys with an electric car? I just worry about long distances as it seems you need to actually wait until it charges? I am asking as I have been thinking about eventually moving to all electric. 

At present I am all fuel/petrol but I ordered a car which fingers crossed will be ready in May. I chose one which can be switched to all electric and I can switch it to all petrol also I can switch it to choose which energy is efficient to use, so three options. I was worried about being all electric but I think on the next model I will bite the bullet.
I watched some news that in Japan (I think) they have developed an all hydrogen car. So no carbon emissions as it burns to water(h2o). I think that might be the kind of fuel I would like as I don’t like the idea of having to wait and charge for hours an electric car. I hope all carbon free option will be available worldwide to just choose. I am sure they will develop self charging eventually but that will put service stations out of business so maybe they will deliberately not develop that?

@Sistergold.
I've had the car for four months now, it's fully electric and I can honestly say I wouldn't go back to a diesel or petrol car.

My commute to work is a 70 mile round trip and my car is advertised to do 240 miles on a full charge. For anyone planning on going electric I would definitely recommend a car that does at least double what you regularly travel.

I do charge at home on an overnight rate of 7.5p per kwh. Meaning per week I spend approximately £7.80 on electric charging the car per week. Although this is often less as I take advantage of the free charging at my local tesco and the carpark local to my house has free charging and parking on a weekend. So I often run the car down towards the end of the week and get a full charge for free on a weekend. I was previously spending £55 per week on fuel, £220 per month.

With regards to charging on longer journeys I use apps such as zapmap or ABRB where you can put in your destination, car model and charge etc and it plans for where you should stop. I took my car on a 450 mile round trip and used a 50kwh charger meaning that by the time we had stopped at the services, been to the toilet and had some food my car had charged from 17% back up to 85%. Yes you have to wait, unlike the 5 minutes a petrol station but you certainly don't have to wait hours provided you're using a rapid charger. The chargers you're thinking of are called destination chargers which are the same as the ones you would install at home and charge at 6/7kw and are designed for you to stay at your destination for a few hours.

Well done on the new car choice, is it a plug in hybrid? If so, you'll definitely use some electric driving it but for shorter journeys this won't kick in and will use fuel and your range on just electric for longer trips will definitely be limited.

Sistergold

@Bibou22, thank you for explaining it so well regards practicalities of electric car. Yes the car I ordered is plug in hybrid with limited range on electric and also on the petrol. It was me being worried about logistics of charging. I am happy to pay for charging, In London when I searched up there seemed to be no free charging stations? The quick charge means not too much wait so that’s good. I will keep the plug-in hybrid for a year and go fully electric I guess? I was worried if I went fully electric I might get stranded? 🤷‍♀️

Bibou22

Sistergold said:

@Bibou22, thank you for explaining it so well regards practicalities of electric car. Yes the car I ordered is plug in hybrid with limited range on electric and also on the petrol. It was me being worried about logistics of charging. In London when I searched up there seemed to be no free charging stations? The quick charge means not too much wait so that’s good. I will keep the plug-in hybrid for a year and go fully electric I guess? I was worried if I went fully electric I might get stranded? 🤷‍♀️

No problem at all.
You're right there may well be limited free charging facilities near to you. Have a look on the zapmap app and filter by cost. They're generally found in supermarkets or cinemas where people would be encouraged to spend money there for a free charge. Although some public charging offers free electric if you pay for parking.

Most public chargers will cost you, with motorway rapids being the most expensive. With a PHEV I would never use these as its much more cost effective to charge at home.

With regards to being stranded you definitely do need to have a plan A and B, and aim to stop for a charge with around 20% battery left if you still have a distance to travel, not quite as stress free as petrol or diesel but definitely cheaper.

savingholmes

On the lgps pension I would try and transfer into nhs pension @Friday1989 that way don't lose it or tax benefits

Friday1989

Sadly I didn't transfer it in the first 12 months so that's no longer an option. My options are basically wait and see if I go back to LA in the next 3 years or take it out now. I don't know what I'm doing tomorrow, let alone in 3 years time!

Sistergold

@Bibou22, yes electric will definitely need me to not leave topping up till the last minute. Also can not be doing it on the way to work unless have time to do it. After a year of plug in I should get into the swing of it. I will try to be using only electric on the car so that I get a full hang of it and then just use the petrol when absolutely necessary. Hopefully I will not need to use the petrol option so I can gain confidence with going fully electric. 

slm6002

I am hoping to one day get an electric car so it is good to hear about your experiences.  I am also due to get my solar panels installed this year (providing all is ok with the roof survey).  I am hoping I could power the car for free with the solar panels - but not sure if it is that simple