Electric car costs and additional costs

born_again

SPlatten said:

for those of us that want to choose an EV there isn't a used car market where you can buy an EV for a much lower price and even if there was if the batteries need replacing that's another high replacement cost.  I will look into the Mini.

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Autotrader over 6000 EV's for sale.
I think you are trying to make a case for not buying a EV. Batteries last a long time. As well as many have very good warranties on them.

DrEskimo

SPlatten said:

@Grump_chap, for those of us that want to choose an EV there isn't a used car market where you can buy an EV for a much lower price and even if there was if the batteries need replacing that's another high replacement cost.  I will look into the Mini.

I bought a used EV. Renault Zoe 41kWh for £14,500. Was 2yrs old with 5,500 miles on the clock from a main dealer (battery owned, I don't lease the batteries like on many other Zoe's).

For a small hatchback with a great automatic 'gearbox', big colour touchscreen, sat nav, android Auto, DAB, Bluetooth, climate control, reversing camera, rear sensors and an app that allows me to preheat the car remotely, I would say it's a very good little car for the money.

Fact it's cost me about £100 in 'fuel' to drive over 5,000 miles, has sailed past two MOTs for £40 each and has had two free services, £0 in VED and tyres/brakes are all still in great shape makes it even better. Basically costs me nothing to run and is still worth around £13,000 if I was to sell it. Insurance is only £200/year too.

The battery is still at 98% of its original capacity now it's 4yrs old. No worries there. Not that have any concerns anyway as it has a battery warranty for 4 more years....

dipsomaniac

5000 miles and you pay £0 VED at the moment?  At least you can't complain about the state of the roads.

I would be really worried if a 2 year old car didn't sail through the next 2 MOT's.

What happens at 8 years if the batteries cause too much range anxiety? How much do they cost to replace? Does the car get scrapped?

niktheguru

SPlatten said:

I have been looking at electric cars and all of these are significantly more expensive than their Petrol and Diesel counter parts.  A lot of the electric cars are more than four times their equivalent model.  It's worse in that with the huge prices unless you are fortunate to be very wealthy you have to hire the car on a monthly payment that is comparable to a mortgage with a very high deposit and after three years you give it back with nothing to show except the possibility of carrying on with the same again with another vehicle.  Then there is the cost of insurance, because the vehicle itself is so high the cost of insurance is also very high, again many times the cost that it would cost for the original equivalents.  

If driving electric is the way to save the environment, why is the cost so high?  
Why isn't there some sort of insensitive or subsidy that encourages people to go electric?

In the words of Corporal Jones, "Doomed, Doomed we're all Doomed!"

Frankly for the price you want to pay you need to wait for the electric market to mature for the next few years. There are lots of new electric vehicles planned and as they become more mainstream the prices will drop, and there'll be an even bigger second hand market.

Like another poster has said, your comparison of a second hand audi to a new tesla is ridiculous. Teslas are among the more expensive EV cars about. (granted they are the more mature and desirable) If you are not prepared to pay the high prices for an electric car (with government grant) then leasing is the only real option. 
I lease an electric VW golf (note, NOT a hybrid or plug in) for about £275 a month. Yes I don't own the car after my 2 year lease finishes, but the reason I leased for the first time was that I wanted to see if electric cars worked for me. Frankly I love it. They are lovely zippy cars to drive and the instant torque is amazing. (makes driving my wifes car rather sluggish despite it being a 2.0l hybrid) The only downside with the car is the range, as its only about 125mile on the battery. This is fine for commuting and city driving, but if you do long distance, its not the car for you, and i certainly wouldn't use it as an only car for the household.
I will probably buy or lease another electric car next yr when my lease finishes. Theres some exciting cars coming out with higher ranges.

The reasons the costs are high are that the car companies don't quite want to stop making ICE cars yet, thats where the money is for them still.

Korkyb

To be fair I think comparison in price between a second hand car and a shiny new Tesla is perfectly valid.

To illustrate this I bought a Sony TV off a mate for £10 (& a pint) last year. This TV was top of the range when he bought it new 8 years ago.


It gave up the ghost last week so I went to Currys looking for a replacement.....

I was astonished to find that price of the top of the range Sony TV from Currys now costs £3699 !!!

I was led to understand that the cost of electronic goods such as TV's was reducing but it appears not - I was expected to pay 369 times the cost of my previous TV (excluding the £1.99 the pint cost me......from Wetherspoons...).


Outrageous & probably could be described as a scam.

Thankfully my children weren't with me during my Currys visit - if they were it could have all turned out much worse.

gzoom

My first EV a Leaf, cost me less to own over 2 years than getting all the multiple bus passes/public transport costs I would have incurred doing the same trips if I didn't own a car.

Infact the total ownership cost of our Leaf for 2 years was LESS than just the optional costs of the 6 leather seats in our Tesla.....yeaph thats how overpriced Teslas are, think Porsche pricing and take about 10% off. We all accept Porsche is a very expensive way to own a combustion car, but no one complains about it.

There are plenty of cheaper EVs around now, used Leafs start at £5k. No one needs to spend £40k+ on a brand new Tesla. 

If we couldn't afford to keep our Tesla for some reason I wouldn't hesitate to get a used Leaf.

SPlatten

@dipsomaniac, state of the roads, please don't get me started, pot holes everywhere, its like driving off-road.

YBR

I got a used Leaf in March, and I like it.
Costs are around 2.5p per mile in "fuel", free Road Tax, cheaper servicing than ICE cars.
My insurance costs were good - I'd no history in my own name and still under £400. That will come down.

Like PPs say, Teslas are in a class of their own, Compare with super-luxury brands but not normal cars!

gzoom

SPlatten said:

@Grump_chap, for those of us that want to choose an EV there isn't a used car market where you can buy an EV for a much lower price and even if there was if the batteries need replacing that's another high replacement cost.  I will look into the Mini.

The reason used EV prices are strong is because there is a large demand for used EVs. The demand for used EVs is partly down to very cheap ownership costs and the fact an alternative used diesel has very little future value as most manufacturers now are moving towards plugin cars.

Having a strong residual value actually makes ownership costs of EVs not too bad. Our very expensive Tesla cost us £71k back in early 2017, used prices 4 years later is still around £50k. Worked out per month its about £410, not far off how much alot of cheaper combusting car costs on PCP/lease.

If you had bought a used Leaf back in 2017 for around £8k right now you would be able to sell if for around £7k, so barely £1k lost in depreciation over 4 years.

Compare that to your used A5, how much value as a % figure and absolute value has it lost in 4 years??

The best 'value' EV onsale right now is probably a used iPace. Like all JLR products they have been hit by heavy depreciation, you can pick up a very lightly used one for under £40k now - starting prices were £60kish. I doubt their value will drop much below £35k for a few years as thats getting close to the price point of new Hyundai/Nissan EV, and the Jaguar badge still holds some premium.

MG are also releasing a new EV Coupe soon, I doubt it'll be priced like a Tesla, so you can wait for that. 

wongataa

dipsomaniac said:

5000 miles and you pay £0 VED at the moment?  At least you can't complain about the state of the roads.

As VED is nothing to do with roads that is a silly comment.  VED just goes in the same pot as all other tax revenue. Roads are paid for out of everyone's taxes so anyone who pays any taxes can easily complain about the state of roads.