Electric car costs and additional costs

silverwhistle

Over the last few years I've seen plenty of threads on different forums about EVs and they do seem to bring out the same questions (which is fine) but also the same pronouncements, by people who don't seem to know much, about all the insuperable issues with them...

I finally bought an EV this autumn: an MG ZS EV for less than £22K. By a very long chalk the most I've ever spent on a car (X5!) but I had the money, spent very little this year and next year get my state pension, so thought blow it. I cycled over to the dealer on spec, got a test drive there and then and immediately decided to buy. I intend to keep it a long time. So far I've done very little mileage and most of it has been free supermarket charging, a bit from my solar (that should improve in summer!) plus once some verrry cheap overnight charging.

Hopefully, conditions permitting I'll be heading north this summer (or even to France if the local ferries are cheap) and although it'll take longer than with an ICE stops are a good idea anyway from the point of view of safety. For the rest of my mileage - local, sport related within the county and airport pickups - range has been more than adequate and so far haven't bothered to charge to 100% yet nor use a rapid charger.

SPlatten

@silverwhistle, I don't know anything about EV batteries, but I know something about typical rechargeable batteries, which have a memory, if you don't charge them fully you can damage the battery and the result is that you reduce the amount of charge it is capable of taking...as I said I don't know if this would apply to an EV battery?

Grumpy_chap

I wonder whether the OP for this thread is having that ever-internal battle between heart and mind?  Although, I am struggling to work out which way round it is for the OP:

• Heart wants an EV but the mind saying "too expensive"
• Heart wants an ICE, but the mind saying "go green" EV

SPlatten

@Grumpy_chap, what I want is for everyone to be able to afford the EV's and hopefully improve the world we live in, isn't that the whole point?  I fail to see how this is achievable when the costs are so high, there are already plenty of vehicles that should not be on the road.  I'm fortunate that our level of income is pretty good and I ask if I would struggle to afford an EV then there are many more that won't be able to consider it either.  When I started this thread, I wanted to get opinions on how the car market is going which seems IMHO completely out of control.  The more I've looked into it the costs of renting an EV are not just the price put on the vehicle but the insurance.  My neighbour has just purchased a Nissan EV at just £10,000 which is great, I found out today that there is no road tax either...which makes me wonder where the costs of maintain the already ignored road maintenance is coming from?

Grumpy_chap

SPlatten said:

I wanted to get opinions on how the car market is going which seems IMHO completely out of control. 

Yes, the car market is entirely out of control, and has been for a very long time.  This is not a question of EV versus ICE though.  Through a whole load of devious mechanisms, we have been conditioned into believing that a car is a product we should swap out every few years and pay as much as a mortgage for the pleasure. 

All rational assessment seems to go out of the window when it comes to cars yet they truly are simply tools to do a dirty job, just like a washing machine or lawn mower.  

born_again

SPlatten said: I found out today that there is no road tax either...which makes me wonder where the costs of maintain the already ignored road maintenance is coming from?

Well it has not come from any RFT/VED you pay for running a car. It has no direct relationship between vehicle tax and road expenditure since 1937.
Might also shock you that you can get some ICE that have no VED either.

dipsomaniac

You have to pay it to drive on the road. It's a road tax

silverwhistle

SPlatten said:

@silverwhistle, I don't know anything about EV batteries, but I know something about typical rechargeable batteries, which have a memory, if you don't charge them fully you can damage the battery and the result is that you reduce the amount of charge it is capable of taking...as I said I don't know if this would apply to an EV battery?

Fortunately not! You'll find that the battery management systems are a lot more advanced and in fact manufacturers recommend you don't charge to 100% unless you need it, and to keep within a band as getting very low is also to be avoided.. It's also best not to charge using rapids unless necessary: much less stress on the battery using 7kW chargers such as you might have at home. They also recommend periodic slow balancing charges. Batteries and associated control technology has come a long way, although certain car manufacturers are better at it than others... 

EssexExile

SPlatten said:

@silverwhistle, I don't know anything about EV batteries, but I know something about typical rechargeable batteries, which have a memory, if you don't charge them fully you can damage the battery and the result is that you reduce the amount of charge it is capable of taking...as I said I don't know if this would apply to an EV battery?

That's a bit 1980s!

silverwhistle

dipsomaniac said:

You have to pay it to drive on the road. It's a road tax

You've already been informed that EVs and some other vehicles don't pay anything to be on the road. I won't ask you to wonder why that is or do your own research to save time and save us all here from your misinformation.. From the DVLA website:

For cars registered before 1 March 2001 the rate of vehicle tax depends on its engine size.

The rate for cars registered on or after 1 March 2001 depends on CO2 emissions and fuel type. They’ll be taxed using the old system if this information is not available.

I've bolded the important bit for you.