Next car dilemma - EV or hybrid or wait

Grumpy_chap

tedted said:

price drop is all the net and elsewhere saying its fell by approx 25% as people seem to be falling out them.a friend lost £26000 in two years on one

Where "all over the net" is that then?
What about actual facts if buying?  I know exactly how the prices today for new TM3 and TMY compare with 18 months ago given I bought my TM3 then and was working with a friend to buy his TMY this week.  Prices, like for like, are up.

As to your friend who lost £26k on on in two years.
The issue of depreciation for any car was discussed earlier today and I cannot say any better than @MattMattMattUK has said in this thread:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6568209/unable-to-afford-end-of-lease-mileage-and-charges#latest

The main factor that has affected depreciation beyond "normal" trends is the spike in prices during COVID and the (partial) return to normalisation.  That is across the board for all types of car.

henry24

Why would you even consider a EV for your low mileage stick with petrol 

born_again

henry24 said:

Why would you even consider a EV for your low mileage stick with petrol 

2nd hand EV. Would be a massive saving on new, never mind the saving on running costs.

henry24

That's true I think if someone took a Toyota in for a purely electric car the garage would be so desperate to get rid of the EV it would be a straight swap 

Bigwheels1111

Stick with Toyota, go hybrid and get 10 year warranty.
But I would wait until late next year after euro 7 arrives.
I would bet that congestion charge goal posts will move again after euro 7 get here.

WellKnownSid

YellowSupporter said:

I'm currently doing around 8k a year - lots of trips less than 30 miles but 220 mile round trips once  a month or so  to see  family - these are almost always day trips. I'm hoping to semi-retire soon and do more trips to see the family

Probably looking at something nearly new & we have had several toyota's with no problems so I'm biased towards them.

I would be very keen to move to an EV but am concerned about the 220+ trips - which with a trip out/detour could get over 260 miles.
I have a drive so charging at home wouldn't be a problem.

I've looked and read a lot but I don't know anyone in a similar situation, all the people I know with an EV also have a petrol car for bigger trips & that makes no sense for me.

I guess my fear is what if an EV doesn't fit my needs?

Finally I don't want to  spend a lot - £25K plus about 6K for the yaris would be my max I think. I don't need to change at the  moment, so an alternative is to give it another year, but now that I'm thinking about changing its becoming more appetising.

Is anyone running an EV is similar circumstances?

We bought a new hybrid (Jogger) and nearly new EV (11 month old Zoe) last year.  Paid less than half your budget for the Zoe with under 3k on the clock than an older 1 litre base model Clio with 35k more miles would have cost.  And that wouldn't have come with leather seats, heated steering wheel, Google maps, etc.  Second service has just cost us the princely sum of £159.

Although the EV was the second car, it's so cheap to run and the wife prefers to drive it so we've ended up doing more miles in this than the hybrid.  Long drives are a non issue because, at least where we go, charging options are plentiful and the drive itself is arguably less tiring.  The only reason for taking the hybrid on a long trip is where we know we'll use the seven seats or on holiday where we'll pack the car to the rafters.  The convenience of filling up on the drive instead of a 30 minute round trip to the nearest filling station cannot be overstated.  Our EV tariff also cuts the price of the household bill so we save even more.

When our son poured 600 miles worth of diesel into his tank the other week it cost him £93.  I put 150 miles of electric into our car last night for £2.51.  That difference is enough to pay for a night in a hotel every month when you see family.  Just sayin'...

Goudy

WellKnownSid said:

YellowSupporter said:

I'm currently doing around 8k a year - lots of trips less than 30 miles but 220 mile round trips once  a month or so  to see  family - these are almost always day trips. I'm hoping to semi-retire soon and do more trips to see the family

Probably looking at something nearly new & we have had several toyota's with no problems so I'm biased towards them.

I would be very keen to move to an EV but am concerned about the 220+ trips - which with a trip out/detour could get over 260 miles.
I have a drive so charging at home wouldn't be a problem.

I've looked and read a lot but I don't know anyone in a similar situation, all the people I know with an EV also have a petrol car for bigger trips & that makes no sense for me.

I guess my fear is what if an EV doesn't fit my needs?

Finally I don't want to  spend a lot - £25K plus about 6K for the yaris would be my max I think. I don't need to change at the  moment, so an alternative is to give it another year, but now that I'm thinking about changing its becoming more appetising.

Is anyone running an EV is similar circumstances?

We bought a new hybrid (Jogger) 

Dacia are now putting that particular (Renault) hybrid system into the new Dacia Duster.

Prices undercut the Yaris Cross by a fair chunk.
With 6k for your Yaris, you'll be looking at less than £20k.

facade

I wouldn't buy a hybrid. Either petrol or EV.

Despite the adverts for hybrids claiming "the best of both Worlds" I think they combine the worst of both worlds.

You have a petrol engine with fuel to go off, an exhaust to rust, expensive servicing (and possibly a "wet belt" to fail)

You have an electric motor with a uselessly small battery range and all those charging and power systems to go wrong. Basically you are doubling up on the possible failure points, which is important with the poor design & low build quality of modern cars. Plug-in hybrids are worse, if you run around on battery all the time (as you would for short journeys) the engine never gets used, as mentioned petrol "goes off" quickly.

I swapped my ageing Nissan for a second hand EV.  2 years old, still with warranty, less than half the new price.

As WellKnownSid says, the convenience of filling it up on my drive at between 6p & 7p a mile (I just use a 13A socket, it takes a while but I don't do many miles) is a major plus.

I don't have a smart meter, or do enough miles to swap to an EV tariff.

It doesn't have the range to drive to Aberystwyth & back, but I see there are fast chargers there, half an hour would put in enough to easily get home again, and still cost less than the petrol used by the Nissan.

A big advantage is not having to waste fuel driving far enough to warm up the engine properly when I only wanted to nip to the shops for a packet of frozen peas or something, the EV doesn't need to warm up.

If you visit family you might be able to "top-up" on their drive with your charger, or you simply plan for a toilet break at somewhere with a fast charger.

Petriix

If your long trips are only monthly then you really don't need a long range EV; just charge at your destination or on the journey home.

Generally people should stop thinking in terms of covering every possible journey without a single charging stop and think more about how accommodating minor adaptations could allow for a more affordable (smaller battery) EV.

Right now you can buy a brand new MG5 for under £20k. Charging at home costs ~ 2p per mile. Those dozen longer trips might cost you another £100 in public charging and add 30 minutes to each return leg. 

YellowSupporter

Thanks for all the replies, I'm still in a quandry,  but plenty of food for thought here.