Electric Cars: Are they Really Worth it? (Ch5)

MattMattMattUK

sheenas said:

The fuel cost is not the major cost as devaluation over 3 years is like to be sworse than the petrol , so any real saving are like to be slim pickings. 

The devaluation on any new car is horrific, though it does appear that EVs depreciate slightly less than ICE vehicles. The worst depreciation is on anything "Sport" and upwards of £80k, where three year depreciation can lead to a residual value of less than a third. 

sheenas said:

The worse example I have seen Porsche taycan gen 1 owner by the youtuber MacMaster.. He said that he purchased the car for around £120,000 on a 4 year PCP with a £20K deposit and £1,000 ish per month. So thats cost him £68K over 4 years well its worse than that because he has gone over the milage which will cost hime something like £8,000. The PCP value is £50,000 and the WebuyAnyCar.com value is around £26,000, so no easy ways out of it for him. Point being while a petrol tycan would use a shed load of petrol and devalue badly it's nothing like £68,000s worth.  

The depreciation is or would be worse on the petrol. People seem to think that depreciation to is worse on EV, but they hold their value batter than ICE. BMW 8 Series, M version, £120k new, 2-3 years old, 20k on the clock, £35-40k residual value. 

Anyone buying any new car is going to take a huge hit, 40-60% depreciation in the first three years and 20-30k miles is the norm so anyone buying new really does not care about money. Buy second hand and an EV when that loss has already been taken by someone and an EV is going to be considerably cheaper to run. 

Car_54

born_again said:

Are they worth it..

My math

"math" fine. English not so much.

WellKnownSid

Hoenir said:

born_again said:

Are they worth it..

My math
Kia Niro Hybrid 16,400 miles, cost in Petrol £2,108,83
Kia E-Niro 11,183 miles, cost in electric £209.15

OK so just over 5K less in E-Niro. So that's just another £100.
Got to love home 7p charging.

As to these programs. Load a rubbish & paid for by whoever wants to get their point across.

EV is just the same as a ICE, weather, driving style all effect range. 

My math
Kia Niro Hybrid  base cost new OTR - £29,865
Kia E-Niro base cost new OTR - £37,270

OK so just over 7.5K less for the ICE

 Load a rubbish & paid for by whoever wants to get their point across.

In the real world EV prices are beyond the budget of the average person. 

Absolutely!

That said, most people buy cars second hand.  We bought our EV for £13k - much cheaper than the petrol equivalent.  In 18 months, taking into account depreciation and savings, we're up by thousands.  Our efficient hybrid costs us five times as much to run and has lost us money - so much so we're keen to switch that to an EV as well.

For purely selfish reasons these programmes are absolutely ideal for us - if we're swapping cars at the end of this year we want our hybrid to trade in for the maximum amount possible and do another cracking deal on an EV.

Last thing we want is the great unwashed thinking EVs might be a good thing.

MattMattMattUK

Hoenir said:

born_again said:

Are they worth it..

My math
Kia Niro Hybrid 16,400 miles, cost in Petrol £2,108,83
Kia E-Niro 11,183 miles, cost in electric £209.15

OK so just over 5K less in E-Niro. So that's just another £100.
Got to love home 7p charging.

As to these programs. Load a rubbish & paid for by whoever wants to get their point across.

EV is just the same as a ICE, weather, driving style all effect range. 

My math
Kia Niro Hybrid  base cost new OTR - £29,865
Kia E-Niro base cost new OTR - £37,270

Or look a the three year TCO, based on 12k miles and 50% depreciation (likely the petrol will be higher and the EV lower). Current petrol prices, current EV charging tariff. 
Petrol £29,865 + 36k miles £7,200 + 50% depreciation £14,932 = 3 Year Cost £22,132
EV £37,270 + 36k miles £720* + 50% depreciation £18,635** = 3 Year Cost £19,355

*Underestimating the efficiency of the EV for a margin of error.
**Likely less for the EV based on current prices in Cinch 

Hoenir said:

OK so just over 7.5K less for the ICE

So £2,777 cheaper for the EV even when pushing the figures in favour of the petrol.

Hoenir said:

 Load a rubbish & paid for by whoever wants to get their point across.

There does seem to be a lot of anti-EV people around, the claims that EVs are or will be "near worthless after three years", when the reality is that they retain more value than ICE, that they catch fire, that they cost more to run etc. All rubbish. EVs are not perfect, but if people do not think that they will work for them (And the will not for people who do not have home or work charging) then they should make that argument on merit, rather than making things up.

Hoenir said:

In the real world EV prices are beyond the budget of the average person. 

In the real world EV prices are no more beyond the budget of the average person than any other equivalent car. The difference is new versus used, not EV vs ICE. Want to lose a load of money the moment you take ownership, buy a new car operating on any fuel type. Want the most cost efficient vehicle to run, provided you can charge at home, buy an EV. If you can only public charge then your costs will be roughly break even with ICE over time.

QrizB

Hoenir said:

My math
Kia Niro Hybrid  base cost new OTR - £29,865
Kia E-Niro base cost new OTR - £37,270

In the real world EV prices are beyond the budget of the average person. 

If you believe the savings figures in this Metro article, "the average person" won't be able to buy any sort of brand-new Niro for cash:

https://metro.co.uk/2025/05/22/average-amount-brits-savings-according-age-23216815/

So they'll be buying on finance. How do eg. the PCP payments compare for the two versions?

Mildly_Miffed

QrizB said:

So they'll be buying on finance. How do eg. the PCP payments compare for the two versions?

Getting the figures from Kia's own website...

All to mid-spec "3" trim, £0 cost red paint, no options. 3yr PCP, £5k down, 10k/year.

Niro Hybrid - £32,540 list. £388.61 monthly, £15,176.20 balloon. (£2,000 "deposit contribution")
Niro PHEV - £37,685 list, £582.98 monthly, £17,039.55 balloon. (£500 "deposit contribution")
Niro BEV - £39,585 list, £541.59 monthly, £16,534,38 balloon. (£1,500 "deposit contribution")

MrStephenCannell

I thought it was hilarious that they showed the two cybercrime experts examining a printed circuit board they'd pulled out of a wall EV charger using a microscope to look for the bugs that they had gravely announced were inherent in them.

user1977

MrStephenCannell said:

I thought it was hilarious that they showed the two cybercrime experts examining a printed circuit board they'd pulled out of a wall EV charger using a microscope to look for the bugs that they had gravely announced were inherent in them.

Sounds like something out of Brass Eye!

caprikid1

Not sure where these made up depreciation figures are coming from.

Range can drop off considerably over time. 

After 3 years a Non Electric Kia Nero worth more than an electric no doubt with the  Electric initially costing more.

Used 2022 Kia Niro 1.6 GDi 3 DCT Euro 6 (s/s) 5dr for sale | Thame Cars

Kia Niro 64kWh 2 SUV 5dr Electric Auto (201 bhp)

We have a lease 2023 Kia Nero Electric, not a chance would we consider buying it after 3 years, range is dropping like a stone , I suspect a 6 year old electric Nero would be good to go to the shops and back unlike it's non E equivalent. Feels like the Electric car threads always get a load of Electric car owners trying to keep their car prices up. Two years ago there were long waiting lists for electric cars .... now ?

Heavy, shreds tyres due to the weight etc .....

don't get me started on the handling, positively dangerous.

sheramber

Stipid qyestion

If you had an electric car what would you do if you broke down in the middle of no where?

Well if you had a petrol or diesel car and broke down in the middle of no where what would you do?  

Would it make any difference whether it  was electric?