EV but no driveway: Is this a foolish idea?

velvetti

Hi All,
I’m thinking of buying a used EV (3-4 yo) but I don’t have off-street parking. I know EVs don’t make financial sense without home charging, but hear me out.

I work from home 3 days a week and have to commute 100 miles (return) twice a week (say, Thursday and Friday). During the home days, my street is almost empty during day time, so I’m almost guaranteed to be able to park in front of my home even if it was parked away the previous night. I’ll get Kerbo Charge thingy to get the cable through the pavement. Even if I can get this only once or twice a week, it would be sufficient to see me through to the commute days.

At work, I have free EV charging, so if I charge it full on my 2nd office day (say Friday), with battery capacity of about 250 miles, I’d still have the juice for 150 miles after returning home to cover until the next Thursday morning commute. Plus, any home charging will be bonus, which should be possible, as explained above.

I think it makes sense even if I switch jobs, but I’d like to hear your thoughts. (I want it to make sense even without work charging as I don’t want them to think I’m dependent on this job)

Thanks

paul_c123

If you can regularly charge at work, it makes sense.

Baldytyke88

In 2025 some councils launched a 12-month pilot allowing the installation of a cross-footway cable channel that is recessed into the footway. Kerbo Charge is their approved partner for this pilot. It's not cheap!

https://www.kerbocharge.com/?gad_source=1&fbclid=IwY2xjawSaqoxleHRuA2FlbQMxMDAAc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHjypxP_oBHSuXGwT1o9H7GsO87hH1ywAWA6KZ6LDOKaZhehfOZ3-AcK9Qjpy_aem_AZOtySYvf9e_oe8q0V1rKg

TooManyPoints

That's OK if you can park outside your house. Where I live there are some car owners who think they are lucky if they manage to park in the same street

Baldytyke88

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82034167#Comment_82034167

Quite often, a charge once per week may be enough

daveyjp

Other than the commute how many miles do you do a year? Is your employment or lifestyle likely to change once this decision is made?

Jemma01

I've only just started looking at these things. I specifically was looking at options for a new car with 250miles battery to allow for 210miles return journey, and with a bit of reading it suggested that it would be pretty tight for a motorway drive, as the constant braking within the city help the EV charge itself. On a good day, it suggested that it could do 220miles motorway drive, but on a cold windy day, it would probably be less.

If the car you want is 4yo, I wonder if you'd get that many miles. Of course if you charge it at work everyday, you won't have a problem, but not on the second day unless you are staying overnight away from home.

velvetti

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82034181#Comment_82034181

I do around 15k miles annually (based on last 3 years). Employment is permanent (not contract) so I don’t foresee any changes.

facade

There are plenty of chargers about if you are desperate, most supermarkets have at least a 7kW charger that could give a useful top up if you run short.

The Good News is that since The Latest War if you can get above 4 miles/kWh, even the rapid chargers on the motorway work out cheaper than petrol!

It is unbelievably annoying going out of your way making a special trip just to use a Public charger and then waiting for the car to charge though, I have charge credit from my "new" EV that I'll never use because it is too much trouble compared to just plugging in on my own drive.

WellKnownSid

If the car you want is 4yo, I wonder if you'd get that many miles.

Our Zoe is coming up to four years old now - we actually get more range out of it because of the experience gained driving an EV over the last few years.

An estate will likely be a better choice for a motorway commute than an SUV.

I do around 15k miles annually (based on last 3 years). Employment is permanent (not contract) so I don’t foresee any changes.

We cover that in the Zoe - which is funny since it was intended to replace our 'third' car which covered only 1,600 miles in its final year with us.

We generally plug in around 3 times a week going from 30-80%. Once a month we'll charge to 100% to balance the cells.

In the OP's case, I would just charge the car to 80% at work on the Thursday, arrive back at work on the Friday with 30% charge after 100 miles. They then charge to 100% at work on the Friday, arriving home at 75%. They will cover another 100 miles at home - so on a Wednesday night (or when they hit 30%) they charge to at home - planning to leave with at, say, least 60% on the Thursday morning which means they arrive with 35% at work.

Assuming a 60kWh battery and 35% charge at home that's about 23kWh a week with 10% losses so around £6 a month on an EV tariff or about £25 a month on a standard tariff.

Frozen_up_north

Don’t forget the 80/20 rule for lithium ion batteries. Basically if you want the batteries to last, do not regularly discharge below 20% or charge above 80%

The book figure for range is likely to be based on a new battery, charged to 100% and run until fully discharged.

A friend with a new Zoe is retired but travels just under 50 miles each way to a holiday home most weekends, he has home charging boosted by solar panels but only has public charging at the holiday home (no chance of even “cross pavement” cable), Similar to the OP but in reverse. He manages quite well and is on his second EV. He tends to “top up” his charge before returning home, even though public charging is expensive.