| Electric cars 21:30 - May 19 with 1265 views | Shineyblueknives |
Just after some advice.
Im considering chopping on my petrol car for an EV and was wondering what EV's people are driving and how easy the transition from fossil fuels to EV's.
I've just moved to a house with PV panels and a car charging port. |  |
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| Electric cars on 22:15 - May 19 with 1117 views | Nutkins_Return |
Day-to day driving: Honestly if you have charging at home then the switch is incredibly easy. Week to week much easier essentially then petrol as you never need to go to a garage and just charge when you need to overnight. We've gone both cars EV now as it's just better, easier, cheaper (obviously up front cost is more still currently).
Long Journeys: if these are typically just holidays or the odd long weekend away etc (i.e. not regular long journeys for work) then again it's completely straightforward. Yes you will need to charge for say 15-30 mins rather than 3 mins at a petrol station but I'd pretty much always grab a bite/go to toilet etc and it's never been a problem or a stop I wouldn't make anyway. I generally don't even do much planning. Quick look that there are options on route and either pre-select one on route or just as get nearer to a point you want to stop just select one mid journey. | |
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| Electric cars on 23:23 - May 19 with 1009 views | TheBlueGnu |
I would advise asking the owner of two BMW EV's - Jeffrey Holland. | |
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| Electric cars on 23:45 - May 19 with 982 views | Kievthegreat |
Currently driving an I-Pace, but have had 2 Renault Zoes before that. I'm fully committed to the EV charge at this point....Sorry, terrible joke.
Daily commutes are a doddle and where EVs make the most financial sene. Just plug it in during the evening and it's ready fully charged in the morning. No stress or worry. Longer journeys take a small amount of planning, but it's simpler now. Chargers are MUCH more prevalent, especially on Motorways and major A-roads so IMO the fear of not being able to charge is a bit overblown. Only thing to note is that rapid chargings has a hefty premium, so while EVs are significantly cheaper when charging from home, lots of rapid charging is expensive. Journeys of 300 miles still cheaper in an EV, but beyond that the pendulum swings. Most peoples driving habits will be cheaper electricity vs fuel in an EV though.
Also with regards your PV panels, you may want to consider charging off-peak at night still. EVs will typically charge at 7kW. Which is probably more than most PV arrays on homes (especially real output rather than theoretical), so you'll still be charging off the grid unless you can accept slower charging speeds. Whereas getting cheap EV tariffs will give you a 4-5 hour window overnight where you can charge at approx. 20-30% the usual price, in exchange for slightly more expensive electricity for the rest of the day. However you can offset the expensive electricity with your PV then. Might be worth doing some maths when you know more.
Things to consider:
- is it your only or primary car you'll change?
- What is you typical journey?
- Will you need to do long journey's of 150+ miles regularly?
- Will you do lots of very long journeys (300+ miles)? [Post edited 19 May 23:45]
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| Electric cars on 01:51 - May 20 with 912 views | quirkie |
Got an Ariya on lease.
Got Octopus Intelligent Go as my Tariff, costs me about £6.50 to charge from 10% to 100% overnight and I'll get 300 miles of range out of it.
I charge probably twice a month so 600 miles for £13, 7200 miles a year for about £150. Yep here to Australia or nearly for 150 smackeroonies.
I used to fill up with Diesel twice a month and cost me £150 a month.
Enjoy the maths, it is a no brainer. |  |
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| Electric cars on 05:46 - May 20 with 834 views | itfcst |
I’ve got a Porsche Taycan 4S and my wife has a BMW i3. As said before, if you can charge at home or work you’re laughing. We have octopus energy and it’s 7p per kwh so super cheap to charge as well. My car will do around 300-380 miles depending on the temp so theoretically if it was completely empty and I charged it to 100% it would cost about £8 (105kw battery) for 300 odd miles. The i3 does about 180 miles and is about £3.50 to charge.
Octopus also have a charge card service where you get a discount at public chargers and it’s billed straight to your electric bill monthly. |  |
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| Electric cars on 05:53 - May 20 with 821 views | homer_123 |
Polestar 2.
I charge at home on a 3 pin plug. No charger. Never had an issue.
Not missed petrol. |  |
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| Electric cars on 06:22 - May 20 with 791 views | Chondzoresk |
I have 2 EVs Hyundai Ioniq 5 4WD and a Renault e Scenic. Both brilliant. If you get one, you’ll need to change your electric tariff to something that’s EV friendly, my leccy bills are the same as it was before the EVs arrival. So, it’s a win win. Take no notice of “there are no charging points” conspirators. I have driven 600 miles and no issues with finding charging points from here to Cornwall and back. In fact your EV will tell you where the nearest is and how many in use.
One last point, the acceleration on the Ioniq is jaw dropping. 0~60 in 4 seconds…..I have caught a few out thinking I am an old bloke they can pass easily at traffic lights.
In a nutshell….get an EV, it makes sense. |  | | |
| Electric cars on 07:11 - May 20 with 726 views | Nutkins_Return |
| Electric cars on 05:53 - May 20 by homer_123 |
Polestar 2.
I charge at home on a 3 pin plug. No charger. Never had an issue.
Not missed petrol. |
I'd look into this. It's really not advised at all. 3 pin is ok on rare occasions and better if you are around to monitor and not at night. Prolonged use of 3 pin massively increases risk of fire and I think it's not great for your car battery either more generally. | |
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| Electric cars on 07:39 - May 20 with 651 views | MVBlue |
Just last month after waiting for the right pricing I bought a Citroen e-c4x. My feeling was that for the regular buyer, electric cars are expensive, most owners were business cars. £40k was common.
Tesla range the best but expensive and model Y needed for pothole country side roads.
Decided on a £30k car, but then bought the demonstrator for £18k with 90 miles on the clock.
Have the Citroen guarentee the battery is good for 8 years or 100'000 miles. Battery life reduces 2-4% each year. Fitted home charger. Octopus EV tried to sell me a second hand car on lease but seemed not as good a deal. We won't be doing many 200 mile journeys in it. stated range 220 actual range 180. Air con seems to reduce battery faster so bearing that in mind. Home overnight economy 7 charging to 220 £6:50. |  |
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| Electric cars on 08:57 - May 20 with 570 views | homer_123 |
| Electric cars on 07:11 - May 20 by Nutkins_Return |
I'd look into this. It's really not advised at all. 3 pin is ok on rare occasions and better if you are around to monitor and not at night. Prolonged use of 3 pin massively increases risk of fire and I think it's not great for your car battery either more generally. |
Lease car..... | |
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| Electric cars on 09:00 - May 20 with 562 views | DanTheMan |
I've got a Kia EV and it's fine. The transition was fairly simple but we do limited long distance driving. Can just take a little more planning but otherwise great.
Wouldn't go back. |  |
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| Electric cars on 09:10 - May 20 with 533 views | cooperd5 |
| Electric cars on 08:57 - May 20 by homer_123 |
Lease car..... |
It's the socket that generally overheats or catches fire 🔥
Should be safe but all it takes is a slightly high-resistance joint in the socket... |  | | |
| Electric cars on 09:53 - May 20 with 483 views | RadioOrwell |
I'm the guy who asked about a BMW 2 series a couple of months ago.
I tested a bunch of petrol / diesel cars.
Then I twice tested a Peugeot e208
Unbelievable experience. I'm not much of a car / driving fan but I totally loved this thing.
I encourage you to try one.
I haven't got it yet but I probably will.
Getting my head around charging, home charging units etc etc
If you have a charging port it's a no brainer. |  | | |
| Electric cars on 09:58 - May 20 with 446 views | DarkBrandon |
I’ve had an EV for four years or so. The brand that used to be ok, but their CEO went mad and now everyone hates them. So there’s that.
But the car is a dream. So easy to drive.
Charing is fine. Happens magically overnight. You won’t miss standing at a filling station in sub-zero temperatures putting petrol in your car.
I definitely won’t be going back. |  | | |
| Electric cars on 10:03 - May 20 with 433 views | ArnoldMoorhen |
| Electric cars on 23:23 - May 19 by TheBlueGnu |
I would advise asking the owner of two BMW EV's - Jeffrey Holland. |
Now you are talking! If you ever get the chance to see his wonderful one man show "...And this is my friend, Mr Laurel" then take it.
https://www.jeffreyholland.co.uk/mr-laural
I booked it for my former venue a few years ago, having seen it at the Fringe, and then had a wonderful evening in a local pub afterwards, where he and his wife, the actress Judy Buxton, told us stories about Hi De Hi, and her time filming By the Sword Divided (which I had watched devotedly as a youngster).
I know you will appreciate this reminiscence! | | | |
| Electric cars on 10:04 - May 20 with 424 views | Pinewoodblue |
| Electric cars on 09:58 - May 20 by DarkBrandon |
I’ve had an EV for four years or so. The brand that used to be ok, but their CEO went mad and now everyone hates them. So there’s that.
But the car is a dream. So easy to drive.
Charing is fine. Happens magically overnight. You won’t miss standing at a filling station in sub-zero temperatures putting petrol in your car.
I definitely won’t be going back. |
Thought they only charred once, then need replacing. |  |
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| Electric cars on 10:07 - May 20 with 399 views | Swansea_Blue |
| Electric cars on 05:46 - May 20 by itfcst |
I’ve got a Porsche Taycan 4S and my wife has a BMW i3. As said before, if you can charge at home or work you’re laughing. We have octopus energy and it’s 7p per kwh so super cheap to charge as well. My car will do around 300-380 miles depending on the temp so theoretically if it was completely empty and I charged it to 100% it would cost about £8 (105kw battery) for 300 odd miles. The i3 does about 180 miles and is about £3.50 to charge.
Octopus also have a charge card service where you get a discount at public chargers and it’s billed straight to your electric bill monthly. |
The Taycan looks like a lovely car, but the depreciation on them is quite something! You can pick up a 2.5 yr old one for the same price as ‘normal’ EV. I’ve noticed in general that the prices for second hand EV seem to be falling. No surprise I suppose as more of them enter the market. |  |
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| Electric cars on 10:21 - May 20 with 373 views | vilanovablue |
| Electric cars on 09:10 - May 20 by cooperd5 |
It's the socket that generally overheats or catches fire 🔥
Should be safe but all it takes is a slightly high-resistance joint in the socket... |
I've been using a 3 pin plug for 2 years and never had an issue. As for being bad for the battery trickle charging which is what a 3 pin plug virtually is it is the best way to charge an EV. |  | | |
| Electric cars on 10:26 - May 20 with 364 views | ZapatasMoustache |
| Electric cars on 10:21 - May 20 by vilanovablue |
I've been using a 3 pin plug for 2 years and never had an issue. As for being bad for the battery trickle charging which is what a 3 pin plug virtually is it is the best way to charge an EV. |
We switched to an EV a few months ago. It's an MG4 EV which is extremely nippy (in fact I have to be careful not to wheelspin coming out of t-junctions!). Pleasantly surprised I can still get an 8 foot length of wood in it if I need to go to Wickes... Maybe slight regret about not going for a longer range (this is only about 150 miles) but not been a big problem at all. Only charged on 3 pin at home so far but no issues - it's slow but overnight is fine, though will probably get a panel installed at some point. Quick charge at a station for a full 'tank' is about £25-30. |  | | |
| Electric cars on 10:36 - May 20 with 316 views | vilanovablue |
| Electric cars on 10:26 - May 20 by ZapatasMoustache |
We switched to an EV a few months ago. It's an MG4 EV which is extremely nippy (in fact I have to be careful not to wheelspin coming out of t-junctions!). Pleasantly surprised I can still get an 8 foot length of wood in it if I need to go to Wickes... Maybe slight regret about not going for a longer range (this is only about 150 miles) but not been a big problem at all. Only charged on 3 pin at home so far but no issues - it's slow but overnight is fine, though will probably get a panel installed at some point. Quick charge at a station for a full 'tank' is about £25-30. |
I have the same short range MG4 now the summer is here range based on my usage is over 200 miles which is fine. Yes suitably nippy and being rear wheel drive really good fun! [Post edited 20 May 10:36]
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| Electric cars on 11:00 - May 20 with 273 views | Kentish_Tractor |
I made the switch to Electric in February. Got myself a 2021 Tesla Model 3 Long Range. Would highly recommend - used Model 3s are exceptional value for money right now (best power/performance per £ that you can get at the moment, and it has a premium sound system for my tunes). Never felt accelleration like it. Yes I hate Elon but couldn't turn down that value for money, and I bought it from an independent dealer and NOT Tesla.
Like others on here I have a charger on my house with Octopus Intelligent EV Tarrif. Costs me about a fiver for a full charge which in decent weather will give me 300+ miles of range if you don't drive it like you stole it. The fuel savings vs petrol are immense.
Tesla charging on the go isn't bad either - charging costs from about 35p to 50p per KW depending on where you go and the time of day - which is still much cheaper than most other non-tesla rapid chargers you get, and there are more than enough of them to get you virtually anywhere you want to go.
The cons vs petrol. Insurance is higher. Charging does take longer if you're going to be doing consistent 200+ mile trips in a day (if you are a very high mile-er and touring around the country frequently, I'd recommend hybrid or sticking with petrol). But for me only doing the odd long range trip here and there, a half hour break to get you up to 60-80% is good after driving for 3 hours or so. My commute is only about 40 miles each way so not a problem. The only time I've ever had range anxiety is when I took it up to Scotland on its first ever road trip. No Tesla chargers north of Inverness. But so long as you're not going to be taking it to the Highlands then you should be absolutely fine.
So in summary - I'd highly recommend going electric - unless you're moving to the highlands or doing more than 200 miles a day frequently. | |
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| Electric cars on 11:14 - May 20 with 251 views | farkenhell |
Sorry to hijack this thread, but can anyone recommend a SUV EV that is big enough to seat 4 adults and a small dog comfortably for long journeys (up to 300 miles or so), with a big enough boot for 4 largish suitcases? | | | |
| Electric cars on 11:32 - May 20 with 223 views | BloomBlue |
Excellent if you do lots of short journeys
Long journeys can be an issue. Pricing of charging varies a lot, similar to petrol/diesel. But annoyingly most stations that have fossils fuel and EV only display the price of petrol/diesel but not their EV kW charge, so invariably you won't know the price until you've basically plugged in and charging. That has to change, if by law they have to display the price of fuel on large clear signs before you enter the station they should be forced to do the same for EV kw's - that's a con.
Lots of people will tell you EV charging isn't expensive, but a lot of those are company car drivers who don't pay for the charge, they're also probably not fully declaring their personal usage, meaning the company also pays for that.
Tesla are best, not only is the charging network the best, you will know it's the same price (and normally the cheapest) irrelevant of which Tesla charging station you use.
Also remember the 80% rule. Once you go beyond 80% charging time slows down, which is why they quote 20-80% times. For a laugh ask the dealer what the 20-100% time is. I've found most cannot answer that, they only seem to know the 20-80 or 0-100%. Remember a petrol/diesel will fill up at the same rate irrelevant of how much is in the tank.
Depreciation also to be watched. If you're buying it for yourself, either lease or PCP. I've seen many horror stories. A renault zoe, purchased new in Jan 2023, renault were talking about £13,500 value in Jan 2026 with PCP. The idiot owner decided to buy as they had a 0% finance on HP (or something like that). Two weeks ago he thought he would look into changing it now, best offer he's had is £6300 (crazily approx only 20% of its original price in just over 2 years). Clearly it's not going to increase to £13,500 in 7 months, he should have gone with PCP, and let renault take the hit. Also refer back to the company car driver, they're not impacted by depreciation
Ultimately petrol cars handle better, but to the average driver that is irrelevant.
If you have teenagers who want to drive it, double check with your insurer, can be very, very expensive. A teenager in an old corsa petrol with a 0-60 time of 11 seconds after just passing their test, rather than in a 0-60 in 5 seconds EV = a lower risk and a happier insurer.
All EVs are heavier, doing more damage to the roads than ICE cars, so don't most about potholes
Anyway....
Short journeys EVs are great and charging cheap
Long journeys, complex and costs can be expensive
Lease or PCP if a personal purchase
Double check if the person advocating EVs are great, has a company car EV.
Once you've had a Tesla you'll never go with another manufacturer. Ignore the Musk issue, all other EVs are either Chinese built, or large parts of it Chinese supplied ie the batteries, so produced by slave labour. |  | | |
| Electric cars on 11:50 - May 20 with 192 views | itfcst |
| Electric cars on 10:07 - May 20 by Swansea_Blue |
The Taycan looks like a lovely car, but the depreciation on them is quite something! You can pick up a 2.5 yr old one for the same price as ‘normal’ EV. I’ve noticed in general that the prices for second hand EV seem to be falling. No surprise I suppose as more of them enter the market. |
Tbf it’s a company car. Depreciation is only an issue if you privately purchase one. Personally, unless it’s a low value car I’d always look to lease, contract hire or salary sacrifice a new EV rather than buy one. Only caveat to that would be if you own a company and can make good use of the corporation tax & other benefits with a purchase.
Company car tax & BIK is where the real win is, my car is about £135k and only costs me about £130 a month in tax! | |
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| Electric cars on 13:46 - May 20 with 87 views | unbelievablue |
| Electric cars on 06:22 - May 20 by Chondzoresk |
I have 2 EVs Hyundai Ioniq 5 4WD and a Renault e Scenic. Both brilliant. If you get one, you’ll need to change your electric tariff to something that’s EV friendly, my leccy bills are the same as it was before the EVs arrival. So, it’s a win win. Take no notice of “there are no charging points” conspirators. I have driven 600 miles and no issues with finding charging points from here to Cornwall and back. In fact your EV will tell you where the nearest is and how many in use.
One last point, the acceleration on the Ioniq is jaw dropping. 0~60 in 4 seconds…..I have caught a few out thinking I am an old bloke they can pass easily at traffic lights.
In a nutshell….get an EV, it makes sense. |
Love my Ioniq 5. Work scheme made it affordable for me. Will be a shame to give it back next year! |  |
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