February Magazine - Nick Lomas EVs
I started to read the Nick Lomas' article published in this month’s magazine regarding the transition towards electric vehicles with scepticism at first. Having owned two electric vehicles for over 4 years, I have seen so much biased reporting by ill informed journalists or in journals with “other” agendas that are clearly out to recredit EVs, that I thought here we go again.
So it started off well, then I got to the bombshell. The article states that running costs are lower and implies that, this will go a long way to offset the initial costs of purchase. Very true, in my case, the cost of the lease and low charging costs mean that I can run an EV for much less than that of a comparable petrol or diesel car. Then he states that it costs £20 to charge “at home”! Where on earth did he get that figure from? Well done he just may have alienated thousands of potential people thinking about converting to an EV.
Please find below the true cost of charging at home on an Economy 7 tariff
KIA SOUL EV (30KWh battery). To charge from 50% to 100% will give a total range of 130 miles in summer, 100 miles in winter)
DAY RATE £2.47 plus vat @5%
NIGHT RATE £1.59 plus vat @5%
The latest KIA SOUL EV, (64KWh battery) for comparison will do more than twice the range, so to charge from 50% to 100% :-
DAY RATE £5.28 plus vat @5%
NIGHT RATE £2.97 plus vat @5%
I have Economy 7 tariff and additionally I have solar panels, so when the sun is shining, any excess electricity goes in to my car. So I can charge for free sometimes. Even at Public chargers that charge 30p per KW, I’ve never got anywhere near paying £20. Last year I did 10k miles for less than £300.
So to allow people to make informed decisions, could you please add a correction in next month's magazine.
David Bell
Moved from the Story Section
Comments
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Should say discredit, not recredit
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It is not the cost of charging an EV that puts many off buying/leasing an EV it will as many others who do not have solar panels or access to economy 7 meters it is the national shortage of infrastructure that in this area as many others ,there is no way home charging can be accessed ,
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I'm sure the Government won't keep the zero tax for electric vehicles for long once the sales of internal combustion engined cars drop in favour of electric sufficiently and they will also have to find a way of recovering the loss of fuel duty somehow. Don't expect electric vehicle running costs to stay low for long!
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It wouldn't quite go with their green credentials to tax electric vehicles? There is an issue here as you can't tax the fuel as that would mean cost of electricity would have to increase and the use of electricity for charging cars will only be one element of use. Perhaps they will be tempted to go for road charging which you could make a case for as it has the effect of encouraging people onto public transport and reducing congestion. Also any Government keen to get people to change over to electric vehicles wouldn't want to put that at risk by increasing the cost. It will be interesting to see how any future Government cope with the shortfall of fuel tax revenues. Perhaps a pound a bottle on wine might help!!!
David
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Just been reading an article in my company (railway)magazine by a professor from Cornwall who has been studying claims by ev makers of the distances their vehicles can cover on a single charge,
It seems the max miles per charge are based on an average speed of 30kph, the chart then goes on to give mpk until the 70mph equivelant being used, which could mean for every hour travelled it could mean a 45min recharge
That is without a caravan on the hook
Ps it was in answer to whether long distance travel in the future would see a resurgence in motor rail services
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Fortunately there are lots of "real world" tests out there that give a fairly good impression of real range of EV cars. Whilst I accept that probably manufacturers figures should be taken with a pinch of sort, a bit like Kia mpg figures
. I rather fancy a Kia E-Niro but at £38000 for the long range version that would be an extravagance so it looks as if I will stick with petrol for a while longer.0 -
I think an EV has all the facilities a non EV car has,
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Saw a Kia e niro yesterday in Le clerc's car park and parked away from other cars about 1 month old, OH had a look and did not like the shape of it.
Did read N.Lomas's article but OH did not, looks like he just got the information from elsewhere.
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Seats, wheels, go pedal, stop pedal, lights, doors, boot, windscreen wipers, etc. etc. etc.
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fair point. but less to go wrong
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I accept it's not the most attractive of cars, neither saloon or SUV but some of the long term tests I have read suggests it gets very near to its predicted range. Obviously the harder you drive a car of any sort of car the more that will impact on economy although when you are braking there is an element of regeneration. I have no idea whether it can tow as I don't need that option. It will be interesting to see how, in time, the prices settle down although I can't imagine them ever being as cheap as petrol or diesel cars? Do they offer incentives in France to buy EV's?
David
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Why are manufacturers currently appearing to experiment with ugly styling on EVs?. If you see a slightly bizarre looking car, odds on it's an electric. Time for an electric Multipla?
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With no road fund tax and no tax collected on fuel ,i suspect there will be an annual mileage charge .When applying for a permit to use the vehicle on the road you would have to enter the vehicle mileage.
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Which magazine had a very good Feb supplement where they rated EV's/Hybrids giving costs for charging, mileage possible etc, i sent them an email asking them to grasp the nettle and put a caravan of say 1600kgs on the back of a suitably sized EV tow car and to publish the results for towing capability e.g. mileage, handling in tight situations such as pitching up on site, all the stuff a good diesel tow car would do
this was their reply
"As our reviews are designed to be a general overview for the general consumer, we wouldn't consider suitability for towing a caravan, ownership of which is estimated as being around 550,000 for the whole of the UK, as essential or universal enough to be included as part of our reviews. We always recommend that any members who have specific interests do outside research into those topics if a product that we recommend interests them"
take it as you will
anybody got a printable suitable reply ?0 -
Rufs
You could reply that anyone who could afford an electric car capable of towing a 1600 kgs caravan is most certainly within the Which reader demographic? They do sound a bit sniffy about caravans!!!
David
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It's getting so difficult to isolate your car from whoever now, mine will download system software updates and satnav updates whilst its parked on the driveway and using my WiFi (called 'Over the Air' updates). Yes I have to allow the connection but if I don't then I cannot update the cars software system, and also because it has its own system SIM card who knows where and when its sending the cars information
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It's always a bit worrying when your car is smarter than you are.
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