Pro's and con's for buying an electric vehicle

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  • Navigateur
    Navigateur Club Member Posts: 3,880 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    edited January 2018 #182

    No, Malcolm.  The question was about MY car, not an electric vehicle.

  • Malcolm Mehta
    Malcolm Mehta Forum Participant Posts: 5,660
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    edited January 2018 #183

    surprised

  • cariadon
    cariadon Forum Participant Posts: 861
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    edited January 2018 #184

    So who's paying the PCP, I am confused because you said that in 4 years you will hand the car back and walk away.

  • JVB66
    JVB66 Forum Participant Posts: 22,892
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    edited January 2018 #185

    That means I was using drugs when as an apprentice making pipe joints 

  • Navigateur
    Navigateur Club Member Posts: 3,880 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    edited January 2018 #186

    "Joints" indeed ! !

  • brue
    brue Forum Participant Posts: 21,176 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    edited January 2018 #187

    It gets worse....laughing

  • Navigateur
    Navigateur Club Member Posts: 3,880 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    edited January 2018 #188

    . . . . like an addiction !

  • Malcolm Mehta
    Malcolm Mehta Forum Participant Posts: 5,660
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    edited January 2018 #189

    I'll be paying it in monthly instalments, cariadon. I didn't say that I would definitely hand the car back in 4 years. I said that I had the OPTION to do so as part of the agreement. In other words, I could consider doing so, if I wanted to retire from delivery driving.

  • cariadon
    cariadon Forum Participant Posts: 861
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    edited January 2018 #190

    I suppose the monthly payments is a lot cheaper than what your paying now, and part of the £2500 you say you will be saving.

  • EasyT
    EasyT Forum Participant Posts: 16,194
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    edited January 2018 #191

    One of the cons (not air con) for some drivers might well be reduced range due to their driving style.

    Malcolm says that overall he averages 27 miles to the gallon with his present Smart. Most would expect closer to 40mpg. Would the Smart EV's range be similarly reduced I wonder? 

  • cariadon
    cariadon Forum Participant Posts: 861
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    edited January 2018 #192

    http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/travel

    This web page is very informative, and even tells you how to drive to get a better range from the battery, and how to get cheaper tariff for electricity in the home.

  • Oneputt
    Oneputt Club Member Posts: 9,144 ✭✭✭
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    edited January 2018 #193

    I knew nothing about PCP so had a quick look and have to confess that I was stunned.  Apparently 82% of all new cars on the road are purchased using PCP.  The only up side I can see is that people who wouldn't normally be able to afford a new car can now own one.  

    £41 billion in loans, wonder how many folk are exposed?

     

    http://uk.businessinsider.com/uk-car-finance-pcp-mortgage-market-morgan-stanley-2017-7

     

  • cariadon
    cariadon Forum Participant Posts: 861
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    edited January 2018 #194

    Does make alarming reading oneputt, at the moment the risk is with the finance, dealer, cannot see it staying like that, or a lot of dealership will disappear.

  • JayEss
    JayEss Forum Participant Posts: 1,663
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    edited January 2018 #195

    I think I've alluded to it in the past when people kept harping on about how younger people can't get into caravanning. Very few people in my road 'own' a car. The majority have cars on PCP through their employer. 

    I own my current car but my next will probably be electric and will be leased if possible. 

  • brue
    brue Forum Participant Posts: 21,176 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    edited January 2018 #196

    Here's some info on PCPs. One drawback is annual mileage limits which produce a surcharge. Take a look at the final cost differences. It's not something I would consider.

    BBC Business

     

  • SteveL
    SteveL Club Member Posts: 12,302 ✭✭✭
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    edited January 2018 #197

    A proportion will be like us though. We wanted to buy the car outright. However, they are so keen to try and tie you in to a future purchase, they would not give us as good a deal on paying outright. That deal also included zero percent finance. A crazy situation.

    Now we are at the end of the deal we have had to insist in writing and phone calls, several times, that we want to make the final payment of £6000. Not refinance, or make an appointment to switch to a new model. All of the hassle has come from Toyota finance, who obviously lean on there dealers to push these deals.

    Interestingly they say that they will take the final payment by DD, as that is how we pay the monthly instalments. I didn't know variable DD's could be quite that variable. I find it slightly concerning.

  • Oneputt
    Oneputt Club Member Posts: 9,144 ✭✭✭
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    edited January 2018 #198

    Good article Brue, I read somewhere that not only was mileage a potential issue but 'fair wear and tear' was creating a major problem.  I certainly wouldn't be saddled with one of these contracts, particularly if I were already deep in debt

  • brue
    brue Forum Participant Posts: 21,176 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    edited January 2018 #199

    No, agreed but sadly the article implies that people who are in debt tend to opt for this type of process which is why the scheme is being called into question, a bit like bad mortgage loans.

    It was really pushed at us when we bought our EV, I suppose a lot of commission is involved. We listened but said no.

  • SteveL
    SteveL Club Member Posts: 12,302 ✭✭✭
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    edited January 2018 #200

    Here's some info on PCPs. One drawback is annual mileage limits which produce a surcharge. Take a look at the final cost differences. It's not something I would consider.

    There are clearly different sorts of deal. Ours was for less than the total value of the car. The finance was at zero percent and mileage charges only applied if you wanted to hand the car back, not if you completed the deal. An HP deal even if we had obtained zero percent, would have been dearer as we would not have been given the manufactures discounts.

    As with all expensive purchases, it pays to check things out, or as some are finding out it can come back and bite you.

    I suppose they are a bit like a credit card. They work well as long as you pay them off each month.

  • Malcolm Mehta
    Malcolm Mehta Forum Participant Posts: 5,660
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    edited January 2018 #201

    It was in a BBC news report today that three fifths of new cars sold in the next 12 years must be electric.

  • Navigateur
    Navigateur Club Member Posts: 3,880 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    edited January 2018 #202

    If these PCPs are allowing more people to have cars, and for more people to have a new car more often, where are all the cars going after these PCPs have ended?

    Scrap?

  • brue
    brue Forum Participant Posts: 21,176 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    edited January 2018 #203

    By 2030 not immediately.

  • EasyT
    EasyT Forum Participant Posts: 16,194
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    edited January 2018 #204

    I can see no reason why Malcolm. Any good reasons given? 

    The government are proposing restrictions in 22 years time. 

  • JVB66
    JVB66 Forum Participant Posts: 22,892
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    edited January 2018 #205

    If  you look on any main dealers forecourts on the used car side the majority are three years or younger,  it used to be a lot of company cars and motorbility vehicles  ,now the majority are ex pcp vehicles  ,there is a huge glut of used vehicles now as more and more are being "sold" this way to try to keep production figures of new vehicles viable ,and the value of used vehicles,is dropping ,so I would be very carefull if in the market now for any new vehicle to think about how much it will be worth in a couple of years

  • EasyT
    EasyT Forum Participant Posts: 16,194
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    edited January 2018 #206

    They will be increasingly flooding the second hand market

  • HelenandTrevor
    HelenandTrevor Forum Participant Posts: 3,221
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    edited January 2018 #207

    The council in Oxford want to ban all diesel and petrol cars from the centre by 2020 so at least anyone with an electric car will be able to drive into Oxford City centre in a couple of years time! wink  I'll just have to carry on using the train, cheaper than parking anyway.surprised

  • brue
    brue Forum Participant Posts: 21,176 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    edited January 2018 #208

    EasyT this is why secondhand values have gone down,

  • brue
    brue Forum Participant Posts: 21,176 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    edited January 2018 #209

    Here's the BBC article about 2030 plans. There are other links on there for further information.

  • JVB66
    JVB66 Forum Participant Posts: 22,892
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    edited January 2018 #210

    Cambridge are also wanting to do the same,but as has been said the infrastructure to enable all EV is not available and would need huge investment to do so,whereas Hibrids will not need ,as it would only be city centres that req batt power and buses can only do about 90mile max on Batt only so it would be similar for commercial vehicles,with all the stop start needed,and tail lifts

  • brue
    brue Forum Participant Posts: 21,176 ✭✭✭✭✭
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    edited January 2018 #211

    I'm surprised at that in view of Cambridge's research and development status, I thought they'd be at the forefront. I wonder how many chargers are on the science parks already?