Pro's and con's for buying an electric vehicle
Comments
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I may have a lot of debt, Kj, but it's wise debt which I look upon as a good investment because of the future savings it will bring me!
Well that is a first, I have never heard 'debt' being termed as wise
No debt, zero balance, owing nothing is wise and future savings still possible.2 -
It is wise in these circumstances because it means my seasonal pitch fees are all paid for a whole year and the new PCP debt for the Smart car will mean savings in fuel far in excess of the additional amount paid.
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As a second vehicle purchased new I do not see them as a sensible financial purchase for many second vehicle replacements for those doing under 5k a year.
Or as a second hand purchase either, while batteries are costing £4,000 or so and a vehicle a few years old will need one quite soon. Approximately doubles the cost.
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4.54 litres in a gallon.
To get an idea of likely duty per mile when Government starts charging for road usage. At present - Assume 40mpg that is 8.8 miles per litre and a duty ((excluding VAT) of 58p per litre that is 6.7p per mile add electric to charge at 3p per mile. Total cost 9.7p per mile compared to car with 40 mph current fuel with tax is12.9p.
Suggests that in the future the savings for EV might reduce to 3.2p per mile.
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It can never be "free".
Someone is paying for the infrastructure and the power. How they get that value back from the user can vary.
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We've had snow and ice here for a good few days now. Whilst brushing off the snow and using spray to melt the ice on the outside of the windscreen, I started the engine and left it running for a while to melt the ice which had formed on the inside of the screen. This is straightforward with a tank full of diesel, not quite the same perhaps with a limited range battery...
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I was reading about the Leaf. Apparently some of the models have a pre heat or cool feature, where it is possible to have the heater, or aircon on independently. Clearly only really practical when hooked up and not very environmentally friendly, however I quite like the idea of getting into a warm car. Or in summer it not being roasting.
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Ours can easily be programmed to get the car ready before we use it. It has various economy settings in use too so I can switch on a heated seat etc without too much battery drain. Remember these cars have been put through advanced research and design but it is the battery size which makes the difference.
I am seeing a lot more Leaf(s) around they are a popular choice. But for us we needed a higher battery performance.
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Parked next to one of the BMW i3's in the car park last week, looked a nice car Brue, impressed
Our local news had a bit about Hydrogen Cars in Swindon, interesting, another option in the future.
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I like the idea of EV's but we know that technology will progress, so if I was going to get one (doubtful) it would be in 5/10 years. Was watching the Formula E racing last weekend, since it started the cars have to be changed at the halfway point due to battery power. I heard that this year that will change as battery power will now cope with the full race. That's a major change in just 3 years(?)
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Where we live in South London the slow rise of electric cars is creating another problem. There are two local to me and both owners live in terraced hoses. Both have taken to having leads trailed across the pavement overnight although one of them does put the lead in a long rubber moulding like a mini ramp. Its still a trip hazard in the dark though and I think only a matter of time before someone gets hurt and sues someone.
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In the years when I was a young salesman in Yorkshire I hated getting into a cold car first thing in the morning, so I kept a paraffin powered greenhouse heater on the front passenger floor. Warm seat and little if any ice or snow to clear.
No matter how much research anyone does it still takes the same amount of energy to heat a seat, whether it comes from diesel, battery or paraffin. We used to measure it in British Thermal Units which were defined as the amount of heat required to raise one pound of water through one degree farenheit. I can see a lot of flat batteries on electric vehicles in the future when the weather is like it has been for the last 10 days in Scotland.
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No matter how much research anyone does it still takes the same amount of energy to heat a seat, whether it comes from diesel, battery or paraffin. We used to measure it in British Thermal Units which were defined as the amount of heat required to raise one pound of water through one degree farenheit. I can see a lot of flat batteries on electric vehicles in the future when the weather is like it has been for the last 10 days in Scotland.I noticed in my reading that the diagnostics in these EV's are fairly comprehensive. It will let you know the result of turning on your heated seat or air con on your range. So you will know if you have enough juice to get home. If not you always have the option of freezing, or roasting and getting a few more miles. It will even offer more eco modes to make you go further on the available power. I presume heat from the electric motor, will only require a small fan to distribute it. So should have little effect on range.
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Well over a century of research has been spent on producing electric motors (and batteries) that do not heat up in normal use. I suspect the heating in electric vehicles will come from an electric element somewhere . . .
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Well ok, we've just travelled up and down the M5 today, torrential rain and bad driving conditions, heating on etc etc. We switched the rex on at the start of the return motorway run to boost the battery and keep the drive levels up, no problems. Remember the re-gen braking works every time you ease off the accelerator, several battery miles can continually be gained this way.
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If you buy an EV on a PCP that's a debt, cariadon but unlike a credit card, it's not a variable debt. It's a debt that ultimately gets paid off over a period of time, usually 3 years or 4 years.
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the re-gen braking works every time you ease off the accelerator
So no chance of free wheeling downhill to save power.
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Just checked the trade in price of our 3 year old Yaris. It has cost about £8000 in depreciation. It will loose another £6000 /£7000 or so over the next 10 years. Unless one has money to burn, it makes replacing relatively new vehicles a very expensive exercise in my view. Unless you do the sort of annual mileage one of my sons does, and those are leased.
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We looked at pcp in depth when we bought our EV and decided to fund it ourselves, it was a pre-reg so the depreciation is slightly different and we did part ex. At least we have a certain amount of value in it if we decide not to keep it. Car finance is a minefield for the unwary, we certainly couldn't justify the pcp payments even if we saved on fuel. The salesman tried to push the idea that with monthly payments we could hang onto our savings for something else which when analysed was just sales talk with the prospect of a commission. Hope that makes sense?
I realise deals are different so it's up to individuals to get the best for themselves.
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If you pay the balloon payment at the end, the debt is paid off and the car is yours! You don't necessarily have to pay cash. You can make the payment by credit card provided you have sufficient balance available and earn lots of points through Tesco Credit card! That way the outstanding balance converts into interest free credit!
In my case the balloon payment after 4 years will be £5000. Easy to save that amount because of not having to buy petrol for the next four years!
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In conversation with a pal yesterday he mentioned that he had decided against a Toyota SUV hybrid since although it is claimed to deliver 50mpg (hmm?) the salesman said that in order to use the heater it will have to run on the petrol engine and the mpg will be 'about 30'.
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