For researching my EV it was a simple sase of:

Understanding the charging networks available in where i was likely to go

Understanding the costs

Underatanding usage and availability of connectors by checking regularly in realtime

Understanding home charging options

Understanding BIK tax

Reading reviews from google searches

Confirming realistic mileages 

Watching many hours of youtube videos

Test driving the cars and making sure they are comfortable, safe and reliable

And cost.

And as a note, some of the ovo forum content did indeed appear in my google research list. And it was useful.

For me, I think I first started out on https://www.nextgreencar.com, they have a bunch of useful articles and advice and you can compare cars both new and second hand (important for my budget).  There’s also the almost excellent https://ev-database.uk/ if you want real world guesstimates for range.  Then the wealth of information provided by  https://fullycharged.show includes a number of beginner shows to get you started and much more great content.

Once I got the knowledge I then had to justify it to the wife, so I broke open a spreadsheet and compared how much a number of electric cars would cost over 5-10 years against our disgustingly smelly diesel car, once I figured out the cost savings it was a no brainer.  A visit to the https://evexperiencecentre.co.uk and a couple of test drives later proved to the wife that electric cars are not that different after all, just better.

I first had a hybrid 4 years ago and then switched to a full EV about 13 months ago. As a small business owner that wanted a vehicle for work, the main driver for this change was the government tax system and ‘benefit in kind’ costs. The business runs from home, so even if I was to only use the car for work, it would be almost impossible to prove that and therefore I needed to accept that this was going to be a fact of life… The government has been keen to apply punitive rates to carbon heavy cars… so my BIK cost soared by 400% in less than 10 years to the point where the BIK payments to the government over 3 years meant I was taxed for the entire value of the car, even though it was used mainly by the business and was only available to family occasionally! For green vehicles, the BIK rates are much kinder as we all know, HM Govt is keen to get business to support the changeover to greener options. That being said, once you start investigating EV’s you find the benefits very quickly balance the drawbacks… Electricity is so much cheaper than petrol!

I actually ended up with the Nissan Leaf almost by accident. I looked at all the options and for me a decent range without costing the earth was the most important aspect. Speed, go faster stripes and toys were not! At the time, I made a shortlist and put the Kia eNero at the top of the list with Hyundai’s Kona second… however, I was unable to get a test drive of either and was told that waiting lists would be between 12 and 18 months. With a business lease on the Hybrid due to expire in 6, this was a blow. Further investigation suggested the Leaf would be in the next group on the list and with the 62kWh battery versions due to arrive shortly after my lease was due, seemed like a good plan. I also tested the Tesla 3, but although a wonderful vehicle, as a saloon, it was not as practical as the Leaf and was also a little more expensive. If you did want toys and speed… this would certainly be an option! I was able to test drive the smaller battery version of the Leaf and was assured that the larger one would be as near identical as possible, so decided this was a good option. At this point I discovered that Nissan were experimenting with V2H and V2G… as someone who already has solar water and PV and takes an active interest in green technology, I then discovered the OVO V2G project and a year on… here I am writing this note!

Had I been able to get either of my first choices, I would probably not be here and would certainly have missed out on something which has proved so useful during lockdown when work has been near impossible in the normal way…. The car has consistently earned about 30% of its lease costs even though it still has less than 5K on the clock…. and when your business is running at 20% of normal, that is wonderful!

Today, the choice for the buyer is so much wider and prices are gradually coming down… It will be interesting to see if the V2G/H experiment develops further…. I know all other manufacturers void warrantees for such activities… whether this is for good reason or just because they do not know and therefore won’t take any risks, only time will tell, but I certainly have not seen any major issues for my vehicle.

Am I happy with the Leaf….? Yes! It drives nicely, gets me where I want to go and in reasonable comfort. I have not really issues with charging and the running costs are tiny compared to a normal car. Couple that with the earning potential via V2G and for me, it has (by chance) proved to be a better bet than I could have hoped for. 

@NeilG  your story is almost a complete mirror of mine!

Six years ago when I bought my first EV there was very limited information and my decision was driven by (low) driving and maintenance cost, reduced emissions and a £5k incentive making the decision at par with a traditional ICE. The maps and charging network were highly fragmented and geographically limited in coverage. Even now when I am looking at replacement much of the factors remain the same + BiK benefit. In terms of information, I rely on personal experience of a test drive, reliable car reviews, auto forums with genuine drivers and comparing different models for your own personal requirements. A car that works for family A might not be suitable for family B. Make your own call!

I had a Jaguar XF and the warranty was about to expire and so I looked for a new car but with a petrol engine. Jaguar at the time didn’t have one so I looked at Mercedes and discovered that the only suitable petrol model was an PHEV. 
The very good news was that I would be able to claim a £5000 grant (those were the days) and so I finished up with this beauty:

After three years I had discovered the joys of free electricity from Pod-Point at various locations across the country and of course the OVO offer to pay my then Chargemaster, now BP PULSE, subscription, and decided that an EV would have to be my next car. 

The only research I did was on the https://www.speakev.com  EV  forum and at the time there was a lot of discussion about the the soon to be launched Hyundai Kona. 

No hard facts about it and no test drives available just the opportunity to reserve one for delivery in a about eight months. 

At the time there was a government grant of £4500 available and I calculated that I would be able to PX  the Mercedes and add around £5000 cash to make the change from Hybrid to this beauty:

So the gamble paid off in spades.

The Kona in the Summer has regularly provided a range of over 300 miles, best so far:

After just over two years of ownership I haven’t found another car on offer today that I would trade the Kona for.

I did reserve a new VW ID 3 and thinking it would be a contender but when it was finally released in the U.K. I realised it would be a big mistake to trade the Kona for.

I may look more in to the VW ID 4 but I suspect that given the Kona’s  five year warranty it will not win me over.

More likely will be the new https://mobile.hyundai.co.uk/new-cars/ioniq5/thank-you
 

This is really helpful, thank you for all your contributions. 

It’s really interesting to hear that consumer forums have been used by some of you to help with the fact finding and purchase decisions. I’m going to give some other members a chance to reply first, and then come back to you all with an idea.

Oh and @Peetee,

 

 

This is very pretty! 

Three years ago there was either the Nissan Leaf or the Renault Zoe that fitted my budget. I chose the Leaf because it had more space and because it's bigger it felt safer. I read reviews and watched videos of EVman on YouTube. It's a good channel, he has been testing and compering new electric cars. I also just set a price bracket I can afford on auto trader and see what is available, then compare those.

We are soon to be a two battery vehicle household. 

We bought a used 30kwh leaf for my wife’s work commute and a year in it’s been great though the range is a little disappointing.

I have been looking for a greener alternative to my Diesel Landrover Discovery which is primarily used for work. I have been searching for some time and had hoped for some more suitable EV’s to hit the market but they haven’t yet. As a halfway house I have just bought a used Outlander PHEV, some days I will be 100% electric but have the reassurance of the petrol for longer trips.

I would say it’s a hard choice for some because of cost and practicality (size range etc) but there is more choice now than ever before.

Do your research (loads of YouTube channels dedicated to EV). Decide on a budget (taking into account running and servicing costs) and filter down your choices. Once you have a shortlist go and drive them (I can’t believe people would buy a car they’d never seen or driven).

For information I am a freelance diagnostic consultant in the motor trade so have a pretty good idea what fails on cars. My experience is battery electric vehicles are more reliable by far than combustion vehicles (especially diesels).

One thing that probably also helps is the massively reduced number of moving parts in an EV motor compared to a petrol or diesel engine. EV’s are basically a car wrapped around a giant battery pack and a handful of electric motors after all… Not much to go wrong!

I had no intention of buying an EV!

One day we were doing a Grandchild exchange at Cribbs Causeway and Dad’s delivery was late so we walked round the shopping mall.

Walking past one shop I saw a Tesla and had obviously read about them so decided to go have a seat in a model S.  The salesman arrived and asked if I wanted a test drive, I explained that we lived in Nuneaton and he said there’s a showroom in Solihull and gave me a contact there.

So, test drive booked and happened in Solihull, I WAS SOLD! until it got to the pricing, I decided £72,000 was too expensive for my family car.

I researched what was on the market which, in 2018 was rather limited, anyway, I plumped for the LEAF, logged on to CarWow and got myself a good deal on a 40KWh Tekna from Marshalls in Lincoln.

Having daughters at both ends of the country, Sheffield and Plymouth, I decided a larger battery would be advantageous so in May last year, again through CarWow I upgraded to a 62KWh e+ Tekna.  I looked at the other BEVs on the market but was so sold on the Leaf.

Next step in the journey is the V2G trial with Electric Nation!

Having being an EV driver for a few years now, it was very clear I didn’t want to go back. Having looked at a few options such as the Kona and E-Niro, we were still unable to get one due to production unable to keep up with the demand! With a little one here we needed to get a bigger car, bigger battery would be a massive bonus, but also the cost of running it and if upgrading to a bigger battery is really going to save us money in the long run.  This is why we decided to go with the MG ZS EV

I am a HUGE fan of Fully charged! Been a subscriber for many years and am a big fan of Robert, definitely would be a honor to meet in person if I could.

If it wasn’t for his videos, I wouldn’t know all about the amazing colaboration Ecotricity is doing with GridServe! or the Gridserve charging station in Essex! Couple of years ago I noticed Fully charged had covered the MG ZS EV and so we re watched the video to find for the bang for buck and the battery size. You are getting a lot of car and battery! It is a family car so it will need to fit push chair and food shopping in one go without having to have food shopping in the back seat like we used to do with the Nissan Leaf. I think now these days, US EV owners aren’t getting the best deals as we used to back in the day such as a higher goverment grant, free charging point at your home plus more! I believe the initial benefits moving from an ICE car to an EV have gone down hill massively due to the lack of support from the government. Maybe I am wrong and not sure how others feel on here about that, but you have to agree they aren’t the best now. 

But when looking to see my next EV or if I was a new EV owner! Do you research, look on forums such as SpeakEV, Look on youtube for reviews, go and test drive the cars. Although it’s all EV’s they still drive differently. Do not listen to the Jeremy clarksons who own a “JAAAAGGGG” and will never consider turning to an EV and tell you all the negative things they read in the Daily Mail.

I think it’s also fair to say this.

Quite a few EVs also have some pretty impressive performance stats too. Acceleration wise, a Tesla Model X will easily leave quite a LOT of ICE cars for dust in a 0-60 race! Hehehe.

But sadly, I don’t drive at all because I’ve never applied for a driving license. But then again, my “cars” probably have 500x the horsepower anyway. You can’t beat a British Rail Class 390 in any race up the M6! 

That is a good question. For me, the hard decision was new or used, and I think that is personal preference. The used market is reasonably small, so you only have a few options, and the price range narrows it down further. You can get some great bargains at the moment. 

For new vehicles, I would have a look at Compare electric vehicles - EV Database UK (ev-database.uk) . Once you limit by price, again the options become more manageable. There really is an EV for just about any purpose now, but prices are still a bit high. 

What I did not appreciate is how variable the range of an EV is, and I would certainly play around with A Better Routeplanner to figure this out ahead of time for some typical routes. The vehicle models in there are the best I have found so far. 

And of course you need to test drive it, as always. Some cars just feel right, others do not. I loved my test drive in a Tesla S, but I could not see it as my regular car. 

I made the change about 2 years ago and it was based on what I could afford but also didn't want to have compromise so upgraded to a Tesla model 3 performance and never looked back.

Best performance car I've had which never gives me the thought of wouldn't you rather have stayed with Dino juice or chosen something else

Wowza great to hear, @rajan. I don’t think we’ve got a topic about the Tesla model 3 yet.

If you were to share how you feel about it (good and not so good) via a new topic, I’ll happily do what I can to make it visible to anyone browsing our EV area. The same goes to anyone else here, more to come on this next week. I still need to review everyone’s answers above and create some themes. 

Have a great weekend everyone! 

Have a review I've done previously and created a new topic with it here for you  @Tim_OVO 

https://forum.ovoenergy.com/electric-vehicles-ev-chargers-138/tesla-model-3-performance-9248

Thanks for the feedback everyone! I’ve read through all your comments (and admired your beautiful EV photos @Peetee!).

There seems to be a few key themes which were mentioned which we’ve put together to start building an EV review template, in order to encourage more great EV reviews like the one @rajan posted here. 

Is there anything that we’ve missed from the list below or equally things that might not be relevant to include in a review? (guess this could be based on personal preferences but would be good to see if there was some consensus)

• Upfront Cost (new vs secondhand)

• Potential savings (tax/maintenance/running costs) 

• Gov’t incentives

• Range (claimed and actual - which are your most trusted sources?)

• Charging networks (maps/charge points in area)

• Suitability for use/comfort/space

• Safety/Reliability

• Test drive availability

• User reviews (forums, Youtube)

• V2G/V2H potential (trials vs voided warranty)

• Emissions and environmental concerns

• Part exchange possibility

And with that in mind is anyone else up for reviewing their own vehicle - @Jequinlan, @jp1, @NeilG, @sylm_2000, @Peetee, @Andras, @ArundaleP, @PeterR1947, @NinjaGeek, @MrPuds?

Hey Jess!

I think in terms of missing anything, I believe those are the most important key factors to consider when purchasing an EV. Now I have had my car for about 4 months now, I wouldn’t mind writing a review for it if you that is what you like?

@Jess_OVO

Would suggest grouping the money parts together (cost/savings/incentives) as usually people just see the high price and are put off without understanding the other parts together.

V2g/v2h is really limited at the moment so most won't have this apart from the new Nissan leaf 

Might want to add in other forums/owner groups such as Tesla motor club https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/forums/the-uk-and-ireland.114/

People usually ask questions here before/after buying which is a good support network

Glad to hear it, @NinjaGeek, and we’d love a review of the new MG ZS now you’ve had the chance to really get to know it!

Sorry I missed your comment earlier, @rajan ..

This is an excellent point and one that I think we should incorporate into the template we build.

And this is interesting to consider as well. Would there be value in creating a directory of useful forums/owner groups, much like the useful EV App’s blog, @NinjaGeek wrote?

@Tim_OVO @Jess_OVO 

Was rereading through this and couldn't see any comments from OVO

https://www.gov.uk/cma-cases/electric-vehicle-charging-market-study#contact

Worth a read if you have time and you may see some similar comments taken from my Tesla review in the published feedback

Thanks for sharing, @tesla_model_3 - is your review within that Tesla Owners Club document?