EV owners: how do you choose an electric vehicle? Where do you look, what do you seek?

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).