Electric Vehicles (or EV's) - We'd love to know what you think!

We have a BMW i3 Rex. We bought the Rex due to range anxiety, my husband was doing around 30k miles a year for work (spread across 2 cars). We have solar panels, so going EV made sense. In fact he hardly used the Rex in all the 18k miles he's run up on the EV (Rex is a range extender for those who don't know the i3, basically its a small 600cc petrol engine that acts as an electricity generator, to maintain battery level if it gets low and you aren't able to charge). We are extremely happy solar panel and EV owners.

I read in the news the other week that by 2035 all new cars sold in Europe could be electric!!



That's an exciting fact, and one that's not too far away!



Anyone thinking about getting an EV? I'm definitely interested more and more as time goes by, definitely seeing more charging points popping up around the country (there's even one at my local train station car park now!)



Keep sharing your thoughts on this, its a subject that's definitely gaining more momentum!



Darran





Research published this week, after the SMMT announced a further decline in diesel sales,

Official figures from the SMMT revealed that sales of diesel cars dropped by 25.6% in January.





Sewells Research & Insight’s twice-yearly Market Barometer has found that 71% of fleets currently operate diesel cars, but only 59% expect their replacement cars to be fuelled by diesel.



Petrol cars will take up most of the slack in the short-term, although by far the most dynamic growth will be in sales of hybrid and electric cars.



The Market Barometer suggests that as many as 30% of fleets expect to run hybrid cars within the next 12 months, and a further 7% will have pure electric cars on their books by the end of the year.



This represents a dramatic increase from the 12% of fleets that currently have at least one hybrid car, and the 3% of fleets which have a battery-powered car.



Corporate fleets (employing 250+ people) are leading the way towards a lower emission future, with 47% expecting to replace some of their cars with hybrids this year, and 16% preparing to run electric cars.



Essential vehicle users, such as utility companies, transport firms, and construction businesses are at the forefront of the move to cleaner emission vehicles, according to Sewells.

I think that company car users will quickly realise that potential tax saving amounting to many hundreds, if not thousands, of pounds will result from the lower BIK charges if an electric car is specified and fleet managers will quickly realise that the TCO( total cost of ownership) of those vehicles will save enormous sums. Much longer service interval, compared to ICEs, reduced cost of replacement parts like brake pads, discs, oil and of course the biggie, fuel.

On top of that their carbon emissions will be so much less.

What’s not to like, even if at the moment the capital cost of the car may be higher 🙂

Congratulations :)

I have a Mercedes C350e and when it’s warranty runs out in October of this year I was hoping to buy a BEV. I would also buy the Leaf but because so many other models will be released in the next twelve months I am now torn between the Leaf or perhaps keep the Mercedes for a few extra months.

I think the Tesla is a great car but more importantly I admire the whole Tesla experience. The idea of just popping in to a Tesla shop, this one is in Cambridge, arranging a test, all with no pressure to buy, and then knowing that their mobile service and OTA (over the air) updates removes the usually awful experience of dealing with a service department of a traditional car maker.

I finally took delivery of my Renault Zoe after a six month wait. I love it.



The only snag was with the home charger. It was installed several months ago and in the meantime the junction box had filled up with water so, oddly, it didn't work properly. We had to wait for a few days for Chargemaster to come out and repair which gave us plenty of time to get to know the local public chargers.



The most interesting charger we've found so far was in Talbot Rd car park in Blackpool. As you might guess in the slot machine capital of the country, it is coin operated. No fancy apps, just drop a £1 coin in the slot and charge for two hours at 22kW.



How much of a charge in % is £1 ?

Presumably you can get a free charge at Sutton’s dealership.

The Zoe has a 40kWh battery - it was freezing cold so it only went from 25% to about 80% in two hours.



Having checked properly, it finished at 93%.

I think the Tesla is a great car but more importantly I admire the whole Tesla experience. The idea of just popping in to a Tesla shop, this one is in Cambridge, arranging a test, all with no pressure to buy, and then knowing that their mobile service and OTA (over the air) updates removes the usually awful experience of dealing with a service department of a traditional car maker.



Totally agree with Peetee on this, free satnav and software updates over the air would be to die for, however, you are paying handsomely for them. If I had £76K lying around spare I would be driving my Tesla now but I'll make good with my Leaf when it arrives. I can afford a lot of updates with the £58,500 I'll be saving by buying the Leaf

So the burning question is - what real world range are you getting at this time of year ?



The average for the last week is 3.8 miles per kWh, so a range of about 150 miles. I live in the Yorkshire Pennines so there are plenty of hills involved in that.

The same will apply to the Leaf competitor, Tesla Model 3, when it arrives in this country .



I was going to reserve a Model 3 but I have a friend in the US who tells me about the problems they are having ramping up production with quality issues as a result so after a three year PCP deal with the Leaf, the Model 3 might be available in the UK

The same will apply to the Leaf competitor, Tesla Model 3, when it arrives in this country .



I was going to reserve a Model 3 but I have a friend in the US who tells me about the problems they are having ramping up production with quality issues as a result so after a three year PCP deal with the Leaf, the Model 3 might be available in the UK



Yes I have read about the Tesla production issues but discovering the truth is quite difficult. So many Tesla naysayers and stock shorters that I just read Elon Musk’s tweets. You then only need to decide if he is telling the truth



My comment came from my friend who actually visits the Tesla production lines so it's inside information!

I leased a 30kWh Nissan Leaf last year. Persuaded my daughter and son in law to take over the payments and vehicle so I could buy a 40kWh Leaf 2.ZERO. I have had it just over two weeks and it is even better than the old one.



My reasoning for buy it was that I only have one 270 mile journey every year and I do not mind stopping twice each way. My daughters are 110 and 135 miles so the 150 mile realistic range is fine for me. I was with Ecotricity to get the low cost en route charging along with renewably generated electricity. There are Polar rapid chargers within a couple of miles of both daughters so it made sense to shift to Ovo and get the two years Polar subscription. There's even a Polar Rapid about half way on that longer journey meaning I can get to it, have a comfort break, move on and then splash & dash near the end of the journey. Same on the way back.



I have a 4kW solar system and will be getting a Tesla Powerwall 2 next month. Because of the way VAT is being calculated, I will also have another 600W of solar at the same time. Tomorrow an electrician is coming to fit a myenergi Zappi smart charger that will mean I can trickle charge the car with any solar left over after the water is heated and the battery filled.

I predict that in about three years from now many PHEV users today will opt for a full fat electric car when their PCP contracts mature. And, when it becomes obvious that EV's are taking over, what will be the cost of leasing fossil burners? I think that will only accelerate the uptake of BEVs.

By then many dealers will be struggling with the idea of losing income from their service departments.



It will be a challenge for fuel service stations as welll.I think my Nissan dealer has caught on to this already and sound as though they're making plans. That said, I don't think they understand just how few vehicles there will actually be on the roads when Transport as a Service really takes hold.



Fuel service stations will only be found where EVs need to charge in places like market towns and on major roads. They make most of their money from drinks, snacks and etc now and that is unlikely to change.