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

Have to say, you make the future sound good, I'm glad for all involved that will use cars then. EV's now however are still too expensive, and residuals are still to be proven for the most part. Charging points are coming but like fast broadband was far to slowly and not where they'll see less use, ie very rural areas where I live. Also at almost 74 years old I'm most likely on my last car, a now 6 year old Skoda Yeti, my mileage is low, less than 4k pa so changing is not something I need to do unless I've money to burn. In fact I could possibly motor more cheaply by using taxis, but I enjoy the driving still and like to think I'm still confident and able. Lets see what the next 10 years brings, it's not that I'm against modern technology, I have an iMac, an iPhone, a Smart 4k TV that I stream to from my iMac that also acts as a TV recorder, and have a roof full of solar panels that my installer tells me can now be rigged to charge EV's for free. So as I said, the next 10 years, for technology, and my capabilities! 🙂

Well I'm 71 and have just had my 218 leaf Tekna for nearly a week! My mileage is a bit higher than the previous poster at about 9K pa. As my daughter said, that's my inheritance you're spending (with a big smile on her face i should add)

The Leaf is an absolutely and amazing car to drive, it's so easy in traffic with the propilot engaged it does all the work for you. Plus I'm saving about £80 a month on diesel, there's no road tax (at the moment) and in the sunny weather i'm charging the car for virtually nothing from the solar panels.

I have no hesitation in encouraging you to go electric, you won't regret it; unless you regularly drive more that 120 miles on a single journey, no problem with charging, do it at home, or during May all the Instavolt chargers are free!

Also at almost 74 years old I'm most likely on my last carAt 68, me too. By the time this one is worn out, we'll have those AEV's all over the place.

have just had my 218 leaf Tekna for nearly a week! I think I may have preferred the Tekna as it has LED headlights and leather seats. That said, I think £1,000 is a bit much for those luxuries. I don't need the Bose sound system as I've got tinnitus and wouldn't hear the benefit.

This it my first EV a Nissan leaf Tekna purchased in March 2017 a used 2014 model it has been a great car.

It suits my needs, mileage about 4000 miles a year mainly local, although we went to Malvern showground In March of this year and done 238 miles from Cardiff and back again.

Charged up at Strensham services on the M5 northbound on the way there and on the way back charged up at Gloucester services M5 southbound both times with ecotricity but did not cost me for charging, it is something to do with not connecting your phone with the charge point.
Outcome there and back the cost was £2.00 it was from my home charger which is mostly run off Solar panels, usual cost per month is between £16.00 and £20.00.

I am with OVO I think they are great company very good support, thumbs up to Darran.😀

My thoughts on ecotricity charger that it is cheaper to give you the electric, than send out a low loader and driver to take your car to the next charge point.

One other point you really need to plan your route for service chargers, also allow to make sure your car has enough power to get to another service charger in case that charger is not working.

When my first trip out in my Nissan Leaf I did not allow enough power to get to the next service charger and run out of power, then I phoned up Nissan to send out a low loader 🤐
You do not make the same mistake again.

@tterb Interested to know how you charged at Ecotricity without using your phone?

Hi @PeterR1947

When I plugged the cable in the car the phone was not recognised by the charger but it still started charging anyway not sure how but it did.

Another chap said that it charge for free for him as well, he was not sure how it happens either.

Brett

I have a BMW i3 which is the best car I have ever owned, despite the criticism over high speed handling it is a surprisingly capable car for quick cross country journeys. Mine is an early BEV, with an official guide mileage of 81 miles. I live in the High Peak, unsurprisingly it’s hilly round here, but these don’t present a problem to progress. Most of the loss in range going up hill is made up descending down the other side. My daily journey into work often finds that my car can do 90 or so miles after setting out with around 80! This is despite covering 14 miles. Last year I drove 87 miles as the first stint of my journey on holiday, a Rapid Charge at a functioning Ecotricity charger on free vend saw me on for the next 67 miles. I arrived at both with 4 miles left, but this has become normal. Even doing this Range Anxiety wasn’t kicking in for me, I knew where I was driving to. Yes I do plan longer journeys. If I was to change my car, it would be for another i3, the 120ah battery functions like an ICE car in reality for most users. The planning tool “A better Route Planner” can take the strain out of much of the planning regarding distance, range, comfort margin, temperature, headwind etc. But if you’re lucky enough to be looking at an ev of any make with a longer range, it isn’t the problem you think it is.

I was in my local Nissan dealer waiting for my Leaf to have its first annual service. I got chatting to the Manager, having seen him arrive at the dealership, in a replica of my own EV. He told me that Diesel vehicles were dead already and that diesel hybrid were close behind. I can see why when greedy Councils are grabbing at the chance to make money by taxing toxic vehicles in the Cities and its going to get worse.

I was so relieved to sell my Peugeot GTi Turbo which I had purchased 12 years ago and still managed to get £2,500 for it. I was so scared of being left with it and not able to get rid of it.
With that said, it was still a fun car to drive and I never tired of it. But my new Leaf Tekna is ten times more fun! Technology has come on so much since I purchased a new car and the acceleration is phenomenal!

And did you know, that demand for EV's is much greater than supply with lead times for new EV's being 4 to 12 months. No wonder then that they are barely depreciating and manufacturers taking the opportunity to slowly raise their prices. The Nissan dealer Manager said that he couldn't sell the showroom model of a new Leaf Tekna, because it would take him at least 4 months to replace it. If he did sell it, he would not have a Leaf to show prospective buyers. What a position for a Nissan dealer to be in!

So because I want the 62Kwt Leaf, I'm trying to sell my present car for just £1000 less than I purchased it for 9 months ago. There is a website called Auto e-bid and they give incredible discounts. A top of the range 62 Kwt Leaf costs some £41,000, but if you can wait 4 months, they will give 16% discount, bringing it down to just under £35,000. Put as big a deposit as you can down and you will have a balloon payment at the end of 3 years of around 30% of the total cost; then finance the remainder with a PCP over 3 years. Easy if you have an adequate credit rating.

Just remember the £1,500 to £2,000 a year you will save in having to buy petrol.
Running costs are 1.5p to 2 pence per mile!

Hi @Jukebox My thoughts exactly although I'm not sure about the 60kWh version, much as though I would like one.

Are you within driving distance of Warwick? If so, there's an independent garage that will servie your Leaf, my first service was £72 as opposed to Nissan's £159; you don't get the "complimentary" breakdown service but I have that through my bank account anyway.

If that's of interest, have a look at www.hybridandevcentre.co.uk.

@Darran_OVO
Peter