Electric Cars | What You Need To Know

Most of us know that electric cars, and in fact electric vehicles (EV’s) in general, are the way things are moving. The UK Government has said that new cars and vans powered wholly by petrol and diesel will not be sold in the UK from 2030. Why they have now reduced grants for buying electric vehicles from £3000 to £2500 is beyond me, but that’s another story.

As we’re all being encouraged to buy electric vehicles I thought it was time for me to do some research into some of the most common talking points about electric cars and the pros and cons of owning one. I have many of my own questions about electric cars as well. Although I tend to drive very short distances the majority of the time, I do occasionally have to drive very long distances and am concerned about how far I can actually travel on one charge, how long I would have to stop to recharge the car and whether a hybrid vehicle would be a better option for me to consider when I get to the point of replacing my existing car.

All You Need To Know About Electric Cars

How Much Do Electric Cars Cost To Buy?

From doing a little bit of research into the many EV’s available in the UK, it appears the cheapest electric car to buy is £15,000 which sounds very reasonable to me for a new car. There are also several available for £16,000 but it does seem that the cheaper EV’s available won’t be able to travel as far without charging.

Cheapest Electric Cars in UK

1. Skoda CITIGOe iV – £15,000

The cheapest electric car on the market is this Skoda which can go approximately 135 miles before having to be recharged. It does have the ability for rapid charging, meaning that you can get about 80% charge within an hour.

2. SEAT e-Mii Electric – £16,000

Another small car that can travel approximately 135 miles before charging. It can also be rapidly charged, again 80% in an hour.

3. VW e-Up! (Second generation) – £16,000

“The first-generation e-Up! has been on the market since 2016 but this new model will benefit from an increased battery size which will double the range of the existing model.” The VW e-Up can travel approximately 135 miles and can be rapid charged to up to 80% in an hour.

4. Fiat 500e – £19,995

Another small little city car but this one can only travel about 115 miles. It can be charged to 80% in 26 minutes though. For an extra £3500 you can purchase a slightly larger battery which means you can travel approximately 199 miles.

Read more in the Top 10 Cheapest Electric Cars to Buy in 2021.

You can find many more EV’s that cost a lot more money and these ones tend to have larger batteries, meaning you can travel further on one charge. For example the Jaguar I-Pace from £65,245 which can travel up to 292 miles.

How Do You Charge An Electric Car?

This might seem like a silly question, with the obvious answer being an electric charger at home. However there are several different home charging options to consider and you do also have to think about charging when you’re out on the road.

Charging at Home

There are 4 home charging options

• Ordinary 3 pin household socket
• 3.6kW charger
• 7kW charger
• *22kW charger

It is possible to charge your car using your existing household socket, however this is the slowest charging option and is only worth considering if you buy an EV with a very small battery.

A 3.6kW charger is cheaper to buy than the other dedicated wallbox charging units but will charge the battery much slower than a 22kW charger. If you only have a small car though a 3.6kW charger is more than adequate. That being said, you do have to think about future-proofing. You might need to charge a larger battery in the future, so although a 7kW or 22kW unit is more expensive initially it might be worth the investment.

At the moment if you choose a home charging unit that’s on the Government approved list the installer can apply for the Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme (EVHS) grant on your behalf. This grant will pay up to 75% of the cost of a wallbox up to a maximum grant of £350. (3.6kW wallboxes cost around £300 to £450, and 22kW ones can cost from £1200 to £1500 before the grant.) “You can only apply for the wallbox grant once for each EV you own (with a limit of two), you’d have to foot the entire bill if you wanted faster charging capability later.” – Home Charging Solutions

*22kW chargers can only be used if you have a three-phase electricity supply. Most UK homes have a single-phase supply., but you can have this upgraded, for a cost of course.

Charging Away From Home

There aren’t nearly enough charging points available, although you’ve probably seen them at petrol stations and motorway services. Some businesses will offer charging points and some supermarkets and public car parks also offer charging stations. It is far easier to charge your car at home whenever you can. The other drawback with charging your electric car when you’re away from home is that…

“It’s not simply a case of plugging in anywhere – you’ll need accounts with various operators like Chargemaster, Source London, Pod Point, and Ecotricity to make sure you can access different points.

Some of these come with a nominal yearly or monthly subscription fee and then a fixed usage rate depending on how long you charge for while others offer pay-as-you-go.” – Charging Electric Cars

You can find charging stations using an app such as Zap-Map and many electric cars also have sat nav that recognises the more than 7000 public charging points and can direct you to one in range.

Check out EVKing for various EV car charging cables for different makes of electric car.

How Much Does It Cost To Charge Your Car?

If you charge your car at home and also charge overnight when tariffs are cheaper (off-peak) you can charge a 40kWh car for 13 hours on a 3kW charger for just £4. On average the cost will be £6 at 14p per kWh.

When you’re out and about you’re likely to be paying more, especially as you’ll probably want rapid charging as well.

“According to Pod Point, for a typical electric car with a 60kW battery, and up to 200 mile range:

• Charging at home costs about £8.40 for a full charge
• Work points should be free
• Public location charging at supermarkets or car parks are often free for the duration of your visit
• Rapid charging points, for example at motorway service stations, can cost about £6.50 for a half-hour charge”

– Cost of Charging Electric Cars

Overall it is cheaper to run an electric car, so although the initial costs will be higher, especially factoring in installing a home charging point, over time EV’s are cheaper.

What About Hybrid Cars?

“A hybrid car is one that uses more than one means of propulsion – that means combining a petrol or diesel engine with an electric motor.

The main advantages of a hybrid are that it should consume less fuel and emit less CO2 than a comparable conventional petrol or diesel-engined vehicle.” – What is a hybrid car?

There are three types of hybrid car.

1. Parallel Hybrid Cars
2. Range Extender Hybrid Cars
3. Plug-in Hybrids

Researching into hybrids came as a bit of a surprise to me. I’d assumed that the battery power would be comparable to a fully electric vehicle and that you could choose to use the battery or choose to use the conventional fuel. This is not the case at all. A plug-in hybrid is the closest to what I thought all hybrids were, but the battery will only take you up to 30 miles.

Hybrids seem like a really good option for those who commute into cities or towns for work. They create far less pollution and are more economical for city driving but they can also be driven longer distances than most fully electric vehicles.

You can read more about the 3 different types of hybrid and how they work in this article from WhatCar?

The Advantages of Electric Cars

• Overall they’re cheaper to run
• They emit less CO2
• If cities banned petrol and diesel cars, air pollution levels would be much improved
• Electric cars are quieter, less noise pollution

The Disadvantages of Electric Cars

• The initial cost is quite high
• They aren’t really suitable for long distance driving (yet)
• There aren’t as many charging points available as there should be

Should You Buy An Electric Car?

If you tend to make a lot of short journeys or generally stay within your own local area then a fully electric vehicle is a no brainer to me. If you’re a commuter that spends some time driving within cities or towns (lots of stopping and starting), then a plug-in hybrid is probably well worth looking into. For those who make quite a few long journeys I’d say it’s worth waiting a little while until the technology has improved even further. Batteries are getting more efficient all the time and hopefully the Government will reverse their decision to reduce grants for buying EV’s to encourage more people to buy them. At some point, affordable second-hand EV’s will also be available. I’ve never bought a new car, and £15,000 is well out of my budget at the moment.

Local councils also need incentives to install more charging points so the public doesn’t get caught out and stranded without being able to get home. Maybe electric charging parking spaces shouldn’t be charged a parking fee as well.

Electric Cars are the future. Encourage your employer to provide charging points at work and to provide EV’s to staff if a vehicle comes as part of your employment package. Write to local supermarkets and ask them to provide more charging points. Finally, write to your local council with suggestions for how they can encourage more EV use in your town. EV’s would massively reduce air pollution if everyone was driving them, which would improve everyone’s health. And the environment would also thank you.

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Sources
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-56441639
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-54981425
https://www.thesun.co.uk/motors/4863154/cost-charge-electric-car/