Electric car, practicality.
Discussion
I'm thinking about leasing an electric car - not a hybrid. Needs to be be a 5 door, 5 seat, and auto (aren't they all?)
Usage is typically less that 60 miles a day, worst case 220 miles in a day with a couple of hours charging time available). May be left for up to 3 weeks unused. It would be a second car, so no worries about intergalactic daily distance.
I've a driveway and access to a 13a socket.
I'd like a 2 year lease, total budget about £7.5k
Why electric? Partly green, partly because its new.
So, is it practical. What car? Do i need more that a 13a socket to charge it? Is there an economy 7 option for power suppliers?
Usage is typically less that 60 miles a day, worst case 220 miles in a day with a couple of hours charging time available). May be left for up to 3 weeks unused. It would be a second car, so no worries about intergalactic daily distance.
I've a driveway and access to a 13a socket.
I'd like a 2 year lease, total budget about £7.5k
Why electric? Partly green, partly because its new.
So, is it practical. What car? Do i need more that a 13a socket to charge it? Is there an economy 7 option for power suppliers?
Answer to all your qus is yes. Ive had a 24kw leaf for 4 year - I only use a 3 pin plug, usually 20miles a day, very occasional 80miles so might need a charge. Have a family car to so never done long distances as it would be a PITA to keep charging. Its pretty spacious for 4 of us inc missus and 2 kids, 1 who is 6ft like me.
Im looking to change to 40kw. You will need a charge if your doing 200miles (poss 2 charges?) with the 40kw model, check out https://abetterrouteplanner.com/ you can setup with car/temp to see if you will need to charge. The 62kw is doable but alot more than £7.5k/2years so IMO not worth it. Only issue i can see is 13A plug will only deliver 20-25kw overnight so if you get home late/empty it wont be full next AM, youll need a 7kw charger then.
Im looking to change to 40kw. You will need a charge if your doing 200miles (poss 2 charges?) with the 40kw model, check out https://abetterrouteplanner.com/ you can setup with car/temp to see if you will need to charge. The 62kw is doable but alot more than £7.5k/2years so IMO not worth it. Only issue i can see is 13A plug will only deliver 20-25kw overnight so if you get home late/empty it wont be full next AM, youll need a 7kw charger then.
eldar said:
I'm thinking about leasing an electric car - not a hybrid. Needs to be be a 5 door, 5 seat, and auto (aren't they all?)
Usage is typically less that 60 miles a day, worst case 220 miles in a day with a couple of hours charging time available). May be left for up to 3 weeks unused. It would be a second car, so no worries about intergalactic daily distance.
I've a driveway and access to a 13a socket.
I'd like a 2 year lease, total budget about £7.5k
Why electric? Partly green, partly because its new.
So, is it practical. What car? Do i need more that a 13a socket to charge it? Is there an economy 7 option for power suppliers?
I charge my model 3 via 8amp plug (2kw) overnight I get about 70-75 miles of range.Usage is typically less that 60 miles a day, worst case 220 miles in a day with a couple of hours charging time available). May be left for up to 3 weeks unused. It would be a second car, so no worries about intergalactic daily distance.
I've a driveway and access to a 13a socket.
I'd like a 2 year lease, total budget about £7.5k
Why electric? Partly green, partly because its new.
So, is it practical. What car? Do i need more that a 13a socket to charge it? Is there an economy 7 option for power suppliers?
Any EV will do a daily 60 miles.
For a 220 mile trip these will do it in one go without stopping:
Model 3 LR /model S/model X
Kona
Eniro
Most other modern EVs will do that with one stop charge towards the end - hyundai ioniq, leaf 40/62 etc
no idea on UK pricing sorry
I’m doing just that in an egolf although there’s some good lease deals on the 40kwh Leaf and the new Zoe too.
13A is ok if you can live with a slow charge rate, you could certainly get 60 miles in while you sleep even if an empty to full charge isn’t possible overnight. Note the Zoe doesn’t come with a 13a (“granny”) charger, the others do.
A home point is from £200 fitted with the grant as long as it’s a straightforward install. If you have any doubts about your wiring it may be worthwhile, typical garage points may have been ok with occasional use for decades but may have issues with 10A for several hours.
13A is ok if you can live with a slow charge rate, you could certainly get 60 miles in while you sleep even if an empty to full charge isn’t possible overnight. Note the Zoe doesn’t come with a 13a (“granny”) charger, the others do.
A home point is from £200 fitted with the grant as long as it’s a straightforward install. If you have any doubts about your wiring it may be worthwhile, typical garage points may have been ok with occasional use for decades but may have issues with 10A for several hours.
sjg said:
I’m doing just that in an egolf although there’s some good lease deals on the 40kwh Leaf and the new Zoe too.
13A is ok if you can live with a slow charge rate, you could certainly get 60 miles in while you sleep even if an empty to full charge isn’t possible overnight. Note the Zoe doesn’t come with a 13a (“granny”) charger, the others do.
A home point is from £200 fitted with the grant as long as it’s a straightforward install. If you have any doubts about your wiring it may be worthwhile, typical garage points may have been ok with occasional use for decades but may have issues with 10A for several hours.
Equally, some (but not all) of the granny cables have the option to limit the current draw. The one with the Kia e-Niro allows you to choose between 6A, 8A and 10A. This is great if you are happy to charge at a slower speed and lower the risk of any damage.13A is ok if you can live with a slow charge rate, you could certainly get 60 miles in while you sleep even if an empty to full charge isn’t possible overnight. Note the Zoe doesn’t come with a 13a (“granny”) charger, the others do.
A home point is from £200 fitted with the grant as long as it’s a straightforward install. If you have any doubts about your wiring it may be worthwhile, typical garage points may have been ok with occasional use for decades but may have issues with 10A for several hours.
eldar said:
I'm thinking about leasing an electric car - not a hybrid. Needs to be be a 5 door, 5 seat, and auto (aren't they all?)
Usage is typically less that 60 miles a day, worst case 220 miles in a day with a couple of hours charging time available). May be left for up to 3 weeks unused. It would be a second car, so no worries about intergalactic daily distance.
I've a driveway and access to a 13a socket.
I'd like a 2 year lease, total budget about £7.5k
Why electric? Partly green, partly because its new.
So, is it practical. What car? Do i need more that a 13a socket to charge it? Is there an economy 7 option for power suppliers?
Have you had a look at EVezy? They do leasing by the month and have pretty detailed specs on their website on what car might suit you.Usage is typically less that 60 miles a day, worst case 220 miles in a day with a couple of hours charging time available). May be left for up to 3 weeks unused. It would be a second car, so no worries about intergalactic daily distance.
I've a driveway and access to a 13a socket.
I'd like a 2 year lease, total budget about £7.5k
Why electric? Partly green, partly because its new.
So, is it practical. What car? Do i need more that a 13a socket to charge it? Is there an economy 7 option for power suppliers?
Good stuff, thanks.
It seems that an EV is practical, though for my use simply a 13A plug is almost certainly pushing it. Upgrade to a bigger supply is reasonably priced and I've space to do it.
Regarding cars, I need to seat 5 adults or 3 adults and 2 child seats, so a proper 5 seats/belts required. This makes the leaf a bit of a squeeze, though I need to look at one more closely.
MG, Hyundai and Kia seem to have possibilities. The Tesla is outside my budget.
Given I don't live in a congestion/emission charge area and do about 8k miles a year, the purely economic case seems weak, but economics are a secondary consideration to the primary of a reasonable practical EV I can use without worry.
I'm scratching my head to buy in to EV now, or wait 2 years for things to mature more.
It seems that an EV is practical, though for my use simply a 13A plug is almost certainly pushing it. Upgrade to a bigger supply is reasonably priced and I've space to do it.
Regarding cars, I need to seat 5 adults or 3 adults and 2 child seats, so a proper 5 seats/belts required. This makes the leaf a bit of a squeeze, though I need to look at one more closely.
MG, Hyundai and Kia seem to have possibilities. The Tesla is outside my budget.
Given I don't live in a congestion/emission charge area and do about 8k miles a year, the purely economic case seems weak, but economics are a secondary consideration to the primary of a reasonable practical EV I can use without worry.
I'm scratching my head to buy in to EV now, or wait 2 years for things to mature more.
Leaf will be tight fit for 5 on long journeys.
The economic case for electric cars, bought new, Is poor. We have a 2015 leaf bought for about £9k two years ago. It's a great car for doing short journeys, up to 40 miles no problem, above that you need to plan.
We have a second car (diesel estate) as both my wife and I work in different places.
Keen to replace the dieseler with an electric car that does roughly the same job (take 4 or 5 in comfort 300 mile round trip, possibly with bikes on board). The model x would do it, but way out of price range, the model s is similar story. Test drove e-Niro the other day, was fine but it's £34k for a small suv. Could buy a very nice used diesel XC90 for less, a Tesla model S for similar and a new Tesla 3 is not a lot more.
So have decided to keep the cars we have for a while longer, I might swap the Leaf for a 40kWh and get a bit more range, but it's not a priority.
I love my Leaf, great value motoring, but I couldn't stomach buying a new one, depreciation is terrible, I think the Leaf might have been highest depreciating car last couple years.
Poor value as new cars, great as used and I think that is the general message on electric cars at the moment, with a couple of exceptions.
The economic case for electric cars, bought new, Is poor. We have a 2015 leaf bought for about £9k two years ago. It's a great car for doing short journeys, up to 40 miles no problem, above that you need to plan.
We have a second car (diesel estate) as both my wife and I work in different places.
Keen to replace the dieseler with an electric car that does roughly the same job (take 4 or 5 in comfort 300 mile round trip, possibly with bikes on board). The model x would do it, but way out of price range, the model s is similar story. Test drove e-Niro the other day, was fine but it's £34k for a small suv. Could buy a very nice used diesel XC90 for less, a Tesla model S for similar and a new Tesla 3 is not a lot more.
So have decided to keep the cars we have for a while longer, I might swap the Leaf for a 40kWh and get a bit more range, but it's not a priority.
I love my Leaf, great value motoring, but I couldn't stomach buying a new one, depreciation is terrible, I think the Leaf might have been highest depreciating car last couple years.
Poor value as new cars, great as used and I think that is the general message on electric cars at the moment, with a couple of exceptions.
eldar said:
Regarding cars, I need to seat 5 adults or 3 adults and 2 child seats, so a proper 5 seats/belts required. This makes the leaf a bit of a squeeze, though I need to look at one more closely.
An adult squeezed between two child seats in the back of the Leaf is OK for short trips around town, but any kind of distance driving and who ever is sitting in the back will start moaning - there is a transmission tunnel in the middle which makes leg room limited. Even in a Model S that would be squeeze due to the high floor, slow roof line and not that wide door openings.A SUV body style makes life much easier, a 6 seater X would be unbeatable for the space/comfort. eTron should be fine, the EQC is actually not much bigger than a GLC which isn't massive for passenger space. iPace seemed OK from memory but not great. But all those cars are way beyond a budge of £7.5K over 2 years.
The eNiro and MG ZS looks OK in the back, you should be able to achieve sub £7.5K deprecation over 2 years if you have the cash to buy upfront, but neither are massive.
What car are you using at the moment for transporting that many people?
This website seems to give some good info.
https://babydrive.com.au
Edited by gangzoom on Saturday 18th January 10:05
Not answering your question but I am considering switching over in 12 months when current lease expires. Currently need 150miles range daily and use Transit Connect diesel. I journey from rural locations to major towns and cities but van not essential now and trying to protect against future “city green” policies.
Currently pay £276pm plus £240 fuel so trying to work budget on 15k per year.
Currently pay £276pm plus £240 fuel so trying to work budget on 15k per year.
£310/month is now here near enough for any new family-sized EV. Even if you charge at home, then you will probably be able to reduce your fuel costs by 75% over a year - but that only equates to around £50/month on 8k miles per year vs a petrol car doing 40 mpg. Try this site to compare vs your current car https://www.zap-map.com/tools/journey-cost-calcula...
I think you need to up your budget or look at a personal loan to buy a second hand EV. Even in 2 years, I would think that a £7.5k budget will get you very little and with the BiK changes, I can only see the demand for second hand EVs keeping residuals pretty high.
I think you need to up your budget or look at a personal loan to buy a second hand EV. Even in 2 years, I would think that a £7.5k budget will get you very little and with the BiK changes, I can only see the demand for second hand EVs keeping residuals pretty high.
Fastlane said:
£310/month is now here near enough for any new family-sized EV.
The exception is if you have the capital to buy a Kia eNiro/MG ZS EV, I high doubt either will depreciate by more than £7.5K over the next 2 years, in fact for both you may end up even able to sell both at end of year 1 for virtually no loss. Mikebentley said:
Not answering your question but I am considering switching over in 12 months when current lease expires. Currently need 150miles range daily and use Transit Connect diesel. I journey from rural locations to major towns and cities but van not essential now and trying to protect against future “city green” policies.
Currently pay £276pm plus £240 fuel so trying to work budget on 15k per year.
The thing to bear in mind is that cars that will do around 150 miles on a nice warm day, won't do it in winter. The Nissan Leaf 40kWh (160ish miles) will be fine for most of the year, but in the dark days of winter you'll need to charge. If you can charge a few hours at the destination or hit a rapid charger on the way to/from it's no big deal, if not you'll get bored of the wasted time. A bigger battery car such as e-Niro should do the job.Currently pay £276pm plus £240 fuel so trying to work budget on 15k per year.
JPJPJP said:
If you are having an EV and plan to keep it for a few years, I would seriously consider getting a 32A charger fitted at home too
I think you make a good point but how many homes are fit for that, realistically, these days? I say this because I’ve been doing sums for myself. I’ve got a 100A fuse into the house
I have a heat pump that takes 6.25KvA maximum, about 26A, so with a 7.2KvA charger, 30A and a couple of 2.7kvA immersions, 22A. So that’s 78A without everything else.
It won’t be a problem for me, I can programme to get the diversity I need but I understand some homes are now fitted with 80A or even 60A fuses. I guess that’s fine with gas heating but with the pressure to move away from that.......
Good point. I had the fuse here upgraded from 60A (!) to 100A to accommodate
In some cases, deciding when to charge the car will need a bit of thinking about.
Will there be some that can't find a 3 - 4 hour window to be able to plug the car into the 32A charger? Yes, I am sure there will be. For those people, a 32A charger isn't a sensible option. In situations where the trade off is only charging speed against the cost of the charger, I think charging speed will win more often than not.
In some cases, deciding when to charge the car will need a bit of thinking about.
Will there be some that can't find a 3 - 4 hour window to be able to plug the car into the 32A charger? Yes, I am sure there will be. For those people, a 32A charger isn't a sensible option. In situations where the trade off is only charging speed against the cost of the charger, I think charging speed will win more often than not.
Gassing Station | EV and Alternative Fuels | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff