Electric car v petrol cars has anyone got one

happyfella

I am trying to decide if to buy an electric car or not. Tobe honest the sales people are not much help. They are selling a few electric cars but do not seem to have enough information about them.

I am being told that it costs around £15 to cover 250 miles. I pay in petrol £85 for 550 miles.

My worry is, if you were to drive a long journey say 120 miles, then you would need to charge up before you return as some cars don't do as much as 250 miles on a full charge, some do 200 miles.

I would love to hear from people who have an electric car and what experiences they have had

OverlyAnxious

This question is far too vague.  Some petrol cars won't do 200 miles to a tank.  

Which specific model(s) are you looking at?

Do you regularly do 120 miles each way without stopping at the other end?

happyfella

you mean eletric cars can only do 200 miles which is shocking especially when the government want us to go electric. Thank you for your help

The cars i am looking at are

Vauxhall Mokka
100kW Ultimate 50kWh 5dr Auto

PEUGEOT 2008
115kW Allure 54kWh 5dr Auto

66Mustang

Are you looking to get one via the Motability scheme, or are you going to buy it privately?

If buying privately you need to do a hell of a lot of miles before the fuel savings offsets the inflated purchase price vs. the purchase price of a petrol/diesel equivalent

If you are getting it on Motability then this is usually less of a concern

happyfella

it would be on the mobility scheme. i am more inclined with this one 

PEUGEOT 2008
115kW Allure 54kWh 5dr Auto

66Mustang

I am not too knowledgeable with those but seems like a decent range and spec, I can't find a small SUV with better range for the same deposit on the scheme. Maybe someone else can help you there.

WelshBlue

Bear in mind the range will be dependent on type of roads around you, the weather and your driving style.

Wet weather in the dark on twisty hilly roads ... not practical around here; motorway driving in the Summer and you'll hit the projected range.

66Mustang

@WelshBlue

I think you are partially right, you are defo right that the weather does have an impact. BUT this is just my very short term experience of driving an electric Mini for a day, I'm not trying to cancel out your post:

The range is actually BEST in city driving, 20 or 30mph. EVs love the slow speeds plus when you are at a standstill in traffic you use no fuel at all, unlike a combustion engine which is sat idling.

2nd best range is country lanes, 30-60mph. I guess because of the lower speeds and also regen braking.

Worst for range is motorway constant 70mph, we were getting about 0.7-0.9 miles per 1% of battery so probably an 80 mile range (projected range was something like 140) if you drive solely on the motorway.

Of course if you sit at 55 on the motorway you will achieve a far better range and thats maybe why so many EV drivers do exactly that.

Hope this helps a little!!

C_J

I think electric cars are a good idea for the environment that being said I think they need to work more on the power source for electric as lithium batteries do start to degrade within certain time and I believe will cost a lot to replace.
But they do seem nice vehicles I just feel they need to research, learn and improve things before they get rid of the standard car.

WelshBlue

@66Mustang ... interesting facts.  Always good to read others experiences.

I must be honest and all my thoughts are from knowing those who have them in a rural area, where it's hilly, twisty and no dual carraigeways

A friend recently bought a Toyota bZ4X with an expected range of 270 miles - reality before Winter hits is that he's getting 200 miles, driven sensibly ... foot down and well, it's expletives. He's already regretting an expensive purchase

Right enviroment,and EV's are good cars.  

OverlyAnxious

happyfella said:

you mean eletric cars can only do 200 miles which is shocking especially when the government want us to go electric. Thank you for your help

The cars i am looking at are

Vauxhall Mokka
100kW Ultimate 50kWh 5dr Auto

PEUGEOT 2008
115kW Allure 54kWh 5dr Auto

No, I don't.  Some petrol cars won't do 200 miles to a tank.  It all depends on the size of the car, the size of the tank, the size of the engine, the technology used in the engine (turbocharger, direct injection, hybrid assistance, etc), the type of journeys and the driving style.  That's why it's not as simple as just comparing petrol to electric.

For the Mokka you're looking at a realistic range of 150-200 miles, and the 2008 more like 175-225 miles.

Sadly, the battery tech we have now means that small cars don't have enough physical space for a long range battery.  This is a known downside of full electric but just means that long journeys have to be considered differently to petrol cars. 

You didn't answer the question about the 120 miles each way.  If that's a journey you're doing regularly then the current range of full electric cars would not be not be appropriate for your situation.

If that's a single holiday per year, then you would be able to use a public charger (accepting the slightly higher cost for one charge makes very little difference to the yearly cost), or use a mains powered 3 pin charger if at a cottage or static caravan with an accessible power point.

Jimm_Scope

I think factor that maybe has not been mentioned is that many motorway service stations can often have "fast chargers" which can charge the battery in less than an hour. Sometimes as little as 20 minutes. They're cheaper than filling up on a petrol tank still, but take a touch longer of course. Also check if the motorway service station has had them installed, I think many have but would not surprise me if quite a few were lagging behind on the infrastructure.

My partner and I have also reached a point we can no longer rely on public transport and are looking for a car, we are hoping for an electric ourselves but it's a tough market out there. Especially when some of the information hasn't been standardised in legislation. 

happyfella

66Mustang said:

@WelshBlue

I think you are partially right, you are defo right that the weather does have an impact. BUT this is just my very short term experience of driving an electric Mini for a day, I'm not trying to cancel out your post:

The range is actually BEST in city driving, 20 or 30mph. EVs love the slow speeds plus when you are at a standstill in traffic you use no fuel at all, unlike a combustion engine which is sat idling.

2nd best range is country lanes, 30-60mph. I guess because of the lower speeds and also regen braking.

Worst for range is motorway constant 70mph, we were getting about 0.7-0.9 miles per 1% of battery so probably an 80 mile range (projected range was something like 140) if you drive solely on the motorway.

Of course if you sit at 55 on the motorway you will achieve a far better range and thats maybe why so many EV drivers do exactly that.

Hope this helps a little!!

would you recommend getting one. I am really not sure. I know by 2030 everyone on mobility has to choose one, but not sure at the moment. The cars i have looked at are getting around 220 miles.

That means if i go on a 120 mile journey then i have to stop and get it charged to get back.

WHen i spoke to the sales guy he says that everyone likes to have a charging point at home, but we do not have a driveway so that is not possible. He then said you can get a card and there are lots of places to get free charging, but when i looked on the bP pulse app it was very hard to see where the free ones are.

the sales guy said we would save over 50% on fuel if we went electric. i have been doing around 10,000 miles a year, so not sure if it would be worth it or not. would love to hear people's experience of owning one

WelshBlue

Around here charging points are .79p per kw ... that's about £38 to charge a 50kwh car ?  Or are my maths wrong ??  Could be because some things I struggle to work simple things out.  Plus a £10 overstay charge after 90mins

For that price I can do approx' 400 miles in a Kia Cee'd 1.6 Diesel which is returning 64 mph on rural roads 'A' roads at a steady lick

If my maths are correct, until they improve battery range I'll be keeping an ICE car for as long as I can

happyfella

WelshBlue said:

Around here charging points are .79p per kw ... that's about £38 to charge a 50kwh car ?  Or are my maths wrong ??  Could be because some things I struggle to work simple things out.  Plus a £10 overstay charge after 90mins

For that price I can do approx' 400 miles in a Kia Cee'd 1.6 Diesel which is returning 64 mph on rural roads 'A' roads at a steady lick

If my maths are correct, until they improve battery range I'll be keeping an ICE car for as long as I can

this is what i need to check. i have spoken to two different car sales guys who are both saying it would cost £15 to full charge the two cars that i am interested in at a service station. they claimed, if i charged them from home it would cost £4.

WelshBlue

@happyfella ... I think it's best to start from basics and how many miles you do a year ?

I think the figures of owning an EV and charging at home add 2000wh to your usual annual energy consumption if you do 7500 miles.  If the figures save you money on what you spend annually on fuel (derv/ petrol) then it's worth considering.

As you say you haven't got a drive, so factor in the cheapest charging rates locally and you'll have a ball park figure of savings if any over inconvenience at times ?

happyfella

what puts me off an electric car is the battery on the cars are not great. you would have thought they would have sorted that problem out with the government wanting everyone to have one.

i do about 15,000 miles a year and the sales guy reckons that i would save 50% off my fuel bill, but even though that sounds great, i think the hassle of the charging it up all the time puts me off. sometimes i could do 80 miles in a day

WelshBlue

What's your current car doing to the gallon - again could be wrong but 15,000 miles @ £1.50 a litre works out about £1800 at 50 mpg.  How does this equate to EV costs (still not convinced my earlier costing is correct - fibro Fog kicking my backside today )

Besides the cost ... an important factor is - will the cars you are considering hit the projected range regularly, even losing 10% brings it down drastically, 20 % and you're in a silly range for a car IMO.

OverlyAnxious

happyfella said:

what puts me off an electric car is the battery on the cars are not great. you would have thought they would have sorted that problem out with the government wanting everyone to have one.

i do about 15,000 miles a year and the sales guy reckons that i would save 50% off my fuel bill, but even though that sounds great, i think the hassle of the charging it up all the time puts me off. sometimes i could do 80 miles in a day

Battery technology is still developing.  You can think of the current battery cars like the 'Betamax'.  The best we've got right now, until VCR is released in a few years time...  The current drive towards electric is not as good for the environment as some people are claiming.  We will be left with a load of undesirable 'Betamax' cars in a few years time that will need to be disposed of when the newer technologies come through.

For 15k a year a diesel would be the cheapest option by far.  I don't know why you'd choose a petrol for that.  I haven't been able to afford to a run a petrol since 2011.  I don't know where the salesman has found those figures for a 50% reduction.  Sounds like they've just made that up tbh.  You would have to find the prices of local charging points, and check the rate of charge (cheaper points tend to be slower charging) to compare that effectively.

Given your high mileage and no charging point at home, I would advise against the current selection of full EV's.  My recommendation would be a self charging petrol hybrid.  They'll do 60-70mpg on longer journeys, keep emissions lower than a standard petrol or diesel and you have no worries about range as you can fill it up quickly at any fuel station.

When your lease ends in 3 years time, hopefully the battery tech and charging infrastructure will have improved considerably so full EV will be a viable option.

happyfella

OverlyAnxious said:

happyfella said:

what puts me off an electric car is the battery on the cars are not great. you would have thought they would have sorted that problem out with the government wanting everyone to have one.

i do about 15,000 miles a year and the sales guy reckons that i would save 50% off my fuel bill, but even though that sounds great, i think the hassle of the charging it up all the time puts me off. sometimes i could do 80 miles in a day

Battery technology is still developing.  You can think of the current battery cars like the 'Betamax'.  The best we've got right now, until VCR is released in a few years time...  The current drive towards electric is not as good for the environment as some people are claiming.  We will be left with a load of undesirable 'Betamax' cars in a few years time that will need to be disposed of when the newer technologies come through.

For 15k a year a diesel would be the cheapest option by far.  I don't know why you'd choose a petrol for that.  I haven't been able to afford to a run a petrol since 2011.  I don't know where the salesman has found those figures for a 50% reduction.  Sounds like they've just made that up tbh.  You would have to find the prices of local charging points, and check the rate of charge (cheaper points tend to be slower charging) to compare that effectively.

Given your high mileage and no charging point at home, I would advise against the current selection of full EV's.  My recommendation would be a self charging petrol hybrid.  They'll do 60-70mpg on longer journeys, keep emissions lower than a standard petrol or diesel and you have no worries about range as you can fill it up quickly at any fuel station.

When your lease ends in 3 years time, hopefully the battery tech and charging infrastructure will have improved considerably so full EV will be a viable option.

thank you