Cheap EV for 60 mile commute
Discussion
I’ve recently moved to an old farmhouse and started a new job, so my commute has grown a bit.
At the moment I’m doing it in my pickup (and getting high 20s mpg), and I’ve been wondering if an older leaf or Zoe would work for me, mainly to save costs.
My commute is about 6 miles of A and B roads, then dual carriageway for about 24 miles. Traffic is pretty light so it’s 60-75 almost all the way, takes about half an hour normally.
I can charge at home easily enough, so that’s not an issue but can’t charge at work.
I live in NE Scotland so we still do get some proper winters.
My main concern would be range, especially in winter as I’d be using an uncomfortably large percentage of the cheaper cars battery each day.
How much do they really drop in cold weather? Also how badly does constant high speed affect the range?
I’ve seen some high mile leafs, is the mileage likely to be an issue regarding battery’s if you check the condition before buying?
Another option would be something like a plug in Prius, but it’s hard to gauge how much more mpg the plug in element would actually give, and I quite like the idea of trying electric if it’s a viable option.
At the moment it’s just pondering, while throwing about £80 a week into the pickups tank.
At the moment I’m doing it in my pickup (and getting high 20s mpg), and I’ve been wondering if an older leaf or Zoe would work for me, mainly to save costs.
My commute is about 6 miles of A and B roads, then dual carriageway for about 24 miles. Traffic is pretty light so it’s 60-75 almost all the way, takes about half an hour normally.
I can charge at home easily enough, so that’s not an issue but can’t charge at work.
I live in NE Scotland so we still do get some proper winters.
My main concern would be range, especially in winter as I’d be using an uncomfortably large percentage of the cheaper cars battery each day.
How much do they really drop in cold weather? Also how badly does constant high speed affect the range?
I’ve seen some high mile leafs, is the mileage likely to be an issue regarding battery’s if you check the condition before buying?
Another option would be something like a plug in Prius, but it’s hard to gauge how much more mpg the plug in element would actually give, and I quite like the idea of trying electric if it’s a viable option.
At the moment it’s just pondering, while throwing about £80 a week into the pickups tank.
t it makes you realise life can be very short and actually enjoy life as much as you can. Must remember to update the car thing, the mighty 645 has gone. A mixture of 15mpg on the (different) commute, regular large bills and looming massive bills eventually made me part with it.
I had a bmw 420d for a year, got about 40mpg.
Buying this house and the renovation that followed meant buying my Mitsubishi L200 was a sensible choice. I’ll need the pickup for quite a while yet!
I’m also kind of looking at cheap diesels, just quite like the idea of electric and there’s possibly less to go wrong.
I think if I buy something at the bottom of the market it would pay for it’s self relatively quickly in fuel saving, then when I’m done with the pickup I can get something more interesting as a fun car.
Basically I’m driving quite a bit just now and have too much time to think!
I had a bmw 420d for a year, got about 40mpg.
Buying this house and the renovation that followed meant buying my Mitsubishi L200 was a sensible choice. I’ll need the pickup for quite a while yet!
I’m also kind of looking at cheap diesels, just quite like the idea of electric and there’s possibly less to go wrong.
I think if I buy something at the bottom of the market it would pay for it’s self relatively quickly in fuel saving, then when I’m done with the pickup I can get something more interesting as a fun car.
Basically I’m driving quite a bit just now and have too much time to think!
Until recently I faced a similar commute - funnily enough also in a pickup into Aberdeen along the A96.
I looked into electric options but couldn't get the numbers to come close to working for anything that had enough real world winter range. I had basically decided on either an early Gen4 Prius, a neighbour has one and it's long term average mpg is well into the 70's, or a Honda Civic Dtec which shouldn't be too far behind.
Circumstances have changed so I only need to go into town a couple of times a month but still can't see anything electric that would tempt me for commuting.
I looked into electric options but couldn't get the numbers to come close to working for anything that had enough real world winter range. I had basically decided on either an early Gen4 Prius, a neighbour has one and it's long term average mpg is well into the 70's, or a Honda Civic Dtec which shouldn't be too far behind.
Circumstances have changed so I only need to go into town a couple of times a month but still can't see anything electric that would tempt me for commuting.
I’ve got a Zoe ZE50 on lease. I got it in Feb and did a several sub-zero commutes, which would give about 180m range, so say worsr case range is probably 160mls. Correcting that for battery size (22kW vs 52kW) gives 67miles.
Alternative the 40kW ZE40 would do it comfortably. A quick look on Autotrader shows ZE40s with battery (instead of battery lease) start at about £12k.
In winter worst case scenario that’s 3mikes/kWh. We’ve got Octopus go, 00:30-04:30 is 5p/kW so 1.66p per mile.
30mpg at £1.35/l is 20p per mile.
Alternative the 40kW ZE40 would do it comfortably. A quick look on Autotrader shows ZE40s with battery (instead of battery lease) start at about £12k.
In winter worst case scenario that’s 3mikes/kWh. We’ve got Octopus go, 00:30-04:30 is 5p/kW so 1.66p per mile.
30mpg at £1.35/l is 20p per mile.
Edited by HughG on Saturday 17th July 21:03
Speed addicted said:
Must remember to update the car thing, the mighty 645 has gone. A mixture of 15mpg on the (different) commute, regular large bills and looming massive bills eventually made me part with it.
I had a bmw 420d for a year, got about 40mpg.
Buying this house and the renovation that followed meant buying my Mitsubishi L200 was a sensible choice. I’ll need the pickup for quite a while yet!
I’m also kind of looking at cheap diesels, just quite like the idea of electric and there’s possibly less to go wrong.
I think if I buy something at the bottom of the market it would pay for it’s self relatively quickly in fuel saving, then when I’m done with the pickup I can get something more interesting as a fun car.
Basically I’m driving quite a bit just now and have too much time to think!
Use some man maths to justify the fun car now. Commute in that. Sell them pickup when the project is done.I had a bmw 420d for a year, got about 40mpg.
Buying this house and the renovation that followed meant buying my Mitsubishi L200 was a sensible choice. I’ll need the pickup for quite a while yet!
I’m also kind of looking at cheap diesels, just quite like the idea of electric and there’s possibly less to go wrong.
I think if I buy something at the bottom of the market it would pay for it’s self relatively quickly in fuel saving, then when I’m done with the pickup I can get something more interesting as a fun car.
Basically I’m driving quite a bit just now and have too much time to think!
Some pre-made excuses/reasons
You risk losing money when you buy/sell cars - safer to spend more now for the right one
BEV tech is evolving so fast that any new development could hammer used BEV prices
I really want a caterham/Elise/boxer/cayman/mustang
Well, maybe not the last one (saying it out loud anyway)
I would look at:
Renault Zoe40. Will manage 60 miles in all weather. Looking at circa £13k for a battery owned, or £9-10k for a battery lease. You could consider it but it'll be a bit more expensive for your mileage.
Kia Soul 30kWh. That would also do that distance. That would be nearer £13k for a 2018 year. Hard to pick out from the 2017 models which have a slightly smaller battery.
Hyundai Ioniq 28kWh. Efficient car, good range. You can also get a 40kWh on really low priced lease deals that would easily do this mileage.
Renault Zoe40. Will manage 60 miles in all weather. Looking at circa £13k for a battery owned, or £9-10k for a battery lease. You could consider it but it'll be a bit more expensive for your mileage.
Kia Soul 30kWh. That would also do that distance. That would be nearer £13k for a 2018 year. Hard to pick out from the 2017 models which have a slightly smaller battery.
Hyundai Ioniq 28kWh. Efficient car, good range. You can also get a 40kWh on really low priced lease deals that would easily do this mileage.
Fair enough, so the cheap (like £3k) EVs won’t really do what I’d need them to, and the ones that will do what I’d need would need to be an only car due to cost.
My man maths is usually strong when it comes to buying vehicles, I’m on car number 22 just now, I also currently have 4 motorbikes.
However fun stuff just isn’t on the cards at the moment, I’m still working on the house every day as well as doing some actual work too.
I’ll have a look for something nice once things calm down and I’m not picking up building materials a couple of times a week.
My man maths is usually strong when it comes to buying vehicles, I’m on car number 22 just now, I also currently have 4 motorbikes.
However fun stuff just isn’t on the cards at the moment, I’m still working on the house every day as well as doing some actual work too.
I’ll have a look for something nice once things calm down and I’m not picking up building materials a couple of times a week.
Speed addicted said:
Fair enough, so the cheap (like £3k) EVs won’t really do what I’d need them to, and the ones that will do what I’d need would need to be an only car due to cost.
My man maths is usually strong when it comes to buying vehicles, I’m on car number 22 just now, I also currently have 4 motorbikes.
However fun stuff just isn’t on the cards at the moment, I’m still working on the house every day as well as doing some actual work too.
I’ll have a look for something nice once things calm down and I’m not picking up building materials a couple of times a week.
Unfortunately not. A 22kWh Zoe, or a 24kWh Leaf would be good for about 50 miles in most conditions, but it would be close in really bad wet and cold winter weather.My man maths is usually strong when it comes to buying vehicles, I’m on car number 22 just now, I also currently have 4 motorbikes.
However fun stuff just isn’t on the cards at the moment, I’m still working on the house every day as well as doing some actual work too.
I’ll have a look for something nice once things calm down and I’m not picking up building materials a couple of times a week.
If you can get a reliable charge at work, even off a 3-pin (8 hrs at 2kW is plenty) socket, you're in a much better place.
Knock_knock said:
Leaf 30kW would almost certainly meet your needs. It's almost exactly what I did in mine for four years without problem, albeit not in Scotland so cold less of a factor.
Prices seem strong on these at the moment, which isn't surprising as so many people are waking up to EV...
No way is a Leaf30 getting 60 miles reliably, all weathers and with a healthy chunk on DC at NSL. And that's without battery degradation which the Leaf30 chemistry is worse for.Prices seem strong on these at the moment, which isn't surprising as so many people are waking up to EV...
Evanivitch said:
No way is a Leaf30 getting 60 miles reliably, all weathers and with a healthy chunk on DC at NSL. And that's without battery degradation which the Leaf30 chemistry is worse for.
Throw in the potential for sub minus 15 temperatures and the range looks even more suspect.Another point which might apply to the OP given he's also in rural Aberdeenshire - normal cars, even with winter tyres, often need to be left next to the public road in snowy weather so no access to charging at home.
Charging at work isn’t an option, I regularly get back once everyone else has left and locked up!
Regarding where I live, it’s a single track road. Our nearest occupied house is 1/4 of a mile away.
We stayed at my sister in-laws at the start of the year until we got this place habitable (it didn’t have heating for instance), snow meant that we stayed in for 5 days as their road was blocked by snowdrifts big enough to totally defeat my L200 with proper tyres. To be honest if it’s that bad I’m not going anywhere anyway!
I have a lane next to a shed with power so could plug in just beside the road if needed.
How bad an effect do low temps have on EVs out of interest? I take it sustained high speed also hits the battery pretty badly.
It’s all new to me really, I do think I could make the switch to an EV as an only car but I’m not sure I’m ready!
Regarding where I live, it’s a single track road. Our nearest occupied house is 1/4 of a mile away.
We stayed at my sister in-laws at the start of the year until we got this place habitable (it didn’t have heating for instance), snow meant that we stayed in for 5 days as their road was blocked by snowdrifts big enough to totally defeat my L200 with proper tyres. To be honest if it’s that bad I’m not going anywhere anyway!
I have a lane next to a shed with power so could plug in just beside the road if needed.
How bad an effect do low temps have on EVs out of interest? I take it sustained high speed also hits the battery pretty badly.
It’s all new to me really, I do think I could make the switch to an EV as an only car but I’m not sure I’m ready!
Welshbeef said:
I don’t get why not just use the L200 side it’s a bit more expensive than a more efficient car but one tax one more one service one depreciation and better getting the use out of it.
Man maths, plus driving a fair amount so having time to think. Essentially the thought process was that my mileage will increase quite a bit with a 60 mile round trip commute and throwing £80+ pounds a week into diesel isn’t really a whole heap of fun.
So I started wondering how much a cheap electric car would be, it would mean drastically reduced fuel bills and if I buy a cheap enough one it’ll pay for its self within a year. I’m also interested in trying one out to be honest.
Tax and depreciation aren’t an issue, one more service a year and another insurance payment would be the only real costs.
However that doesn’t appear to be a practical option at the moment as the cheap cars just don’t have a range required!
Speed addicted said:
Man maths, plus driving a fair amount so having time to think.
Essentially the thought process was that my mileage will increase quite a bit with a 60 mile round trip commute and throwing £80+ pounds a week into diesel isn’t really a whole heap of fun.
So I started wondering how much a cheap electric car would be, it would mean drastically reduced fuel bills and if I buy a cheap enough one it’ll pay for its self within a year. I’m also interested in trying one out to be honest.
Tax and depreciation aren’t an issue, one more service a year and another insurance payment would be the only real costs.
However that doesn’t appear to be a practical option at the moment as the cheap cars just don’t have a range required!
Why is depreciation not an issue? Essentially the thought process was that my mileage will increase quite a bit with a 60 mile round trip commute and throwing £80+ pounds a week into diesel isn’t really a whole heap of fun.
So I started wondering how much a cheap electric car would be, it would mean drastically reduced fuel bills and if I buy a cheap enough one it’ll pay for its self within a year. I’m also interested in trying one out to be honest.
Tax and depreciation aren’t an issue, one more service a year and another insurance payment would be the only real costs.
However that doesn’t appear to be a practical option at the moment as the cheap cars just don’t have a range required!
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