Thinking of buying an EV

[pills]

Hi

Any help / advice / pointers gratefully received.

So I'm considering buying my next car and thinking an EV is the way to go. Currently drive a BMW X3 335D. Have got my eye on the new Volvo XC40 pure electric which I appreciate is smaller than the X3.

I do need an 4x4 due to needing the ground clearance for some of my work. It would be garaged at night so charging shouldn't be a problem. I also understand that the government grant for these cars has now been removed but can you still get a subsidy for home charger installation.

I'm a bit puzzled by the home charging, I've seen both 7KW and 11KW chargers although the 11KW appear to 3 phase which I know domestic supply isn't. So I am limited to 7KW only? I also believe from research that octopus energy offer the best rates for home charging?

What are electric cars like to live with in the real world?

Thank you!

[Dave Hedgehog]

7kw is fine for most people, it will full charge an EV overnight

Octopus go is very good value

As to living with an EV, within 5 mins of an EV test drive ICE cars felt like obsolete antiques

[MOBB]

Dave Hedgehog said:

As to living with an EV, within 5 mins of an EV test drive ICE cars felt like obsolete antiques

Sad but true

[pills]

Thanks for the replies so far.

[granada203028]

A few other comments. Quoted range is only really obtainable in ideal summer conditions driving fairly carefully. Range can be little more than half in deep winter.

Heaters usually heat a water circuit so this can be preheated from the charging supply ready for the morning say. If you come to your car cold for example for an un planned journey then you have to wait for it to warm up just like an ICE vehicle. My Leaf heater is pretty poor it can be using 3kW but doesn't feel like it in the cabin.

Apart from it's ugly looks, crap heater and AC pump failure my old Leaf has been good.

[Knock_knock]

If you need 4x4/ground clearance be sure to check how much actual clearance there is. I've not seen the Volvo, but the Kia eNiro, which by all accounts is a very good car, has surprisingly little ground clearance underneath due to the battery being slung low. Apparently only noticeable if you get down and look.

As above, 7kW charging should be ample unless you're doing mega-mega miles.

I've come to the conclusion that, other than Tesla, you should treat your maximum daily drive distance as being 1.5 x claimed WLTP range. Ie: if a car has a WLTP range of 200 miles I'd not want to exceed 300 miles a day in it. This is wholly an opinion, based on musings and conversations with other EV owners; other views are completely valid of course

[anonymous-user]

I suspect there might be some spectacular deals on new and ex-demo Ipaces at the moment.......

[dmsims]

pills said:

Hi

I do need an 4x4 due to needing the ground clearance for some of my work.

The XC40 only has a few mm more ground clearance than a Model Y

[syl]

I test drove an iPace, I think regarded as one of the better EVs, but was disappointed by what I can only explain as the soullessness of the experience. Then again, that wouldn’t put me off completely as I drive more to get from A to B than for pleasure.

What does put me off, for now, is the price of an EV compared to the equivalent ICE. Once they sort that out (or give me a huge tax break like the company car users) then I might buy one.

[gangzoom]

pills said:

What are electric cars like to live with in the real world?

Quite a few of us on here have owned EVs now for over half decade, and many have done 100k+ in EVs, me personally am at about 60k miles in 5 years.

Most of us who own EVs on here can also comfortably buy any combustion car instead of an EV, but most stick with EVs.

Assuming you have a home driveway and are a 2 car family, EVs are fine and will have zero negative impact on your car ownership experience, especially the current EVs.

The only real question is costs, man maths can help justify lots of things but there is no getting away from the fact EVs are expensive to buy.

As long as you are comfortable with the cost, I really wouldn't worry about anything else. EVs are great cars.

Edited by gangzoom on Saturday 25th April 04:40

[Modiman46]

Having been a "Motorhead" for nearly 60 years, I purchased a 2014 Leaf Tecna, my Son now owns it for the school run. I purchased another newer Leaf Tecna (30 Kw) to be able to drive 125 Miles non stop to relatives for about £2 & return home for about £4 on a rapid (unless my brother let's me plug in for FREE during our visit). Not had any repair Bills, No congestion or VED costs. Brake Pads last about 5 times longer than ICE. Comfort & instant Torque is great (would still love a Tesla) But my savings in costs are such a relief. The best part is the satisfying knowledge that my eleven grandchildren can start to breathe cleaner Air ( if only more drivers change would drive EV's after this Covid 19 Shutdown, it has proved that ICE vehicles are such Filthy Polluters.

[FK]

syl said:

I test drove an iPace, I think regarded as one of the better EVs, but was disappointed by what I can only explain as the soullessness of the experience. Then again, that wouldn’t put me off completely as I drive more to get from A to B than for pleasure.

What does put me off, for now, is the price of an EV compared to the equivalent ICE. Once they sort that out (or give me a huge tax break like the company car users) then I might buy one.

Yes this is my main issue as well. Plus the dilemma of getting an EV without having off street parking. Been considering a Leaf for a while. When we come out of lockdown, the 80 mile daily commute makes things interesting

[SWoll]

Knock_knock said:

I've come to the conclusion that, other than Tesla, you should treat your maximum daily drive distance as being 1.5 x claimed WLTP range. Ie: if a car has a WLTP range of 200 miles I'd not want to exceed 300 miles a day in it. This is wholly an opinion, based on musings and conversations with other EV owners; other views are completely valid of course

Absolute rubbish in my experience over the past 12 months and 20k miles of running 2 different EV's. You'll be lucky to hit WLTP range figures even in perfect weather conditions and in the middle of winter it's more like 50-60%.

I think you might have it the wrong way around and WLTP is 1.5 x what you will average in reality. So a 200 mile WLTP car would average more like 140, which is about correct for our i3 120ah that did 180 miles in summer and 100 in winter and has a WLTP of 195.

[ds666]

That’s not what the op says . He talks about daily driving distance and how it relates to range . Not sure I understand his logic . Maybe he didn’t mean what he said .

And yes , the suggested range and the achievable are a farce . I don’t really understand how they get away with it .
Years ago the mpg on ice cars quoted speeds as well as urban ie 56mph and I think 75? Probably more accurate than any since

[kambites]

ds666 said:

And yes , the suggested range and the achievable are a farce . I don’t really understand how they get away with it .

They don't have any choice, really. I don't think they're allowed to quote ranges other than WLTP.

[Heres Johnny]

kambites said:

They don't have any choice, really. I don't think they're allowed to quote ranges other than WLTP.

This is true - and with variability of maybe 30% between summer and winter it’s hard to imagine a figure that wouldn’t be significantly wrong at least half the year

WLTP isn’t far out in summer

[ds666]

Sorry , you are quite right . What I really meant to say was .... it is a farce that the quoted figures are so far away from real life

[SWoll]

ds666 said:

Sorry , you are quite right . What I really meant to say was .... it is a farce that the quoted figures are so far away from real life

The problem is the definition of the term 'real life'.

If your usage consists of popping around town and never going above 30 MPH you will do a hell of a lot better on range than someone who expects to go up and down motorways at 80mph every day. This is where Ev's differ from ICE as they are more efficient at lower speeds.

I've personally never had an ICE car that got anywhere near it's advertised MPG (so essentially range per tank) it's just more accepted as ultimate range is higher and fuel stations abundant.

With being able to charge at home overnight and rarely doing round trips longer than 150-200 miles the limited range hasn't been an issue for us in the past 12+ months we've been an EV only household whilst covering nearly 20k miles.

[granada203028]

"As long as you are comfortable with the cost, I really wouldn't worry about anything else. EVs are great cars."

That's right and with almost zero interest rates they can be a good return on investment if you have the cash languishing and most models have held their value well.

[ds666]

You are quite right .
However my wife’s etron , never going above 30 mph round town is really poor in miles per kWh .
All short trips .
Don’t tell Asterix, as he will be back like a shot .

But does anyone get near the range the
testing suggests should be possible?

I doubt it .