Affordable EV, does it exist?
Affordable EV, does it exist?
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The Voice

Original Poster:

208 posts

171 months

Tuesday 2nd March 2021
quotequote all
Looking for a new car for the other half.

Currently front runner is the new SEAT Leon, in 1.5 TSI SE Dynamic trim.

Can be leased from SEAT for £230 deposit, £230 per month.

https://www.seatwarrington.co.uk/new-car-offers/ne...

Usage is approx 8-10k miles per year, mix of school run and longer journeys. Should see an average of 40mpg. So at £1.20 per litre, that’s £1100 in annual fuel costs.

For an electric car, I’m assuming 3.5 miles per KWh. At 14p per kWh for home charging, this means an annual electricity bill for the car of £320.

So, an annual fuel saving of £780, or £65 per month. Adding this £65 fuel saving to the £230 cost for the Leon brings the equivalent EV budget to £295.

I’m keen to move to an EV if at all possible, but I’m not sure they are yet truly affordable when compared to ICE cars. Is there an EV out there, which is of a similar size to the Leon, available for £295 deposit, £295 per month?


Evanivitch

25,641 posts

144 months

Tuesday 2nd March 2021
quotequote all
Do you have a smart meter? You could knock that down to 5p/kWh with overnight charging.

Would a Leaf40kWh suit for range?

https://www.leaseloco.com/car-leasing/nissan/leaf/...

Or an Ioniq. Or a MG ZS. All in that ball park.

SWoll

21,661 posts

280 months

Tuesday 2nd March 2021
quotequote all


https://www.gateway2lease.com/cars/volkswagen/id-3...

£312 a month when amortised over the term so £17 more than the far slower and less well equipped Leon. Get a better electricity tariff and will be very little in it I'd have thought?



https://www.gateway2lease.com/cars/nissan/leaf/ace...

£270 a month amortised.



Edited by SWoll on Tuesday 2nd March 08:50

anonymous-user

76 months

Tuesday 2nd March 2021
quotequote all
A second hand EV would i suspect work out far cheaper!

If your other half doesn't drive long distances, or you have a second car, then buying a s/h "short range" EV is going to be far cheaper!


Take my i3. Bought in 2016 for £16,250, and 5 years later looks to be worth around £13k. So that's £3,250 depreciation over 60 months, or £54 a month!

Nothing has gone wrong, zero to tax, it's had 2 MOTs (both of which needed nothing spending) routing servicing (where they pretty much just wash it and change the cabin air fliter) and a set of tyres. And that's it. And for that, we've been driving round in a carbon fibre, rwd, premium car!

Even if you needed a loan of say £10k to buy one, at the current interest rates, paying that back over say 3 years i suspect would still work out better.

For something like a s/h leaf, i suspect walking would be more expensive........ ;-)


tomble22

598 posts

150 months

Tuesday 2nd March 2021
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I've just signed up to a Mii Electric on a BCH for £160 a month on a 1+23 which I think is great value.

Decent range for a small car and cheap off park electric should make it even better to live with!

Edit: Sorry, just saw the Leon size requirement!

LordFlathead

9,646 posts

280 months

Wednesday 3rd March 2021
quotequote all
How about an MG?

https://www.carwow.co.uk/mg/zs-ev/lease

I prefer the estate and its better value for money with good reviews>

https://www.drive-electric.co.uk/vehicles/mg-5-exc...

https://www.stoneacre.co.uk/new-cars/mg/5-ev

I don't think you can buy any EV with a deposit of £250. I had a new Zoe with a two-years lease for £165 down and £145 PM but that was 7 years ago!

Daaaveee

915 posts

245 months

Wednesday 3rd March 2021
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As identified by others quite a bit of choice out there for around £300 a month or less on lease, and compared to the Leon most will be nicer cars to drive. Also if you're running an EV on 14p/kWh you're doing it wrong! So long as you have home charging and a smart meter, 5p/kWh should be what you're recharging at.