Best budget EV with genuine 120 mile range?

[half.pipe]

Hey PH'ers . The work office will be opening again soon, and we have 7kW charge points available to use for free. I've never owned nor driven an EV, but I'm interested in purchasing a used one.

My commute is a 40 mile round trip, mostly motorway. I'll only be in the office around once a week, but trying to make the most financial sense out of this.

My "back of a napkin" plan is:

• Monday: charge EV all day at the office, then return home (so ~20 miles "used" when I arrive home)
• Tuesday-Friday: My SO then uses the EV for her 20 mile round trip commute (so ~80 miles travelled by the end of Friday)
• Following Monday: Travel my 20 miles the office, and put it back on charge

I'm hoping that by doing this, over time, the higher purchase price (and therefore depreciation) of an EV will outweigh the combined fuel costs for myself and my SO. She will use our C1 to commute on a Monday, and as a backup car for any longer trips.

So I have two questions:
1. Is this even viable?
2. Are there any genuine 120+ mile EV's available for ~£10k? If so, what are my options?

I don't think leasing a battery on a Zoe would make financial sense for us - but happy to be proven wrong if the numbers add up!

Cheers!

[Pixelpeep Z4]

you can lease a leaf for £184 a month - https://www.nationwidevehiclecontracts.co.uk/car-l...

everything is taken care of then.

[half.pipe]

Pixelpeep Z4 said:

you can lease a leaf for £184 a month - https://www.nationwidevehiclecontracts.co.uk/car-l...

everything is taken care of then.

This is the price on a 48 month term, which would be almost £9000 in leasing costs. I don't want to get into the purchase vs lease debate, however I do not suspect a £10k EV would depreciate by 90% over 4 years.

Please understand, this EV decision is almost entirely financially motivated.

[Dave Hedgehog]

half.pipe said:

Pixelpeep Z4 said:

you can lease a leaf for £184 a month - https://www.nationwidevehiclecontracts.co.uk/car-l...

everything is taken care of then.

This is the price on a 48 month term, which would be almost £9000 in leasing costs. I don't want to get into the purchase vs lease debate, however I do not suspect a £10k EV would depreciate by 90% over 4 years.

Please understand, this EV decision is almost entirely financially motivated.

10k will get you a top spec late 30kw leaf with decent millage

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202103290...

i would expect it to hold its money if not appreciate a little over the next 4-5 years

you dont have to go all week without charging, a 3 pin wall socket will give a leaf a lot of range over 12 hours of being parked up

Edited by Dave Hedgehog on Friday 23 April 12:21

[sjg]

Just over budget but this battery owned Zoe will: https://www.speakev.com/threads/for-sale-renault-z...

Although it sounds like you're hinging everything around your employer continuing to offer charging for free, and you being able to get on that charge point for much of the day that you're in. If you can charge at home then a 24kWh Leaf will do the job just fine.

[Mr E]

When planning this, be aware that range is severely reduced in winter.

[half.pipe]

Thanks for the responses . I may occasionally be in the office twice a week, so it'll be very easy to top up again on a Wednesday or Thursday. And I'm happy to charge at home occasionally if needed. Just might as well make the most of free "fuel"!

The charging is likely to remain free long term. There are only limited charging stations, but their use is heavily encouraged due to being on a University campus which has a vested interest in being green. Access to them shouldn't be difficult, as there aren't many EV-owners at the company, and most people will only be in the office occasionally after the pandemic.

Edited by half.pipe on Friday 23 April 12:37

[tamore]

half.pipe said:

as there aren't many EV-owners at the company..............

yet

[Uncle boshy]

i think a 30kwh leaf is your best bet - never driven one so can't comment on the drive

here's one just under your budget - https://www.cargiant.co.uk/car/nissan/leaf/OY67JTV

these guys reckon 125 miles real world range https://greenfleet.net/road-tests/18012017/nissan-...

but i suspect more like 100 when it's cold.

that said can be cheap to top up at home on the right tarriff - I pay 5p per kwh from 00:30 to 4:30am

i applied the same logic as you and got an egolf on the company scheme, my daily mileage similar, saved me a fortune

[dapprman]

One word of advice based on experience.

Check with your work what their rules are over the chargers.

At mine we had a pair of 7 kWh chargers and a long list of people wanting to use them so the front desk security kept a list of who wanted to use them, the battery capacity of the cars and their requirements, then created a schedule based on who was in. If you were lucky you might be able to plug in all day, if unlucky you might have just 2 hours and if the end time conflicted with a meeting or other period where you're busy, then you had to move your car before then. Serial abuse would result in charging privileges being removed, which did happen to one woman (who surprised no one as she had previously been cautioned for repeatedly smoking outside of the front of the office which was an official no smoking zone).

[J1990]

half.pipe said:

Pixelpeep Z4 said:

you can lease a leaf for £184 a month - https://www.nationwidevehiclecontracts.co.uk/car-l...

everything is taken care of then.

This is the price on a 48 month term, which would be almost £9000 in leasing costs. I don't want to get into the purchase vs lease debate, however I do not suspect a £10k EV would depreciate by 90% over 4 years.

Please understand, this EV decision is almost entirely financially motivated.

Just be mindful that buying an older electric car could mean that during your ownership the car exceeds the battery warranty (Most manufacturers offer warrantied batters up until it reaches either 8 years old of 100k miles). The battery replacement cost exceeds the value of the car at this point and you've got an expensive brick on your driveway.

I appreciate that an electric car could last 20+ years and be a viable vehicle, however with current battery prices being so high it quickly makes a car basically a write-off at a much higher price than an ICE car.

What's your current vehicle? The majority of these posts tend to get the response along the lines of 'If you're looking to save costs overall, laying out more money in a new car often costs more than continuing to run what you've already got'

[half.pipe]

J1990 said:

Just be mindful that buying an older electric car could mean that during your ownership the car exceeds the battery warranty (Most manufacturers offer warrantied batters up until it reaches either 8 years old of 100k miles). The battery replacement cost exceeds the value of the car at this point and you've got an expensive brick on your driveway.

I appreciate that an electric car could last 20+ years and be a viable vehicle, however with current battery prices being so high it quickly makes a car basically a write-off at a much higher price than an ICE car.

What's your current vehicle? The majority of these posts tend to get the response along the lines of 'If you're looking to save costs overall, laying out more money in a new car often costs more than continuing to run what you've already got'

I sold my car (Volvo V70) last year, as I've been working from home since first lockdown. So we currently have my SO's C1, and I have a motorbike. I'd prefer not to commute on the bike, except on the sunniest of days, so in the market for a car again.

[J1990]

half.pipe said:

I sold my car (Volvo V70) last year, as I've been working from home since first lockdown. So we currently have my SO's C1, and I have a motorbike. I'd prefer not to commute on the bike, except on the sunniest of days, so in the market for a car again.

Makes complete sense, I did year round commuting split between a CBR1000 and an SV650 dependant on weather. I'm actually amazed I survived considering the naivety I had as a young rider.

Likely going to be hard to beat one of those Leaf options listed above, as mentioned the range will really suffer over winter but so long as you're happy enough to do the occasional top-up at home then I doubt you'll really beat it for the money. The Zoe is similar price (avoiding one with leased battery) but I'd prefer the leaf for interior space - Also prefer Nissan over Renault but that's subjective.

[half.pipe]

J1990 said:

Makes complete sense, I did year round commuting split between a CBR1000 and an SV650 dependant on weather. I'm actually amazed I survived considering the naivety I had as a young rider.

Likely going to be hard to beat one of those Leaf options listed above, as mentioned the range will really suffer over winter but so long as you're happy enough to do the occasional top-up at home then I doubt you'll really beat it for the money. The Zoe is similar price (avoiding one with leased battery) but I'd prefer the leaf for interior space - Also prefer Nissan over Renault but that's subjective.

Yeah, I've been there before as a year-round-rider too. I ride a big sports tourer these days, and would prefer to put miles on that in sunny European tours than the M1!

Yeah, looks like the Leaf is probably my best shout. Still trying to work out if the depreciation will be less than running costs of an older ~£2.5k ICE. I _think_ electric wins out, and should have lower maintenance and a more modern cabin too which is a nice bonus. "The Environment Factor" is also a bonus, but not my primary motivation.

[kambites]

Uncle boshy said:

i think a 30kwh leaf is your best bet - never driven one so can't comment on the drive
...
but i suspect more like 100 when it's cold.

Yeah you're not going to be able to rely on 120 miles out of a 30kwh Leaf in the winter. It's marginal even on a 40kwh one at motorway speeds in really poor weather.

If you could guy a genuine 120 mile EV of a reasonable size for £10k, I'd have got one by now.

Edited by kambites on Friday 23 April 16:54

[Welshbeef]

kambites said:

Yeah you're not going to be able to rely on 120 miles out of a 30kwh Leaf in the winter. It's marginal even on a 40kwh one at motorway speeds in really poor weather.

If you could guy a genuine 120 mile EV of a reasonable size for £10k, I'd have got one by now.

Edited by kambites on Friday 23 April 16:54

Would a i3 BEV be in budget?

[kambites]

Welshbeef said:

Would a i3 BEV be in budget?

You'd need a 120Ah one to have that sort of range in the winter, and they're more than twice the budget.

[Welshbeef]

kambites said:

Welshbeef said:

Would a i3 BEV be in budget?

You'd need a 120Ah one to have that sort of range in the winter, and they're more than twice the budget.

But wouldn’t a BEV physically manage it - using a tiny bit of ICE every day.

[kambites]

Welshbeef said:

But wouldn’t a BEV physically manage it - using a tiny bit of ICE every day.

Do you mean REX? The BEV has no ICE (too many TLAs!).

[Welshbeef]

kambites said:

Welshbeef said:

But wouldn’t a BEV physically manage it - using a tiny bit of ICE every day.

Do you mean REX? The BEV has no ICE (too many TLAs!).

Ah of course yes sorry my bad - I3 Rex are they £10k ish if so surely that is a consideration even if the tiny engine is run frequently (better for it to be run than sat unused)