Discussion
I need to drive 38 miles round trip three times a week. Sometimes but not always twice in a day . So 80 miles in a day max , 3 days a week.
It's to pick up and return one passenger.
I have diesel and petrol cars . I also have a big drive so home charging would be easy . Seems I can change to an octopus type tariff and get a low night rate to charge.
So dipping my toe and thinking diesel will be £10 a gallon in a month and petrol not far behind.
What car shall I buy.
Thanks
It's to pick up and return one passenger.
I have diesel and petrol cars . I also have a big drive so home charging would be easy . Seems I can change to an octopus type tariff and get a low night rate to charge.
So dipping my toe and thinking diesel will be £10 a gallon in a month and petrol not far behind.
What car shall I buy.
Thanks
If you are doing this purely to save petrol, you have to do a lot of miles to save £5k
20p per mile for petrol.
25k miles to save £5k
660 trips of 38 miles
200 weeks
4 years?
A mate of mine bought £5k leaf a few years back to save putting miles on a 3 litre beemer.
He was doing 50 miles a day, 5 days a week, 44 weeks a year.
The leaf paid for itself, and is still going, but is now worth less than his pushbike and has a range of less than 50 miles.
I think the maths are better if you buy a better EV and lose an IC car.
For £5k, I would consider a BMW i3. Because I have driven one and I like them.
Not many years ago today's £5k i3s were over £10k, £5k is a lot of petrol, even now.
It's a multi-faceted conundrum, do your own maths your own way.
38 miles is not far off PHEV range?
That might be a route to not needing a pure IC car?
I suggest avoiding too much logic and buying something because you like it.
20p per mile for petrol.
25k miles to save £5k
660 trips of 38 miles
200 weeks
4 years?
A mate of mine bought £5k leaf a few years back to save putting miles on a 3 litre beemer.
He was doing 50 miles a day, 5 days a week, 44 weeks a year.
The leaf paid for itself, and is still going, but is now worth less than his pushbike and has a range of less than 50 miles.
I think the maths are better if you buy a better EV and lose an IC car.
For £5k, I would consider a BMW i3. Because I have driven one and I like them.
Not many years ago today's £5k i3s were over £10k, £5k is a lot of petrol, even now.
It's a multi-faceted conundrum, do your own maths your own way.
38 miles is not far off PHEV range?
That might be a route to not needing a pure IC car?
I suggest avoiding too much logic and buying something because you like it.
A Zoe as above.
Given the low usage I too wouldn't swap to a EV specific energy tariff, especially if you are WFH during the day.
My B-i-L had a Zoe and never got a 7kw charger fitted at home and he managed just fine.
He has an e-niro now but after a recent convo I know he misses certain little nuances of the Zoe.
Happy shopping.
Chris
Given the low usage I too wouldn't swap to a EV specific energy tariff, especially if you are WFH during the day.
My B-i-L had a Zoe and never got a 7kw charger fitted at home and he managed just fine.
He has an e-niro now but after a recent convo I know he misses certain little nuances of the Zoe.
Happy shopping.
Chris
Chris_i8 said:
A Zoe as above.
Given the low usage I too wouldn't swap to a EV specific energy tariff, especially if you are WFH during the day.
My B-i-L had a Zoe and never got a 7kw charger fitted at home and he managed just fine.
He has an e-niro now but after a recent convo I know he misses certain little nuances of the Zoe.
Happy shopping.
Chris
I work from home and just the £1K for a charger would take nearly 2 years before it paid for itself. Working from home slashes your annual mileage so you talking around 4500miles per year? On the price cap your are going to use round £340 of electricity a year and maybe you could save £100 using a EV tariff and managed to shift 5% of day time use to over night usage. More likely your on a fixed tariff and the picking are far less.Given the low usage I too wouldn't swap to a EV specific energy tariff, especially if you are WFH during the day.
My B-i-L had a Zoe and never got a 7kw charger fitted at home and he managed just fine.
He has an e-niro now but after a recent convo I know he misses certain little nuances of the Zoe.
Happy shopping.
Chris
Small numbers for sure. IMHO I wouldn't bother replacing the car (you not really using that much) to get stuck with something like a Zoe with limited range and size. Wait until next time you are due to replace the car consider something that a decent size and has decent range and get a budget of around £10K. As I have said else were Martin Lewis is saying electricity up 3.5 in Oct. and 24% up in Jan 2027. So they have you either way.
Thanks for the replies so far . We actually have a few cars at my house but no EV at present , I think I am trying to dip my toe a bit .
Part of me is thinking Oil prices will soon be significantly higher with the loss of the Saudi Pipe line and in turn , loss of control of other water ways . I follow economics and politics a lot, after 40 years in Banking and now retired ,and I am not seeing a good oil future right now . I think Diesel may completely break first .
I want to spread my risk . I had not seen nor have seen a predicted 24% electricity rise in January, mentioned above . I am hoping that a typo . It looks like two lots of 3-4% from what I have been following .
Anyway if I am wrong or not , the Zoe looks a bit small I fear . I am a big fellow and the passenger is not too flexible , Elderly family member we are helping out for at least 1 year , probably more . Like all EV's of a certain age many look very good value and I get why . Its a ticking clock to degradation and failure I can see , bit like getting old
Thanks for the suggestions and is there anything bigger than a Zoe that has the collective approval .
I will also read now the linked thread suggested .
Edited to add, is it Nissan Leaf then ?
Part of me is thinking Oil prices will soon be significantly higher with the loss of the Saudi Pipe line and in turn , loss of control of other water ways . I follow economics and politics a lot, after 40 years in Banking and now retired ,and I am not seeing a good oil future right now . I think Diesel may completely break first .
I want to spread my risk . I had not seen nor have seen a predicted 24% electricity rise in January, mentioned above . I am hoping that a typo . It looks like two lots of 3-4% from what I have been following .
Anyway if I am wrong or not , the Zoe looks a bit small I fear . I am a big fellow and the passenger is not too flexible , Elderly family member we are helping out for at least 1 year , probably more . Like all EV's of a certain age many look very good value and I get why . Its a ticking clock to degradation and failure I can see , bit like getting old
Thanks for the suggestions and is there anything bigger than a Zoe that has the collective approval .
I will also read now the linked thread suggested .
Edited to add, is it Nissan Leaf then ?
Edited by cliffords on Wednesday 16th September 09:46
The Nissan Leaf is the ideal car for you at this price point & sizing requirements. They have been around long enough to have a sea of people who can fix them too, though reality is it will just be run of the mill stuff any garage can sort - tyres, brakes. bushes etc.
The Zoe's sometimes have battery leases to think about. Rightly or wrongly I personally would trust a Nissan more than a Renault EV.
Even if electric prices do go up you're still going to get something like 8pence overnight charging which will be a £2-3 quid to "fill" up at home vs gawd knows what diesel/petrol are going to end up costing!
Edit to add - I've got Teslas and love them but friends of our we do school lift shares with have a 2017 Leaf since it was 6 months old and it has been trouble free. The car is used as a family rural run about, so covers strong mileage and rough roads with ease.
The Zoe's sometimes have battery leases to think about. Rightly or wrongly I personally would trust a Nissan more than a Renault EV.
Even if electric prices do go up you're still going to get something like 8pence overnight charging which will be a £2-3 quid to "fill" up at home vs gawd knows what diesel/petrol are going to end up costing!
Edit to add - I've got Teslas and love them but friends of our we do school lift shares with have a 2017 Leaf since it was 6 months old and it has been trouble free. The car is used as a family rural run about, so covers strong mileage and rough roads with ease.
Edited by _kitt_ on Wednesday 16th September 10:24
OutInTheShed said:
For £5k, I would consider a BMW i3. Because I have driven one and I like them.
Not many years ago today's £5k i3s were over £10k, £5k is a lot of petrol, even now.
It's a multi-faceted conundrum, do your own maths your own way.
No first-hand experience, but I've gotten more and more curious about i3: third-party battery upgrades are available (another £ 5,000, but they get you 54kWh and take the range to over 300km/200 miles). With the carbon body, it starts to sound like an almost-forever car. This might eventually be reflected in resale values?Not many years ago today's £5k i3s were over £10k, £5k is a lot of petrol, even now.
It's a multi-faceted conundrum, do your own maths your own way.
OTOH, I think EV-Clinic praises the repairability [autocorrect wanted to claim "reliability"; fixed] of Renault EVs.
Edited by PetrolHeadInRecovery on Wednesday 16th September 11:03
PetrolHeadInRecovery said:
OutInTheShed said:
For £5k, I would consider a BMW i3. Because I have driven one and I like them.
Not many years ago today's £5k i3s were over £10k, £5k is a lot of petrol, even now.
It's a multi-faceted conundrum, do your own maths your own way.
No first-hand experience, but I've gotten more and more curious about i3: third-party battery upgrades are available (another £ 5,000, but they get you 54kWh and take the range to over 300km/200 miles). With the carbon body, it starts to sound like an almost-forever car. This might eventually be reflected in resale values?Not many years ago today's £5k i3s were over £10k, £5k is a lot of petrol, even now.
It's a multi-faceted conundrum, do your own maths your own way.
OTOH, I think EV-Clinic praises the reliability of Renault EVs.
skilly1 said:
edc said:
If you just want to test the water and maybe only need it for a year what about a lease. There are some 1+23 EVs for under £300/month.
£7,200 for 2 years, nothing at the end of it, not exactly cheap.Plus you need to have an IC car for longer trips?. That will have some depreciation presumably.
The total cost of a leased EV with decent range, vs depreciating and running a shed EV and another car for longer trips might be worth working out for your own personal circumstances.
You have to do a lot of miles in a car for fuel savings to put the depreciation into the shade.
OTOH, I have considered having an EV as an additional vehicle, there can be some value in having a 'spare' vehicle, if your other cars don't exactly come with the promise of a courtesy car when in for service or repair.
OP here yes its a spare /additional vehicle and I don't want to lease . But thank you for the contribution.
I have just done the sums of my cars and a possible leaf :
All at current fuel prices , albeit I expect fuel cost to increase by 10/15 % in the next 3 months , and electricity at 25p with my regular tariff
Citroen Diesel 15.72p per mile
Skoda Petrol 19.45p per mile
Honda Diesel 21.47p per mile
Jag Petrol V8 31.11p per mile
Leaf 6.1p per mile
So If I did 5000 of my annual miles overall in the Leaf £305 versus £1000 in my Skoda or Honda less in the Citroen .
So it makes no sense to buy one and I will anyway . Leaf hunting now .
I like the idea maybe more than the reality so I am going to give it a go .
I have just done the sums of my cars and a possible leaf :
All at current fuel prices , albeit I expect fuel cost to increase by 10/15 % in the next 3 months , and electricity at 25p with my regular tariff
Citroen Diesel 15.72p per mile
Skoda Petrol 19.45p per mile
Honda Diesel 21.47p per mile
Jag Petrol V8 31.11p per mile
Leaf 6.1p per mile
So If I did 5000 of my annual miles overall in the Leaf £305 versus £1000 in my Skoda or Honda less in the Citroen .
So it makes no sense to buy one and I will anyway . Leaf hunting now .
I like the idea maybe more than the reality so I am going to give it a go .
PetrolHeadInRecovery said:
OutInTheShed said:
For £5k, I would consider a BMW i3. Because I have driven one and I like them.
Not many years ago today's £5k i3s were over £10k, £5k is a lot of petrol, even now.
It's a multi-faceted conundrum, do your own maths your own way.
No first-hand experience, but I've gotten more and more curious about i3: third-party battery upgrades are available (another £ 5,000, but they get you 54kWh and take the range to over 300km/200 miles). With the carbon body, it starts to sound like an almost-forever car. This might eventually be reflected in resale values?Not many years ago today's £5k i3s were over £10k, £5k is a lot of petrol, even now.
It's a multi-faceted conundrum, do your own maths your own way.
OTOH, I think EV-Clinic praises the repairability [autocorrect wanted to claim "reliability"; fixed] of Renault EVs.
Edited by PetrolHeadInRecovery on Wednesday 16th September 11:03
Bonefish Blues said:
I'm keeping mine and I'm sure you're right - there's nothing like them and they already have a serious following. We have a 42kWh and it's plenty range as it is, which is not really being exceeded by much newer small EVs - because it's not needed.
The need for range is dependent on the owner of course. We had a 120ah i3 back in 2019 for a year and loved it, the only downsides being the big drop off in range during the winter (30%) and 50kW max charge speed if you do need to charge when out and about.Fantastic city car, I'd have another tomorrow if we had the right use case.
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