buying an electric car

[inactionman]

We need another car for kiddie taxi, and although I have a defender in plans this is likely to be the prat-about vehicle and not the one for school runs

To try to undo some of the environmental disaster that is a defender I'm looking at electric. Has anyone bought or run a second-hand electric? I've seen a few Renault Zoes for around 7k but worried they'll be on last legs. I've also spoken to general used car dealers and they can't offer the lease/warranty for battery, I'm trying to figure out if Renault themselves do this but the range of approved used is pretty small.

We've finally got a drive with space for a charge point so this one seems a realistic option.

eta: I suppose my question is really whether the standard used-car approach really works for electric - wait a few years and by a low-mild higher spec model from a reputable, trust-worthy (ahem) dealer.

[Ymx]

I imagine battery will be your biggest problem

[Ymx]

I’d been wondering if battery service schemes existed. Eg pay a fixed amount per month to ensure battery is warranted??

[inactionman]

I’d been wondering if battery service schemes existed. Eg pay a fixed amount per month to ensure battery is warranted??

Renault have a scheme where you buy the car but can lease the battery, such that any dead ones are replaced - adds to the operating expense but mitigates a major risk.

I'm pretty sure the other manufacturers do likewise.

My only query is how fully this extends to the second-hand market, would Renault be happy to lease/assure batteries on non-approved used cars? Buying a 5-year old Zoe won't be so attractive if you're also getting a 5-year old battery.

[GogLais]

We need another car for kiddie taxi, and although I have a defender in plans this is likely to be the prat-about vehicle and not the one for school runs

To try to undo some of the environmental disaster that is a defender I'm looking at electric. Has anyone bought or run a second-hand electric? I've seen a few Renault Zoes for around 7k but worried they'll be on last legs. I've also spoken to general used car dealers and they can't offer the lease/warranty for battery, I'm trying to figure out if Renault themselves do this but the range of approved used is pretty small.

We've finally got a drive with space for a charge point so this one seems a realistic option.

eta: I suppose my question is really whether the standard used-car approach really works for electric - wait a few years and by a low-mild higher spec model from a reputable, trust-worthy (ahem) dealer.

Obvious problem is that main dealers don’t sell cars for 7k. However, it might well be that the warranty is transferable to a new owner. I don’t know whether batteries fail totally or whether they just lose a lot of range, which mightn’t be a problem for you. I think you should give it a go and give us regular updates.

[Tichtheid]

My neighbour had problems with their Zoe, it wouldn't charge. It's sorted now but it took a while and they did say that trying to do long distance in it was a mistake.

When my ship comes in this is what I'll do

[Niegs]

Just make sure your sat nav has a better, more positive voice than ...

[Paddington Bear]

I went to a wedding in the West Country last week and was offered a lift home the next day by a mate with an electric car. Turns out there aren't many charging points in rural Somerset.

Eventually we made the decision to make for Salisbury which would presumably have a charging point. It did but it was out of order and after circling the city centre six times we agreed there didn't appear to be another one.

Now down to the last 15 miles of charge we decide there's no choice but to make a break towards the A303 and hope there's one at a service station. With 1.5 miles left we find a charging point. It would take a while to charge so we thought a pub lunch would while away the time nicely. One problem - no pedestrian exits. Having vaulted the fence into a farmer's field we find another barbed wire fence and admit defeat. After three hours sat in the Services Starbucks we have enough charge to carry on. Door to door journey time of 7.5 hours.

Will stick to petrol for now.

[GogLais]

I went to a wedding in the West Country last week and was offered a lift home the next day by a mate with an electric car. Turns out there aren't many charging points in rural Somerset.

Eventually we made the decision to make for Salisbury which would presumably have a charging point. It did but it was out of order and after circling the city centre six times we agreed there didn't appear to be another one.

Now down to the last 15 miles of charge we decide there's no choice but to make a break towards the A303 and hope there's one at a service station. With 1.5 miles left we find a charging point. It would take a while to charge so we thought a pub lunch would while away the time nicely. One problem - no pedestrian exits. Having vaulted the fence into a farmer's field we find another barbed wire fence and admit defeat. After three hours sat in the Services Starbucks we have enough charge to carry on. Door to door journey time of 7.5 hours.

Will stick to petrol for now.

There’s a similar tale in the Sunday Times, guy drove from the Lakes to Devon, spent six hours either charging or looking for chargers and that was in a “long range” Mustang. I’d be happy to go electric but I’m not going to run one car for short trips and another one for longer.

[Tichtheid]

I went to a wedding in the West Country last week and was offered a lift home the next day by a mate with an electric car. Turns out there aren't many charging points in rural Somerset.

Eventually we made the decision to make for Salisbury which would presumably have a charging point. It did but it was out of order and after circling the city centre six times we agreed there didn't appear to be another one.

Now down to the last 15 miles of charge we decide there's no choice but to make a break towards the A303 and hope there's one at a service station. With 1.5 miles left we find a charging point. It would take a while to charge so we thought a pub lunch would while away the time nicely. One problem - no pedestrian exits. Having vaulted the fence into a farmer's field we find another barbed wire fence and admit defeat. After three hours sat in the Services Starbucks we have enough charge to carry on. Door to door journey time of 7.5 hours.

Will stick to petrol for now.

I think for zubbing around locally a fully electric car is a good option. A petrol car could be hired for occasional long journeys, but that isn't the cheapest option.
The poor public transport system is an issue for another thread probably.

If you do lots of long journeys as well as short ones then a hybrid might do the trick, the charging infrastructure and technology will improve, but until then it's not easy being an early adopter of new tech.

[Raggs]

We bought a 2nd hand zoe from a dealer for £7k a couple of years ago. Some still have the battery lease system in place, it's also possible on some to buy the battery. We've stuck with the leasing option. You sort the lease out with Renault, there's a lease transfer form (or at least there was) that the dealer should sign over to you/post to them.

Depending on your mileage (and the battery I guess) changes how much you pay a month, and it includes a breakdown recovery service in the cost.

Ours is the smallest battery, does about 50-70 miles depending on temperature, but it's used almost purely for the commute/school run/shopping. Had a couple of issues with it to start, but no moreso than any other car, and the one time it needed replacement parts, we were supplied with a courtesy car.

If it's a second car, then it's absolutely a smart choice in my mind. Sure, you can't take any hundred mile trips in it, but if 90% of your trips are within range, then it makes sense as a daily driver, and let the petrol take the longer journeys.

[inactionman]

We bought a 2nd hand zoe from a dealer for £7k a couple of years ago. Some still have the battery lease system in place, it's also possible on some to buy the battery. We've stuck with the leasing option. You sort the lease out with Renault, there's a lease transfer form (or at least there was) that the dealer should sign over to you/post to them.

Depending on your mileage (and the battery I guess) changes how much you pay a month, and it includes a breakdown recovery service in the cost.

Ours is the smallest battery, does about 50-70 miles depending on temperature, but it's used almost purely for the commute/school run/shopping. Had a couple of issues with it to start, but no moreso than any other car, and the one time it needed replacement parts, we were supplied with a courtesy car.

If it's a second car, then it's absolutely a smart choice in my mind. Sure, you can't take any hundred mile trips in it, but if 90% of your trips are within range, then it makes sense as a daily driver, and let the petrol take the longer journeys.

This is pretty much exactly our use case - we've got a disco sport for longer trips/when we need more luggage space, but it's massively oversized for the run to the nursery or the supermarket for bread and milk. I also worry that Edinburgh are going to introduce a low emission zone, the Disco is EURO 6 but it's still a diesel, and a large diesel, and I think we're going to see more and more restrictions on inappropriate cars in cities

Can I ask - did you buy from a specific Renault dealer, or from e.g. Arnold Clark? I've checked the Renault website and there's very few dealers with any Zoes other than ex fleet/company cars which are 20k upwards. I'll check on the battery lease transfer, as I'm not comfortable taking the risk of the battery dying and would rather pay a few quid to make sure it's covered. Also, how much is the lease, if you don't mind me asking? I've heard prices of about £500 p.a., is this about right?

[inactionman]

I went to a wedding in the West Country last week and was offered a lift home the next day by a mate with an electric car. Turns out there aren't many charging points in rural Somerset.

Eventually we made the decision to make for Salisbury which would presumably have a charging point. It did but it was out of order and after circling the city centre six times we agreed there didn't appear to be another one.

Now down to the last 15 miles of charge we decide there's no choice but to make a break towards the A303 and hope there's one at a service station. With 1.5 miles left we find a charging point. It would take a while to charge so we thought a pub lunch would while away the time nicely. One problem - no pedestrian exits. Having vaulted the fence into a farmer's field we find another barbed wire fence and admit defeat. After three hours sat in the Services Starbucks we have enough charge to carry on. Door to door journey time of 7.5 hours.

Will stick to petrol for now.

I worry about this, there isn't an even distribution of infrastructure and what works in one place won't work in others.

I had a Beemer with run flats and I had similar concerns - it's all very well being able to drive 50 miles to the garage to get a puncture fixed if you're in a town during opening hours, but that's sod-all help when driving home on a cold Sunday evening from Cornwall.

In terms of the decision on whether to go electric, we had two cars for years but dropped to one when we moved up to Edinburgh - my wife can commute via public transport, which wasn't viable when getting from Bath to NE Bristol (bizarrely - it's less than 15 miles) - which was an ideal opportunity, as we had a bigger budget than usual which would cover the premium for an electric drivetrain. We ultimately just couldn't see it being successful - my dad's in Norfolk and there's no way we could cover that distance on electric. Also trips to Cairngorms etc would be pretty fraught. The weather was also a factor (electric not being great in the deepest cold), so we went with a Land Rover, but we've found we're using it more and more in the city with the kids where it really is overkill.

Just not possible to kill both birds with one stone - not yet, anyway.

[troglodiet]

To be posh, make sure your electric car has petrol windows.

[GogLais]

I went to a wedding in the West Country last week and was offered a lift home the next day by a mate with an electric car. Turns out there aren't many charging points in rural Somerset.

Eventually we made the decision to make for Salisbury which would presumably have a charging point. It did but it was out of order and after circling the city centre six times we agreed there didn't appear to be another one.

Now down to the last 15 miles of charge we decide there's no choice but to make a break towards the A303 and hope there's one at a service station. With 1.5 miles left we find a charging point. It would take a while to charge so we thought a pub lunch would while away the time nicely. One problem - no pedestrian exits. Having vaulted the fence into a farmer's field we find another barbed wire fence and admit defeat. After three hours sat in the Services Starbucks we have enough charge to carry on. Door to door journey time of 7.5 hours.

Will stick to petrol for now.

I think for zubbing around locally a fully electric car is a good option. A petrol car could be hired for occasional long journeys, but that isn't the cheapest option.
The poor public transport system is an issue for another thread probably.

If you do lots of long journeys as well as short ones then a hybrid might do the trick, the charging infrastructure and technology will improve, but until then it's not easy being an early adopter of new tech.

I’m not saying it’s logical but I have a philosophical objection to hybrid. I don’t like the idea of lugging around all the paraphernalia for IC plus propulsion batteries and electric motors.

[GogLais]

I went to a wedding in the West Country last week and was offered a lift home the next day by a mate with an electric car. Turns out there aren't many charging points in rural Somerset.

Eventually we made the decision to make for Salisbury which would presumably have a charging point. It did but it was out of order and after circling the city centre six times we agreed there didn't appear to be another one.

Now down to the last 15 miles of charge we decide there's no choice but to make a break towards the A303 and hope there's one at a service station. With 1.5 miles left we find a charging point. It would take a while to charge so we thought a pub lunch would while away the time nicely. One problem - no pedestrian exits. Having vaulted the fence into a farmer's field we find another barbed wire fence and admit defeat. After three hours sat in the Services Starbucks we have enough charge to carry on. Door to door journey time of 7.5 hours.

Will stick to petrol for now.

I think for zubbing around locally a fully electric car is a good option. A petrol car could be hired for occasional long journeys, but that isn't the cheapest option.
The poor public transport system is an issue for another thread probably.

If you do lots of long journeys as well as short ones then a hybrid might do the trick, the charging infrastructure and technology will improve, but until then it's not easy being an early adopter of new tech.

I’m not saying it’s logical but I have a philosophical objection to hybrid. I don’t like the idea of lugging around all the paraphernalia for IC plus propulsion batteries and electric motors.

[inactionman]

I went to a wedding in the West Country last week and was offered a lift home the next day by a mate with an electric car. Turns out there aren't many charging points in rural Somerset.

Eventually we made the decision to make for Salisbury which would presumably have a charging point. It did but it was out of order and after circling the city centre six times we agreed there didn't appear to be another one.

Now down to the last 15 miles of charge we decide there's no choice but to make a break towards the A303 and hope there's one at a service station. With 1.5 miles left we find a charging point. It would take a while to charge so we thought a pub lunch would while away the time nicely. One problem - no pedestrian exits. Having vaulted the fence into a farmer's field we find another barbed wire fence and admit defeat. After three hours sat in the Services Starbucks we have enough charge to carry on. Door to door journey time of 7.5 hours.

Will stick to petrol for now.

I think for zubbing around locally a fully electric car is a good option. A petrol car could be hired for occasional long journeys, but that isn't the cheapest option.
The poor public transport system is an issue for another thread probably.

If you do lots of long journeys as well as short ones then a hybrid might do the trick, the charging infrastructure and technology will improve, but until then it's not easy being an early adopter of new tech.

I’m not saying it’s logical but I have a philosophical objection to hybrid. I don’t like the idea of lugging around all the paraphernalia for IC plus propulsion batteries and electric motors.

The batteries and motor(s) are just to decouple the production of energy from fuel from its consumption, so they're not the same mass/size as the full electric and to be frank even the IC is relatively undersized, but it is a fair bit of kit to lug about/fix when it goes wrong.

[Paddington Bear]

I went to a wedding in the West Country last week and was offered a lift home the next day by a mate with an electric car. Turns out there aren't many charging points in rural Somerset.

Eventually we made the decision to make for Salisbury which would presumably have a charging point. It did but it was out of order and after circling the city centre six times we agreed there didn't appear to be another one.

Now down to the last 15 miles of charge we decide there's no choice but to make a break towards the A303 and hope there's one at a service station. With 1.5 miles left we find a charging point. It would take a while to charge so we thought a pub lunch would while away the time nicely. One problem - no pedestrian exits. Having vaulted the fence into a farmer's field we find another barbed wire fence and admit defeat. After three hours sat in the Services Starbucks we have enough charge to carry on. Door to door journey time of 7.5 hours.

Will stick to petrol for now.

I think for zubbing around locally a fully electric car is a good option. A petrol car could be hired for occasional long journeys, but that isn't the cheapest option.
The poor public transport system is an issue for another thread probably.

If you do lots of long journeys as well as short ones then a hybrid might do the trick, the charging infrastructure and technology will improve, but until then it's not easy being an early adopter of new tech.

Yeah agreed across the board. Being a little facetious, and given it was the first time I'd seen said mate since covid hit it was nice to properly catch up.

Essentially right now if you're reliant on any public charging point to make a journey semi-regularly I don't think electric makes sense. If you can do what you need to do and charge it at home overnight go for it.

Incidentally the Salisbury charging point was out of action because the firm who built it have since stopped making spare parts, apparently not uncommon. No doubt the general shortage of semiconductors and everything else doesn't help either.

[Raggs]

We bought a 2nd hand zoe from a dealer for £7k a couple of years ago. Some still have the battery lease system in place, it's also possible on some to buy the battery. We've stuck with the leasing option. You sort the lease out with Renault, there's a lease transfer form (or at least there was) that the dealer should sign over to you/post to them.

Depending on your mileage (and the battery I guess) changes how much you pay a month, and it includes a breakdown recovery service in the cost.

Ours is the smallest battery, does about 50-70 miles depending on temperature, but it's used almost purely for the commute/school run/shopping. Had a couple of issues with it to start, but no moreso than any other car, and the one time it needed replacement parts, we were supplied with a courtesy car.

If it's a second car, then it's absolutely a smart choice in my mind. Sure, you can't take any hundred mile trips in it, but if 90% of your trips are within range, then it makes sense as a daily driver, and let the petrol take the longer journeys.

This is pretty much exactly our use case - we've got a disco sport for longer trips/when we need more luggage space, but it's massively oversized for the run to the nursery or the supermarket for bread and milk. I also worry that Edinburgh are going to introduce a low emission zone, the Disco is EURO 6 but it's still a diesel, and a large diesel, and I think we're going to see more and more restrictions on inappropriate cars in cities

Can I ask - did you buy from a specific Renault dealer, or from e.g. Arnold Clark? I've checked the Renault website and there's very few dealers with any Zoes other than ex fleet/company cars which are 20k upwards. I'll check on the battery lease transfer, as I'm not comfortable taking the risk of the battery dying and would rather pay a few quid to make sure it's covered. Also, how much is the lease, if you don't mind me asking? I've heard prices of about £500 p.a., is this about right?

We bought from a specialist 2nd hand electric car dealer. As for the lease, it depends on how far you drive. We are in the top bracket (I think it's 7k+ a year), which is £70 a month. Not cheap, but no road tax, includes recovery service, and the battery is someone else's problem if it goes wrong, think it starts at £30 a month? Maybe £40. It's why Zoe's tend to be cheaper in the first place to purchase.

Of course, the further you drive it, the more you save vs petrol anyway.

Most economical is still probably a tiny petrol/diesel motor. But we wanted electric anyway.

[Flockwitt]

I'll wait a few more years before beginning to consider electric. There's significant strides being made in battery technology, the infrastructure is still building and the battery production issues are still surfacing.

[Ymx]

Yeah I’m thinking a couple more years.

[Sandstorm]

Ford UK reckon that 48% of the miles their customers do in their hybrid Kuga SUVs is on electric power. So plenty of people are plugging in their PHEVs and not using the petrol engine half the time.

[PCPhil]

I was looking for car in June and really, really wanted to buy pure electric. But;
1). I like cars so wanted something nice
2). I like my money and the security it gives me and don’t see any need to go from 0-60 in under 5 seconds
3). It is the one big family car in the household and my favourite staycation places are Cornwall, Lake District, Scotland and i live in centre of the midlands.
4). Plus on weekends I often like to get up very early to drive to Lake District or North Wales. Park at a remote location and drive back late in evening after a long walk. This involves such unreasonable demands like:
*. Having light on to see where going.
*. Air conditioning in summer or heating in winter
*. Maybe cold starts.
*. Driving above 50mph and hill ascents.

Went for Hybrid Lexus.

[Raggs]

Having the light on has no effect on an electric car. Ac barely too. Can't speakfor others but going up steep slopes in ours *feels* like a hell of a lot less of a struggle than a petrol, goes up with a lot less impact on speed. Never been too cold to start either.

Given the distances you drive them its probably not yet time, though there again, being in the midlands and reported real world ranges over 200 miles, perhaps you could make most your locations with just one stop. Wouldn't workfor the early morning hikes though.

[inactionman]

Having the light on has no effect on an electric car. Ac barely too. Can't speakfor others but going up steep slopes in ours *feels* like a hell of a lot less of a struggle than a petrol, goes up with a lot less impact on speed. Never been too cold to start either.

Given the distances you drive them its probably not yet time, though there again, being in the midlands and reported real world ranges over 200 miles, perhaps you could make most your locations with just one stop. Wouldn't workfor the early morning hikes though.

I might be misunderstanding, but the impacts of lights, A/C, cold weather etc are more on battery life than on performance.

A/C and heat I can see as being quite a power drain.

[Dinsdale Piranha]

Having the light on has no effect on an electric car. Ac barely too. Can't speakfor others but going up steep slopes in ours *feels* like a hell of a lot less of a struggle than a petrol, goes up with a lot less impact on speed. Never been too cold to start either.

Given the distances you drive them its probably not yet time, though there again, being in the midlands and reported real world ranges over 200 miles, perhaps you could make most your locations with just one stop. Wouldn't workfor the early morning hikes though.

I might be misunderstanding, but the impacts of lights, A/C, cold weather etc are more on battery life than on performance.

A/C and heat I can see as being quite a power drain.

On a performance EV, any power going to the heating isn't going to the motor so heater on = lower performance. Whether it's by enough that you care is a separate question. The effect on range is probably more relevant.

A test I saw a while back said running the heating full blast & heated seats took 60 miles of the range of a Tesla Model 3 - about 25%.

[inactionman]

Having the light on has no effect on an electric car. Ac barely too. Can't speakfor others but going up steep slopes in ours *feels* like a hell of a lot less of a struggle than a petrol, goes up with a lot less impact on speed. Never been too cold to start either.

Given the distances you drive them its probably not yet time, though there again, being in the midlands and reported real world ranges over 200 miles, perhaps you could make most your locations with just one stop. Wouldn't workfor the early morning hikes though.

I might be misunderstanding, but the impacts of lights, A/C, cold weather etc are more on battery life than on performance.

A/C and heat I can see as being quite a power drain.

On a performance EV, any power going to the heating isn't going to the motor so heater on = lower performance. Whether it's by enough that you care is a separate question. The effect on range is probably more relevant.

A test I saw a while back said running the heating full blast & heated seats took 60 miles of the range of a Tesla Model 3 - about 25%.

I'm not sure I'd agree - I'm lead to understand the peak load/current available from battery generally exceeds the maximum current draw/power of the motors, in which case having additional power usage doesn't have much impact on vehicle performance. It'll impact on range, as it's sucking more energy from the finite amount held in battery. I can well believe the figures you give for the tesla with A/C and heat, these have high power requirements (I think a typical car A/C compressor is something like 5KW, around 6 or so HP) so keeping them going non-stop will certainly eat into range.

Compare and contrast to IC engines, where things like a/c etc are directly grabbing motive power.

I could stand corrected on the peak current point though, I'm out of the loop a bit on that.

[Dinsdale Piranha]

I might be misunderstanding, but the impacts of lights, A/C, cold weather etc are more on battery life than on performance.

A/C and heat I can see as being quite a power drain.

On a performance EV, any power going to the heating isn't going to the motor so heater on = lower performance. Whether it's by enough that you care is a separate question. The effect on range is probably more relevant.

A test I saw a while back said running the heating full blast & heated seats took 60 miles of the range of a Tesla Model 3 - about 25%.

I'm not sure I'd agree - I'm lead to understand the peak load/current available from battery generally exceeds the maximum current draw/power of the motors, in which case having additional power usage doesn't have much impact on vehicle performance. It'll impact on range, as it's sucking more energy from the finite amount held in battery. I can well believe the figures you give for the tesla with A/C and heat, these have high power requirements (I think a typical car A/C compressor is something like 5KW, around 6 or so HP) so keeping them going non-stop will certainly eat into range.

Compare and contrast to IC engines, where things like a/c etc are directly grabbing motive power.

I could stand corrected on the peak current point though, I'm out of the loop a bit on that.

Me too. Having said that, electric motors performance is mostly limited by the current you can feed to them - hence all the ludicrous mode etc. on Teslas.

ICE cars often disconnect the AC pump during hard acceleration, A Tesla may do the same. There are definitely reports of Teslas shutting down the AC briefly _after_ hard acceleration - I assume to cool the battery.

[GogLais]

Reminds me of the 32 bhp Twingo I hired from Barcelona Airport thirty odd years ago. Uphill performance was significantly improved by switching off the aircon.

[Openside]

Seems to me that te only electric car worth having is if you have a ‘main car’ as well only use the electric for shopping golf course etc. You need charging point at home.

[Raggs]

Seems to me that te only electric car worth having is if you have a ‘main car’ as well only use the electric for shopping golf course etc. You need charging point at home.

The thing is, the electric car will become the main car for the majority, and the second car the rarer long distance runabout. Yes, you need a charge point at home, but then you don't need to drive for petrol again.

[Dinsdale Piranha]

Seems to me that te only electric car worth having is if you have a ‘main car’ as well only use the electric for shopping golf course etc. You need charging point at home.

Depends on how much you drive and how far.

I drove 1200 miles last year. Longest day trip was about 150 miles. If I had anywhere to charge it, an EV with a 200 mile range would meet all my requirements.

[robmatic]

Seems to me that te only electric car worth having is if you have a ‘main car’ as well only use the electric for shopping golf course etc. You need charging point at home.

I reckon there's a fair number of folk who don't actually make that many long distance journeys. My Mum is getting on a bit and I think her upper limit is 30 miles or so - she'll never drive further than that again and probably hasn't for years.

I have been thinking that once electric pickup trucks hit the market there will probably also be a decent use case argument for farmers. On my family's farm they do quite a lot of mileage but it tends to be very, very local and there is scope for generating the electricity on site with a small wind turbine or from biomass.

[GogLais]

Seems to me that te only electric car worth having is if you have a ‘main car’ as well only use the electric for shopping golf course etc. You need charging point at home.

The thing is, the electric car will become the main car for the majority, and the second car the rarer long distance runabout. Yes, you need a charge point at home, but then you don't need to drive for petrol again.

Yes I could imagine having an EV for 95% of my trips and renting an IC one for the longer, almost always holiday ones. But who wants to deal regularly with car hire companies?

[inactionman]

Seems to me that te only electric car worth having is if you have a ‘main car’ as well only use the electric for shopping golf course etc. You need charging point at home.

I reckon there's a fair number of folk who don't actually make that many long distance journeys. My Mum is getting on a bit and I think her upper limit is 30 miles or so - she'll never drive further than that again and probably hasn't for years.

I have been thinking that once electric pickup trucks hit the market there will probably also be a decent use case argument for farmers. On my family's farm they do quite a lot of mileage but it tends to be very, very local and there is scope for generating the electricity on site with a small wind turbine or from biomass.

Ford have kicked out (or are shortly about to kick out) the F-150 Lightning - it has banks of power sockets for power tools etc which I'd think would be pretty bloody useful for farmers and for workmen.

It can also power homes if required, up to 9.6kW, for up to 10 days - not sure how useful that would be in the UK but seems a good idea in the more rural or storm-affected parts of the US.

It's also starting at around £28k, which is pretty much equivalent to what a ICE version would go for.

The Tesla cyvbertruck can fuck off though. Stainless steel bulletproof bodywork?

[Raggs]

Seems to me that te only electric car worth having is if you have a ‘main car’ as well only use the electric for shopping golf course etc. You need charging point at home.

The thing is, the electric car will become the main car for the majority, and the second car the rarer long distance runabout. Yes, you need a charge point at home, but then you don't need to drive for petrol again.

Yes I could imagine having an EV for 95% of my trips and renting an IC one for the longer, almost always holiday ones. But who wants to deal regularly with car hire companies?

I guess my viewpoint is always going to be a bit different to most, as where we live, to do any long distance driving requires paying exorbitant ferry fees first, so it nearly always makes more sense to just get coach, train or taxi depending on the journey.

[Openside]

Seems to me that te only electric car worth having is if you have a ‘main car’ as well only use the electric for shopping golf course etc. You need charging point at home.

Depends on how much you drive and how far.

I drove 1200 miles last year. Longest day trip was about 150 miles. If I had anywhere to charge it, an EV with a 200 mile range would meet all my requirements.

Frankly if you only do 1200 miles a year it would be cheaper to take Taxis than own and run a car!

[Dinsdale Piranha]

Seems to me that te only electric car worth having is if you have a ‘main car’ as well only use the electric for shopping golf course etc. You need charging point at home.

Depends on how much you drive and how far.

I drove 1200 miles last year. Longest day trip was about 150 miles. If I had anywhere to charge it, an EV with a 200 mile range would meet all my requirements.

Frankly if you only do 1200 miles a year it would be cheaper to take Taxis than own and run a car!

I own and run 3 cars :)

It would definitely be cheaper to take taxis / zipcars.

[Ymx]

Did you mean 12,000 miles?

[Dinsdale Piranha]

Did you mean 12,000 miles?

No. I really meant 1200.