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I calculated my payback to include money saved on diesel at year 5-6
@djglover. Nice one, your man-maths is more creative than mine. If I add possible diesel savings then that's going to knock at least 2-3 years off my payback however I should probably be knocking the savings in diesel off the running cost of the EV as I would be running that whether I had a solar array or not.
interesting report from volvo on the lifetime emissions (over 200,000km) of an ICE car vs electric (both brand new)
tl:dr - on average world supply the electric car is ~17% better, on EU's supply its ~30% better and on renewables alone it generates just under half the emissions.
it doesn't mention the mix in china, but my assumption is that given how coal-heavy they are, it might actually be worse to have an electric car there (for total emissions) - despite them being the world leaders in electric cars.
Interesting vid covering some new incoming tech. It could be possible in a few years to entirely do away with the un-eco friendly metals required.
Wireless street charging being tested 🙂
I think Ionity are going to have to have a rethink as all the eTron, Taycan and Merc EQC drivers will switch to Tesla.
Will they, though? Ionity price for Tesla drivers is nudging 70p/kWh and I can't see why Tesla would want to charge less, especially if it results in two or three chargers out of use.
Right now Gridserve at Rugby is the best value for money at 30p/kWh, undercutting the Supercharger network and less than half of what Ionity charge.
I can’t see why Tesla would want to charge less
Demonstrate to prospective Tesla owners that they have the network and the cars. Great advertising, especially if it's cheaper than Ionity.
Are there any free charging networks in England, like ChargePlace Scotland?
I have to use the home charger maybe once a month - free charging rest of the time.
my house is almost free 🙂
pod-point fitted last weeknd and will off peak charging its costing around £3-4 quid for a full charge. thats 300-250 miles, granted we cant do that in one hit, it takes a couple of nights be it hardly ever going need to charge from empty. the yeti would cost me at least 50quid for that
Are there any free charging networks in England, like ChargePlace Scotland?
Very few. Northumberland Council use to have them but not anymore.
Are there any free charging networks in England, like ChargePlace Scotland?
All the Engie 50kw chargers in West Yorkshire (approx 80) were free for 2+ years (depending on when they were installed) up until 29 October 2021. I had 5 on my 15 mile commute, so never used my home charger.
Just to bring folk up to date.
Chargeplace Scotland is no longer fully free. Many sites are now charging, as the Northumberland example I think most sites were free for 2 years.
Still only 15p per kWh with 35p connection charge for all charger speeds so good value compared to dinosaur juice.
Have we done the upcoming Nio ET7 with a 150 kWh battery and a range of 621 miles for £50k yet?
@littledave true, but my local ones are still free - even the 45 and 50 kw ones.
Finally went ahead last week and ordered my Hyundai Ioniq 5. delivered next March.
Ive been in Barcelona this week with work. Walking around the city, theres were lots of street chargers. They all had bays marked as EV only. Every single one had a petrol car parked in the space.
I think Ionity are going to have to have a rethink as all the eTron, Taycan and Merc EQC drivers will switch to Tesla.
Will they, though? Ionity price for Tesla drivers is nudging 70p/kWh and I can’t see why Tesla would want to charge less, especially if it results in two or three chargers out of use.
Tesla are indeed charging less at their trial in the Netherlands. Euro 0.57 per kWh without a subscription vs Euro 0.78 for Ionity. With a Euro 13 monthly subscripion Tesla price drops to Euro 0.24 per kWh vs Euro 0.35 per kWh with a Euro 18 per month subscription for Ionity. Also the Ionity subscription locks you in for a year but the Tesla subscription is monthly so if you were planning a summer road trip in Europe you could take a Tesla subscription for just the month you needed it.
Given the above I don't see why Audi, VW, Mercedes and Porsche drivers wouldn't move from Ionity to Tesla once whatever Ionity membership they got with the car expires
Sorry if this has been done already, there's 45 pages to wade through!
We're considering an EV as a run-around. It'll be used for local trips where we don't need to fit the whole family (of 5) and the Mini seems quite appealing.
My big question: can it take a long bike in the back with the seats folded down and the wheels off? I'm hoping to convince the dealer to let me bring a test drive back to my house and try it out but it would be good to hear if anyone has experience.
If anyone's looking for used EVs, Nissan popped up on my FB feed. There are 246 used Leafs on their site, plenty of the new shape too for as low as £20k. Ok so not cheap but a significant discount from new and they aren't very old.
@appltn - Yes, with the wheels off and the seats down, a Mini will take a large 29er without any problem.
I’d personally buy roof bars, but understand that sometimes (like leaving at work all day) that you want it inside.
If anyone’s looking for used EVs, Nissan popped up on my FB feed. There are 246 used Leafs on their site, plenty of the new shape too for as low as £20k. Ok so not cheap but a significant discount from new and they aren’t very old.
About 4 weeks ago I got some quotes on a 62KWh N-Connecta from Carwow. The best quote was just sub 28K.
There seem to be 3 62KWh N-Connectas in that list - all 3 are more expensive than the best quote I got!
@appltn – Yes, with the wheels off and the seats down, a Mini will take a large 29er without any problem.
I’d personally buy roof bars, but understand that sometimes (like leaving at work all day) that you want it inside.
Excellent, thank you for the confirmation @Daffy. I have a 24 hour test drive on Monday so I'll double check though it sounds like there's no need.
I know you can't spec a tow bar on the electric mini but I wonder if some third party would be able to mount one just for a bike carrier? (I'm not keen on the roof bars because I think they look bad which I admit it the worst reason ever).
There seem to be 3 62KWh N-Connectas in that list – all 3 are more expensive than the best quote I got!
Not saying it's cheap, just that there are lots of used recent model cars coming on the market.
There seem to be 3 62KWh N-Connectas in that list – all 3 are more expensive than the best quote I got!
Having said near enough this exact same thing I had it pointed out that just because they are quoting you a price doesn't mean you will ever see a car at the end of it (assuming you are talking about buying new).
I paid just over £28k for a new e+ (62kWh) Tekna in metallic grey. Delivery end of Feb hopefully.
The secondhand market is bonkers in comparison, but there's a premium at the moment on a physical car you can get immediately.
appltn have you seen the range of the Mini? I would have loved one for a company car but the range was just impracticable for me. Some good youtube reviews of it, Some of the reviews I read/watched said great car but let down on the range.
appltn have you seen the range of the Mini? I would have loved one for a company car but the range was just impracticable for me. Some good youtube reviews of it, Some of the reviews I read/watched said great car but let down on the range.
Yes, I'd say that is the main thing in the negatives column at this point. It would be a second car along side a larger diesel family car which we'd use for local journeys unless all 5 of us are going.
I think that the chances of one of these journeys being 50+ miles each way with no way to charge at the other end is low but it definitely makes you consider that perhaps something with more range would be better.
Hi All, I have a question regarding EV company cars. If you have one, did your employer pay for the installation of a charging point at your house?
@mos I've just installed one (my own company) at my house for a company car that may eventually turn up (leased). I guess it depends on your employer as to whether they will do it, or whether they have chargers at their premises for you to use. According to this page on HMRC, there's no taxable benefit (BIK) if they pay to install one at your home, provided it is for a company car: https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/employment-income-manual/eim23900
Someone at my work has a Jaguar F-Pace, which is only owned due to some convoluted family circumstances. Anyway, they went to look at a new MG5, and were told that they could trade in the Jag, drive away in the new MG5 and have some cash in the pocket, such is the crazinss of the second hand car market at present!
Oh, and the latest MG5's are apparently approved for a 75kg roof load now (on the previously cosmetic roofbars). I guess they were awaiting EU type approval, and probably launched in the UK as a test market. scroll to the bottom of this page: https://www.mg.co.uk/new-cars/mg5-ev
Hi All, I have a question regarding EV company cars. If you have one, did your employer pay for the installation of a charging point at your house?
I paid for mine. Podpoint did all of the OLEZ grant work for me. I just had to fill the forms in.
Thinking of buying a VW e-Up! as our 'local trips' car. We have a petrol Focus estate for trips away, and currently have a 2003 Smart for short trips, but its life is limited. If one of us was using the Focus, the e-Up! might need to carry a bike or kayak; that rules out the Zoe as the roof has a zero load rating. I appreciate a kayak would reduce the range, but it won't be going far.
Does anyone have an e-Up! (or the Seat/Skoda equivalent) or opinions on it?
I’ve just joined the e club, well sort of with an A3 tfsie. Can tootle to school on EV and do the longer trips as well. Said goodbye to my faithful and lovely RS4 for more than I paid for it !
If you have one, did your employer pay for the installation of a charging point at your house?
Mine does. Just about to press go on a Skoda Enyaq. Works out cheaper than my Kodiaq which is just coming to the end of its 4 years PCP, that’s before you take into account elec vs diesel. Was amazed at that really, always had it in mind that elec motoring was going to cost me more.
Cheers @stingmered, one of my employees is putting a case forward for swapping his diesel Tiguan for an EV and obviously he'll be needing a method of charging it.
I’ve just installed one (my own company) at my house for a company car that may eventually turn up (leased). I guess it depends on your employer as to whether they will do it, or whether they have chargers at their premises for you to use. According to this page on HMRC, there’s no taxable benefit (BIK) if they pay to install one at your home, provided it is for a company car
Who pays for the leccy when this happens ? If you charge it up every day then it’s going to push your bill up somewhat. Do these charge points keep a tally of what they have consumed ?
Unless you are doing mega sales/rep mileage, most company's seem to exclude fuel as a 'perk' (albeit a BiK) so shouldn't make any difference - you'd simply claim for the elec used for work trips in the normal manner - HMRC rate is currently 4p/mile. Still quids in: by an online calculator I was looking at it's less than a tenth of the price of an equivalent diesel (per mile.) Also if you're on a decent tariff for EVs it's about 1.2p/mile and wear and tear covered by the fact it's a company car. I also intend to charge it at work for free when I can (admittedly, only once every two weeks at the moment!)
Mos - it might be worth installing a few commando connections at work (much cheaper than individual charge points) if that's possible, and allowing employees to charge at work.
The 4500 miles I did last year added a whole £67 to my electricity bill for the year.
Any company mileage gets claimed at the 4 pence per mileage HMRC approved mileage rate for company cars.
Basically, the amounts are so small compared to the nearly £1000 an equivalent amount of petrol would have cost, I don’t care.
Depending on your commute you might get enough by using the standard 13A plug charger you get with the car. I think my car could add something like 12-15 miles per hour with a 13A charger so 80-100 miles ish in a work day.
So if you have (or could arrange) standard plugs at work that could be feasible.
Who pays for the leccy when this happens
Depends whether the company would normally pay for the company car fuel or not. If the employee normally pays for their personal fuel use, paying to charge from home would be no different to paying at the forecourt.
Do these charge points keep a tally of what they have consumed ?
Some of the newer smart chargers might. I had a small submeter fitted with mine when it was installed (pre smart chargers) just so I could keep a tally of house and car use. It cost £35 plus fitting.
Plug-in car grant cut to £1500 on cars under £32k list price, as of today. Some cuts to light commercial too, and bigger fleets can only claim up to 1000 grants a year.
Sad trombone if you were about to order a car that just scraped in for the old grant. Expect some rejigging of prices (for cars that normally get discounts) to get them in under this new one.
Plug-in car grant cut to £1500
That was close - ordered mine last week, paid for it yesterday, collecting it on Friday. Should get the old rate then.
We picked up our eNiro at the weekend. At showroom temps, indicated 450km on the range. Overnight in just negative and we had 350. Driving is smooth, cruise control is nice, but the adaptive part is a little aggressive on braking.
The charging point (11kw, 3fas) order went off today and we should have access to the charging points at work in the next couple of days, which will be nice.
At showroom temps, indicated 450km on the range. Overnight in just negative and we had 350
What's that in miles/kWh?
Driving is smooth, cruise control is nice, but the adaptive part is a little aggressive on braking.
If your Kia is like our Hyundai you can vary the distance it attempts to keep with the button on the dash, but also you can vary how agressive it is in one of the menus.
There are many, many menus. I need to go through a lot of it and work out what needs to be configured or tweaked. It has an app, the app works for some stuff, but the stereo is annoying as hell and the Nav is a bit cluttered.
The App says: 93km driven with an average consumption of 6.5km/kWh