Capital allowances on electric cars

Cars with CO2 emissions of less than 50g/km are also eligible for 100% first year capital allowances. This means with electric cars, you can deduct the full cost from your pre-tax profits. On a car costing around £40,000 this could amount to a tax relief of £7,600 in the first year.

It’s ok if you are wealthy, you can have your Michelin cake and eat it basically for free…

This annoyed me too. This big element of government support for EV purchase is only available for a business purchase. Doesn’t make sense.

However, applicability on this front is not the same as “wealthy”, although there will be some correlation. And note it’s a timing benefit – the write down over the asset’s life will be adjusted to the actual difference between buying and selling price.

It depends on how you run your household. For us, everything is operational expenditure. We haven’t got the capital to lay out a load of money and bank on getting some of it back in a number of years’ time.

You can finance it different ways, point I intended to make was that we should add up all the costs before making the choice, not just the capex/depreciation/monthly lease cost (delete as appropriate). Right now EV is an expensive option, generally, but not by so big a margin as most think. And the comparisons should bring broadly similar results whether we’re talking a new EV today or a 5 year old one once we’ve had a decent market of them for 5 years, as will be required to compare apples with apples.

It’s ok if you are wealthy, you can have your Michelin cake and eat it basically for free…

Only for business purposes. It doesn’t cover personal vehicles and/or tax allowance.

Personally an EV would be affordable however that doesn’t mean someone earning £18.5K (40h per week at max minimum wage) would think so, that’s before you consider workers who can only manage part time hours for whatever reason or the self employed. That’s nearly £10K under the average wage (£28k).

Erm, if you’re basing it on minimum wage then its not just EVs that would seem expensive to those individuals. 🙈

If we base it on the average UK wage then a second hand EV is a possible avenue now to get their free leccy.

I won’t disagree that a new EV is expensive compared to ICE and like others we’re leasing through a work lease salary sacrifice scheme to make it affordable by taking advantage of tax and NI savings.

It’s new tech, as with anything over time they’ll get cheaper but by folk getting one now despite the high cost, theyre helping to flood the market with more environmentally friendly cars which will help drive prices down to what ICE cars are today (new and 2nd) all while helping little by little improve the local and global environment.

Hiya,

Have we discussed the xbus yet? I quite like them although people say they are ugly.
https://electricbrands.de/en/configurator/
Works out quite cost effective, seems an excellent bike carrier and not too expensive. My thinking is a 4×4 version with camper-van conversion 😉

JeZ

Have we discussed the xbus yet?

Looks good for local work and deliveries etc but would be terrible for a vanlife **** mobile. It’s brick shaped, that’d murder the range on open roads and as you flood towards whatever remote idyll is about to become more rammed than Coney Beach at Porthcawl and about as tidy, you’ll be fretting about having nowhere to recharge.

NB This post is unnecessarily cynical

On the other hand…

Tank turn function

Yes, your XBUS can turn on the spot if necessary. This is made possible by the four individually controlled wheel hub motors. Thus, the term turning circle does not exist for you.

…best spec tough tyres!

Also screw van life, it would be nice if it was more wedge shaped but as its the only MPV going I’d take it.

How big is it though? For the price I’m assuming it’s smaller than it looks and is more of a kei class size?

How big is it though? For the price I’m assuming it’s smaller than it looks and is more of a kei class size?

correct, its bloody tiny and thus useless at most things (including carrying bikes). 4m long, 1.6 wide.

as its the only MPV going I’d take it.

Is it?

https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/7-seater-cars/354700/best-7-seat-electric-cars

That looks like something I use to make from Lego when I was 6.

It looks more like a modern version of an APE. They’ll sell loads to Italian farmers!

I like it.

Is it?

Seems not!

I searched for similar last week only to be met with loads of PHEV’s.

correct, its bloody tiny and thus useless at most things (including carrying bikes). 4m long, 1.6 wide.

Well my Renault Trafic is 4.7 m long, but the engine at the front takes a fair bit of space. So I’m not convinced it would be that tiny. With respect to comments about being ugly the VW T2 is much the same at the front i.e a slab. I guess at it’s top speed wind resistance is not so much an issue. The range of 600km is believable seems good. I’f probably be interested to see how they look inside before saying it’s a bad idea. on the bike storage I keep my bikes attached to the bike rack at the back of the van and don’t use the internal space for storage. You have to make a decision where bikes are stored with a Van?
With respect to would I replace my van with one, no. It’s a Sussex camper-van conversion and I don’t have the money for another. I don’t agree with the replace concept anyway. When my engine gets old and tired and when the tech gets better, Id rather convert to electric anyway.

BR
JeZ

With respect to comments about being ugly the VW T2 is much the same at the front i.e a slab

Yeah ugly too.

Yeah ugly too.

Yeah but sells. Like I said I like my van and intend to switch to electric in the future.
Obviously with a renault camper-van I’m not a fan boy of VW, which is based on past experiences of their products. Anyway I still think it is a great idea and I think it will do really well.

BR
Jerry

They sell as they’re a classic and at the time of release were fairly unique and had a big following.

It’s EV equivalent might not get the same following but you never know.

They sell as they’re a classic and at the time of release were fairly unique and had a big following.

It’s EV equivalent might not get the same following but you never know.

My brother wants one. The rumor is that this VW will sell these lifestyle icons for 60K. Personally I think VW has lost the plot and why the original was so popular, i.e. cheap. For sure it will appeal to the wannabees, anything to look cool, but personally I can’t stand VW products, from bitter experiences. Xbus has got it right on pricing, functionality, and appeal. I’m not their target market anyway.

Jerry

I think with the Xbus the 600km is not the same as most brands range, they are designed to be modular so the top 600km is every extra battery you can plug into the back and a very generous allowance for the solar charging. If I understood it right.

I am really enjoying our E-Expert but it isn’t up the the quality of our Kia.

Hopefully there is a larger range (geddit?) available when our lease ends in a few years. Perhaps a new Trafic as they are part of Nissan. First dedicated skateboard chassis van… Or the same thing from Hyundai/Kia would be great too.

I would have an X Bus in the 4 door plus pickup rear combination, especially if they come in at around £20K. I don’t need a big car but the pickup bit at the back would be very useful.

Twizzy with doors and less power. This is the future… I’d quite like one for £5k all in.

https://www.citroen.co.uk/models/future-models/ami.html

Twizzy with doors and less power. This is the future… I’d quite like one for £5k all in.

I’d quite like one that wasn’t limited to 28mph. To the point I’ve been trying to demo a UK spec 50mph limited twizzy ..

Personally I think VW has lost the plot and why the original was so popular, i.e. cheap

But people are paying it so why wouldn’t you charge it?

Well my Renault Trafic is 4.7 m long, but the engine at the front takes a fair bit of space. So I’m not convinced it would be that tiny.

4.8m long (4.78 to be precise). but anyway, a van has full height doors and reasonable width, this has neither – the doors stop about 3′ off the ground. It looks like it’d be worse for loading bikes into than any medium-sized car

“Personally I think VW has lost the plot and why the original was so popular, i.e. cheap”

But people are paying it so why wouldn’t you charge it?

decades of brand image means the second hand values are also high, which nudges people towards the lease model. The difference in lease cost between brands is often way less than the difference in purchase price.

Which is exactly what they want, as it gives them a market to sell even more on a rolling 3 year cycle

I’d quite like one that wasn’t limited to 28mph.

Yeah, the 28 is obviously there for French age related licensing reasons but a pity it wasn’t upped to at least 40 as it would do me for my driving. Where I live every road is pretty much 40 and if I want to drive at 28mph and hold everyone up I should get a Honda Jazz like everyone else that does that.

The Twizzy has gone up to a silly price for what it is so can’t see why someone would buy one.

Hiya,

5lab:

decades of brand image means the second hand values are also high, which nudges people towards the lease model. The difference in lease cost between brands is often way less than the difference in purchase price.

Which is exactly what they want, as it gives them a market to sell even more on a rolling 3 year cycle

They are trading on past glories from my own experience. I note I’m not the only one that thinks this:

https://www.thecarexpert.co.uk/most-reliable-engines/

With respect to heights of doors and storage as I said storage of bikes in my van was never on the list of storage options. Personally Id wait till I saw one in the felsh to work out its practicality. I note the campervan version has an extendable section to increase the sleeping space. As I said orginally the cost of this I think, will make it very attractive to certain market segments. I can see it for sure in cities and the VW camper is just a lifestyle gimmick for a market segment. I’ve never followed the herd in this respect.

BR
Jerry

I was saying earlier how I thought that manufacturers had really pushed the boat out with design and equipment on their EVs – it comes to something when one of the most beautiful, innovative and boldly designed cars in the mid range is a Hyundai, out-luxurying the most premium manufacturers’ traditional offerings from a decade ago. And we’ve also talked about the possible shortcomings of Tesla in terms of build quality. So I was left wondering what it would be like when a proper luxury manufacturer has a go. Given how fancy the Ioniq 5 is, the stakes are high.

Well, no need to wonder any more – the Mercedes EQS is reviewed, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a reviewer quite this blown away. This car is incredible on so many levels. He says that even mid range EVs, by virtue of having silent engines, are more refined than high end ICE cars – so a really high end EV should be virtually silent. And it is, apparently. This is definitely my lottery win car. Also has a nearly 500 mile range!

This is definitely my lottery win car.

But will it tow a caravan?

With the lack of EVs able to tow caravans then we should be pushing for more EV use so that caravans die out and don’t hold everyone up.😄

Both the Ioniq and the Ev6 can tow 1500kg. I have no idea if that’s enough for a caravan as I’m not one of those people. 😉

Both the Ioniq and the Ev6 can tow 1500kg. I have no idea if that’s enough for a caravan as I’m not one of those people. 😉

I think the issues how far you can tow with them, could also be a giggle getting the ‘rig’ in the charging bay.

TBH after having a caravan and towing don’t really get the fascination. Perhaps not enough caravan club swingers on the sites I visited.

I’m not fascinated by caravans, it’s just a cold way to me more comfortable whilst camping. We don’t go to big sites, it’s just 5 caravans in a field in the middle of nowhere.

The lack of range when towing isn’t necessarily a huge issue if you plan carefully enough, but the fact that you’d have to unhitch your van somewhere then go and recharge could be the biggest problem. Not too bad in a motorway service station but elsewhere could be harder.

This car is incredible on so many levels.

It’s not really. I had a go in one back in July and it’s typical Mercedes – flashy, complicated, and not brilliantly put together. And it has the same weird smell inside that every Merc has.

The huge amount of screen real estate: good. The fact that you can see the gaps between the individual sections and the whole lot is reflective as hell: not so good. Nothing is intuitive on the system and the whole lot runs at about 15 frames per second, so it doesn’t look smooth when you swipe. They flicker slightly all the time too, which is worse at night.

Steering wheel is too big. HUD is good though and loads bigger than the one that was fitted to my V90.

I liked the massage seats. Didn’t like the soft pillows on the head rests – it just made it think of how much sweat from other drivers they’d absorbed before I rested my own head on it.

If it’s as silent as the reviewer says that would be a win for me as quietness is near the top of my list of priorities I think.

I’m not fascinated by caravans, it’s just a cold way to me more comfortable whilst camping. We don’t go to big sites, it’s just 5 caravans in a field in the middle of nowhere.

The lack of range when towing isn’t necessarily a huge issue if you plan carefully enough, but the fact that you’d have to unhitch your van somewhere then go and recharge could be the biggest problem. Not too bad in a motorway service station but elsewhere could be harder.

Dude I was joking you know 😉 If I could afford an EQS I’d be rocking up to a 5* hotel every night.

I admire what Mercedes have done with the EQS, it’s really setting the standard for high end EV. It’ll be interesting to see what BMW come up with. Audi/Porsche have obviously got the GT/Taycan.

But it’s quite possibly the ugliest car Mercedes have ever made, and Mercedes have made a lot of ugly cars recently. No elegance at all.

.

On the outside yes. Interior is good tho.

I don’t know, I quite like the EQS or EQE.

Now the BMW iX is a thing of beauty. 😂😂😂