[Travel] Does anyone on here own a Electric or Hybrid car?

[robbobhafc]

Thanks! 1*3kw charging point in Sussex Uni. Otherwise central Brighton. I suspect a 3kw outlet would take quite a while to charge a car battery...?

About 6 hours depending on battery size, I had the bmw i3 with range externder for a while it was great looking at getting one when my company car is up for renewal due to tax saving

 

[Half Time Pies]

The main issue we seem to have at the moment is with the car manufacturers producing enough of the new vehicles to satisfy demand, I am looking for a 2nd car and want to buy electric, on my shopping list is the e-golf and the new Nissan leaf, both now have huge lead up times, over 6 months.

There seems to be a problem across the board with electric car production at the moment with the Tesla model 3 having the biggest issues, and the technology is moving so quickly that by the time people receive delivery there will be newer better cars available. Nissan are meant to be introducing a higher range 60kw leaf at some point within the next year and a 64kw Hyundai Kona is also due soon so its difficult to know whether to take the plunge now, put an order in and wait or hang on for a bit to see what else becomes available and hope that the production issues are also resolved.

 

[Papa Lazarou]

The main issue we seem to have at the moment is with the car manufacturers producing enough of the new vehicles to satisfy demand, I am looking for a 2nd car and want to buy electric, on my shopping list is the e-golf and the new Nissan leaf, both now have huge lead up times, over 6 months.

There seems to be a problem across the board with electric car production at the moment with the Tesla model 3 having the biggest issues, and the technology is moving so quickly that by the time people receive delivery there will be newer better cars available. Nissan are meant to be introducing a higher range 60kw leaf at some point within the next year and a 64kw Hyundai Kona is also due soon so its difficult to know whether to take the plunge now, put an order in and wait or hang on for a bit to see what else becomes available and hope that the production issues are also resolved.

I'm in the same position.

I feel I need to wait 2 or 3 years before I fully commit, but I DO need a new car now. I've been looking at lease deals, which could get me a new Prius Plug-In with funky solar roof etc for about £300 per month on a 3 year arrangement.

Alternatively, many companies offer £2000-£4000 scrappage on my car against a new car, so I could get a new Prius for about £27k (checked for offers via Car WoW last night) with all the discounts etc.

Or, hope to pick up a good quality 2nd hand car, but there was very few Plug-In models out there, let alone up for sale.

The last option would be to buy a cheap 2nd hand economical petrol car to cover the next 2 or 3 years and THEN dive in.

The scrappage offer is tempting, but that doesn't even come close to covering the depreciation in value on a new car as soon as you take it home....

'Tis a quandary.

 

[Goldstone1976]

I'm in the same position.

I feel I need to wait 2 or 3 years before I fully commit, but I DO need a new car now. I've been looking at lease deals, which could get me a new Prius Plug-In with funky solar roof etc for about £300 per month on a 3 year arrangement.

Alternatively, many companies offer £2000-£4000 scrappage on my car against a new car, so I could get a new Prius for about £27k (checked for offers via Car WoW last night) with all the discounts etc.

Or, hope to pick up a good quality 2nd hand car, but there was very few Plug-In models out there, let alone up for sale.

The last option would be to buy a cheap 2nd hand economical petrol car to cover the next 2 or 3 years and THEN dive in.

The scrappage offer is tempting, but that doesn't even come close to covering the depreciation in value on a new car as soon as you take it home....

'Tis a quandary.

Out of interest - why the plug-in version instead of the, umm, other (note the use of the technical jargon there) version?

 

[Papa Lazarou]

Out of interest - why the plug-in version instead of the, umm, other (note the use of the technical jargon there) version?

My reasoning is:

The Pure Hybrid (like the original Prius) offers the equivalent of 2 miles of electric charge (max) which is used the 'fill in' where appropriate alongside the combustion engine. This is charged by regenerative braking etc, much like the KERs system in F1.

The Plug-In has a larger battery, which can offer up to 30km per charge (in reality more like 20km) without any need to use any petrol / diesel. It too uses KERs style recharging.

For the types of journey we would use the car for (my commute to the station, trips into Worthing and round the local area) most would be without 20km, so I personally think the Plug-in range is better suited.

We would need to take the car further at time (e.g. to North Devon from time to time), so the pure electric car (with a max range of 200km if you're lucky) isn't quite good enough.

Therefore, it's a plug-in for me.

 

[Goldstone1976]

My reasoning is:

The Pure Hybrid (like the original Prius) offers the equivalent of 2 miles of electric charge (max) which is used the 'fill in' where appropriate alongside the combustion engine. This is charged by regenerative braking etc, much like the KERs system in F1.

The Plug-In has a larger battery, which can offer up to 30km per charge (in reality more like 20km) without any need to use any petrol / diesel. It too uses KERs style recharging.

For the types of journey we would use the car for (my commute to the station, trips into Worthing and round the local area) most would be without 20km, so I personally think the Plug-in range is better suited.

We would need to take the car further at time (e.g. to North Devon from time to time), so the pure electric car (with a max range of 200km if you're lucky) isn't quite good enough.

Therefore, it's a plug-in for me.

Cheers!

I’ll start doing some research soon...

 

[Papa Lazarou]

Cheers!

I’ll start doing some research soon...

Both the full electric and Plug-in Hybrid vehicles require a charging point to be installed at home though, and good charging discipline to ensure it's always 'ready'

 

[Goldstone1976]

Both the full electric and Plug-in Hybrid vehicles require a charging point to be installed at home though, and good charging discipline to ensure it's always 'ready'

Ah - so the KERS-type system isn’t enough to fully charge the plug-in, even on long, petrol-fuelled, runs?

 

[Papa Lazarou]

Ah - so the KERS-type system isn’t enough to fully charge the plug-in, even on long, petrol-fuelled, runs?

Nope, the KERS charges slowly, so you'd need to be driving down a very long hill to recharge the larger Plug-in or Full electric batteries.

I think some of the models have a 'mode' that uses the petrol motor to charge the electric battery, but why would you want to do that when you can get a full charge at home for 80p?

Interestingly, the latest Prius comes with solar panels built into the roof, and they claim that this can add a max distance of 3 miles per day. which is nice, but not game changing, particularly in this country.

 

[Mannakin]

I wouldn't/didn't (not yet at least).

The technology is changing so fast right now and the infrastructure for charging away from home is still not there yet.

We went for a VW UP! for around town which costs £110 per month on finance deal and is great around town and shorter local journeys.

I also have an S-Max for longer/family journeys

 

[Half Time Pies]

I'm in the same position.

I feel I need to wait 2 or 3 years before I fully commit, but I DO need a new car now. I've been looking at lease deals, which could get me a new Prius Plug-In with funky solar roof etc for about £300 per month on a 3 year arrangement.

Alternatively, many companies offer £2000-£4000 scrappage on my car against a new car, so I could get a new Prius for about £27k (checked for offers via Car WoW last night) with all the discounts etc.

Or, hope to pick up a good quality 2nd hand car, but there was very few Plug-In models out there, let alone up for sale.

The last option would be to buy a cheap 2nd hand economical petrol car to cover the next 2 or 3 years and THEN dive in.

The scrappage offer is tempting, but that doesn't even come close to covering the depreciation in value on a new car as soon as you take it home....

'Tis a quandary.

Its an interesting time because there are some really big advantages in owning a fully electric car at the moment while they are not massively popular.

1) 100% capital allowance as I brought the car through my company which saved me about £6000 in corporation tax in the first year.
2) No benefit in kind through charging my car at work as electricity is not classed as fuel.
3) Having 3 places in Brighton where I can park for free for 3 hours and charge for £1.50.
4) No Road Tax
5) Low company car benefit in kind

I suspect that a lot of these types of benefits will be taken away once electric cars become popular so in many ways I am hoping that the technology doesn't advance too quickly so as I can continue to reap the benefits!

 

[Audax]

through work - VAT relief is very advantageous on these

Indeed it is. I picked up a Prius Hybrid (slightly before the new Plug-In version launched) on a work lease about 18 months ago. 4 year lease, which I figure should be just long enough for Tesla to sort out the production issues with the Model 3 and I can switch to full electric when that happens. Our new office has dedicated charging points, so even with the distances I do the range on a Model 3 should be enough (the Prius is coming up on 36k miles already).
[MENTION=236]Papa Lazarou[/MENTION] - my usage is very different from what you're looking at. I'm doing Uckfield to Uxbridge 4 days a week, up the A22 and around the M25. If I drive like a granny I can get 81-82mpg out of a tank (which actually means I'm usually 70-75mpg), filling up once per week, and that includes the grocery run into Lewes which always takes the mpg down. Short trips the mpg is worse, longer trips it improves as you go. It's really noticeable the effects that hills etc have. In its favour: it's a very comfortable car to drive, and the CVT automatic is really, really smooth. I usually run it in Eco mode, because the roads I'm driving on are boring, but when there's some corners or overtaking to be done on a country road the Power mode really gets it moving (for a heavy car).

Mine's a Business Edition, so plenty of fun gizmos to help me drive. It's got 3 different types of cruise control - on the motorway, the radar assisted version is brilliant - especially on mine as it will automatically slow down to a full stop when the motorway is jammed. Only negative is that it occasionally errs on the side of excessive caution or switches itself off because it got confused about the vehicle in front - both of which happen with plenty of warning and easily resolved by resetting the cruise control.

The cheapest (nearly new) Tesla hatchback on Autotrader in the UK is a Tesla Model X E 90D at £80k

The new Nissan Leaf (New) is about £30k.

The Model X isn't a hatchback. It's an SUV equivalent, basically the Model S with a bigger body; hence the massive price difference to the much smaller Leaf.

A new Focus ecoboost is under £19k and does 60mpg. Eleven grand buys a lot of petrol....

Not according to their owners :-

https://www.honestjohn.co.uk/realmpg/ford/focus-2014/10t-ecoboost-100

The wife's car is an ecoboost Focus. With her typical usage (in and around Uckfield / Lewes area) the long term average mpg is mid 40's. She does have a habit of not using 5th gear as much as she should, though.

 

[Nixonator]

My old car has just failed its MOT quite significantly, and it'll cost over £1k to get it back on the road. It's 17 years old, so it's probably time to bid it a fond farewell, and move onto the next one.

We already have a Ford SMax for long journeys / holidays (there are 4 of us and a dog) but I need something for commuting to work (short drive to and from the station) plus local trips and short days out. It needs to seat 4 people, plus at a push the dog in the boot.

I was pondering whether now was the time to dive into the Hybrid / Plug In / Electric market... there is an increasing number of options across the ranges involved, from the all electric e-Golf and Leaf to the more numerous Hybrid configurations.

So, I was hoping to get some insight from the gestalt entity that is NSC on the collective experience of owning any of these... is it still a little early (should I wait until the NEXT car) or should I go for it.

Over to you, NSC.

Tesla, never looked back. It's the future.