Benefits of Electric Cars and Choosing the Right One
Electric Car Benefits
Electric Cars are superb to drive with instant acceleration and a low centre of gravity which means electric cars are great fun to drive and very easy to handle. Electric cars are significantly cheaper to run than a petrol or diesel and cheaper to tax and use in cities. With less moving parts they are therefore cheaper to service. Electric cars are also considered to be an extremely environmentally friendly mode of transport.
- Virtually Silent
- Instant Acceleration
- Easy to Operate
- Cheaper to Power
- Cheaper Tax
- Cheaper to Service
- Environmentally Friendly
- NCAP safety ratings are all 4 or 5 star
Cheaper To Run & Maintain.
| Per Year | Electric Car (e.g. Nissan Leaf) |
City Car Petrol (e.g. Vauxhall Corsa) |
Family Car Diesel (e.g. Ford C-Max) |
Sports Hatchback (e.g. Mini Cooper S) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fuel costs per 10k miles | £690 | £1,620 | £1,850 | £2,040 |
| Servicing costs | £200 | £220 | £300 | £342 |
| Road Tax | £0 | £165 | £220 | £165 |
| Congestion charge (12 London trips) |
£0 | £180 | £180 | £180 |
| Total cost per year | £890 | £2,185 | £2,550 | £2,727 |
| Price per mile | £0.08 | £0.21 | £0.25 | £0.27 |
Choosing the Right Electric Car for you
You will need to look at two things when considering the right electric car for you range and budget. You could consider the Hyundai IONIQ 6 Long Range which can take 295 miles before needing a top-up and has everything you would expect from a luxury car including a price tag of £47500 new. You may consider one of the first electric vehicles to come onto the market the Nissan Leaf 24Kwh which starts (pre-owned) at around £7000 and will cover up to 109miles between charges. The Nissan leaf is also now available with a bigger 59kWh battery, which now can offer you 210miles.
| EV (Electric Vehicle) |
PHEV (Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle) |
HEV (Hybrid Electric Vehicle) |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Fuel | Electricity | Electricity and Petrol | Petrol |
| How they work | Powered by an electric motor. The battery is charged when plugged into the electric grid. | Powered by an electric motor and a petrol engine. The battery is charged when plugged into the electric grid and gives around 20 miles of electric driving. The car switches to its petrol engine when battery charge is low or power demands are high. | Powered by a petrol engine with the capability to switch to an electric motor when power demands are low. The battery is charged by the petrol engine. |
| Regenerative braking | Functionality built into EVs, PHEVs and Hybrids enabling the car’s battery to be topped up with charge during braking. As the accelerator pedal is released a braking effect is achieved by the motor switching to charging the battery rather than powering the car. This extends the battery range between charges and reduces wear and tear on brakes. |
||
| Emissions and air quality | Zero (local) emissions. | Zero (initial) emissions. Overall a lower emission car than a conventional petrol powered vehicle. |
Emissions are only lower than a conventional petrol vehicle when in city and traffic conditions. |
| Popular models | BMW i3 Nissan Leaf Kia Soul EV Renault Zoe Tesla |
Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV VW Golf GTE Mercedes C350e BMW X5 40e Volvo XC90 Twin Power Audi A3 e-tron |
Toyota Prius Hyundai Ioniq Lexus range Infinity range |
| Running costs | Higher initial price offset with very low fuel, servicing and tax costs. |
Higher initial price due to twin technologies, no savings on servicing costs, lower taxation. |
Lower initial price but limited savings on fuel, servicing and taxation costs. |