A UK government survey conducted in December 2018 on public ‘perceived advantages of electric vehicles’ showed 81% could names some advantages, 8% didn’t think there where any advantages and 11% said they didn’t know. The fact that 81% could name some advantages of electric vehicles shows an open mindedness to Electric Vehicles (EVs) in a significant swathe of the public. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/803347/transport-and-transport-technology-public-attitudes-tracker-wave-3-report.pdf
Of the perceived disadvantages in the survey, some key themes emerge:
a) where/how to recharge b) battery life/distance travelled c) scarcity of charging points d) cost
As beginners guide below are some opinions/thoughts about the above.
a) Where/how to recharge – Like with a number of EV features, this aspect is straightforward for some but not for others. If you live in a house with off street parking and the EV you’re interested in has sufficient range to do a return trip on your regular/key journeys, then this is a more straight forward affair. This is because it means you can install a home wall charge or use a 3pin socket to charge your vehicle overnight. However if you are on the other extreme, i.e. you only have on street parking and your vehicle of choice requires multiple charges to complete a return journey, you will need to do more homework first to determine the practicality of an EV given your circumstances – so don’t just jump into it without giving it some thought and planning first! (It is at this point that I also say don’t write the idea off immediately – although it may ‘take more work’ compared to the first scenario it is still possible to conveniently own an EV and save money compared to a diesel/petrol car as a person who lives in a flat)
b) Battery life/distance travelled – Firstly battery life has been the subject of much debate over the last 8-10yrs. When EVs went mainstream figure of 5yrs battery life was widely ‘banded about’ without any definitive basis. This tells us that we must beware information that has no supporting evidence…(so where is your supporting evidence I hear you ask?!). The following are users of electric vehicle who have done good job of documenting their experiences, I think it worth listening to their feedback and recommend following and keeping track of their updates.
Taxi company in Cornwall with multiple Nissan Leafs with over 100,000 miles. https://www.zap-map.com/leaf-taxi-fleet-covers-150000-miles/
c) Scarcity of Charging Points – This another attribute of EVs that is variable depending on your own circumstances. Number of charging points is very good in some areas but also very poor in others, the main thing to note is that this is not a problem for everyone, you need to work out which camp you’re in (so more homework!). If you are someone who can charge at home overnight and this covers all your journeys then now worries! However if you use on street parking and frequently need to charge whilst on the go then you need to first check out what the infrastructure is like in your area (try to avoid making the automatic assumption that this won’t work for your, as many frequently do. If you look into it and it is a ‘no go’ then that is fine because we know the infrastructure still has a long way to go… but you might be surprised as others have.) First step then, is to go to the Zap-Map website (https://www.zap-map.com/live/) to explore chargers in your area and work out whether you can make your journeys work. One of the more frustrating thing for most EV users about chargers is the need to sign-up to each charging network system to be able to use it instead of a straightforward pay credit card facility but more on that in another post.
d) Cost – The costs of acquiring an EV are relatively high when the outright purchase price is compared against the Petrol/Diesel counterpart (this goes for both new & used). Some will argue that the lower running costs make up for this difference in cost to purchase. Again this is where personal circumstance will dictate whether this is truly affordable or not. Unfortunate for a significant proportion of the public (who can only afford to buy used, and perhaps with a stretch budget of between £3,000 to £7,000), there aren’t enough EV in the market for the price to drop into that affordable range. Budget is always a good starting point, see what options are available to you based on what you can afford then work out the practicability of those options based on the criteria in themes a, b & c above.
3nergyTech 