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Could you live with an EV? All your questions answered in our expert buying guide
The Independent
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10/7/2024
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News
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Display full video transcript
00:00
If you're thinking about buying a new car at some stage in the future, the idea of buying
00:05
an electric car will no doubt have crossed your mind, but the chances are it's probably
00:08
thrown up more questions than answers.
00:11
So I'm here to help sort the fact from the fiction, to give you expert, independent advice
00:16
and help you decide, could you live with an electric car?
00:21
Let's start with the cars, shall we?
00:28
This one is fully electric.
00:30
It's the Genesis GV70 Electric.
00:32
The clue's kind of in the name, but what are electric cars like to drive?
00:38
Now I'm a petrol head, but I love an EV.
00:41
They're just so easy to drive.
00:43
They're all automatic with just one gear.
00:45
You can also drive on one pedal.
00:47
In an EV, the brakes are used to regenerate energy and send that back to the battery for
00:51
greater efficiency.
00:53
That means when you lift off, the car starts slowing down and sometimes you can adjust
00:56
that using pedals behind the wheel.
00:58
It's actually quite relaxing and can be fun.
01:01
Talking about fun, EVs are really quick with an instant burst of acceleration.
01:10
EVs are so quiet too.
01:14
That's another thing that makes them so relaxing.
01:19
Because there's no engine up front and usually batteries under the floor and just motors
01:22
near the wheels, there's so much more space in here.
01:26
If you're a tech fan, there's usually an app where you can monitor your car's charging
01:30
or heat it or cool it before you get in.
01:33
What about range anxiety?
01:35
You can now buy a whole range of battery electric vehicles with batteries of different sizes
01:40
and different ranges, depending on your own needs.
01:43
Some cars will now do over 400 miles on a single charge.
01:47
This Genesis claims a total range of 283 miles and in my experience, it will get pretty close
01:52
to that.
01:53
But I'll be putting it to the test very soon on a weekend away in Lincolnshire.
01:58
You have to really think about the sort of journeys you do and how often.
02:02
The average person drives less than 25 miles a day, but how often do you take longer journeys
02:07
and how far are they?
02:09
That'll help you decide what sort of EV you could live with and whether an EV is right
02:13
for you right now.
02:14
Perhaps a plug-in hybrid will be a better stepping stone towards full electrification.
02:18
But bear in mind, many people who buy plug-in hybrids quite quickly realise they should
02:23
have just bought a fully electric car.
02:26
What about charge anxiety?
02:27
Now that's the fear of not being able to find a public charger where you really need one
02:31
or you find one and it's not working or there's somebody there already.
02:35
Now things are getting much, much better on that score.
02:38
Every 25 minutes in the UK, a new public charger is made available and they're so much
02:44
easier to use these days.
02:45
You literally just plug them in, wave your credit card over the machine and away you
02:50
go.
02:52
You can find chargers in all sorts of places too, supermarkets, at the gym and even on
02:57
the lamppost outside your house.
02:59
And you don't have to be hanging around too long either these days.
03:01
There are more and more fast chargers and cars that accept fast charging.
03:05
In this Genesis, for example, on a 350 kilowatt charger, you can go from 10% to 80% charge
03:12
in just 18 minutes.
03:16
What about charging at home?
03:17
It's the easiest and most cost-efficient way to charge.
03:20
It's way cheaper.
03:21
And in my experience, if you're charging at home, you'll rarely have to use the public
03:24
charging network anyway.
03:27
My top tip for home charging is make sure you're on a smart energy tariff that's made
03:32
for EVs like Eon Next Drive.
03:35
Those will save you a fortune.
03:36
And if you don't have a charger at home, Eon Next will sort that out for you and they'll
03:40
even give you £50 off.
03:42
So let's deal with some other questions.
03:44
Are those claimed ranges realistic?
03:47
It's pretty much the same as with a petrol or diesel car.
03:50
The official figures can be somewhat optimistic, but they are achievable, as I've seen in this
03:54
car.
03:55
And yes, EVs are more efficient in hot weather than colder months, but it's something you
04:00
soon get used to managing.
04:02
Are EVs reliable?
04:04
Well, the latest reports tend to show that EVs are more reliable than petrol or diesel
04:08
cars.
04:09
There's certainly less to go wrong.
04:11
And with the latest technology, you might even get software over-the-air updates to
04:14
fix any bugs before you even know they've happened.
04:17
And they can make the car more efficient, too.
04:20
When it comes to the battery, batteries tend to be covered by eight-year warranties minimum.
04:25
And they're also more reliable than those you'll get in your mobile phone.
04:28
How do I buy an electric car?
04:30
Simple.
04:31
Exactly the same way as any other car, from your dealer or increasingly online at carmakers'
04:36
websites, with the usual leasing and PCP schemes all available.
04:41
And although prices for EVs can seem high, they're coming down all the time.
04:46
You can buy a new Dacia Spring for under £15,000.
04:49
And the deals on offer right now are pretty sensational.
04:53
You might even be able to save by using your employees' salary sacrifice.
04:58
Are EVs really green?
05:00
Well, reports have shown that over their entire lifespan, electric cars are more environmentally
05:04
friendly than petrol or diesel cars.
05:07
And of course, when it comes to local emissions, nothing comes out of the tailpipe.
05:11
If you've got any questions, please do get in touch.
05:14
But for now, I'm off on a road trip.
05:16
Right, as you can see, we are on our way.
05:21
The car is going to be slightly heavier than when I last did this journey up to Lincolnshire.
05:26
If I just get in.
05:29
It's showing a range so far of 240 miles.
05:33
I fully expect that to get better because that's based on the driving that's been done
05:36
so far.
05:37
So if I'm driving more economically, as I will do, then hopefully that range will go
05:41
up.
05:42
But we're going to do 150 miles, so 240 miles now.
05:44
Let's see what it's like when we get to Lincolnshire.
05:46
I've just stopped up here at Starbucks.
05:48
Tempting though it is, look behind me over here.
05:50
Look, there are four InstaVolt rapid chargers not being used.
05:55
I just don't need to at the moment, I've still got about 130 miles of range left.
06:00
So onwards.
06:02
So we've arrived here in Lincolnshire.
06:04
We're in a place called Mumby where I've got some family living.
06:07
There's a model car museum here.
06:09
And we started with 240 miles range, didn't we?
06:13
And we've done 150 miles precisely.
06:16
And if you have a look down there, just there, it shows that we still have 110 miles range
06:23
left.
06:24
So 240 miles start, 150 miles, 110 miles, that's about 20 miles more range than I thought
06:30
we had.
06:31
So I'm pretty pleased with that.
06:32
That's pretty good.
06:33
So it's all worked out perfectly.
06:34
I've checked the BP pulse out, there's a 50 kilowatt fast charger right here in Skageness
06:43
outside the co-op.
06:44
I've got the Genesis plugged in.
06:45
But where it's worked out perfectly is we're about to go and have dinner in that restaurant
06:50
just over there.
06:51
So really, it couldn't have worked out better.
06:53
And thankfully, I was checking, someone was using it earlier, but they've clearly finished.
06:58
So there we go, it's great.
07:00
So there we go, full charge.
07:02
It's a bit dark now, but it took about an hour and a half, I guess, in total, just to
07:07
get it up there.
07:08
245 miles now showing some full charge, so getting better and better.
07:12
So we're home.
07:13
Time to plug in again.
07:14
What have I learnt?
07:15
Well, charging network, loads of chargers around, but I probably made a bit of a mistake
07:19
going for that fast charger because there was a slightly slower charger, which was cheaper.
07:23
Look at the bill here, 77 pence per kilowatt at that fast charger I used.
07:29
There was a slow charger, I could have just left it overnight or during the day, which
07:34
would have been 57 pence per kilowatt, or I come home, put it on a smart energy system
07:40
and pay as little as 6.9 pence per kilowatt, so over 10 times more to do fast charging.
07:46
Part of that is a VAT issue, maybe I should cut out, but anyway, yeah, I've had a great
07:50
time.
07:51
The car's been great.
07:52
It's been fantastic.
07:53
Efficient, comfortable, quiet, posh, absolutely loved it.
07:58
So let's plug in, ready for the next journey, but I've got home with 20 miles of charge
08:03
to spare, only that one fast charger I was away and a full charge before I went, so yeah,
08:08
it's a weekend away, even to Lincolnshire, where you think there's not going to be many
08:12
chargers up there, easy.
08:18
At the beginning of this video, I asked whether you could live with an EV.
08:23
Well, that's for you to decide, but I hope we've helped.
08:25
It does require a bit of a change of mindset and thinking about how you live with and how
08:28
you use your car, but the benefits are clear.
08:32
It can be fun.
08:33
It can be relaxing, and there are financial benefits, particularly if you're on a smart
08:37
energy tariff at home, but for me, do you know what?
08:40
Yes, I think I could live with an EV, and I think I'd really enjoy it.
Recommended
1:41
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