Nice to see all the EV interest and user experience. Hopefully it all adds up to less misconception about EV's.
Is the purchase price comparable though?
What about maintenance etc?
I have no idea, hence my questions.
To try and encourage some people to go electric is fine but it's going to be a hard sell if it's more difficult for them to use it as a daily driver and also costs more over a 3 to 5 year period of ownership.
Price is on the expensive side, as with all new technology. But the Tesla Model 3 is to be around £35k, not too expensive than a similarly high tech spec'd 3 series.
Very little maintenance is needed for a EV. The AC electric motor has 1 moving part, the gearbox is very simple, no clutch. Brake pads also wear a lot less because most of the time you'll slow down by putting energy back into the battery. Servicing only involves changing pollen filter and battery conditioning fluid every other year.
Only thing people might find difficult is charging at home. It's currently not feasible for those parking on the street. For those with driveways, people need to remember plugging it in every night. But flip-side is that for most people, getting more energy into the car should be seamless on a daily basis. You'll never have to detour to petrol stations anymore.
Currently, due to high entry cost but very low running cost, the longer you own an EV, the better its value. I have calculated I can afford either a leased hybrid (Ioniq) for £220 pm, or a leased EV (i3 REx) for £350 pm. This is because fuel cost comes down by 50%, and servicing cost is less. Unfortunately i3 has rare large but skinny tyres, which are expensive to replace. Tesla Model 3 is currently my top choice for the tech inside, especially the updating firmware (similar to how you get a new interface and features when you update your phone's firmware)
O nice I thought it would use up a lot of electricity.
Hum, sorry, I was wrong. 100 kWh battery at 12p per kWh electricity should cost £12 to fill up. Even better
Reason it doesn't use lots of electricity is that, as a drivetrain, it is a LOT more efficient than internal combustion engine. There is very little energy wasted as heat. The downside is that during winter, you'll have to use a (usually 3-5kw) heater which eats into your total range. I'd personally estimate EV range by taking their quoted range, take away 20% because you want to avoid operate on battery upper and lower limits, then take away another 20% for extreme driving conditions. That gives you realistically how far you can reliably go. Then take away another 10% is how far you can reliably drive between quick charges, because batteries can only quickly charged up to 80%, above this percentage it slows down and not worth waiting. So for me, 200+ miles range EV is tipping point, it comfortably allows ~2 hours of motorway driving between quick charges, allowing long distance travel.
