Buying a 2nd hand car instead of an EV

[Avocet]

UK electric car chargers outnumber petrol pumps by almost two-to-one | Auto Express

DfT data shows there are more than 116,000 public EV chargers, on top of the thousands of home wallboxes nationwide

www.autoexpress.co.uk

That maybe so but what’s the average time it takes to put enough fuel in a ICE car to enable 500 miles of travel compared to charging a battery in an EV to do the same mileage?

Loads more than an ICE car. BUT, you're forgetting that ICE cars can only get their fuel from petrol pumps, whereas most EVs don't get most of their electricity from public chargers.

Also, is the range on an ICE vehicle severely affected by use of lights, heater, a/c etc?

Not much. Earlier ones and those near the lower end of the market that don't have heat pumps, sometimes suffer a bit. Larger, more modern ones, it certainly makes a difference but not much. I make absolutely no sacrifices in mine - heater, heated seats, heated steering wheel - whatever I need whenever I need it. Climate control typically set to between 20 and 22, depending on what I want. I've never tried running without these things on in winter. It has enough range for what I want, even if they're on.

 

[Mottie]

Is yours privately purchased, owned and run or is it used partly/wholly for business?

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

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Because it can take so long, to put a full charge back in it, mid-trip, that the driver finds it worthwhile, to take along a bed, to have a kip whilst the charge operation proceeds.

 

[robinbanks]

<snipped explanation of a joke we all got>

 

[Avocet]

Is yours privately purchased, owned and run or is it used partly/wholly for business?

Mine? No, it's a company car, and yes, used partly for business miles.

 

[Mottie]

Mine? No, it's a company car, and yes, used partly for business miles.

Makes a big difference then if you’re not buying, maintaining, insuring, taking the depreciation hit, fueling and even being paid to drink coffee while it’s being charged. I think in those circumstances, you’d find that many more people would drive one and sing their praises.

 

[Brigadier]

Makes a big difference then if you’re not buying, maintaining, insuring, taking the depreciation hit, fueling and even being paid to drink coffee while it’s being charged. I think in those circumstances, you’d find that many more people would drive one and sing their praises.

Only if you're comparing to someone not buying or running a car at all.

Maintaining? A quick check, and off you pop. At 25k, my brakes are as new, and I've only just replaced the tyres (at 3.5mm remaining).
Insurance? Pass: typing on my phone, and can't be bothered to look it up. Might do later.
Fuelling? For those 25k miles, it's cost me c. £700. £500 at overnight cheap home rate, and a bit of expensive top-up when I do have a long trip. I reckon it would have cost around £3k in diesel.



And again, if the depreciation is so catastrophic, buying a nearly new EV will be the eminently sensible thing to do, yes?

 

[Mottie]

Only if you're comparing to someone not buying or running a car at all.

Not necessarily. One of our cars sips petrol, cost £2k to buy (so depreciation will be negligible), tax is £35 a year and insurance is cheap. That sort of balances out our other car in the £620 luxury car tax bracket and the depreciation we know we will be footing. Do you need a £40k + EV to save a bit on petrol?

In any case, whatever the costs of a new EV is, they will be100% more if privately purchased and run compared to if someone else was footing those costs.

 

[Brigadier]

One of our cars sips petrol, cost £2k to buy (so depreciation will be negligible), tax is £35 a year and insurance is cheap

"Sips petrol" only up to a point.
It's not a perpetual motion machine.
And most fuel use is driver behaviour anyway.

Great, your car costs £2k.
I wouldn't want nor buy one and, being unmechanical and uninterested, I would have to pay someone for everything above putting oil in it.
What is a cheap car for your particular circumstances wouldn't be for someone else.
IIRC, you've posted on a number of occasions that you've had to leave the car and get the scooter. Not much use if you have kids in the car, or a job you have to be on time for.

Insurance again will only be cheap up to a point and is to a large extent predicated on risk.
You being demonstrably unlikely to bash into something being greatly advantageous.
It frustrates me when people whine about new driver insurance costs - "£4k! The car is only worth £2k!" - completely ignoring the proven high likelihood of Tyler stuffing their £2k Corsa into something much more expensive.



In the end, I stick with "horses for courses".

 

[Avocet]

Makes a big difference then if you’re not buying, maintaining, insuring, taking the depreciation hit, fueling and even being paid to drink coffee while it’s being charged. I think in those circumstances, you’d find that many more people would drive one and sing their praises.

Of course it does! I've never bought a brand new car in my life - EV or ICE, and if I was shopping for another car, I'd buy used. (So I'd get a used EV). Here's the thing though. When they took my last diesel off me, I could have had another one but I thought: "actually... I might as well see what all the fuss is about", so I went for an EV. I was quite cynical, to be honest, but I thought I'd probably not get a better chance to try one risk-free, so I went for it. I get paid a flat rate, so any time drinking coffee is my own. I was worried about all the horror stories of "hours" charging, range anxiety, charger queues, etc, because I do a lot of long runs. Turns out, I needn't have been!

There is, without doubt, a knack to getting the best out of any car - and EVs are no exception, but I reckon I'm pretty much there now. Are they perfect? Hell no! Nothing ever is, but I'm on my second now, and would happily have a third. My old Alfa is in the garage if I fancy an "old skool" blast at any time, but for my day-to-day needs, the EV works very well indeed!

 

[Avocet]

Not necessarily. One of our cars sips petrol, cost £2k to buy (so depreciation will be negligible), tax is £35 a year and insurance is cheap. That sort of balances out our other car in the £620 luxury car tax bracket and the depreciation we know we will be footing. Do you need a £40k + EV to save a bit on petrol?

In any case, whatever the costs of a new EV is, they will be100% more if privately purchased and run compared to if someone else was footing those costs.

Why are you comparing a £40k EV with a £2k petrol knacker? Wouldn't it be better to compare like-with-like? Also, if I wasn't maintaining the car myself, I'd be paying someone, but how much do you reckon a service costs for my EV? (Main BMW stealer prices for a £60k, three-and-a-half hundred horsepower car). Go on. Have a guess...

 

[Mottie]

but how much do you reckon a service costs for my EV? (Main BMW stealer prices for a £60k, three-and-a-half hundred horsepower car). Go on. Have a guess...

Cost to you? Nothing.

 

[Mottie]

IIRC, you've posted on a number of occasions that you've had to leave the car and get the scooter. Not much use if you have kids in the car, or a job you have to be on time for.

Traffic jams. You'd get that whatever car you're in. Just sold that as I no longer commute.

 

[Mottie]

Why are you comparing a £40k EV with a £2k petrol knacker?

Because you were comparing a £40k EV with "someone not buying or running a car at all". They don’t have to buy a £40k EV to own a car.

 

[Brigadier]

Because you were comparing a £40k EV with "someone not buying or running a car at all". They don’t have to buy a £40k EV to own a car.

1. it was me, not @Avocet
2. your post was written as though running costs were solely incurred on an EV.
Hence my "not buying or running a car at all".
Unless you don't tax, insure, maintain, or put fuel into your £2k car. In which case, it is undoubtedly cheaper than an EV