Joining the electric car club

[Oneball]

Have you had to charge it away from home yet?

What’s the heater like compared to ICE?

 

[Ewan]

Update 3.
I’ve just made some quick (approximate) fuel cost comparisons, for a 200 mile journey:
Maserati MC Strad - £60 in petrol.
Range Rover hybrid - £40 in diesel.
Audi E-Tron - £7 in electricity.

So, taking an average of these two ICE cars and comparing in to the E-Tron, the saving in fuel costs over a year and 12,000 miles works out at over £2500. And doing those miles in an £80k Audi is hardly a hardship!

 

[safrane]

Update 2.
Had the home charging unit fitted this week. Given my rural location, a home charging unit is essential, as only charging at Tesco (etc.) is not sufficient or reliable. Maybe for a city dweller you could rely on public charging points, but not here in farming territory.
Currently the Govn will cover up to £350 of the supply and fit cost, so for my pod, this bought the final bill down to £500.
While arranging this I discovered that Octopus Energy offer a special tariff for electricity, which lowers the per KWH unit price from approximately 15p to approx 5p, from midnight to 4.30 am. So, you set the charger to only draw current at this time, meaning the charging costs are peanuts.
My wife and I are now fully used to the new toy, and enjoying it.
View attachment 80552

Been thinking of a charging point at home. I presently use a 8m charging cable from the garden shed and use the 3pin plug in there. 4 hour charge for the hybrid.

Due to the restrictions of the older tech in mine it will only ever draw 7KWH regardless of the capability of the system to deliver more...so is it worth an +£500 point to shave 1.5 hours off... its not like the car is stranded if its out of elections?

 

[Ewan]

Have you had to charge it away from home yet?
What’s the heater like compared to ICE?

I've not charged it away from home yet. It’s actually quite unlikely I ever will, given I virtually never make a journey of the distance of the cars range. And if we were going on a big trip, over a week or two, maybe on holiday to Cornwall for example, we’d take the Rangie anyway. The E-Tron has been bought more as daily, and for any sub-100 mile (each way) trips.

The heater’s perfectly good. And instantly hot, unlike an ICE car which relies on the engine warming up. It also has (three stage) heated seats.

 

[safrane]

Have you had to charge it away from home yet?

What’s the heater like compared to ICE?

My own has a petrol pre heating system... toasty warm if you remember to press start on you mobile. 4x heated seats too and steering wheel that can get very warm!

 

[Ewan]

Been thinking of a charging point at home. I presently use a 8m charging cable from the garden shed and use the 3pin plug in there. 4 hour charge for the hybrid.
Due to the restrictions of the older tech in mine it will only ever draw 7KWH regardless of the capability of the system to deliver more...so is it worth an +£500 point to shave 1.5 hours off... its not like the car is stranded if its out of elections?

I can see that you can manage easily enough with the standard 3 pin plug-in. But for a fully electric car, as opposed to a hybrid, it’s not ideal. Using my new 7kwh Pod-Point, I can easily have 80% (or more) of charge (i.e. 200 miles of range) overnight - whereas using a 3 pin this would take at least two full days.

 

[dickygrace]

Do you think the £2500 pa fuel saving will be significant enough to even up the depreciation? I see new ones are now available at £55k retail, so around £50k trade. Did you obtain a £25k price reduction when buying? Depreciation will obviously be significantly less if you’ve saved £25k at purchase:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202010175122091

 

[Ewan]

My own has a petrol pre heating system... toasty warm if you remember to press start on you mobile. 4x heated seats too and steering wheel that can get very warm!

The Audi has the pre-heat as well, set by a timer, or by the app. But you don’t really need it and I’ve not used it yet.
The Rangie pre-heat system I prefer, as you get a little key fob that does it, so no mucking around on an app.

 

[Ewan]

There are definitely good deals to be had, and that is one of them. Much depends on spec. E-Trons start at about £64k list, but it’s not hard to spec them to £100k. Mine was £79k list, but yes, I got a good saving.
Not that I’m particularly fussed about the depreciation, as it’s on a 3 year company lease at a set monthly fee and a pre-agreed minimum value.
Overall, when you consider it’s coming off the company tax bill, with the VAT saving, no BIK, very low fuel costs and very low servicing costs (and no city-based emissions related charges), it’s a very cheap way to be in a luxurious new car.

 

[Zep]

Been thinking of a charging point at home. I presently use a 8m charging cable from the garden shed and use the 3pin plug in there. 4 hour charge for the hybrid.

Due to the restrictions of the older tech in mine it will only ever draw 7KWH regardless of the capability of the system to deliver more...so is it worth an +£500 point to shave 1.5 hours off... its not like the car is stranded if its out of elections?

I just installed an outdoor weatherproof socket (but make sure you go for a double as the single ones are a funny shape and don’t fit the bulky plugs). This way I can charge up to 13 amps. To get a 16 amps charge point there is a lot of work needed on cable sizes and circuits which doesn’t seem worth it - unless you need the juice like Ewan.

 

[rockits]

Been thinking of a charging point at home. I presently use a 8m charging cable from the garden shed and use the 3pin plug in there. 4 hour charge for the hybrid.

Due to the restrictions of the older tech in mine it will only ever draw 7KWH regardless of the capability of the system to deliver more...so is it worth an +£500 point to shave 1.5 hours off... its not like the car is stranded if its out of elections?

I charge my Outlander at night on lower rate of the dual rate tariff. Also I understood the lesser EV's that don't have sophisticated managed charging and thermal sensor systems that fast charging in the main is worse for battery life. So I slow charge mine overnight and never fast charge it anyway. However I still got a discounted BP Chargemaster unit installed as work paid for it and the grant might be taken away at any time or reduced so just got it done.

I went for a tethered cable/unit so it is less of phaff plugging in the cable. Also with the app it allows scheduling and remote control of the charging anyway which may or may not be useful.

 

[rockits]

I had to upgrade my main 3 phase board/head as they were old 60a ones. The power company upgraded all 3 and installed a new 3 phase head with 3 x 100a fuses free of charge as the old ones were so old.

Many domestic supplies won't be able to fast charge a big EV without some internal upgrades I suspect.

 

[Felonious Crud]

I had to upgrade my main 3 phase board/head as they were old 60a ones. The power company upgraded all 3 and installed a new 3 phase head with 3 x 100a fuses free of charge as the old ones were so old.

Many domestic supplies won't be able to fast charge a big EV without some internal upgrades I suspect.

Am I right in thinking that’s a fast-charge unit needs to be cabled directly from the consumer unit, Dean? Could involve some logistical challenges.

 

[rockits]

Am I right in thinking it needs to be cabled directly from the consumer unit, Dean? Could involve some logistical challenges.

Mine is direct from the consumer unit yes. However from the separate consumer unit I have for the garage so was pretty easy. Might be less easy coming from a main house consumer unit though as you mention.

 

[rockits]

I think he said it needed a 16a circuit for 3.6kw slow charge and 32a for 7.2kw fast charge.

I think the Porsche stuff needs a 3 phase so dedicated supply.

 

[Hurricane52]

Ewan - is there a service schedule to follow? If so, what bits need servicing when?

 

[mjheathcote]

I could be tempted by a hybrid or less likely (due to range) full EV for business mileage.
Problem is, how you are recompensed for 'fuel'
Presently all fuel is paid by my employer as benefit in kind, with having an opted out company car, which I pay tax on the fuel purchased, that I then claim tax back on the business mileage.
Net result I get more tax back than the tax paid. Works well.
If I buy a hybrid or EV and charge at home, I have to pay for it through my electricity bill so don't get it at a reduced '40%' like traditional 'wet fuel'.
I guess a separate electricity meter for the plug in may be possible, to then claim this usage from your employer.

 

[alfatwo]

I could be tempted by a hybrid or less likely (due to range) full EV for business mileage.
Problem is, how you are recompensed for 'fuel'
Presently all fuel is paid by my employer as benefit in kind, with having an opted out company car, which I pay tax on the fuel purchased, that I then claim tax back on the business mileage.
Net result I get more tax back than the tax paid. Works well.
If I buy a hybrid or EV and charge at home, I have to pay for it through my electricity bill so don't get it at a reduced '40%' like traditional 'wet fuel'.
I guess a separate electricity meter for the plug in may be possible, to then claim this usage from your employer.

And this is were Gov UK will get back all of its lost fuel revenue! your smart meter will recognize you've plugged in your EV and charge you maybe 20 times more plus vat than your normal domestic tariff ..Its coming

I'm sticking with Benzina!

Dave

 

[Zep]

I could be tempted by a hybrid or less likely (due to range) full EV for business mileage.
Problem is, how you are recompensed for 'fuel'
Presently all fuel is paid by my employer as benefit in kind, with having an opted out company car, which I pay tax on the fuel purchased, that I then claim tax back on the business mileage.
Net result I get more tax back than the tax paid. Works well.
If I buy a hybrid or EV and charge at home, I have to pay for it through my electricity bill so don't get it at a reduced '40%' like traditional 'wet fuel'.
I guess a separate electricity meter for the plug in may be possible, to then claim this usage from your employer.

I have done this, I save £250 a month and spend around £30 of this to charge the car. The reduced fuel bill (based on the average 60mpg my car does compared to the 45mpg of the old car) means it really costs me about £15. So I am around £235 a month better off. I decided on that basis it was better not to have the fuel benefit, which further reduced my tax.

 

[Ewan]

Mike, you currently pay tax on the fuel purchased, and then claim the tax back on business mileage. What fuel you buy, or where from, maters not. So, whether you buy the electricity from your home supply, or buy petrol from the local BP garage (for example), makes no difference.
With the charging apps, the amount of electricity you put in the car, and it’s cost, is all logged automatically, ready to send to your accountants team. Simple.

90% of electric car sales are as company car purchases. I think that says it all.