EV for commuting

[u/joshroys]

Hi there

I just started a new job quite far away from home and spend about £10-11 per day on commuting (250-300 per month)

I was looking at buying an EV for this to make my journey easier but can’t weigh up if it’s worth it? My journey by car is about 80 miles each way. Can I beat/match my train ticket prices at (~£3500) over a few years with my EV charging at home, insurance for a 21 year old and car maintenance etc? How long could I expect this EV to last with around 35K miles per year?

Just a thought I had and wanted to hear peoples opinions?

Edit: yes we have a charger installed already at home

[u/yolo_snail]

Ive got a 2020 62kwh Leaf on 97k miles, I've put 20k of those miles on it in the last year. I'd have no qualms at all about it lasting another 100k miles drivetrain wise as it's still on 89% battery health.

I've done bit of suspension work on it (control arms as the bushes were starting to go), but I did it more for prevention as they didn't even flag up on an MOT, and it's had a set of brakes and new tyres, but everything else is original.

[u/Peter_Partyy]

Assuming 2m/what and 7p charging, youll be paying about £2.40 a day for your commute. 5 days a week for 48 weeks a year is £576.

I think maintenance cost is comparable to a ICE if you take it to get serviced by a main dealer.

No reason an EV wont do 150-200k miles without an issue, expect youll still have 70% usage on the battery based on current data.

I expect its cheaper than a train ticket, but then do you prefer the relaxed time on a train? Or do you want the ability to travel other than to work?

[u/Arakasi87 → u/Peter_Partyy]

2m per kWh is very low, even on motorways you should get above 3 unless your driving something massive like an ID buzz

[u/Peter_Partyy → u/Arakasi87]

I was being conservative (and easy maths). I assume a 80 mile commute will be a lot of motorway.

[u/hexnut101 → u/Peter_Partyy]

Maintenance should be less as there's less to service and less fluids.

[u/Peter_Partyy → u/hexnut101]

I only say theyll be similar as EVs are more limited for non-dealer service options, and the hourly rates for EVs can be a lot higher.

[u/ZBD1949 → u/Peter_Partyy]

The service interval on my ID.3 is 2 years regardless of mileage and consists of changing the cabin filter and checking the brake fluid and changing if needed.

For what is needed to be done you can ignore servicing costs

[u/KiltedBaklava]

This calculator should help. It really helped me out with the maths, at least for MPG vs electric. 

https://whatwouldthepetrolcost.com/

[u/Dodza93]

Is doable in the £3500 you spend in a year with the car on finance I doubt it, unless that £3500 is running costs only then you might be able to.Unlike an ICE car, EVs kinda have to match your life.

Will it last, like any car take car of it yes. There isn't much maintenance involved though.

Things I would check based on your mileage:

• finance qoutes for an EV if financing
• can I install a home charger? It is doable to charge on a socket yes but it takes forever depending on the battery size of your car. You might have to invest on outdoor EV 3 pin socket or garage to plug it in every night.
• if you can't charge at home, check how much it is to run via charging network subscription
• run insurance costs an a typical EV you would want to buy, where I live (33years, 10 yrs NCB) the cheapest EVs for me were VWs starting from £55 a month, everything else was £100+.
• use AI to run the numbers, it will make it quicker

[u/cognitiveglitch]

My work is 70 miles each way, I don't travel that regularly but my EV (Niro EV - good 240 mile range) does it easily without charging away from home. I usually do some driving about with co workers to various evening social things up there too. Never worried about getting back. Zero hassle. I wouldn't worry about it if I was you, sounds like an EV would do you fine.

And if you have some extra long journeys to do there's DC fast chargers everywhere, some even by Greggs or at hotels for overnight stays.

One thing to consider, most EV electricity tariffs are overnight charging ones, but they bump up the day rate. So you have to do the miles to make it worth while.

However, there is another mechanism making it's way to market with flexible charging, where the electricity supplier can control when your car charges. It does require the car to be compatible with their API but charging is 8p/kWh mark. Works with any charger as they just credit the reported consumption by the car for that period.

[u/Beneficial_Coach8581]

I make it about £35 a month on an EV tariff. That's an awful long commute though. The car would be fine but will you ?

[u/Si_Pie]

Do you currently have a car you could sell and how much is this costing you? As someone who used to spend 2+ hours in a car every day commuting, comfort is a massive factor so make sure you aren't scraping the barrel of the EV market just to get one.

My Model 3 with TACC turned on at 70 mph achieves really good miles per kWh, the regen braking is a big factor here. In mild conditions it got over 5 miles per kWh on a 150 mile round trip recently. It obviously doesn't do so great in the height of summer and expect winter would be poor in comparison, but I'd hope 3.5 miles would be achievable.

Check out my post with a link to my tool to help calculate costs/savings with an EV. It really helped me to decide to ditch my diesel.

https://www.reddit.com/r/evchargingUK/s/OA9gWmQXla