HOW OUR EVS SLASHED OUR BILLS
Two electric car converts explain what a difference plug-in power has made to their everyday motoring costs
ONE of the biggest bills drivers face is fuel, and petrol and diesel prices are rising. With the road tax band changes favouring EVS and the plug-in grant still available, there’s never been a better time to go electric. Two owners tell us how EVS have helped them slash their motoring bills.
CASE 1 Mark Tebbutt
DRIVES Nissan Leaf, personal contract purchase (PCP)
MARK Tebbutt from Chorley, Lancashire, has leased Nissan Leafs through his company since March 2011. He’s currently running his third, which was delivered new a year ago. His first Leaf did 12,531 miles in 27 months, using £343.38 worth of electricity. The total cost of maintenance was £242.10 for two services, and the monthly PCP was £449.03 (with a £2,000 deposit).
While Mark’s first two Leafs had the 24kwh battery, his current car is a 30kwh model and costs £288.37 a month on a PCP; the deposit was £1,500. That lets him notch up 15,000 miles a year, although he’s on track to get closer to 25,000; each extra mile carries a 8p penalty. So far the car has needed one £99 service; no fresh tyres are yet required.
As Mark is a business user the Leaf makes a lot of sense; he can claim a commuting mileage allowance of 45p per mile for the first 10,000 miles, then 25p per mile after that. He currently drives 420 work miles each week, and as each of those costs around 1p (for the electricity only) compared with an estimated 11p/mile for a diesel, that’s a lot of cash saved. Free electricity has been available from a workplace parking charger since last August, so Mark has been quids in – our table (left) shows how his costs compare with a diesel Nissan Qashqai – although he knows at some point he’ll have to start paying for this ‘fuel’.
He says: “I’d advise no one to buy a new EV outright within five years, due to the pace of change. Big improvements in range and capabilities are coming that will make current EVS obsolete, especially those without a maker battery upgrade.
“Instead, I’d recommend leasing a new electric car via PCP, then handing it back at the end of the lease and upgrading to the latest model. Or buy a cheap, used, non-battery lease, Sunderland-built Leaf if you can live with the driving range.”
Still, at the right price, Mark feels an outright purchase can make sense. He tells us: “I’ve heard of owners being offered the chance to buy their EX-PCP cars at well below the balloon payment price, while pre-registered cars can be found at healthy discounts. My dad bought a six-month-old ex-demo with 5,000 miles on the clock for around £17,000 in March 2015. That was a saving of £9,000 on the new list price.
“He covers only around 2,500 miles each year, and partially charges his car from excess solar power between the spring and autumn. Indeed, in 2016 his electricity bill for the car was £57.29; that’s very cheap motoring indeed.”
“With free power from a workplace charger, Mark has been quids in”