CASE 2 Sam East

DRIVES Renault ZOE, outright purchase

SAM East reckons there are two types of EV driver: those who buy for ethical reasons, and those who want the cheapest-possible motoring. Sam, from Stratford-uponavon, Warks, is largely in the second camp, although naturally he’s also a fan of cleaner air. Having run a 54-plate Renault Mégane, Sam bought his ZOE outright in 2015, but leases the batteries.

He says: “The ZOE was the cheapest EV on the market; mine had done only 200 miles and cost £9,000. It’s now one 40,000 miles; it’s been to the Netherlands and Scotland, and has notched up as many as 600 miles in a day, so it’s very usable.”

Sam charges his car overnight using home-energy plan Economy 7’s cheaper night rates. In the first year this cost 4p/kwh, so 16,000 miles of motoring cost £160; the other 4,000 miles were fuelled via free charging points. But in year two the Economy 7 price rose to 5p/kwh, hiking Sam’s bills to £200 for 16,000 miles; again, 20 per cent of mileage was courtesy of free charging points. The only other costs have been two services (£140) and two front tyres at 25,000 miles (£210). And you can see how these figures stack up against those for a Renault Clio diesel in our table (above).

Says Sam: “I charge the car at home where possible; I can take it from empty to full for 88p, where even a partial charge at motorway services is a flat £6. Still, there are some free charging points; if you use these you can cut costs further.”

He continues: “The issue is that the UK’S charging network isn’t joined up, so to go where you like needs subscriptions to numerous providers. Despite this, I’m still saving £250 per month with the ZOE, compared with a conventional car. Part of that is from lower fuel costs and part from lower parking costs; my nearest railway station’s £4 daily charge is waived for electric vehicles.”