SHOULD I BUY A USED BEV?
A pre-owned pureelectric car is an affordable way to be really green
In you want to be a more ecofriendly motorist, there are compelling reasons to consider buying a pure-electric car, or Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV). A BEV is a vehicle that relies only on electric power — there’s no combustion engine helping out, so no emissions from fossil fuel.
The case is especially strong in New Zealand, because 80 per cent of electricity is generated by sustainable means. So you really are doing some good for the environment by choosing BEV.
Need we say lower running costs are also a big attraction? Many power companies are offering free charging at the moment and BEVs are currently exempt from Road User Charges (RUC).
Don’t expect either of those things to last forever, but even without them, BEVs are much cheaper to run and maintain.
According to government data, the running cost of a BEV is the equivalent of 30 cents per litre for a conventional petrol car.
The big problem is capital cost. Brand new BEVs are still really expensive. But the good news is that with New Zealand’s electric fleet growing in a small but steady way for the past five years, there are now quite a few used-BEV options. It might be a used-import like a Nissan Leaf (by far NZ’s most popular pure-electric), but it could also be a New Zealand-new vehicle like a Hyundai Ioniq.
A quick scan of DRIVEN listings shows older Leafs for as little as $10,000, while 2-to 3-year old examples of the acclaimed Ioniq Electric can be purchased for less than $40,000 — late-model BEV technology for the same price as a new petrol-powered family hatchback.
In fact, you might be surprised by your options, including the semi-exotic: consider the Carbon Fibre Reinforced Plastic (CFRP) construction BMW i3, which can now be had for less than $30,000.
But is a used BEV a risky purchase? There’s still a sense of mystery surrounding pure-electric cars for many consumers, especially with range and battery life.
That’s fair enough, because we’re used to being able to fill with petrol or diesel whenever necessary and the lithium-ion batteries used in most BEVs cost many thousands of dollars to replace when they wear out.
It might be that the limited range of BEVs (think 100-200km for most used models) simply doesn’t suit you and that’s fine. But the fact is that 90 per cent of travel in New Zealand is less than 90km and the average daily commute is just 29km. If we’re honest, BEVs probably do work for most of us.
The key thing for a used BEV is battery life. Lithium batteries last a very long time (equivalent to a petrol engine really), evidenced by the fact that brand-new models come with generous warranties — eight years is pretty typical.
But batteries do also degrade over time and the level of charge they can hold will decrease, which means your range will be reduced. Given BEVs don’t go nearly as far on a charge as combustion-engine cars go on a tank to start with, you’ll want to make sure your potential purchase has enough juice to take you where you want to go.
You have to look at each car individually, as battery health will depend on how the car has been driven and charged by previous owners. But that can be quantified by a State of Health (SoH) score, which indicates how much of the original capacity of the battery is still able to hold a charge. SoH is probably more important than odometer reading for a BEV.
On the Nissan Leaf, SoH is indicated by a 12-bar reading on the dashboard. But any BEV can be plugged into a data reader to get a SoH score; it’s well worth doing as part of a pre-purchase inspection. Then you will really know what range you’ll be getting.
You’ll also want to think about charging if you’re a BEV newbie. All BEVs can be fast-charged at public DC stations (typically much less than an hour), which is great when you’re travelling longer distances but may not always suit — there are often queues and although some are provided free by power companies, most require membership and will “charge for your charge”, both for the power supplied and the time you’re parked there.
So it makes sense to have a garage or at least off-street parking so that you can charge your BEV at home overnight. Get your power supply checked by a professional to make sure it’s safe and up to the task.
At home is by far the cheapest way to charge a BEV, although it is literally an overnight job — even longer with newer/bigger batteries. But you do get to wake up in the morning with a “full” car — which is a nice feeling.