Does electric car go the distance?

ELECTRIC cars seem to be driving a lot of you round the bend.

Many callers on my LBC consumer hour radio show say they are being mis-sold.

Drivers complain that the distance the salesperson claimed it could go on a single charge is simply not achievable.

With the sale of new petrol and diesel cars set to be banned as of 2030, we continue to see rising numbers of electric vehicles on the road.

It is forecast there will be 12 million by 2020 so it is important to know what questions to ask when you buy one and what your rights are if you feel you have been mis-sold.

Here are the key points:

PROBLEMS

First, it is important to be clear on their limitations.

With a petrol or diesel car you will already be familiar with where your local petrol stations are located and you will feel confident that a petrol station will be fairly close by no matter where you go.

With electric this may not be the case as the number of charging points lag far behind the number of petrol stations.

There are huge variations in availability around the country with London surprisingly lagging behind other cities.

Charging times are also an issue. You can fill a petrol or diesel car in minutes but this is not the case with electric.

Finally, the distance an electric car will travel is subject to all sorts of variables. With petrol and diesel, the weather conditions, radio and air conditioning have no impact but they can greatly impact the distance an electric vehicle can travel on a single charge.

THE QUESTIONS

With all this in mind it is important that you ask lots of questions when you buy an electric car.

They should include how far it can travel on a single charge, what could affect this distance and will this get worse as the car gets older, how many years will the battery last, how much will a replacement be, how long does it take to charge and can you charge the car at all charging points?

Make sure you get the answers in writing as this will form part of your contract.

If it transpires that any answer is wrong, you will have been missold the vehicle and will be entitled to a remedy.