I’m £4,000 a year better off driving my Tesla... and it’s nothing like a milk float
THOM Monk believes he now saves £4,000 a year on fuel bills thanks to trading in his old gasguzzler for an electric vehicle three years ago.
The 40-year-old paid £65,000 for an electric Tesla Model S car after getting tired of filling up an ageing Volkswagen Touran with £80 of diesel at least twice a week. The commercial manager from Bristol uses the car for a 200-mile round trip commute to Slough in Berkshire two or three times a week.
Thom says: ‘When you are buying a new car, spending an extra £10,000 or so on an electric vehicle seems to me like a no-brainer – you can recoup the extra cost in just over a couple of years. Being able to avoid the headache of always having to fill up at petrol stations is also a godsend.’
He adds: ‘Forget those tired old jokes about electric cars being a bit like milk floats. My Tesla can do nought to 60 miles per hour in just over four seconds – faster than most traditional sports cars.’
Thom plugs the vehicle into his home electricity supply every night to repower it. The father of two has a couple of solar panels at home that help recharge the battery. He uses renewable energy provider Pure Planet to save money on energy bills – paying £1,000 a year on electricity for his three-bedroom home. This is £400 less than he paid after switching provider last year. The bill includes the few pounds a week for recharging.