What are the pros and cons of an electric car?

If you are visiting Motoring Electric, the chances are you have considered buying an EV. And rightly so. In recent years, advances in battery technology mean electric cars have become a realistic proposition for many people.

We think the pros are beginning to outweigh the cons when it comes to buying or leasing an electric car. However, these vehicles won’t suit everyone – not yet, anyway.

In this short guide, we have compiled a list of the advantages and disadvantages of owning an electric car. It should help you decide if the time is right to leave petrol or diesel behind.

The advantages of an electric car

The pros of an electric car

Zero emissions

All electric cars offer zero tailpipe emissions (as they don’t have a tailpipe), which is great for local air quality in cities.

While a considerable amount of energy is required to build a car, and electricity is used to recharge the batteries (which may also create emissions, depending on the source), research shows EVs are less polluting overall than traditional combustion cars.

Lower running costs

An electric car should be cheaper to run than a petrol or diesel equivalent. Energy prices are still very volatile, so making comparisons isn’t easy. Some energy companies offered cost calculators, but many have removed them from their websites.

However, a typical EV such as a Volkswagen ID.3 should cost less than half as much per mile to drive as a combustion car – provided you charge at home and take advantage of off-peak rates.

If you rely solely on public charging points, the relative costs will be much closer. Indeed, some public rapid chargers are no cheaper than filling up with petrol.

No Vehicle Excise Duty (VED)

Drivers of electric cars are also exempt from paying Vehicle Excise Duty (VED, or annual road tax) until 2025.

All zero-emission electric cars are VED exempt, regardless of how much they cost to buy. This is in marked contrast to combustion cars, which may attract a hefty ‘Expensive Car Supplement’ in the first year, plus an additional £355 a year for the following five years, if their list price is above £40,000.

Technology

electric car technology

Manufacturers are investing heavily in electric cars, so you could have access to technology missing from other vehicles. For example, it might be possible to pre-heat the car’s cabin from your smartphone, which will be handy on a cold morning.

Buy a Tesla and you’ll be able to play video games and make rude noises via the touchscreen, too. Whatever floats your boat… 

Government incentives

At one time, the UK goverment was offering £3,500 towards the cost of buying an EV through the Plug-in Car Grant. This steadily decreased over the years and has now been withdrawn altogether. However, you can still get help towards the cost of installing a home charger.

Under the EV chargepoint grant, people who live in flats or rented properties can claim back up to 75 percent of the cost of a fitted home charging point – up to a maximum of £350. You also need a private, off-street parking space outside your property.

Live in a house or have a mortgage? Unfortunately, you are not eligible. Electric car incentives aren’t what they used to be…

Performance

All EVs offer smooth and immediate acceleration thanks to the immediate torque of electric motors. As a result, they feel particularly rapid in towns and cities, offering a dizzying level of off-the-line pace. Take the Tesla Model S, which can potentially sprint to 60mph in just 2.4 seconds – quick enough to leave many of the best supercars standing.

Even the more affordable electric cars feel rapid. The Vauxhall Corsa-e can dash to 60mph in a brisk 7.6 seconds, for example.

Quietness

The quiteness of an electric car

Once you’ve experienced the near-silent serenity of an electric car, you’ll find it hard to return to the noise of a petrol or diesel engine. It’s not 100 percent quiet – you still hear some wind, tyre and road noise – but an electric car is generally more relaxing to drive.

Cheaper to maintain

With fewer moving parts, an electric car should be cheaper to maintain than a petrol or diesel vehicle. You can kiss goodbye to changing the oil, spark plugs, belts, coolant, air filters and transmission oil.

However, you’ll still need to visit a garage for replacement tyres, brakes, lights, wipers, tracking adjustment, suspension and cabin filtration.

Access to towns and cities

Access to towns and cities

The introduction of Clean Air Zones (CAZ) signals a new era of penalties for driving a polluting vehicle in a town or city. At the very least, electric cars will be exempt from payment, but you could find that EVs are soon the only vehicles welcome in some urban environments.

Feelgood factor

Finally, there’s the feelgood factor of doing your bit for the environment. By driving an electric car, you’ll be helping to improve local air quality, which will do wonders for your image.

The disadvantages of an electric car

electric car charging points

Charging points

At last count, there are around 85,000 charging connectors in the UK, and the government wants to ensure that nobody is further than 30 miles from a rapid charging station by 2025.

However, the number of EVs on the road is certainly increasing much faster than the number of charging points. And there’s no doubt that some areas of the country aren’t as well served as major cities like London, Birmingham and Manchester. Yet the network is growing all the time, with many supermarkets and the big charging networks at the forefront of the charge. So to speak.

There’s also the issue of arriving at a charging point to discover that it’s already in use or out of operation. If there’s somebody at a petrol pump, you will have to wait a few minutes. If you can’t charge an electric car, you could be left stranded.

Charging time

Charging an electric car will inevitably take longer than filling a petrol or diesel car with fuel. Although some EVs can be recharged to 80 percent in as little as 20 minutes using a rapid charger, you should allow up to an hour.

If you’re charging at home using a domestic socket, an overnight charge is the most realistic option. A full charge using a 3kW unit could take between six and 12 hours.

It requires a change in mindset. In the same way we’ve become accustomed to charging a smartphone, you’ll need to do the same with an electric car. If you charge a car overnight, you’ll wake up with a fully charged battery. If possible, you could leave the car on charge while you’re at work.

Range anxiety

electric car range anxiety

Some people struggle to come to terms with range anxiety. This is the fear of not reaching your destination without charging up. If you get flustered when your smartphone battery drops below 60 percent, you might struggle with an electric car.

As battery technology advances, range concerns are likely to become a thing of the past. Typically, you can expect between 200 and 350 miles from a new electric car, but a few offer more than 400 miles.

Not strictly zero emissions

Even the most ardent supporter of electric cars would have to concede that they’re only zero emissions at the point of use. A great deal of energy is consumed during the manufacturing of the car, and there’s also the issue of the electricity used during the charging process.

However, if the electricity is sourced using renewable sources (such as wind, hydro and solar), the environmental argument against electric cars becomes weaker. And the balance has started to shift.

Cost

electric car cost

For the time being at least, electric cars are rather expensive. Your cheapest options tend to be electric versions based on the architecture of conventional cars, such as the Vauxhall Corsa-e.

Let’s use the Hyundai Kona Electric as an example. At £34,995, it’s over £9,000 more expensive than a basic Kona, and £5,000 more than the flagship Kona Ultimate. Once you get into the realms of premium brands such as Audi, Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar and Porsche, electric motoring gets very expensive.

Dynamics

Finally, although they’re very quick and wonderfully quiet, most EVs cannot hold a candle to conventional cars when it comes to driving fun. They’re simply too heavy to feel light and agile when cornering, while the weight of the batteries can make for a rather lumpy ride.

There are exceptions to the rule. The Porsche Taycan is genuinely rewarding to drive, while the Tesla Model 3 is a very capable all-rounder.

ALSO READ:

Should you buy a plug-in hybrid or an electric car?

Why do some electric cars have heat pumps?

How cheaply can I buy a used electric car?

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4 COMMENTS

  1. I have yet to find the cost of a replacement battery and the cost of disposal of the old battery., Can you tell me?

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