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Right then, your challenge should you choose to accept it.
Can I get an EV to replace the wife's Fiesta.
Used, 8-9k budget. Must be able to get from Glasgow to Edinburgh and back on a single charge.
Renault Zoe seems like the obvious choice but there don't seem to be many around. Nissan Leafs are a bit more common but the range on them doesn't seem great.
I'm personally tempted with a Zoe - you'll usually rent the battery, but that gets over some of the range issues that older leaf's seem to be suffering (i.e. you can get a new battery if it's crap).
We have free charging at work, but we often will go to our static caravan in two cars, if one of us finishes early, or is staying later. It's only 70 miles away, but there isn't anywhere near to charge the car when down there, and a caravan supply probable won't like the watts/amps - can trip with a kettle and a hairdryer on.
I also like the style of a Zoe. My car is old, and not worth anything, but it's in mint condition, so the other option is keep that for long journies and 4 MTB hauling, and a cheap Zoe for work - all town driving, and I get 22-24mpg in my car as it's crawling along. Cost of car purchase aside, I'd save half my fuel bill (allowing for the battery rental), and I bet it's great to drive in conjested roads.
We've currently got a Squashy (6 years old) and an 18 year old Primera med/large saloon. We commute in my old car as I have city centre parking (the only benefit I had from breaking my spine). The Squashy is on the drive during the week.
Not at that money, no. That's nearly 100 mile range needed (if it's centre to centre), and the cheap options won't do it all through winter, in the rain, with a bit of battery degradation. There's a bit of a bubble of used EV prices as people have woken up to how cheap they can make commuting. Given you can save about a grand in fuel per 10k miles it really keeps prices up at the lower end.
Best to play around with any you're looking at on abetterrouteplanner.com, you can adjust for temperature, etc but it's a pretty good idea of how much energy a given journey will use.
30kWh Leaf starts around 10k but is still going to be marginal.
22kWh Zoes won't make it. 41kWh Zoes start at 12k and will do it comfortably but you've got battery lease on top - from 59/month, although more if you're doing bigger mileages.
There are some good deals to be had on a few new options though - the (soon to be axed) eGolf, the (likewise going soon) 40kWh Leaf, and surprisingly the new 50kWh Zoe all have good deals. Would have to do the sums on total mileage if that would save you money in the longer term though.
Replacing second car with a Zoe has been an absolute win in our household. But your Glasgow to Edinburgh requirement is tough. Surely the fossil car could make this journey whilst the EV covers the shorter journey?
What’s a squashy?
We’re replacing our smaller car (3 year old Polo GTI), not really the “second car”, with an i3. The diesel estate is staying for when we space/longer journeys.
It will do the majority of the commuting which is about 11k / year and we’ve guessed at another 4K on top. Should save a fair bit on fuel costs.
I’m getting it through our work scheme but there are a few other deals available if you search around if you’re not against leasing? The new one does up to 170 miles. On the i3 FB page looks like you need £15k to get secondhand the one with the range extender which you’d need to comfortably get there and back without range anxiety, but that’s double your budget.
Cheers guys. This is good info.
Glasgow to Edinburgh is pretty much the longest journey the Fiesta ever does. Wife and daughter have a fortnightly event they go to. I'm normally away mountain biking and using my petrol car when they do this.
Sounds like I need to either wait another couple of years or raise my budget.
Glasgow to Edinburgh every 2 weeks is a train journey with a family railcard discount surely?
Wife and daughter have a fortnightly event they go to.
Is there a charger where they go? I assumed Glasgow to Edinburgh daily commute.
Or drive to the park and ride at ingleston, leave it on charge and take tram into he city.
Zoes are great - we have one as a second car:
Squashy - Qashqai ! Sorry. SUV, damn burn him with fire........ - PS it's lighter and shorter than my normal saloon car but insists on extra load tyres - WTF !
I think an EV is a very good option for city commutes.
PS I looked at i3's and the older ones with 'range extenders' (small engine but no longer sold) are about £15k - not a bad deal... and will do the OP's hop. Thing is they seem to hold value...
Replaced my 60 mile round £60ish/week commute in a Merc estate with a 40Kw Zoe in October. The park and ride I park at has a free Pod-Point charger so I’m commuting free most of the time and rarely have to plug it in at home - haven’t bothered getting a charging point at home as a result. I now prefer it to the Merc as it’s a fun, pretty nippy (from stationary) and peaceful commute. Worth looking around, this guy is helpful and this one came out in the last few days
I'd be very surprised if you couldn't find a 41kWh Zoé for that money and it would do a 100mile return trip in poor conditions on a charge with about 25% left if you stick to truck speed on the motorway.
Edit: in France at least the arrival of the 52kWh car knocked the bottom out of the second-hand market for older ones and prices are reasonable. Fortunately I'd got a signed trade-in price when I ordered the new one, and a discount, the nice man really wanted to sell a car that day.
I had a 41kWh Zoé for 2 1/2 years until I traded it in for the 52kWh model. The battery showed no sign of deterioration, I'd looked after it, keeping it between 20 and 90% except for long journeys. It was fun and reliable, if you do a Google search you'll find other Zoé threads on STW.