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Electric vehicles are a hot topic in the motoring world at the moment. Nearly all car manufacturers are focusing on electrifying their line-ups, and in the used market, there’s more choice than there has ever been if you’re looking to make the switch. Here at Eden Motor Group, we’ve got countless high-quality electric vehicles available to browse today.
But if you’re looking to make the change to an electric vehicle, what should you be considering, and are there any aspects of the ownership experience that you need to know about?
Charging is one of the most important aspects of the electric vehicle experience, and it’s one that many people feel a little concerned about before making the transition to an EV. However, charging is something that you quickly get used to. If you’re able to, a home charger can be transformative; with one, you’re able to plug in at home and top up your EV from the comfort of your own home. Not all homes can get a home charger installed, of course, but if it’s possible, then it can drastically lower the charging costs. When utilising an EV-focused electricity tariff, you could be looking at a full charge of an average-sized EV with a range of around 200 miles costing under £10.
When out and about, you’ll need to use the public charging network. This has improved massively over the last few years, and today, there are over 75,000 charging devices positioned at over 38,000 locations. Since February 2024, the network has grown by 32 per cent, according to charger mapping service Zap-Map.
Running costs are a big plus when it comes to electric vehicle ownership. If you’re able to access home charging, then you’ll notice that your day-to-day fuel bills will be a fraction of what they are for a traditional petrol or diesel vehicle.
Public charging costs are higher, however, and if you’re going to be relying solely on this avenue, then it’s worth doing some sums and seeing how much it could end up costing you. That said, some providers do offer lower cost periods during off-peak times and taking advantage of these could make an impact on your everyday running costs.
An aspect of the electric vehicle experience which many people overlook is maintenance. With fewer moving parts than a traditional petrol or diesel car, EVs require less looking after overall and won’t need as many components switching out. The brakes, for instance, get less wear because most EVs tend to rely heavily on regenerative braking to slow them down. This system essentially spins the car’s electric motors in reverse to gradually slow the vehicle down, but, as a by-product, that means that the ‘standard’ brakes aren’t used as much.
You’ll still need to keep on top of maintenance, of course, as you would with any car, but you’ll notice that certain components don’t wear out as much. Plus, you won’t need to worry about certain aspects such as oil levels simply because of the lack of an engine.
One thing that takes many people by surprise when they first drive an electric vehicle is the level of performance that they deliver. Much of this is down to the way that EVs accelerate; because of the way the electric motors work, there’s barely any ‘lag, ’ so when you press the accelerato,r the car immediately moves forward, rather than with a delay as you might find in a typical petrol or diesel car.
It takes a bit of getting used to, but it soon becomes second nature. When compared with a standard combustion-engined vehicle, an EV will feel noticeably more nippy, and this can be very handy when you’re driving around town or joining onto a quicker section of road.
While in the early days of electric vehicles, there wasn’t an awful lot of choice, things have changed considerably over recent years. Today, there’s a great spread of EVs to choose from, coming from a variety of well-known manufacturers.
Here at Eden, we’ve got new cars like the Vauxhall Corsa Electric, Peugeot e-5008 and MG ZS EV to check out today, but if you’d rather get into a pre-owned EV, then we’ve got all manner of options available. Get in touch today to find out more.