Over the last 5 weeks we’ve been road-testing an electric car. You know, those cars that you’ve seen on the news occasionally, read a bit about and wondered, but always thought were a bit of a non-starter? Yeah, me too. But we agreed to take temporary ownership of a 100% electric Renault Zoë to really understand the deal. And do you know what? We were massively surprised by how much we liked it! Here’s what we learned:
Driving an electric car – the fun bit.
The first thing that freaked me out about an electric car was how quiet it is. I was out when it arrived, doing a late school run, and it took me a while to get out there to explore. As I opened the door – left unlocked by the blokes in charge *insert eyeroll* – a little bleep set up. Said blokes had also left the engine switched on! It was totally silent!
That’s just weird, I thought, putting it into drive, and expecting it to go like a milk float. It was a really good job I had my foot near the brake or I’d have been in our neighbour’s front garden before I could yell greased lightning. As Actually Daddy said, it is so like a normal car. Then he went all bloke on me and quoted an Autoexpress review, agreeing with this:
It can manage 0-62mph in 13.5 seconds. But because the Zoe’s torque is available from zero rpm (like all electric cars), it actually feels quicker than the figures suggest. And it’s not only around town that the Zoe feels perky – even at motorway speeds, it doesn’t struggle to keep up with other traffic, and it’s far more responsive than you’d imagine. It has a claimed top speed of 84mph…
… which he claims he can’t corroborate 😉
Suffice to say it is quick off the mark.
Then there are gadgets! I once went with my husband to a car showroom, to talk about possibly buying a new car. It was to be my car, paid for by my company, nothing to do with Jason. The salesman directed a lot of talk about alloy wheels and engine spec to my husband, before I gently pointed out that alloy wheels leave me cold – colour, trim and drinks holders are what do it for me. So you can imagine my pleasure at the dashboard – the latest TomTom satnav, bluetooth, apps to download. It even shows an up to date list of your closest public chargepoints, and whether or not they’re in use!
I pretty quickly figured out that Driving Eco meant staying in the green zone; blue not so good, yellow = bad. It became a competition for me to see how far I could bring down the naughty figure after he who likes his speed and his brakes had paid it no respect on the motorway. Oh, and if you ever charge your car and forget to close the plug socket cover, you will very quickly notice that you are driving Rudolph 🙂 (I took these pictures as a passenger, by the way)!
The cost of driving an electric car
My Mini Cooper costs around £45 to fill up with unleaded petrol, and the dashboard tells me I get around 300 miles out of that. That’s £0.15 per mile. Whilst lasts me a good week of running the kids around to their various clubs and getting me to the station or to local meetings, if I need to go further – a trip to Grandma’s, say – I’m filling up on the way home. The Renault Zoë costs around £3 to charge on an overnight rate at home, and as a 100% electric car, it costs as little as £0.02 per mile to run.
In addition to the savings on running costs, Go Ultra Low cars are exempt from road tax, and from the London congestion charge. So you’re pretty soon racking up savings. Plus, the Government Plug-in Grant gives you 25% off the purchase price of an electric car to a maximum of £5,000, so there are plenty of cost incentives to getting in on electric vehicle ownership sooner rather than later.
The practicalities of driving an electric car
Running out of petrol is a scary thought, and running out of charge has been on our minds whenever we haven’t had a sure fire plan for recharging. But with a little bit of planning we found it was easy to top up our charge while we were out, so that we always had enough to get us home. For starters, the average car journey is 7 miles; our Renault Zoë had a range of 75 miles so unless we were out for the whole day driving, charging on the go wasn’t an issue. Jason often took our Zoë to work at Thorpe Park, a 35 mile trip; he simply hooked it up to the public chargepoint there, and it was ready for his drive home at the end of the day. And if you do need to charge an electric car while you’re on a journey, you’re not short of options.
There are 5000 public charge points across the UK, and by 2015 we’ll have the best rapid charger network in Europe. Here’s how they all work:
- On a rapid charger a half hour coffee stop will charge your car to 80% full, helping you to travel further, and take sensible breaks on your journey.
- Most shopping centres and attractions have a fast charger, which will fill your battery in 2-4 hours while you shop, visit a cinema, or ride the rollercoasters at Thorpe Park!
- A standard charger takes around 8 hours to fully charge your car, so it’s perfect for charging overnight at home, but also ideal for a top-up if you’re out and about.
How charging an electric car works.
Depending on where you drive, you can sign up at a nominal cost to your local charge point network operator, and use all their charge points at no extra cost. Or in many cases, chargepoints can be used with a pay-as-you-go option, so you’ll never be stranded. Most chargepoints have two different charge capacities, so you can use the fast or standard charge – they use either 7 or 3 pin cables, so I’d recommend getting both for your car in case one side of the chargepoint isn’t working for some reason (we only had the 7 pin and were unable to charge once or twice, but with both cables we’d have been fine).
What about the upfront cost?
One of the reasons an electric car costs more to buy initially than a standard car, is the cost of the battery. But it is possible to hire the battery for the time that you own the car, rather than purchasing it outright. Renault’s battery hire scheme means that your upfront car cost is reduced, and you pay a set amount per year for the battery, dependent on your mileage. One of the benefits of this is an insurance policy; if the battery performance deteriorates, Renault will replace it for you, and on top of that, you’ll get roadside assistance should you ever have battery problems on the move. Phew!
Would we buy an electric car? I have to say, I’m seriously considering it for when the lease on my current car is up. Here are some price comparisons so you can see how the cost of an electric car compares to that of a standard petrol or diesel car. To find out more about charging on the move, or buying an electric car, visit Go Ultra Low.
We were loaned our #GoUltraLow electric car for 5 weeks for the purposes of review. We thoroughlly enjoyed driving it. All opinioins and editorial copy are our own.
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sounds like a good little car! bit too small for all of us though!
I’m loving these posts on the electric car. I’m fascinated by them – we travel the length and breadth of the country with our swimmer piling the miles on our car. I will admit to being a little terrified of running out of charge and slightly switching off when real grown-up car facts are discussed. I believe they come in a lovely colour blue too!
🙂
So many facts I didn’t know! 2p a mile is amazing and the 25% grant. I couldn’t be trusted though as I am always on the red light! X l
I’ve heard of electric cars but can’t say I know anybody that has one. It sounds much better than I imagined. Love your comment on Rudolf, it made me giggle 🙂
Ow wow considering buying an electric or hybrid car when moving back to Belgium (august) so great to see this post!
I ll be driving about half hour each morning and evening to bring the lo to Steinerschool so could def save on miles!
Thank you for the thorough review.
Ooo I have a question! Say you are driving along and need to stop to charge the car – how long does that charge take?
Duh and NOW I read the bit where you tell me!
Speed reading again! 😉
I never realised there were so many charging points around the country, that certainly makes an electric car more of an appealing idea
What an interesting post. I hadn’t thought about buying an electric car, but your post is very persuasive! But can you get an electric car that will fit a family of five?
Yes! Renault, BMW, Toyota and Nissan all do electric or hybrid cars of various sizes.
Looks very nice but too small for my kids and what we need .x
Apparently the converted Grannymobile that I need to drive for my disabled daughter (a Citroen Berlingo) is now available as an electric car, so I am seriously interested in this!
Ah, let me know if you decide to go for it.
Interesting. I think an electric car might work as a second car for us, but MadDad does too many miles during the day for it to be viable as a first car and TBH the initial expense would put us off for a second car.
It depends what you’re doing with your day Jen. I used to drive a lot for my job, but I’d be in meetings at health clubs for 1-2 hours between each drive, which would have given me time to charge up ready for the next leg. 100% electric may not work if you’re driving all day with no stops, but that’s when you’d go for a hybrid, so you can use fuel when you run out of battery charge.
I have been wandering how these little cars work.
Thanks for an informative article. I am noticing more and more charging stations these days. My last sighting was Ikea!
And we all know how long we can spend in Ikea!
I would love to have an electric car! I have always found the idea fascinating and it’s so good for the enviroment. I hope to have the chance to own one, one day.
An electric car only works in the city for us and even then there are very few places besides home where you can plug the car in. Driving the electric car in Canada for vacations, at this point would not work, because there are no places available or they are rare.
That’s such a shame Catherine. In the UK there is a huge focus on getting enough chargepoints operational to make an electric car a normal decision. Of course there is a way to go, but I was amazed how good it already is.
They sound perfect for the little day to day runs and I think would be perfect as a second car! I however would need a much better car just to fit the family in!
They come in all shapes and sizes Amy, we just had the smaller one, but it was surprisingly spacious and we were able to fit 5 in easily.
This is a great overview Helen, thanks for this. I commute from Liverpool to Manchester, so you can imagine my petrol costs. I have been considering updating my car, certainly in the next year or so (current one is a bit of a banger in all honesty.) My car park for work also has a charge point for an electric car, so this is something that I will definitely consider. Maybe the initial outlay for one is putting me off for now, but I will definitely be looking into it. Thanks for the information 🙂
I think that’s why it’s worth going for it sooner rather than later Kerrie, given the financial incentives the government are offering at the moment.
I’ve wondered a lot about electric cars – especially how you would charge them, great to hear it’s not as hard as it might seem 🙂 x
wow this post really makes buying and running one of these cars a real possibility as opposed to a remote one. I never knew ANY of this stuff x
It sounds like a very realistic alternative to a conventional car!
We have driven hybrid cars for some years now and have loved them. They do scare pedestrians at crossings- they don’t know you are there half the time! Have recently changed our car for a newer model with keyless start. Forgot to switch off the first week we had it and because the car was so silent, I wandered off and left it…running. Hadn’t heard the beep as there was a noisy bus parked in front of me.
Glad you had fun with your car: it’s great when you know you are saving money.
Just can’t seem to get my head round this!
Al
Take a test drive! You might surprise yourself
My only worry about electric cars is that they’re very quiet but everything you’ve said about them here is pretty convincing.
I’d love an electric car (if I ever get up the courage to take my test again!) after reading this post. I’d never even considered one before but I think as a run around for me and the kids, it would be a great option 🙂
Electric cars absolutely fascinate me!! Really loved reading this. x
I’m in love with electric cars too, we had to hand ours back yesterday and I shall miss it. I will certainly look at changing to electric when the time comes to change cars
These look great, I would love an electric car but we definitely wouldn’t all fit into this one! Would definitely consider one for the future though.
Looks a million miles away from my old banger. As I only do short journeys around town I wouldn’t consider changing but maybe one day.
Looks and sounds like a good little car
My husband needs to take our car into London a lot because of the hours he works so a vehicle that’s exempt from the Congestion charge would be amazing! Doubt I could get him to switch though unfortunately.
A major concern for me though is running out of charge – there sounds like there’s a lot of charging points around, but where exactly are they? Some of my family live far away and are quite remote so I’m not sure an electric car would work for us all the time.
You can see them all on the various networks’ websites and it’s surprising how many there are. Electric Highway, Source, there are a lot. Have a look on the Go Ultra Low website for the links – you might be surprised!
Wow- a 75 mile range on electric is impressive.
We are trying the Vauxhall Ampera on the #goultralow project and our electric range is about 40 miles but with the back up of the petrol tank our overall range before refuelling or recharging is about 300 miles!
I have been really interested in your journey with an electric car, it sounds like it has been a fun adventure. I would just be worried about running out of charge- I have been known to run out of petrol many a time with a ‘normal’ car!
Thanks for writing this awesome blog post!
Personally I believe that around seventy five miles from a single charge for a small sized electric car is honestly a really good return! What happens if your electric car runs out of charge while you’re on the road and in the middle of nowhere though?
You’re stuck! I guess you get really good at planning 🙂
I’ve heard of electric cars but I have never seen any running electric car. This sounds more cool than I imagined Thanks for this informative stuff. I really appreciate you efforts to educate people.