So I’m new to the whole EV thing having purchased a used VW E-Up! about a month ago. I was on a fantastically low budget but was desperate to go electric, primarily to help minimise my CO2 output. I set up a search alert for an accident damage repaired EV on eBay and surprisingly one came up in a couple of days. It was also the electric version of exactly the same car I currently owned! That weekend I had the car. Three weeks later I had an OLEV grant mostly subsidised home charger installed. I think the first thing I’d say to prospective EV buyers is that they needn’t be expensive. You can pick up a perfectly serviceable car with a range of between 70 and 90 miles for £5-7K. I hadn’t considered buying a hybrid of any kind as my petrol VW Up! was as economical as the best of the hybrids anyway.
In terms of using the EV, I love it. Plain and simple. It has revolutionised driving for me. Having never even sat in an EV before picking mine up, the experience is on another level and our family diesel now feels like a horrible old tractor (it will also soon be replaced with a cheap EV). I haven’t felt compelled to just go for a drive since I first passed my test at 17 and a month in and I still just want to get in this thing and drive! It is a different mindset to fossil fuelled cars. Not necessarily in a bad way as they both have their pros and cons. I automatically plug in when I arrive home. Family days out involve parking at places that offer charging more for the fun of it than needing the charge. Commuting to work has sometimes meant plugging the granny charger into a wall socket. Conversely, I’m saving a ton on fuel costs, congestion charges, low emissions charges and road tax. It cost £40 more per year to insure than my previous petrol Up! although that was because it was CAT S rather than being electric. And another great thing? driving past petrol stations and noticing the price rises!
My advice to folks thinking about making the switch on a low budget, enter it with a sense of adventure. It’s honestly a real blast and I certainly won’t be going back to a fossil fuelled car. If you’ve got the money for something with impressive range, you’ve absolutely nothing to worry about.
