How to get a cheap Electric car | The ultimate Guide

Electric cars are expensive, at least for the moment. It's one of the biggest obstacles to those interested in ditching combustion for their first taste of the EV life.

It's easy to be put off by the big price tags on the newest electric model from Tesla or Audi, but don't fear – there are ways of getting your hands on an electric daily for a lot less.

Eilis takes a look at what are your options when it comes to getting an EV for less of your hard earned cash.

0:00 Intro
0:33 EVs are cheaper than ICEs annually
1:58 The Citroen Ami
2:53 New cars under £30k
3:43 How the Government can help you... kinda
4:43 Long term leases
5:33 Have you heard of Salary Sacrifice Schemes?
6:48 You could scrap your old car
7:25 Growing second-hand EV market
8:54 Prices should continue to fall

#electriccar #ev #money
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[kjhaz]

If this is The Ultimate Guide, then we're in trouble, especially as you omit to mention pre-owned EV prices are at an all time high and new EVs take forever to arrive in the UK.

[rogermckenzie]

EV car still a bit out of reach for me as I'm now retired but a couple of years back I bought a second hand electric scooter (the sit-on type) for NZ$1400, replaced the old batteries with lithium ion ones, charge it off my solar panels and home built power wall, zero fuel costs for most of my local running. Love it!

[goosegog]

I bought a 80, 000 mile 2013 24kWh Leaf for £7, 000 two years ago. It still has 83% of its battery capacity remaining and is perfect for my very predictable 32 mile commute. I charge from home and even at today's tariffs, costs just £1.50 per day to charge at home. If I still had my Subaru Impreza, I would be paying £10 a day for the same journey.

[dcbel]

It will become easier in the next months and years with more used EVs available and more affordable models coming to market!


A lot of great options to get your first EV that you are sharing here, Eilis! Thank you!
🔌⚡🚘

[bobnelsonfr]

Pragmatic family economics. We need this, and you made it (almost) supportable. Well done!

[Wombat-blue]

Brilliant video thanks. Interesting and full of great ideas. Well done E.

[waynefaram]

Phew. I love EV’s but I get caught out when asked this question time and time again, it’s difficult to answer. They’re obviously far too expensive. The Chinese already have their production lines up and running and ready to supply us with cheaper EV’s. Hopefully governments will help by allowing them to market. Can’t help but feel that EV prices are being falsely inflated to make a quick buck (encourage people to buy the old ICE stock). The whole thing seems a bit weird. Can’t understand why Legacy auto makers are behaving like this. They’ll go bust if it carries on.

[rogersmith]

Excellent video. Most of the advice is a little too UK-specific to suit my needs but you gave me a lot to think about.

[Phoenix-]

This channel is honestly fantastic and I love the little LoTR meme haha. Plus I was thinking of getting a Citroen e-C4, they seem like a decent starter EV

[joules]

Instead of leasing a succession of cars, why not use that cash for other things, stick with an ICE car for a few more years, use it as infrequently as possible, and buy an e-bike for those short trips around town. You won't have any range anxiety, or indeed charge point anxiety, and you'll avoid being ripped off by charge point firms that want to charge you anything up to 10 times the amount per kW/h, when compared to off peak domestic tariffs.

But if we are on the subject of cheap EVs, why not mention EV kits. DIY kits are already available for a few thousand Euros, and I'm hearing that the price to convert can be as little as a thousand Euros if you use 2nd hand parts. So I think this may be the way to go, with garages getting up to speed with conversions, and competition in the marketplace doing the rest.

[briangriffiths]

I have often bought my new cars immediately before Xmas as dealers' showrooms tend to be very quiet then and they usually have their quarterly sales figures looming on December 31st. This normally ensures the best possible deal as long as you are flexible about model and colour scheme for any stock they may hold. I bought my Fiat 500e last December and got a small discount off the headline price as well as a trade-in second to none.

[radomir]

2:56 Why would you put a picture of an old Leaf model when talking about new cars? The editor needs to be a bit less oblivious to EV models and not just use the first image that comes up. :)

[benjaminford]

I think I'm correct in saying that using salary sacrifice in the UK has a negative effect on the company pension, so worth researching before going ahead with that option.

[kingkal]

If you live in a town or city and your commute is between 1 to 10 miles. Don't get an eCar or eMotorbike. Get the future of personal electric transport = Electric Bicycle. A Riese and Müller Nevo 3 top of the line Bosch eBike cost £5K, still cheaper than a eCar. Plus no Tax, insurance...

[kashpatel]

Very informative video, with hope on the horizon in a very negative world
Hope to own an EV one day 🙏

[bill_heywood]

Great video. Salary sacrifice may be a great option for some people, but when I looked at it, the impact on my pension meant it wasn't a good idea for me. Because salary sacrifice reduces your taxable pay, it also reduces your pensionable pay. If your employer makes contributions based on your pay, the lower your pay, the less they put into your pension. So, a cheap car now is good, but not at the expense of a lower pension for your whole retirement. If your employer's pension is not much cop, then the salary sacrifice is a great option

[tubularG]

I'm desperately looking around for a way to take advantage of the tax savings a business gets when it buys an EV. I hear people talking about saving up to 50% somehow. Seems a bit unfair that's there's an incredible deal that I can't access because I don't earn enough. So I earn less money and that means I'll have to pay more for same thing. That's backwards.
Unfortunately I'm a temp employee so salary sacrifice schemes aren't available to me.

[markreed]

Sadly no BMW i3's for under £10k at the moment - prices of ALL used and new EV's have gone crazy due to supply chain issues making the availability of new vehicles very limited.

[piconano]

In Eastern Canada we pay CDN $0.07/ kWh between 7:00pm and 6:00am and all weekend, $0.13 all other times. I think we have the cheapest electricity in the world.
My moped costs me 7 cents to fill-up and go 30 miles. I haven't bought a drop of gasoline in over 6 years. Take that fat cat oil companies.
I even use it in our Canadian winters. Yes, I have to wait up to 2 days for the roads to be cleared, salted and dry after a snow storm, but I can live with that.
I would buy a Chinese EV that weighs less than 1000 kg. None of that 2+ ton crap they sell these days. Elementary physics. The more you weigh, the more you pay.

[pwerup]

I wish the government gave us the option of a 0% loan for EV's like the do in Scotland!