Don't Buy an Electric Car! (My Honest EV Review After 25,000 Miles)

Thinking about BUYING an EV? Here are the GOOD and BAD bits that you MUST BE AWARE of when owning an ELECTRIC VEHICLE. This is my HONEST REVIEW having DRIVEN over 25,000 MILES in my ELECTRIC CAR over the past 3 years.

Electric cars are becoming more and more popular as costs come down, charging infrastructure improves and the government introduces policies to phase out traditional ICE cars (Internal Combustion Engine).

There is a lot of misinformation about electric vehicles and this leaves many people asking questions like "Should I buy an electric car?" or "Are electric cars bad?".

The truth is mainstream media has created a social device between EV vs petrol cars, however, it doesn't need to be like this. It shouldn't be a case of electric vs fuel car as everyone has different requirements. You should look at your own driving requirements before making your own decision on the electric vs petrol car debate.

If you are buying a car and considering an EV, I would recommend watching this video and then deciding for yourself whether buying an EV is the right choice for you.

I discuss everything from charging costs (how much does it cost to charge an electric car in the UK), driving experience, range anxiety and more.

Leasing an electric car is one of the most tax efficient ways of owning an EV. I lease my Polestar 2 through my Ltd company and it works out cheaper than owning a traditional petrol or diesel car privately.

To find out more about car leasing or the tax breaks available on low BIK (benefit in kind) electric cars, please watch the following videos:

What do you think about electric cars? Let us know in the comments below!

[daisywarwick]

I live in a flat and so have no hope of charging at home. So many people live in flats and terraces with no drives, so would struggle to charge at home. Therefore, the cost of charging in public is the cost I consider to be the cost of an EV, so therefore it makes sense to listen to the articles telling me about the cost of EV ownership. EV ownership is just not practical for many people who don't have a house with a drive. Houses with drives are getting harder to find if your house budget is on the lower end.

[edc]

The government has failed at deploying public chargers, but then they’ve failed at everything for the last 15 years.

[twig]

On a trip to the West Country a 40 minute stop for a bite to eat and a recharge sounds okay, but obviously that depends on a charger being available. Sometimes you’ll have to queue for a couple of hours before you can get plugged in.

[TriStarIII]

It seems most ev owners don‘t choose a car based on their lifestyle, they choose an ev and adjust their lifestyle to the car. Which is exactly what 'they' want.

[longmemory]

I recently visited the UK where I stayed in an old Victorian town, Cleveland. All the big old Victorian houses have been converted into flats and their gardens concreted over for parking. The roads too were completely full of parked cars all day long. How are all these drivers going to charge their vehicles? If you live in a block of flats in London how will the necessary infrastructure be provided?

[brentwestbrook]

I understand the technology perfectly. I have two boats which I've converted from ICE to multiple DC electric motors. However, these use conventional batteries (don't need to worry about weight). These are charged by solar when not in use so have a long charging period (don't use them everyday and barely at all in the winter).

From that technical stance, I have no issue with EVs. I do have a problem with the lithium based batteries. These are extremely expensive and obviously constitute a high percentage of the cost of the vehicle. Daily use will reduce the efficiency in charging cycles and they'll need to be replaced at 6 to 10 years. That will be more than the vehicles value in that period.

If there was a battery exchange process perhaps that would alleviate the problem.

On batteries, these contain many "rare" elements that require deep mining with conventional techniques involving diesel equipment. They're not going to be emission free until a considerable mileage of some 50-70K miles. At which point battery replacement will be required adding to emissions again.

If a battery is damaged, if there is fire or not, then replacement, again, leads to further emissions or scrapping the vehicle.

Given that EVs are still a small percentage of road vehicles and you've pointed out the public charging issues, then doubling the number or even the 50% that government wants will make the situation worse.

The whole 2030-2035-2050 goals are not going to work until alternative cheaper batteries and a full infrastructure is in place. Windmills and solar are not going to do that unless there is massive investment made in power provision at load source.

On the subject of fire, yes ICE cars do it too, EVs with lithium cells are difficult to extinguish but ICE cars are a known quantity.

I've noted that some insurance companies are refusing to insure EVs because of this and the surrounding damage caused.

The whole industry needs to be developed properly and not rushed. Government and climate change evangelists are doing just that, rushing for flawed reasoning.

[paulflannery]

There is nothing wrong with internal combustion engines.they are quite honestly amazing!

[jerryfacts]

I live in Canada. There are charging issues similar to what you have explained. It is best to own an EV for local commutes. If going on a long trip it is best to plan very well the charging stops. The charging infrastructure is sort of acceptable in Quebec and Ontario, but in the rest of Canada charging along the highways can have issues. Many EV owners, if they want to take a long trip they lease a rental car for the trip, or they own a second vehicle for long trips.

For people who live in apartment buildings, and have to park in an area where they cannot have a charger this becomes a serious and annoying issue. I tell people to only buy an EV if they have a guaranteed place where they can charge their EV. If not a better compromise is to get a plug in type hybrid. This can run on battery only, if you can have a place to charge it.

As for myself I will not buy an EV. I would have to be forced to buy one.

[richard]

I had a family friend who died through tiredness. I ALWAYS stop after 2 hours on long trips. I usually stop for about 20 minutes, so changing that to 30 minutes won’t kill me.

[animal]

I think the term 'business' is quite key, not all can claim for an EV, and when the business rates and subsidies become less and less. The cost is the biggest hurdle and the recent concern is rising insurance costs and the potential of home insurance premiums going up for home charging. I'm still on the fence and have done the maths several times and currently it's a huge cost for us to swap. My car usage scheme with my government job doesn't include EVs on their current mileage claim form, so it would be 100% my cost, and the leasing or financing would be several thousands of pounds more per year. So in effect I would be giving myself a pay cut. A diesel is still the most efficient and affordable route for us. But a great video that was a balanced account and did answer many of the issues that we have. Thanks for your time making this video.

[Cortinaman]

In 1976 I bought a Ford Cortina Mk3 it cost £1, 575 I drove it every day for 25 years, then bought a Volvo 240 for £600, used it for 4 years, then a 1992 Ford Fiesta Mk3 for £400, used it for 15 years and now have a 1999 Nissan Micra that cost £1, 000 including fully serviced with New MOT so total cost of cars for 44 years of daily driving only £3, 575, (The Cortina and Fiesta I still own) and their values have risen to more than the cost of the £50, 000 EV, now that is sensible and cost effective motoring. as I know the EV battery will not last 25 years, and the EV will not be worth £80, 000 even if it survived till it was 50 years old, and had around 4 new battery packs fitted at a cost of around £30, 000 plus each time?, realistically an EV will be scrapped once the battery pack gives up, meaning far more pollution and resources used to produced a replacement vehicle, my Fiesta engine 1.3cc petrol, was professionally rebuilt when I bought it, costing only £1, 200 a hell of a lot cheaper than a new EV battery pack. true I pay more for petrol than currently EV owners do for Electricity, but watch the price on that sky rocket if EV's are everywhere, it wont be just 70p then, I remember back in 1974 petrol was only 50p a Gallon, and look at the price now. for only a liter.almost 3 times as much, as the ! gallon cost.

[jamesakerman]

I’m a service engineer who’s doing 30, 000 miles a year in a EV. We lose staff due to the company electric fleet policy. I charge for over 5 hours a week. I’ve had a 7 hour round trip take 13.5 hours due to broken chargers and waiting for busy chargers. I only charge on the public network and it’s mostly 79p a kilowatt for the places I have to charge. I’m praying I’ve got an EV with a faulty battery that catches on fire and smoulders onto the road.

[mariawilliams]

Your description of the issues faced when using public chargers was absolutely spot on! I had my first experience of public charging recently - it wasn't great! Despite doing all the things you described, such as planning stops along the route, downloading apps in advance etc. I was not prepared for the number of chargers either out of use, or that would not accept my payment cards (including a dedicated EV charge card with funds pre-loaded!) meaning I had to download different apps and agree to funds being 'blocked' on my account before I could start charging. Not to mention the aggressive behaviour of some other EV drivers in competition over the chargers, and were not prepared to take their turn. On a positive note, I found that avoiding motorway services made for a better experience - it seemed to me that if I was prepared to drive a mile or two off the motorway to charge I paid less and charge points were more readily available. I am better prepared now for my next big trip. I have a home charger but if I was not able to have this, I would not consider an EV. The overnight cheaper tariff makes charging very inexpensive and convenient.

[brianferguson]

The only people who can afford to buy a £50, 000 car are nearly all house owners who can charge at home. Less well off will always have to use public chargers and buy second hand electric cars with dodgy batteries.

[Apock]

Apparently insurance is about to become a serious issue in EV ownership, damage to the battery is usually a write off.

[g.p]

Home charging won’t always be cheap… Soon Electricity used for car charging will be taxed at the same rate as petrol. A smart meter can recognise when a car is charging and a higher rate for electricity will be charged … Why do you think the electricity companies are always pushing smart meters?!!

[chunbaouk]

Clickybaity title considering you yourself would happily buy another electric car, but generally a fair an interesting insight into electric car ownership. I leased a BMW i3 as my first electric car through my business (made a lot of sense in terms of taxes as you say). Great car but i found the charging infrastructure on long journey's to be dire and so I did the obvious thing... and swapped it out for a Tesla Model 3. Completely different world. I drove from Newcastle to Cornwall without a single issue this year, no Zap Map, no planning even, just let Tesla and their amazing chargers do the job. The electricity is even generally cheaper on Superchargers than at non-Tesla rapid chargers. So my question to you is, why didn't you get a Tesla? Polstar is a very fine car but the charging infrastructure and experience is just leagues better in a Tesla and I wouldn't go back.

[simonpaine]

Meanwhile in the last month there have been in excess of 1500 public chargers, including loads of motorway services getting huge upgrades and increased numbers.

[JorgeBachtold]

I don't understand why you can't just pay with your debit or credit card instead of using a different app for each vehicle charger.

[TheBonsaiZone]

I don't have a cell phone, would I be out of luck owning an EV?