Electric cars
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meltonblue
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Bit the bullet and got a BMW i4 on a salary sacrifice scheme at work, had it a month now. It’s the most fun car I’ve ever driven, the acceleration is just scary when you want it to be. Waiting for a charger to be installed at home but can charge it at work for 23p/kwh which is pretty bloody good anyway, saving a fortune already on running costs.
Fred_Quimby
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Wait till you are charged peanuts for the servicing.
meltonblue
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All included in the salary sacrifice :) Service and insurance. It’s net costing me about £320 a month, which I’m covering in the reduced fuel costs let alone everything else.
meltonblue
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Only issue is I’m on a looped supply and national grid are going to have to dig up my drive before I can get a charger installed and fully working.
It’s costing me £10 at work to go from about 10% to 80% though so I’m not that bothered.
It’s costing me £10 at work to go from about 10% to 80% though so I’m not that bothered.
I'm three months in now and do not see any downsides.
All those anti EV brigade either don't own one or have ulterior motives.
Maybe earlier EV's were a bit boring or odd looking. And the "soulless" taglines was before the performance EV's shown up.
These things are shockingly fast. The instant response means few would ever go back to petrol.
In petrol and diesels defence, it's the emission stuff like EGR's and DPF/Cats are what are killing them. Apart from robbing throttle response, the amount of maintenance needed for those bits need makes running an ice car expensive.
There isn't much to go wrong on an EV, and no worries when you floor it. Thrashing a ICE car all day isn't a good idea.
It's took me a while to stop "warming it up" before flooring it!
All those anti EV brigade either don't own one or have ulterior motives.
Maybe earlier EV's were a bit boring or odd looking. And the "soulless" taglines was before the performance EV's shown up.
These things are shockingly fast. The instant response means few would ever go back to petrol.
In petrol and diesels defence, it's the emission stuff like EGR's and DPF/Cats are what are killing them. Apart from robbing throttle response, the amount of maintenance needed for those bits need makes running an ice car expensive.
There isn't much to go wrong on an EV, and no worries when you floor it. Thrashing a ICE car all day isn't a good idea.
It's took me a while to stop "warming it up" before flooring it!
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itsnevereasy
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We are on a looped supply and got a charger installed no problem, Octopus energy installer checked size of fuse and fitted a CT clamp that balances the load (set at a limit of 60 amps). First company I called asked for some photos and told me the you’ll need the drive way dug up, so might be worth calling around.
meltonblue
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Does that limit the charge you get to the car charger? Or can you get the full 7kwh?
I’ve been in touch with a couple, the second one said they could do it but would limit the charge to something like 3kw until National grid unlooped the supply. Ita not a subject I know much about so I’m going to do some proper googling!
meltonblue
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Completely agree with this. Like I said, I’ve never had more fun with a car. The only caveat I’d say is I’ve got mine for four years and then I give it back so I don’t need to worry about any long term degradation in price or performance. The retail price of it is knocking on 70k, I wouldn’t have bought one personally, it works because of the salary sacrifice and the benefits that come with doing that.
Given a choice, I wouldn’t go back to petrol or diesel.
In four years EV's will be light years ahead again.
600+ mile range will be a thing. Ultra fast charging and more charging stations will be even better.
Prices will keep dropping rapidly as battery prices drop.
It is scary to think where performance will be. The Hyundai Ioniq 5 N already does 0-60 in just over 3 seconds, corners on rails and beats many super cars. It's not cheap at £60k, but for a family saloon, it shows what is coming!
At the other end of the scale, the Dacia Spring EV starts at £14k. Even with it's limited range, it will suits loads of people who do low miles.
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Uncle Wally One Ball
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You lost me at 'salary sacrifice'. We are all different I know but Id sooner decide what gets spent and on what rather than a work organised scheme. Bit of a twat me though so maybe not one to listen to. Im against any type of leasing though. If I could buy it and have a work related scheme I may be more interested
meltonblue
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Not sure I get you? You do decide what gets spent, there’s pretty much every car available across whatever you want to spend. The advantage of salary sacrifice is the tax benefits that come with it. I’ve got a choice to buy at the end if I want to (or if I get made redundant, I get to keep the car).
It’s the first car I’ve ever done through any form of leasing, normally I buy outright. Did the calculations though and it ended up a no brainer.
I wouldn’t have bought it outright though. Partly due to the depreciation of electrics and me thinking they’ve still got a lot of progress to be made yet and also it’s a 70k car, there’s no way I could have done it and thought it economically viable.
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Blue Maverick
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Can I ask with salary sacrifice does it affect your pension contributions? My wife works for nhs and they do a similar thing and she seem to think it does, I’m not sure how it works if I’m honest.
itsnevereasy
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Still get 7kwh - it supposedly reduces it if the demand from the rest of the house goes up (guessing washing, dryer, kettle, microwave all going at once might push it) but never seen it happen and 95% of charging is overnight.
Octopus were great with us, within a week they booked in and installed. The charger is a Ohme Pro which is what they recommend based on being on a looped supply with a 60 amp fuse, which I believe is the lowest size for houses. It’s also compatible with intelligent tariff so not depending on the car if you wanted that tariff.
roubaixtuesday
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AIUI, and this could be completely wrong because I'm not a tax expert, if you get an EV through a company scheme, you pay almost no tax on it, as the benefit in kind rate is just 2%.
So you're essentially paying from gross income rather than net.
pod-point.com
So buying an EV through one of these schemes is far cheaper than doing it yourself.
Also, it means those of us not doing this are subsidising luxury vehicles for those who are...
So you're essentially paying from gross income rather than net.
Benefit in Kind (BIK) Electric Car Tax Guide | Pod
The complete guide to company electric car tax, covering what a company and employee need to contribute and how it is calculated.
So buying an EV through one of these schemes is far cheaper than doing it yourself.
Also, it means those of us not doing this are subsidising luxury vehicles for those who are...
meltonblue
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It doesn’t for me as my pension contribution is taken from my gross salary before the salary sacrifice.
meltonblue
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AIUI, and this could be completely wrong because I'm not a tax expert, if you get an EV through a company scheme, you pay almost no tax on it, as the benefit in kind rate is just 2%.
So you're essentially paying from gross income rather than net.
Benefit in Kind (BIK) Electric Car Tax Guide | Pod
The complete guide to company electric car tax, covering what a company and employee need to contribute and how it is calculated.
So buying an EV through one of these schemes is far cheaper than doing it yourself.
Also, it means those of us not doing this are subsidising luxury vehicles for those who are...
Your last point, I did think about when I was ordering it tbh. The winners are the fleet operators too.
bluethrunthru
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Personally not for me but if you consider the average car journey in the UK is @ 8mls this is an affordable entry point
www.dacia.co.uk
Spring electric 4-seater city car – Dacia
Discover Dacia Spring, the spacious electric city car. Explore all the features, including its multimedia system, touchscreen, and YouClip attachment!
www.dacia.co.uk
Or maybe these people have no means to charge at home?
Manc baggie
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I’m 3 months into my first EV. A Skoda Enyaq. It’s a superb car & proving to be an absolute joy to drive & cheap to run.
My previous car was a Nissan Qashqai diesel which would cost around £65 to fill up & I would get around 460 miles to a tank of fuel. A full charge at home now costs me around £6 & gets me around 230 miles, so to get the same miles per tank as my Qashqai, I typically have to charge twice a week at a cost of around £12 as opposed to £65.
So far I have only had to use public chargers whilst on holiday in Wales for a week & a couple of particularly long drives to Scotland & it was still cheaper than buying diesel.
My previous car was a Nissan Qashqai diesel which would cost around £65 to fill up & I would get around 460 miles to a tank of fuel. A full charge at home now costs me around £6 & gets me around 230 miles, so to get the same miles per tank as my Qashqai, I typically have to charge twice a week at a cost of around £12 as opposed to £65.
So far I have only had to use public chargers whilst on holiday in Wales for a week & a couple of particularly long drives to Scotland & it was still cheaper than buying diesel.