With the 2030 ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars creeping closer, you may be thinking – should I buy an electric car in 2023?
We’re here to make your decision easier – keep reading to find out the six reasons why you should purchase an electric car in 2023.
Electric cars have fewer moving parts than petrol or diesel vehicles. Specific maintenance on various car parts such as spark plugs, timing belts, and catalytic converters is not needed with electric vehicles, as the parts just don’t exist. Other maintenance, such as engine oil changes, are also not required. Therefore, routine maintenance tends to be much cheaper for electric vehicles. You are less likely to have to take an electric vehicle to the garage, too, as fewer parts mean less to break or go wrong.
Charging your electric vehicle is also cheaper than filling it up with fuel. Let’s take the Nissan Leaf (2018) with a range of 168 miles; for example, it will cost you approximately £6.12 to fully charge at home. For a bigger electric vehicle, such as a Tesla Model S, with a range of 388 miles, it is approximated to only cost you £16.15 to charge fully at home. Think about how much you spend on fuel every week – it’s usually significantly more to fill up your petrol or diesel car with a full tank of fuel than charging an EV.
With a smart electric vehicle charger at home, you can also schedule your charging for when the demand for the grid is low, ensuring even cheaper charging prices.
If you have an Ultra Low Emission Vehicle, you can apply for a green parking permit and park for free in city centres/council-owned car parks, although this is dependent on your local council. Private car parks also often offer discounted parking tickets for fully electric vehicles.
In certain areas, there are parking bays where you can park and charge your EV for FREE. Please have a look on Zap-Map to find exactly where they are; however, most of the free chargers are found at supermarkets! To locate these charge points across the country, select “free to use” within the payment filter on Zap-Map.
Since April 2020, all pure electric vehicles have been exempt from VED (road tax) in the UK. Many owners of petrol and diesel cars can pay more than £1,000 in road tax every year; however, zero-emission vehicles are exempt not only in the first year but all subsequent years.
If you live in London and own a car, you will understand the burden of the Congestion Charge. However, owning a zero-emission EV allows you to be exempt from the pesky £15 daily charge. Not only that but if you have a fully electric vehicle and enter the ULEZ (Ultra Low Emission Zone), you are also exempt from the daily £12.50 fee.
The International Council on Clean Transportation (ICTT) reported that EVs produce most of their emissions during manufacturing. However, in terms of overall lifetime emissions, electric vehicles have the upper hand, producing significantly less than petrol and diesel cars. This is because they are zero-emission vehicles, whereby they produce no direct exhaust or tailpipe emissions. Not only does reduced air pollution help the environment and reduce your carbon footprint, but it is also better for public health!
What’s more, technology is advancing. For example, some EV chargers, such as the VCHRGD Seven, allow you to charge your electric vehicle with solar energy. Furthermore, more research is also going into the recycling and reuse of electric vehicle batteries ensuring a more sustainable future for electric vehicles.
Driving an EV is practically silent, and not only is that pretty cool, but it makes for a relaxing driving experience. Accelerating and decelerating in an electric car is also very smooth, and it’s easier to reach higher speeds in less time compared to petrol and diesel cars. Not only that, but electric cars also have regenerative braking. This is when wasted energy from the process of slowing down is used to recharge your car batteries, making your brakes more efficient.
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This type of electric charger has it's own cable to charge your car.
This type of electric charger requires a seperate cable to charge your car.
Spread over a 60 month period.
Tenants and homeowners are eligible for finance.
You decide the amount of months.
Minimum of £1000.
We will contact you to process the credit application. Approval is subject to application, financial circumstances and borrowing history. 13.9% APR representative. T&Cs apply.
Your order is not confirmed until your application has been approved.
We lay SWA cable laid at 600mm deep, with a protective cable warning tape laid 150mm above the cable. These are laid on a sand or sifted sand soil bed then backfilled.
We position overhead cables at a minimum height of 3.5m and are run along a catenary wire. The cable run should not be accessible to vehicles.
Standard Installation
Our instant price is fixed if it falls within our standard installation package plus any additions that you have selected (extra cabling for example). This package covers the majority of homes in the UK. Before we undertake your installation we will carry out a digital survey to check that nothing has been missed. After reviewing the survey results some additional work may be required in order to complete your installation safely and to the required standards. If this is the case, we will contact you well before the installation date and advise the cost of any required work. You can then continue with your installation, or alternatively we will refund you in full if you do not want to proceed.
Included in our standard installation is :
• Fitting of a single phase charge point to a brick or plaster wall or other suitable permanent structure
• Up to 10 metres of cable, run and neatly clipped to the wall between the electricity supply meter / distribution board and the charge point.
• Routing of the cable through a drilled hole in a wall up to 500mm (20 inches) thick if this is needed.
• The fitting and testing of electrical connections and protections required for the charge point.
• An additional three way consumer unit, if required
• Installation of a Type A RCBO in an RCBO enclosure
• Up to 3 metres of plastic trunking to conceal interior wiring.
• An O-pen earth protection device if the charge point requires it. (This is NOT an earth rod)
• Up to 4 hours of labour from your installer to complete the work.
• Electrical testing of the whole installation.
• Handover and setup of the charge point and any app that may be needed.
Not included in our standard installation (additional work) :
• Where the installation requires additional cabling over and above the amount you have told us about.
• Upgrade/replacement of the main incoming supply fuse where the local DNO (eg Northern Powergrid) would need to attend site.
• If the charge point is to be mounted on a post/pedestal rather than an existing wall and where you have not selected a post as an extra cost option in your order.
• Installation of a charge point to a three phase supply.
• Where gas and water mains bonding (earthing) is not in place at your property. If this is not in place, additional work would be required before installation of the charge point.
• Any groundwork that has not been selected during the order process.
A Surge Protection Device is not included in our standard installation.
What else you need to know :
• On the day of installation, please ensure that the area around your consumer unit (fuse box), incoming electricity supply meter and proposed charge point location (including where the cable is expected to be run) is clear and free of obstructions.
• We will need your WiFi password as part of the installation process in order to connect your charge point to the internet. Please have this available for the installer. Details will not be kept.
• The charge point must be on your own designated off road parking.
• The charger will be fixed in line with current guidelines at a height where it cannot be hit by a vehicle.
• Our installers are not able to enter loft spaces; lift floorboards or flooring; take apart any furniture of work above a height of 2m. If you anticipate that any of this may be required, then please contact us and we can discuss in more detail and provide you with a quotation.
• Should there be extreme weather conditions our installers may not be able to continue with you installation if it is not safe to do so (for example flooding). They will always do their best to complete the work where they can.
If you have any questions then please contact our customer service team who will be happy to help. Please also read our terms and conditions.
