Would an electric car work for us?
Hi there,
My wife drives a 2005 Toyota RAV4 1.8 petrol. Over a year ago she changed jobs from a 6km commute to one with a 48km commute each way. This is half motorway and then mainly country roads. This coupled with kid taxi duties means she does nearly 650km a week (Mon to Fri) and spends around €75 a week on petrol. I do 900km a week and already have a car loan for a diesel car.
So my question is, an electric car feasible for someone with that commute and no option to charge at work, except for probably emergencies, and monthly repayments must be €300 or less? Which I assume means that the new Ioniq and new Leaf are out of reach.
David Delaney (Kells)Feb 2017 Filed under: electric cars
Expert answer
Hi David,
Yes, you could just about do 48km each way in an electric car, certainly in the Ioniq and just about in the 30kWh Nissan Leaf, although it would be hugely helpful if there could be some way of charging up at work. A Renault Zoe might do the trick too.
Hyundai asks for a minimum €5,000-odd deposit on a new Ioniq, and the repayments are quite steep so that one might be out of the question, although they come down to around €360 if you can put a €10,000 deposit down. A basic Nissan Leaf, with €6,762 down, will cost you just €264 a month, which might leave enough wriggle room to go for the bigger battery, and Nissan has some tempting free insurance offers on at the moment, while Renault asks just €179 a month for a Zoe, but the battery rental is extra and it comes with some quite tight mileage stipulations.
The other, possibly better, option would be to go half-electric. Toyota can put you into a Prius or an Auris Hybrid for as little as €199 to €263 a month (again, depending on deposits etc.) or you can get the rather impressive new Kia Niro for €353 a month with a €9,000 deposit. All of those should average as much as 60mpg, which would put a big dent in your fuel costs.
Read our relevant reviews here to help you choose:
Neil Briscoe - Complete Car Advisor@neilmbriscoe