The costs and benefits of an electric vehicle

What are the benefits of an electric car?

We’ve pulled together a list of the advantages you can get when choosing to drive an EV:

Lower running costs.
Reduced noise pollution.
Cleaner environment.
No congestion charge.
Smoother driving experience.
Road tax reductions.
Government grants.
Renewable electricity tariffs.
Charge at home.

Exploring the advantages of electric vehicles.

Let’s go into more detail about the EV benefits:

Lower running costs.

An electric car will cost you less to fill up and drive, as well as being cheaper to service and maintain. Plus there’s little or no vehicle tax to pay.

Reduced noise pollution.

Without petrol or diesel engines to make all that noise, EVs are much quieter. In fact they’re so quiet they are now required by law to emit a noise (Acoustic Vehicle Alert System) when reversing or traveling below 12 mph.

Cleaner environment.

Because they’re electric, EVs aren’t releasing carbon exhaust fumes into the air whilst you’re driving, helping to reduce air pollution and combat climate change.

No congestion charge.

If you live in London or areas which have introduced Clean Air Zones to reduce pollution, you’ll avoid paying any charges in an electric vehicle.

Smoother driving experience.

With less internal moving parts, electric cars can handle easier, make less noise and benefit from regenerative braking that captures motion energy from acceleration that would have been wasted.

Road tax reductions.

If you’re driving a fully electric car rather than a plug-in hybrid, then your road tax is absolutely free. If you drive a plug-in hybrid you’ll still get a discount over petrol or diesel cars.

Government grants.

Depending on your situation you could be eligible for a government grant towards your EV including the plug-in car grant and the Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme (EVHS).

Renewable electricity tariffs.

All of our energy tariffs come with 100% renewable electricity as standard. Plus you can get alerted when our EV tariff is available.

Home charger.

No more going to the petrol station in the morning before work, get an electric home charger installed and you can charge your electric car overnight.

How well do electric cars perform?

With more and more advances in electric vehicles, they’re now performing even better against traditional petrol or diesel engines. As they’re often lighter, the acceleration of electric cars can surprise you.

The Tesla Model S for example is one of the fastest-accelerating cars on the market, doing 0-60 mph in just under 2 seconds.

Electric vehicles are becoming more popular.

As more companies start making electric cars they’re becoming an ever bigger presence on our roads, and that’s a good thing. With more EVs we’re seeing the supporting infrastructure grow. For example there are around 20,000 charging locations in the UK, offering over 35,000 charging points.

You compare this against petrol stations, which in 2021 we had about 8,378 in the UK and has been dropping since 2000, and you can see the impact of EVs.

Plus more EVs are being created for you to choose from, with companies such as Nissan, Hyundai and Volkswagen all producing popular electric cars.

Should I get a home charger for my electric vehicle?

Smart chargers offer you a hassle-free way to charge your electric car without leaving the house. A home smart charger offering 7.4kW can charge an electric car in six hours.

Plus, with the average cost of electricity at 34p per kWh it can cost a lot less to fill up than a petrol or diesel car.

Get a Vestel EV04 charger.

Perfect for your home.

WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity.
Can be used via the app.
Available both socketed and tethered.
Can be used in all weather.
Has a maximum output of 7.4 kW on a single phase meter such as your home, but can increase to 11 kW or 22 kW on a 3 phase meter for commercial use.

Get more information

What are the disadvantages of an electric vehicle?

Like any vehicle, there are some disadvantages to owning an electric car, however each of them are being tackled in different ways.

Driving range of electric cars.

Despite EV car sales continuing to rise, for some people, the range or how far an EV can go before needing to charge is still a concern. This is called “range anxiety” and generally focuses on longer journeys where people are worried they’ll run out of charge before they get where they’re going.

Most electric vehicles have a range of 150-300 miles, and with over 35,000 charging points across the UK there are plenty of places to charge up. If you’re going on a long journey, we recommend mapping out where you can stop to charge before you drive and make sure your EV is fully charged before you head out.

Time to charge.

Whilst more and more people are charging their EVs at home, sometimes you just need to find a charger when you’re out and about. With petrol and diesel cars you’re used to a fuelling process that takes a few minutes, however with your electric car will generally take longer.

Ultra-fast and rapid public chargers can charge your electric vehicle in around 30 minutes, which means it’ll take a bit more time before you’re on the road.

How long the battery will last.

The batteries used in current electric cars do have a life expectancy. Currently it’s about 10-20 years depending on the make and model of EV. This means you’ll need to factor the cost of changing the battery in if you’re planning to keep your EV for the long term.

Enjoy the benefits of an electric car.