EV/Hybrid for work commute.

SuperTortoise

So, with the price of diesel sky high and no sign of it coming back down to a reasonable level anytime soon, i think the time has come to buy something electric for the work commute.

Currently spending €130 per week on diesel, commute is 50km each way, what are the options?

Will admit to not being up on EV spec at all.

Looked at nissan leafs on doendeal, but anything within price range will struggle to get me to work and back on a single charge due to battery degradation, what else is out there?

Is a Hybrid an option? Have been told that they can be thirsty and the mileage you get out of battery only is'nt worth talking about?

NIMAN

I take it you have no workplace charging ability?

So you basically need it to do 100km on a charge?

denismc

Most EVs that came out in the last 5 years will do 200km per charge so you have plenty of choice, unfortunately 2nd hand ev prices are sky high at the moment.

Let us know what your budget is and you will get plenty of replies.

Hybrid isn't going to save you that much on fuel but there should be greater availability.

SuperTortoise

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119193838#Comment_119193838

Yes, no place to charge while working and my workplace is out of town, 100km range would give me 7-8 km safety range.

Really don't care about the look or the spec of the vehicle, it will be used just for the work commute.

The only car in price range are 10 year old leaf's on donedeal and i don't think they have the range.

SuperTortoise

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119193867#Comment_119193867

Thanks for your reply, budget is not big, 6-7-8k at a stretch.

zg3409

Firstly you should factor in fuel savings and seriously consider a loan may work out cheaper.

I used to drive a 110km round trip 5 days a week all motorway at top speed in a 28kWh battery Hyundai ioniq. Used they are around 20,000 euro now. A leaf with a 30kWh might work, around 16,000 euro.

Cost savings may be 100 euro a week which is 4000 a year when you factor in holiday days etc. Then factor in warranty, if any, less servicing, lower tax. Soon it's a no brainer even if you need a large loan. In 4 or 5 years the car will have paid for itself on fuel alone. Main downside is once you go beyond EV range you then need to find a public charger to refill to make it home. Fir example ioniq 28kW typical range 130+,km, typically 160km, often 200km. Once you are going more than 80km from home you need to plan your charging stops, and public chargers can be busy, blocked or broken which is main downside to EV ownership, particularly when you don't have an EV with a very big say 64kWh battery, so you cannot go city to city without having to stop.

I would avoid hybrid and plug in hybrid. Older models have only up to 60km electric only range so you are still running petrol and with servicing costs you won't in reality save much money. Hybrids can save in stop start city traffic at low speeds bit it's unlikely you have that type of commute.

If you can live with the pain on long trips go full EV.

NIMAN

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119193874#Comment_119193874

Unfortunately the last sentence sounds like the nail in the coffin then.

If your budget is limited to 2012-2014 Leafs, then you won't be able to do it without charging I'm afraid. I recently sold a 2014 Leaf it and its absolute max range was 100km. If the weather was windy and/or wet, I would have put it more like 90-95km.

Unless you can increase your budget, I'd say its a no-go at current prices.

silver_sky

Need to up the budget, dare I say double it at least.

kanuseeme

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058249969/ev-hybrid-for-work-commute

What are you driving and how do you drive? Foot to the floor type?

Your current consumption suggests its a big old vehicle and you have got a heavy foot.

You buy 65 l of diesel, just using that per 5 days its 22 mpg or 13l/100km,

A hybrid will do around 50 mpg or 5.5 l /100 km, half your current fuel cost, some times a little better.

A plug in hybrid would need a charge at both ends, some cars do more on battery than others, say you get 25 km on battery other 25km is at 5 to 7 l per 100 km., so a return trip one charge is 3.75 l to 5.25 l per day, better or on a par with the hybrid. If you get a charge at work, a 3 pin plug would do its 2.5l to 3.5 l per day /100km.

A quarter of what you pay now plus electricity.

You could go for the EV option also but you will not get much for your budget (maybe a hybrid or a half used up leaf), and what ever range it has, that's it, you need a charge, sometimes that's easy, sometimes its not.

Best of luck.

slave1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119194301#Comment_119194301

This, and your price point EV is a Leaf30 which is a commute workhorse and will do your range for a number of years to come at ease all year