Is electric the way to go

freddie1970

Hi just thinking about buying a electric car and just wondering if it is a good idea financially.

Im presently driving a 151 Passat high mileage but a very good car . I’m looking to sell it now while it still holds some value and I’m thinking of buying a electric car looking at the Hyundai ionic 5 or something similar. I’m presently spend about 300 a month on diesel as I have a long commute. I’m thinking off getting car with about 500 a month repayments which would only be a difference of 200 ..

My work supplies free charging so I wouldn’t have electric charges ..

is this a good idea ?

the_amazing_raisin

Well I think there's a bit of a contradiction in your opening post about whether it's a good idea financially

Buying a car is pretty much never a good idea financially 😬

So in your case it's more of a question of which is the least bad idea. At first glance, it definitely sounds like going electric is the least bad idea

What distance, roughly, is your commute? Diesel spend doesn't really help because you could be driving everywhere in 3rd gear and wasting a ton of fuel

Since you have free work charging, that definitely makes a good case for electric

Even if charging at home, it's probably still going to be a good case. I'd plan on getting a home charger if you can, in case the work charger is unavailable or you're doing a long weekend drive

I'd recommend staking out the chargers in work to get an idea of their availability. A lot of workplaces offered free charging and then it got swamped with people, so they started charging for it

In general, I wouldn't plan for the work charger to always be available or free of charge

freddie1970

I actually do shift and there is never a issue getting chargers when we are working . But yes I will be getting a home charger anyway .. Work is a 70k journey on motorway ..

the_amazing_raisin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121189442#Comment_121189442

Yeah an EV should be able to handle that no problem. You could save some money and get a 2nd hand one, would probably make more financial sense

But if you've your heart set on the Ioniq 5, and you can afford it, then it's certainly a fine car for the money

ELM327

You could get a cheaper EV to save money. Buying a new car will never save you money. What it may have, in cases like yours, is a cost neutral basis at best.

zg3409

As suggested a used EV would be better value. Something with a 64kWh+ battery would do that commute no issue. Main downside of EV ownership is having to public charge on longer trips so educate yourself on public chargers as in there is not enough at peak times and you may have to queue on longer trips. Queues could be 1+ hours but you can plan around and avoid queues. If you have a long range EV you won't need to public charge that often so less of an issue.

In terms of home charger vs work charger it's relatively cheap to home charge, I don't bother much with (paid) work charging as home charging is cheap and convenient.

You can save a fortune in fuel going EV, but beware depreciation in the vehicle could be a good few thousand every year particularly if you buy brand new. Typically depreciation us 20% in year 1 and 10% every following year, but can vary a lot. Its a good ball park.

I would recommend a year 2020 64kWh kis eNiro for 24k euro with low mileage and drive it until it stops, if you want to save money. You could hang on to your old car for 6+ months and declare it off the road as a back up plan in case you change your mind.

I had a similar commute and I switched to EV 6 years ago when I realised every week I delayed was costing me 60 euros in unnecessary fuel costs.