Electric cars are increasingly in the news nowadays, so it can be easy to forget that they’ve actually been around for quite a while now. The first Toyota Prius made its debut over 20 years ago now, and ever since then there’s been steady progress in the technology. However, right now there’s still a certain amount of buyer uncertainty surrounding electric cars. Right now, the majority of the salvage cars in our online vehicle auctions are petrol and diesel, but there’s nothing to say that we won’t see steadily more electric vehicles and other forms of electric transport such as electric scooters in the future, providing an interesting new stream for new drivers and mechanics and our other customers. The question is - should you buy one? Well, it comes down to several factors. While cost is a major one (and you can save a lot in online vehicle auctions, too), there are also the matters of charging and range, which should both be key factors your decision!
Cost savings
One of the big draws of most electric cars at the moment is that they’re designed with fuel economy and efficiency in mind. These factors alone often make them a major attraction for many drivers! Plus, it doesn’t hurt that the cost of maintenance for most electric vehicles is especially low when compared to most other vehicles. However, as with so many aspects of buying and maintaining cars, it’s not necessarily clear cut. As well as the cost of routine servicing, you’ll also need to think about fuel and depreciation, and possibly the cost of a battery lease, too. This is especially important; when it comes to electric vehicles, a replacement battery pack can comprise one of the biggest costs, so it’s worth doing some research into exactly how much that will cost you before you commit.
Charging your electric car
Ideally, you’ll want to make sure you’re in a position to be able to charge at home or at work, or not too far from at least one of them. While the network of public charging points is steadily growing, the times taken at public charging points can vary. At the very least, you’d need to take anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour at the very fastest of them to be able to get an 80% charge. Certainly not as quick as a few minutes at the pump! On the other hand, thankfully the battery warranty on most electric vehicles is often between five and eight years, so you shouldn’t have much to worry about there until you come to buy a new one anyway.
Range
One of the biggest questions surrounding the use of electric cars is: how far will you be able to get? This is still one of the shortfalls with most electric vehicles so far - they can’t travel quite as far as petrol or diesel vehicles, and cross-country journeys on a single charge are almost entirely out of the question at present. That means you’ll need to do some careful calculations before you commit. Most drivers do around 20 miles on a daily basis, which is ideal for an electric car, but they’re not nearly as well suited when there are regular journeys of over 100 miles involved. When it comes right down to it, if you drive less than 150 miles a day, and you have a garage or driveway of your own to store it away, you’ve automatically ticked two of the biggest criteria for owning an electric vehicles.
Naturally, there are plenty of people in the UK right now who won’t be able to take that step to electric vehicles just yet. If you’re one of them, don’t worry - here at RAW2K, we’ve got you covered! We’ve got a huge range of used salvage cars in our online vehicle auctions, ranging from humble Vauxhall Corsas to prestigious Mercedes Series-5s. Why not take a look around, and see what you can find?
