We’ve quizzed three owners to learn more about the pros and cons and found they’ve had mixed experiences. One said their car gave a ‘lovely, smooth ride’, but another said charging at public points can be difficult.
We also have expert tips to help you decide if it’s the right time to buy an electric car.
Drive smarter and cut your costs.‘We bought an EV because it’s cheaper to run’
Who are you? What electric cars have you driven? The good:
‘Some electric cars use a heat pump to run heating and ventilation and I would say that’s worth doing if you have the option.
The bad:'However, when we first got our electric car, I went to visit my mother in Southampton and the journey back to Yorkshire took 13 hours – this was before the days of fast chargers. I had to really plan that journey and that’s the only long-distance trip I’ve done in my EV so far. It’s quite unpredictable; you can arrive at a charging station and find all the points are in use or half of them aren’t working.
'Sometimes, you find somebody in a non-electric car has just parked there – which I think should be an offence. The cars themselves are wonderful but this is the only disadvantage.'
If you’re thinking of buying an EV, make sure you consult our expert guide on the .‘I think I fell for the hype around electric cars’
Who are you? What electric car do you drive? The good: The bad: ‘‘I live in a semi-rural area and it takes half an hour to drive to the nearest charger. There’s only one near me and it takes an hour and a half to charge my car if somebody isn’t already using it. Some places charge 82p per kWh.
'Unfortunately, there have also been problems with my car battery, which I’m in touch with Kia about*. In addition, there’s the cost of insurance. Last year, I paid £500 and that’s now gone up to £1,570 even though I’ve got a clean licence.
‘I do a lot of driving and I find having an electric car adds to my journey times. I look after elderly parents and my son is at university, so I do a lot of miles and this isn’t the car for me. I had to make a trip to Evesham this year and having an EV added three hours to my road trip. The charger I stopped at was very expensive and I think it would have been cheaper to hire a car. I would like to get a home charger but it’s hard to find the money for that at the moment.'
* Regarding the car battery issue, a Kia spokesperson told us: 'The selling dealership will be the ones to make the decision in this instance.'
If your insurance has gone up, we suggest checking in with our reviews of the‘The running costs are way cheaper than paying for petrol’
Who are you? What electric car do you drive? The good:
'Our reasons were purely environmental. We have solar panels on our house and now use the spare solar energy to charge the car. For us, the running costs are way cheaper than paying for petrol – but that’s because we do home charging. The service costs are also quite low – our recent service was around £200 at a Nissan dealer. We mainly use our Leaf for local trips, so don’t have to worry about charging it away from home. It’s smooth, stress-free driving.'
The bad:‘If you want to buy a petrol or diesel car, you have a choice of hundreds of models and thousands of different configurations. But if you want to buy an EV, you have a much smaller choice. If you’re buying second-hand, there are fewer older cars to choose from.
‘Charging at public points can also be difficult. The charging points are run by lots of different companies with their own apps, so it can be a bit of a faff to download one if you turn up at a charging station you’ve not visited before.’
Thinking about home charging? Find out the facts with our guide to .Our expert says:
'The decision to make the switch to an electric car is becoming less about overall driving range, but whether or not you can charge it at home. If not, you’ll rely on the still patchy - albeit growing - public rapid charging network. In most cases, this is not only significantly more expensive than charging domestically but can also be inconveniently located or congested at peak times.
Daljinder Nagra, Cars expert, Which?In the coming weeks, we'll also release the results of a Which? survey of EV owners to give you a broader picture of electric car ownership.source https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/ev-electric-cars-the-best-and-worst-things-about-owning-an-electric-car-alUuY4e8yjZW