Electric cars

The majority of electric and hybrid on sale today have received five-star ratings from Euro NCAP – the independent vehicle safety body that oversees the official crash-testing of new cars.

This determines that in the event of an accident, they protect both passengers and pedestrians extremely well. Many EVs also feature technology that aims to prevent accidents from happening at all. These include AEB, lane-keep assistance, blind-spot monitoring and speed-limit recognition systems which are all becoming increasingly common. 

Another area of common concern is their flammability. Just like petrol and diesel cars, there’s a small risk of EVs catching fire. As can be expected, manufacturers are taking significant measures to ensure this doesn’t happen. For example, manufacturers like Tesla and Nissan have built in fail-safe circuitry that will shut the battery down when its voltage increases beyond a safe limit.

Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) is calculated based on the CO2 tailpipe emissions of the vehicle, its list price and the year in which it was registered. 

Pure battery EVs (BEVs) are exempt from VED. They’re also exempt from the premium rate, where vehicles worth £40,000 or more incur an additional premium rate for 5 years (from the second time the vehicle is taxed).

Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) pay reduced VED.

There are now over 42,000 charge point connectors across the UK in over 15,500 locations. This means there are more public places to charge than petrol stations!

There are also thousands of free electric car charge points in the UK, in supermarkets, public car parks, shopping centres, hotels and occasionally service stations. It’s always best to check availability for these, as restrictions may be in place depending on time of day. 

There are many apps available that will direct you to your nearest charge point, and even tell you whether it’s available or currently in use. 

Some include Zap-Map, PlugShare, WattsUp – and even Google Maps will show you your nearest EV charger.

You can only charge an electric car home if you have a private, off street parking next to your house. Otherwise, you will need to rely on your local public charging infrastructure. If you do have off street parking, you can arrange to have a smart home charge point installed or, if your car comes with a 3-pin cable, you can charge (quite slowly) using a normal domestic plug socket.

There are also question marks over the safety of charging regularly using a 3-pin plug. A home charge point will charge your car more quickly and safely; and will also give you the ability to remotely control your charge point, so you can charge when electricity is cheap and green.

Depending on the capacity of the battery and the speed of the charging station, charging can vary. Slower charging stations can take 12-16 hours, whereas rapid charge points can charge from 10-80% in as little as 20 minutes.

Battery life: Most EVs use lithium-ion batteries. These will usually provide over 10 years or 100,000 miles of use.

Over hundreds of charge/use cycles, these batteries will become less effective. Battery degradation may lessen the range, however it won’t significantly affect an EVs acceleration, refinement or cruising ability.

There are a number of ways to preserve an EV’s battery, from keeping the charge level between 20% and 80% to driving steadily and avoiding frequent use of rapid chargers. 

Driving Range: The driving range of 100% electric vehicles varies significantly from model to model. Most modern EVs will have a driving range of between 130-300+ miles.

Not all electric car batteries are the same. EV battery packs come in different sizes and their capacity is measured in kilowatt hours (kWh). Generally, the larger the capacity in kWh, the longer the range of the EV.

The chemical composition of batteries will also vary between cars and manufacturers. 

Among the different battery types, Lithium-ion batteries are the most popular with a longer lifespan than most other batteries. They’re also generally cheaper to produce, generate less heat during charging and can be charged to 100% with little battery damage.

The cost of charging your electric car at public charge points will depend on the charge point network and its location. Local authorities often have pay per session on-street charging and these can sometimes be used for free if you have access to a network subscription. 

The cost of public charge points will also vary depending on the power rating and whether it’s slow (lamppost charging), fast (Car parks) or Rapid (Motorway service stations).

Cost of home charging 

You can charge your EV at home using a three-pin plug of a faster wallbox. If you’re using the first option, it’s best done overnight since it’ll take several hours to charge. On average, electricity costs 14p per kWh, so a 13-hour charge on a 40kWh Nissan Leaf at a 3kW charger would cost around £6. Using off-peak energy at night for example will reduce this to around £4. 

A wallbox home-charging unit can supply between 3 – 22kW of power. This comes with an installation cost but the government grant can fund up to 75% of this cost, up to £350. A 7kW charger will considerably reduce charging time and minimally affect the cost of power.

Public station charging 

The cost of charging your electric car at public charge points will depend on the charge point network, its location and whether it’s slow (lamppost charging), fast (Car parks) or Rapid (Motorway service stations). 

Public chargers, especially rapid chargers, normally have a fixed fee applied – for example, £6.50 for 30 minutes or a driving range of about 90 miles. That still only adds up to £13 for an impressive 180 miles. The low costs you’ll pay to charge an electric car are impressive.

You can read more in detail about EV charging here.

Yes, electric cars still have to pass an MOT test after three years. However, unlike petrol and diesel cars, EVs do not require an emissions test. 

Electric cars don’t use engine oil but they do often use oil inside their reduction gearboxes, which may need to be changed over time. 

Most electric cars will have batteries with a built-in buffer. This means it’s not really possible to drain them to 0% or charge them to 100%. 

Electric cars will also give you lots of warning that they’re losing power, so you’ll have more than enough time to find a charging point before it really becomes a problem.

Electric cars are exempt from the London Congestion Charge (usually £15 per day) via the Cleaner Vehicle Discount. All you need to do is register and pay a £10 annual fee to avoid the daily charge.

Within any other ULEZ or clean air zones, you won’t have to do anything as your car should be registered automatically. To double check, you can go to https://www.gov.uk/clean-air-zones and put in your registration number.

Electric cars generally have a smaller carbon footprint than petrol and diesel cars, even taking into account the electricity used for charging.

Electric cars have zero tailpipe emissions. However, generating the electricity to charge EVs may create carbon pollution. Despite this, research shows that an EV still emits fewer greenhouses vs a typical new petrol / diesel car. As more renewable energy is used to generate electricity, this should continue to reduce over time.

When choosing an electric car, you’ll need to consider what kind of driving you’ll use it for most. Generally, if you’re driving no more than 250 miles per day and have ready access to a charging point at home or at work, an EV will be a great choice for you.

EVs vary widely in range, charging speed, tech specs & features, so it’s important to consider how an EV will fit your lifestyle. If you’re unsure where to start, take our suitability tool to find out which EV could be best for you.