Empowering Communities Together
Electric Car
What was done.
Chris and his wife live in Sandhurst with off-road parking in front of their house. They had previously owned a Ford Focus 1.5 Tdci Titanium X diesel car and a Ford Fiesta petrol car
In 2024, They decided to replace the Fiesta with a small EV, primarily used for local (<100 miles) journeys.
This was in part to reduce their family's carbon footprint and to save money on fuel. They had usually bought used cars, and, looking for an EV, chose a second-hand BMW i3 120. With a nominal range of 180 miles, this has proved to be more than adequate for the intended use.
Initially, they used a three-pin 13-amp charger to charge the vehicle. However, by purchasing a faster (Pod Point) charger connected to the mains, separate from the house ring circuit, they enabled charging to take place within the time or at a lower rate during night tariffs. They changed their tariff to one designed for EV owners. This is currently 9.5p per kWh. The day rate is slightly higher than the standard tariff, but this was offset by using the night rate for running the dishwasher and washing machine
BMW i3 120
Electric Car
Their Experience.
The installation of the charger involved an engineer running a cable from the meter cupboard to outside the house. This was neatly done. The car doesn’t need to be charged every night, but the car’s software allows it to be plugged in and charged at the beginning of the low-rate tariff time. (midnight) Their tariff with E-on is not as good as with, say, Octopus, but they decided to stick with the same supplier for now. With plans to fit solar panels in the near future, this will be reviewed then.
For 4000 miles per year the EV is estimated to save about £457 per year in running costs as well as about 552 kg CO2.
The other running costs are, of course, important. Insurance is more than for the Fiesta this car replaces, but its performance, in terms of acceleration, is significantly higher. Servicing, so far, has been through a main dealer, and is higher than for the petrol car. Its service interval is, however, higher. Both the Focus and the i3 were zero-rated for road tax, but the Fiesta was £25 per year. This changes for all vehicles this year.
For the time being, Chris and his wife have retained the diesel car, but use it less than before, only for longer journeys involving main roads and motorways, when it is most efficient. They are likely to replace this with an EV when it is due for replacement. .
Driving the EV is less stressful than driving cars with manual transmissions, especially in heavy traffic. It is comparable to an automatic transmission from that point of view. However, in stop-start conditions, there is less use of the brakes. The regenerative braking system kicks in when you lift your foot off the accelerator. Instead of wasting this energy in heat, regenerative braking puts energy back into the battery.
Would they go back to a diesel or petrol car? No
