So my household is full electric car wise. We have 2. One with a range of about 80 miles that we do school drop off and running around in. The other has a 300 mile range. This we use all the time for our longer journeys. Our 'van is 260 ish miles away. I only have to make one 20 min stop (which I have to anyway as I am bursting for a pee). The 20 mins is never only 20 mins though. Once I have both kids and the dog out of the car for a stretch about 40 mins has passed. I have never been waiting for the car.
So with any new technology it is important to not compare it like for like with what we have now. There is a different style of re-fuelling. I get asked all the time, "how often do you charge it?" That is the wrong question, I plug the car in every night. Not because it is empty, but so it is topped up ready to go a new every morning. What I don't have to do is spend time out of my day to visit a petrol station to fill up. Obviously on the occasion I have to do a long trip I do have to stop once, maybe twice if it is an extra long trip, to charge but with kids and bladder issues that is normally factored in anyway.
I live in greater London so there are lots of ULEZ zones and the Congestion charge in centre London. I am exempt from all of those. And the ULEZ is getting bigger and bigger all the time and popping up in more and more places.
So the drive in an electric car is fantastic. This is probably my biggest pro. They are not slow. As they only have one gear they are incredibly smooth. Also simple to drive. Go and stop peddle, that is it.
I'm pretty balanced and understand they might not be for everyone but if you have off street parking, I think it is a no brainer and there will be a car out there that perfectly suits your needs. We have off street parking and a charge point is a must for ease of use and cheaper fuel costs. Overnight rate is something like 10p kWh compared to 23p kWh if you visit a charging post. 23p kWh is still cheaper than running a diesel but if you can charge at home, why wouldn't you.
There are more and more rapid charges popping up all over the place and they are much more reliable than they used to be. I just hope they are rolled out as quickly as people are adopting electrified transport.
A con, the battery packs are effected by the cold a tad. The range can be lower but it shouldn't be too drastic and all with in a long distance journey tolerance for stopping. With a smaller battery pack it would obviously lose more range.
I've had an external 16amp socket fitted down at the 'van so I can charge the car slowly overnight. It's slow but all I'm doing is sleeping. Suits me perfectly.
All in all, I'll never go back to a combustion engine. The pros, not just the cost of fuel, far outweigh the cons.
Feel free to answer any questions more than happy to lay all my cards on the table, good or bad
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