Why go Electric!
With our short-term offerings on Electric Vehicles expanding, we thought we’d highlight the top 9 reasons why you should switch to an EV. We’re huge fans of them in the Cocoon Vehicles office and using our car subscription program, you can literally “try before you buy” or commit long-term.
So here goes…
Performance
The performance of an electric car from the very smallest vehicles such as the Renault Zoe up to the Tesla Model X is immense.
There is no lag like you experience on a Petrol or Diesel ICE car, you just put your foot on the accelerator and it goes. The torque of an EV is instant and it doesn’t really matter what speed your currently doing, it just goes.
So not only are Electric Vehicles quick off the line, but they are also very fun to drive and as they are near silent, no one can hear you on those winding country lanes.
No Gearbox
This might seem like a weird one, but most electric vehicles, with the exception of some of the latest high performance EV’s such as the Porsche Taycan, have no gearbox.
Its just purely a motor with a switch – D for forwards and R for reverse.
The benefit of not having a gearbox means there is no clutch to worry about you, or for you or the car to worry about what gear it should be in. There is no awkward movements when changing gears, no worrying about what gear to be in for the next corner and the drive is ultra smooth.
Maintenance
The maintenance costs of an Electric Car Vs. and ICE car is much lower. There are less moving parts so toher than the odd brake fluid change, a couple of tyres and your windscreen washer resevoir needing a top up, maintenance is kept to a minimum.
Even brakes don’t get as much hammer due to regenerative systems!
With Tesla’s there isn’t actually a yearly or bi-yearly service interval, the car actually informs you if it needs attention.
Company Car Tax
2020 to 2021 was actually the year to get an electric car, but you can benefit this new tax year when opting for an EV as your company car. As it stands for the year 2021 to 2022, you will pay 1% benefit in kind tax on the list price of your EV.
It’s worth keeping a close eye on the tax changes if you are a company car driver as this may change in the future, the government will have to make up the lack of incoming fuel duty and road fund licence somewhere.
Congestion Charge
If you are based in London or you travel to London on a regular basis, an EV should be your first choice of drivetrain.
Currently if you drive a zero emission car, you will be exempt from the congestion charge in London but you must make sure you register for the service before entering the zone.
Find out more on Congestion Charges in London for EV’s and Hybrid’s using the highlighted link.
Environmental Impact
Whilst for many customers, the environment impact won’t be at the top of everyone’s list but there are customers who do choose EV to actually help.
Whilst their are arguements currently on the impact of building the cars, sourcing lithium and the producing of electricity, their is still a huge difference between the green credentials of an EV than a traditional ICE vehicle.
So would you go green with an electric car?
Cost to Purchase
Electric cars are expensive, this is a fact. But they are coming down in price and we’ve already seen a significant price drop of Electric Vehicles over the last 10 years.
On top of this, leasing has actually helped the adoption of EV’s due to better resdiual values of models such as the Audi E-Tron, Mercedes EQC and the Tesla Model 3.
Whilst grants are available for an electric vehicle, the current UK government has recently changed the criteria and many of the best selling models are no excluded, but it still might be worth while going electric.
Charging Costs
On of the biggest benefits to leasing or owning an Electric Vehicle is how much they cost to run. Instead of paying per litre for fuel, you will be paying per kilowatt hour.
Charging at home is usually everyones first choice and there are some fantastic tariffs around such as Octopus Energy’s Agile tariff where you can program your car to charge at the cheapest times of day, occasionally Octopus actually pay you to charge your car.
Estimating a car charge to the miles is pretty easy, with home charging costing approx. £3 for 275 miles worth of range on a Tesla Model 3. When compared to an ICE vehicle, its a significant saving.
When out and about there is a growing network of public chargers which can aid with long distance trips in your electric vehicles.
Whilst many customers sceptical about moving into the electric car territory complain that it takes 5 minute to fuel a car and about 45 to charge, but the benefit of a home charger is that you can charge to full before your long trip and top up where required on your trip.
Public chargers vary in price from place to place but there are also a number of free chargers around. These are generally located at hotels or shopping centres. There are also a number of ways to charge your EV for free. Click on the highlighted link to find out more.
Community Spirit
The EV community isn’t just made up of tech geeks and environmentalists, it’s made up of people who are passionate about their cars. Since owning an EV car, the amount of people that we speak to at charging points or when pulling up in a car park has increased ten-fold.
It’s not about the brand you’re driving, its amount Electric Vehicles. Appriciating each others vehicles and discussing range and charging points.
It has also been a fantastic source of networking and has helped us as a customer.
Overview
Of course, there are more than 9 reasons to switch to an EV and we have covered our favourites. Have you got additional reasons why people should give electric cars a try?
Of course, we offer both Electric and Plugin-Hybrids on our short-term car leases. These can help to identify any issues when trying to integrate and EV into your fleet or day-to-day tasks. We’ve had customers go electric for a few months, realise that the charging network isn’t sufficient or the range isn’t good enough and switch to a plugin-hybrid. If they’d comitted to a long-term lease there would have been higher termination costs.
For more information on our PHEV’s or Electric Vehicles, please call the team on 01332 290173 or complete the ENQUIRY FORM below.
Read More
The post 9 Great Reasons to go Electric! appeared first on Cocoon Vehicles Ltd.
