News
18 Jan 2023
Electric vehicles (EV) are any vehicle which is either partially or fully powered by electric power. This electric power is supplied by a battery pack which powers the electric motor to turn the wheels of the vehicle. Electric cars are a growing sector of the market, with many car manufacturers releasing different EV models. These are either designed and manufactured as purely electric-powered or hybrid vehicles aiming to utilise both electric power and conventional combustion engines.
In this article, we discuss some of the key benefits of investing in an electric car and making the change from diesel or petrol. If you are unsure of whether this change is for you, let us educate you more to help with the decision.
One of the most significant benefits of electric cars is the impact they will have on the earth in comparison to petrol or diesel. Electric cars are built and manufactured with green-focused combustion engine counterparts making the environmental impacts of electric cars significantly less. Electric cars do use a large amount of energy during the battery manufacturing stage, however, there is still a large reduction in emissions created over a car’s entire lifetime.
One environmental benefit for the planet is the contribution to helping to reduce your carbon footprint, electric cars do not produce or emit any exhaust gases, making them much better for the environment than petrol or diesel. No emissions being produced as it is driven means that each time an electric car is driven there are fewer dangerous greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide being expelled from the vehicle into the atmosphere. They produce zero CO2, reducing air pollution considerably and contributing to the global goal of net zero in 2050.
Year on year more congestion charges are put into place across busy city zones in areas such as London, Birmingham and Bath. With that being said, when you are driving through these zones with an electric car you can avoid congestion charges, since October 2021, only zero-emissions vehicles could qualify, all other vehicles regardless of their emissions status will be required to pay the congestion charge.
Once you have invested in an electric car, they are cheaper to run than a traditional combustion engine. On average in an electric car, a mile will cost you 6p whereas a petrol car can cost you between 13-15p depending on the engine size. It can be deceiving when looking into electric cars as the upfront cost seems much more than a petrol or diesel car, however, they require much less maintenance and still tend to be cheaper overall. This is due to EVs being manufactured with fewer moving parts to the car, meaning there is less potential for something to go wrong.
When driving an electric car it is likely you will find it better to drive than an electric or diesel car, as they are manufactured to actually perform better than petrol or diesel, in terms of acceleration and power of the car. Previously there has been a stereotype that electric cars were slower and less powerful than their petrol or diesel-powered counterparts, but since then a lot has changed meaning that most electric cars can now outperform comparable petrol or diesel-powered cars in terms of acceleration.
Alongside the better driving of electric cars, they’re a lot quieter when being driven. The only sounds an electric car makes are the noise of wheels around corners or wind resistance on a motorway. Combustion engine cars are much noisier than the electric alternative, as the vibration of the air intake and exhaust system causes the noise in petrol and diesel cars.
In the first instance of electric cars, resale values were poor because there wasn’t a big enough market for people wanting them, however, electric cars are now more of a want as adaptations have increased overall demand. Many car manufacturers of these electric cars have made a considerable investment in electric car technology, which means they have the capability to receive regular software updates remotely from home, meaning your electric car will receive the latest technology long after its purchase. Therefore meaning that the resale value is retained closer to its original purchase price whilst being a future-proofed and robust car.
The UK government offers a series of incentive schemes to help promote investment in electric cars as they have the overall goal of making the UK a greener place. The main aim of this offer is to encourage individuals to make the change to EVs, therefore the scheme helps lower the cost to the consumer, this includes things like road tax exemption, congestion charges and other low emission zones in the UK.
Alongside this, the UK government is contributing £350 (including Vat) off the cost through their Electric Vehicle Home charge scheme when eligible.
Overall electric cars are the up-and-coming future, meaning the benefits of an electric car are only likely to increase as they drive petrol and diesel cars out. As previously mentioned the upfront cost can be daunting but in turn, the running and maintenance cost of the car eventually begins to pay you back, whilst also helping to contribute to a greener world.
