Tom Skipworth, Senior Leasing Account Manager, (Team Leader), at Motorfinity Leasing, talks all-electric cars and the massive savings he has made.
Leasing our first electric car came with a lot of apprehension. Previously, I was driving a Golf diesel estate which covered between 25-30,000 miles a year. When I changed my job, we were aiming to get down to 10,000 a year as I would no longer be travelling to and from work. There was a 4 month wait until the delivery of the new car and in this time, we had a charge point fitted at home which only cost £200 thanks to a government loan.
The first drive was quite eerie with the absence of engine noise, smoothness of the transmission and torque delivery. The car was surprisingly responsive and fun to pull away in and accelerate.
Not long after getting the car, I got called away to Wales (215 miles each way) and I was able to get a steady range of 140 miles out of the car. This was the first opportunity to test out a rapid charging station – something that still needs a lot of work! I currently have 7 different apps for different networks - some more temperamental than others. The charging was fine, full in 35 minutes so time to grab a coffee and lunch. I even got a notification telling me the car was ready to go. The charging network is something still developing but certainly improving. It is certainly much better in larger cities.
I have had a single incident driving back from London where a 60-mile unexpected divert via Melton Mowbray nearly left me out of range. Pulling into a charging station with 1-mile range is terrifying at 10pm with a 4-month-old baby in the car but I have never completely broken down yet. As this was all B roads, there was no charging infrastructure until I reached the town centre. There I found a trickle charger which took around 5 hours to charge the car.
The car is now fast approaching 20,000 miles and I have saved a fortune in maintenance and fuel. So far, I have spent £60 on rapid chargers, (usually around £4 a charge), and around £30 on home electricity costs. Annual servicing is £70, and I have not spent a penny elsewhere.