Why go electric?
Burning fossil fuels are killing us
Air pollution contributes to about 40,000 early deaths a year in the UK.
The UK has the second highest number of deaths in Europe caused by nitrogen dioxide (NO2), a toxic gas mostly caused by diesel vehicles.
In just the first five days of 2017, London exceeded the annual EU air pollution target for 2017.
Clean Air Zones will be rolling out to many UK cities in the near future.
Saves you money
An electric car costs about 2p per mile in fuel (electricity), whereas a petrol or diesel car costs around 12p.
Public charging is often free to use.
No road tax to pay on zero emission cars.
No London congestion zone charges.
Servicing and maintenance is cheaper.
In some places, parking is free or discounted for electric cars.
Less servicing and more reliable
An electric car has no engine oil, oil filter, air filter, spark plugs, turbo, cambelt, particulate filter, catalytic converter or exhaust system. The only maintenance required is changing the cabin filter, wiper blades and brake fluid, normally every two years.
The only wear items on an electric car are the tyres, wiper blades and brake pads. But brake pads last far longer too, as regen braking does most of your slowing down.
Less time and money spent here
Batteries are proving to last much longer than first thought and can outlast the typical combustion engine. Some Nissan Leaf drivers in the UK have now done over 150,000 miles in their cars and still going strong on the original battery packs.
With hardly any moving parts, electric cars have a much longer life span than a combustion engine car. Some manufacturers are now offering better density battery packs on newer models, but using the same casing. Therefore its possible to upgrade older cars with the newer battery packs, giving the car a new lease of life and a longer range.
Specialist battery reconditioning firms are now able to repair EV battery packs, replacing individual cells, resulting in more cost effective repairs if batteries do degrade.
Great to drive
Quieter
Electric vehicles are extremely quiet as there's no engine or exhaust. The only sound comes from the tyres, air rushing over the bodywork and occasionally a hum from the electric motor. At slow speeds they are almost completely silent - hence why many have the option to emit an artificial sound to warn pedestrians.
Nippier
An electric motor has 100% of the torque from the start off. A petrol car has to be doing around 4,000 rpm before it reaches its peak torque. The result is that electric cars accelerate quickly and feel nippier. They are particularly good in town stop/start driving. A great example of how fast electric cars can be is the Tesla Model S P100D which can sprint to 60 mph in only 2.28 seconds! That's faster than any production petrol supercar.