Times are tough for the average family in the UK, with a cost-of-living crisis affecting all household costs from grocery shops to heating and electricity. Running a car has become particularly expensive, with the cost of fuel rising significantly alongside insurance premiums. Switching to an electric vehicle is a shrewd choice for families and households that cannot do without private transport – but the process can be prohibitively expensive. How might one reduce the costs of purchasing an electric vehicle, to make it more accessible in times of financial crisis?
Leasing
One useful way in which you can mitigate the impact of expenditure on a new vehicle is by seeking out other methods of payment or ownership – for example, financing solutions exists to allow you to pay off a new purchase over time, instead of up-front.
However, even financing a new EV can leave you out of pocket in the long run, especially in the event that it suffers an accident or breakdown and requires repair. For another alternative, you could look at electric leasing options – which would enable you to spread out costs related to acquiring the car, and also liberate you from any costly maintenance work.
Specialised Insurance
As touched upon above, there are some issues and costs specific to EVs that can outstrip many of the shorter-term savings you can expect to make – and a unique danger that could increase the likelihood of accidents and incidents.
For starters, EV technology is advanced, and parts such as the battery cells are extremely expensive, as well as unique to EVs. EV motors are also silent, which poses additional risk to pedestrians who cannot hear you coming. As such, specialist EV insurance may be a shrewd move to limit your financial culpability in the event of breakdown or accident.s
Government Grants
Government subsidy is also available for those in the market for a low-emissions vehicle, bringing down the up-front cost of a new electric car by up to £1,500. The plug-in car grant is handled via car dealerships and showrooms, being automatically applied when you follow through with a new EV purchase. The value of the grant depends on purchase price of the vehicles; it represents 35% of a new EV’s price up to that £1,500 max, provided the total value is below £32,000.
Go Fully Electric
Lastly, the field of EVs is a wide one, with a diverse range of vehicle types and specifications for a number of different demographics. Hybrid EVs are the most common on UK roads, subsidising fuel usage with an additional electric motor. However, these still represent cost in the form of fossil fuels – which come to roughly twice the price per mile than electricity from the National Grid.
As such, making the leap to plug-in hybrids or even a fully-electric vehicle (fEV) can save even more on fuel costs by eliminating your reliance on petrol or diesel. With older models of fEV, there would be a significant trade-off in the form of reduced power and range, but modern fEVs are much more competitive with regard to spec.