Electric company cars

[Squaredy]

16 minutes ago, Squaredy said:

As you say having predictable cash flow is important, but for me it is mainly about risk.  What would a full set of batteries cost for a modern electric vehicle?  Not a risk I am willing to take, so a full maintenance lease is the only option I would consider.   Have you heard about the Axiom lorries?  I feel for anyone who invested in one of them ten years ago.
 

 

It might be different in five or ten years time when they are common but imagine taking a full electric vehicle to a back street garage hoping for a budget repair!

I may have got the name wrong of the electric lorry I will check. Speedy hire had a fleet but not for long.

Edited January 9, 2020 by Squaredy

[huskykev]

[Squaredy]

32 minutes ago, Squaredy said:

I may have got the name wrong of the electric lorry I will check. Speedy hire had a fleet but not for long.

Yeah my mistake Modec not Aixam.  You can pick these up on eBay for peanuts but good luck in getting them working again.

[scbk]

20 minutes long, here's a video on a guy who fixes up written off teslas, much to their annoyance

 

 

 

 

[openspaceman]

1 hour ago, Squaredy said:

As you say having predictable cash flow is important, but for me it is mainly about risk.  What would a full set of batteries cost for a modern electric vehicle?  Not a risk I am willing to take, so a full maintenance lease is the only option I would consider.   Have you heard about the Aixam lorries?  I feel for anyone who invested in one of them ten years ago.
 

 

It might be different in five or ten years time when they are common but imagine taking a full electric vehicle to a back street garage hoping for a budget repair!

That's my view

 

Also finding a back street garage is becoming difficult as they are driven out of business because manufacturers make it difficult to source information on analysing faults.

 

not to mention how difficult it is to do trivial jobs, like having to lift the body off a Range Rover to change an alternator, or is that an urban myth?

[Richard 1234]

1 hour ago, openspaceman said:

That's my view

 

Also finding a back street garage is becoming difficult as they are driven out of business because manufacturers make it difficult to source information on analysing faults.

 

not to mention how difficult it is to do trivial jobs, like having to lift the body off a Range Rover to change an alternator, or is that an urban myth?

My mates alternator went on his RR £900 or so had to take all sorts off the front end to get at it. Stupid water cooled thing on it. V10 I think it was a BMW RR anyway long time ago now so can’t remember other than it being really stupid!

[Steve Bullman]

Worth keeping in mind, the other benefit of leasing is you can claim back 10% of the vat on a non commercial company car. Buying outright or PCP etc, you can't claim any vat at all.

[LeeGray]

A lot of the benefit seems to be tax efficiency. After running new vehicles for years and looking at the depreciation and general cost I decided to run second hand and do something else tax efficient with the money. Like buying machinery which doesn’t drop like a stone the minute you sit in it.
 

I think it really depends what you want. Some people really like new cars and are happy to pay through the nose to drive one. If I was buying new again it still wouldn’t be leasing as it’s still the most expensive way to run a car. 
 

Anyone heard the new hi lux ad on the radio at the minute? Only £199/month? Yep after £10,500 up front you can do max 24,000 miles then a further £12,000 if you want to buy it after the 4 years.

 

My maths make that minimum cost of approx £15,000 for the first 24,000 miles. Then you’ve still got to pay tyres, brakes, service, getting the scratches sorted before you hand it back. Paying the admin fee because you don’t want to buy at the end and the admin fee at the start to get the thing in the first place. Must work out about 80p mile before you even put fuel, insurance and a man in.

 

tje person who buys it at the auction pays £10-14,000. Probably could do another 100,000 miles, service when they want themselves, not worry about scratches etc and still sell it four years later for £5-8. So they get four times the mileage for a third of the price. 
 

and the pleasure of not dealing with idiots at the franchised dealer!

 

Edited January 10, 2020 by LeeGray

[Squaredy]

After a full year of waiting after paying the deposit, I finally took delivery of my brand new fully electric car on Wednesday.  It is a Kia E Niro, and we call him Robert, of course.

 

Early days yet, but I think I am happy. 

 

A lot of the technology inside is frankly ill-thought out and annoying.  Even potentially dangerous in fact.  But the overall package of an electric car which does a realistic mileage, drives well, and costs so little to re-fuel that it makes up for the crazy purchase price is a good one.

 

The service from the dealer was appalling (Wessex Kia) and they are so incompetent that they failed to take my deposit last year, even though when I reminded them they assured me they had it!  The leasing company I will be paying each month I suspect will be a little more organised....

 

If you are wondering, it was £2000 up-front followed by £345 per month for four years.  A lot of money I would say (especially for someone who usually buys a 12 year old vehicle for thrupence and keeps it on the road as long as possible, patching it up as it falls apart).  On the other hand, compared to my old car I am saving: £25 per month road tax; £10 per month insurance; £70 (average) per month maintenance and MOT; £150 per month fuel, so not so very different after all.  Plus of course the financial risk of car ownership and hefty repair costs lies with the lease company not with me.

 

 

[Steve Bullman]

I had a preorder on the electric mustang but cancelled it. Didn’t really need it so didn’t see the sense spending that kinda money at the moment. Plus I suspect there may well be some good deals around next year.

 

Funny what you said about the Kia dealer. We went to look at one also and it was the dealer that put us off. I had done a fair amount of research before hand and seemed to know far more than them at their own motor