All car manufacturer's have ambitious plans to bring electric cars to the environment. In the UK it was recently announced by Government that by 2030 no new petrol or diesel cars will be sold. By 2035 all new cars and vans will be fully zero emission at the tailpipe. What are we going to do?
Watch Herbie Newell describe the benefits of electric cars in our first HNZ branded video!!
Fully electric cars use electricity stored in a large battery
to drive the motor. In conventional cars
petrol or diesel fuel powers the engine by internal combustion, and in hybrid
cars a mixture of electricity and petrol/diesel fuel is used.
The carbon footprint of an electric car is lower than that
of hybrid and petrol/diesel cars (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-51977625), especially if the electricity used to recharge an
electric car is low carbon, e.g. renewable.
New electric car prices vary by make and model,
ranging from lower cost options such as the Renault Zoe at £23,000 (inc. VAT,
discount and EV grant) to more expensive models like the Tesla at £40,000
upwards.
Running an electric car is much cheaper than a petrol/diesel car. Per mile fuel costs can be <20% of that of petrol/diesel cars as there is no “fuel duty” to pay on electricity. For 10,000 miles per year comparative fuel costs are approximately: Petrol - £1,200, Diesel £1,000, Electric £250. There is no annual “road tax” to pay on an electric car, no congestion or pollution charges, and service costs are lower as there are far fewer moving parts to maintain. Battery deterioration is no longer an issue with electric cars.
If you have off-road parking at home you can use a
home charge point that will recharge the car easily overnight and may be
installed free-of-charge when you buy a new electric car. Public charge points are usually more
powerful and can recharge the car in an hour or less, depending on how powerful
they are, the residual charge in your battery, and what charge rate your car
can accept. To use a public charge point
you need a mobile phone app, a dedicated card or, in some cases, just a credit
card.
The range with a fully charged battery is now routinely
over 200 miles, and over 300 miles with some makes. The range is dependent on outside temperature
as the battery is more efficient when it is warmer. The “real life” range for the Renault Zoe is 220-250
miles in the summer and 160-190 miles on a cold day in the winter. How fast you drive also influences the range.
Driving an electric car is very easy, like an
automatic petrol/diesel car but a lot quieter.
Electric cars have all the safety, comfort and driving assistance
features of any other modern car and are very “nippy”, as there is no is gear
changing, either manual or automatic.
If you would like to know more about electric cars, and/or be taken for a drive in one, please contact Herbie Newell on 01434 681312 or herbie.newell@newcastle.ac.uk, and if you would like to know more about hybrids please contact Nick Hayward 01434 681463 or nick.hayward310@btinternet.com
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