By Justin Rowlatt
Senior environmental correspondent
Released18th November 2020
The announcement that the UK would ban sales of new gasoline and diesel cars from 2030, a whole decade ahead of schedule, has sparked hundreds of questions from worried motorists. I will try to answer some of the most important ones that we have sent to the BBC.
How do you charge an electric car at home?
The obvious answer is that you plug it in, but unfortunately it’s not always that simple.
If you have a driveway and can park your car next to your house, you can simply plug it directly into your home power grid.
The problem is that this is slow. It takes many hours to fully charge an empty battery, depending on the size of the battery. Expect it to take at least eight to 14 hours, but if you have a large car you can wait more than 24 hours.
A faster option is to install a quick charging station at home. The government pays up to 75% of the installation cost (up to a maximum of £ 500), although it often costs around £ 1,000 to install.
A quick charger should typically take between four and 12 hours to fully charge a battery, depending on how big it is.
How much does it cost to charge my car at home?
Here, electric vehicles show real cost advantages over gasoline and diesel. Charging an electric car is significantly cheaper than refueling.
The cost depends on which car you have. Those with small batteries – and therefore short ranges – will be much cheaper than those with large batteries that can travel hundreds of kilometers without charging.
How much it costs also depends on what electricity tariff you have. Most manufacturers recommend switching to an Economy 7 tariff, which means you pay a lot less for electricity at night – when most of us want to charge our cars.
The consumer organization that estimates the average driver will spend between £ 450 and £ 750 a year on extra electric car charges.
Media signatureIs the UK ready for a gasoline and diesel car sales ban in 2030?
What if you don’t have a drive?
If you can find parking space on the street in front of your house, you can run a cable there, but make sure you cover the wires so no one can trip over them.
Here, too, you have the choice between using the power grid or installing a home fast charging station.
What about public charging points?
Many municipalities are setting up street charging stations. Look out for lampposts with blue light on them. These have plugs where you can get power.
Many new electric cars now have apps installed that guide you to the nearest charging station. If not, there are tons of websites and downloadable apps out there to do the job.
According to electricity company EDF, there are already more than 30,000 charging stations in the UK. This means that there are already more public charging stations than petrol stations. Around 10,000 new charging points were added in 2019 alone.
And you should expect that number to rise rapidly. Today the government announced a £ 1.3 billion investment in electric vehicle infrastructure, including charging stations across the country.
Public charging stations are pretty easy to use, but there are a number of different operators and you often need to be a member to use them.
Some charge a flat fee for access each month; some offer usage-based charging.
Usually you have to use a swipecard or your mobile phone to unlock the charging point. In this way you can connect the charging cable from your car to the charging station.
Some manufacturers, above all Tesla, offer access to “superchargers”. These allow a very fast charge, in fact, you can be charged to 80% in just 30 minutes – roughly the time you go to the bathroom and buy and drink a cup of coffee.
These used to be free for Tesla owners, but now most have to pay to use the Supercharger network.
Image rightsReutersImage descriptionNew charging points are constantly being added
How far can an electric car go?
As you might expect, this depends on which car you choose. As a rule of thumb, the more you spend, the further you will go.
The range depends on how you drive your car. If you drive fast, you will get far fewer kilometers than listed below. Cautious drivers should be able to squeeze even more kilometers out of their vehicles.
These are some approximate ranges for different electric cars.
- Renault Zoe – 394 km (245 miles)
- Hyundai IONIQ – 310 km (193 miles)
- Nissan Leaf e + – 384 km (239 miles)
- Kia and Niro – 453 km (281 miles)
- BMW i3 120Ah – 293km (182 miles)
- Tesla Model 3 SR + – 409 km (254 miles)
- Tesla Model 3 LR – 560 km (348 miles)
- Jaguar I-Pace – 470 km (292 miles)
- Honda e – 201km (125 miles)
- Opel Corsa e- 336 km (209 miles)
How long does the battery last?
Again, this depends on how you care for it.
Most electric car batteries are lithium-based, just like the battery in your mobile phone. Like your phone’s battery, the battery in your car will drain over time. This means that the charge will not last as long and the range will decrease.
If you overcharge the battery or try to charge it with the wrong voltage, it will degrade faster.
Check to see if the manufacturer offers a warranty on the battery – many do. They usually last eight to ten years.
It is worth understanding how they work because after 2030 you will not be able to buy a new gasoline or diesel car.
