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[TheBoy]

Insurance does appear to have massively gone up in the last year, and is continuing to do so.  Bear in mind that a scratch on an EV is often enough to write it off, and the amount of pointless shit fitted to the front of most cars because drivers cant drive, all makes insurance repairs rocket.

I not on the TV ads, LV now state "Insure your car for as little as £299" *.  A year ago, I was paying around £200 for each car.  I renewed back in late last year for £300, and its gone up yet again in those few months.


*I think that has to be the stated price that at least 10% of their customers pay.

[Migv6 le Frog Fan]

Insurance fo the C1 was £145 last year. Renewal came through at £180.
An hour on comparison sites got it down to £133.
It will be interesting to see what the renewal for the Boxster is in a few weeks.

[Viral_Jim]

Insurance does appear to have massively gone up in the last year, and is continuing to do so.  Bear in mind that a scratch on an EV is often enough to write it off, and the amount of pointless shit fitted to the front of most cars because drivers cant drive, all makes insurance repairs rocket.

Agreed, at this point I don't think I would want an EV with my own money, for the reasons you've stated. Letting my employer run one for me though, whole different ball game  .

[Doctor Gollum]

You say that, but if they bear those repair costs, does that impact your salary? That's to say could you be paid more if they provided you with a conventionally powered vehicle rather than an EV.

[Viral_Jim]

No, much less in fact.

The car would be a salary sacrifice lease car. So Tax and NI saving (then a relatively modest BIK added back), this is dependent on the CO2 of the car and is basically punitive if it's not a zero emissions vehicle.

[Doctor Gollum]

What if you didn't have a company car?

[STEMO]

Insurance does appear to have massively gone up in the last year, and is continuing to do so.  Bear in mind that a scratch on an EV is often enough to write it off, and the amount of pointless shit fitted to the front of most cars because drivers cant drive, all makes insurance repairs rocket.

Agreed, at this point I don't think I would want an EV with my own money, for the reasons you've stated. Letting my employer run one for me though, whole different ball game  .

Interesting read here, Jim:

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/electriccars/article-13113365/Half-EV-drivers-petrol-diesel-car-want-longer-journeys.html

[Viral_Jim]

What if you didn't have a company car?

If I add up the costs of 20,000 miles p.a. on Diesel, tax, insurance, servicing, MOT and maintenance I can have a fully maintained EV and power it for around the same money (either more or less depending on the EV). That's before depreciation is taken into account.

Interesting read here, Jim:

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/electriccars/article-13113365/Half-EV-drivers-petrol-diesel-car-want-longer-journeys.html

I think this might be the way we go Ste, the galaxy (or something like it) is a requirement for us as we need 6 proper seats plus space for one (soon to be two) folding mobility scooters. There are basically no ev that meet this requirement. Also, I'd have to think long and hard before taking an EV to Europe from the Midlands! 

Where we win out is both our commutes are fairly large but infrequent (c150 miles round trip and once or twice per week) and we have access to charge at work if needed, add in school runs and a lot of ducking about on her part and we'll hit 20,000 miles pa. And probably never have to use a public charger.

[Doctor Gollum]

Is being able to charge at work treated as a benefit?

It should be as you* could theoretically live at the end of the road, charge the car at work and then plug it into your house battery and gain from the "free" electricity and presumably they don't provide petrol and diesel to employees.

Similarly, if you had to buy your own electricity but had nowhere to charge it, your overall costs would be higher 

You being the royal you rather than personally.

Point being that running any vehicle, of any fuel type, costs someone something at some level and an EV only works as a fully funded company car.

[YZ250]

…….
Interesting read here, Jim:

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/electriccars/article-13113365/Half-EV-drivers-petrol-diesel-car-want-longer-journeys.html

The point that most owners with an EV also have an ICE vehicle is certainly true around here.    One couple have a Tesla and a Mercedes AMG C63 V8, so I’m guessing the C63 carbon footprint is slightly offset by also owning a Tesla. 

[Doctor Gollum]

That will be the other way around if you use the actual environmental cost of the whole vehicle across its whole life.

[Viral_Jim]

Is being able to charge at work treated as a benefit?

It should be as you* could theoretically live at the end of the road, charge the car at work and then plug it into your house battery and gain from the "free" electricity and presumably they don't provide petrol and diesel to employees.

Similarly, if you had to buy your own electricity but had nowhere to charge it, your overall costs would be higher 

You being the royal you rather than personally.

Point being that running any vehicle, of any fuel type, costs someone something at some level and an EV only works as a fully funded company car.

The BIK issue has been collectively settled with HMRC by my employer, so no worries there. But the point is a valid one.

Point being that running any vehicle, of any fuel type, costs someone something at some level and an EV only works as a fully funded company car.

In this case it works financially because HMRC are missing out on a chunk of the vast amount they like to take from my salary every month. Robbing b@stards. 

[TheBoy]

Our scheme too is salary sacrifice, so you end up saving a shit load on NI and income tax.  BIK currently is in the £10-20 pm bracket on the EV's on our scheme (which range from shitbox pointless Citroen whatever with less range than a Sinclair C5, to iPace/big Mercs and Beemers), although BIK is due to steadily increase going forward as the government are missing out on important income to waste on HS2 and other money pits.

The zero tax on EVs is also due to be phased out from next year - our scheme strangely doesn't include VED.

So our scheme covers everything during the length of the lease, except electricity, BIK, and road tax.  Obviously if you abuse it enough to need wear and tear items like tyres too frequently, I think it's likely they might be miffed and charge. There is an excess on accidents, which I think is £250, but increases if you keep crashing.

This puts something like a Dual Motor Tesla around £500, excluding BIK and VED, which is potentially almost worthwhile (ignoring any views on Tesla cars) if I lived somewhere where I wouldn't have to frequently charge away from home - EV charging at public charge points makes petrol and diesel look dirt cheap.  EV isn't yet for me.

[TheBoy]

I was driving past Sytner Land Rover dealer in Wakefield this morning. Someone has parked a Range Rover outside with proper magnetic signs on it saying
Do not buy a Land Rover from Sytner   UNINSURABLE

Another happy customer.

I know the media have a downer on Range Rovers, especially the tree hugging leftie mob like the BBC/Sky/Fail etc, but....

Her old man drives an old Honda Jizz - he is very old, so its his duty to get in everyone's way, especially as he likes reasonably close to that YZ250 fella - and his insurance company has just written to him saying they are no longer insuring Honda Jizz's in the UK due to cat theft.  I don't see the media having a wankathon over that.  But I suppose as its not a JLR product...

He's managed to get insurance elsewhere, but the risk is deemed so high, the insurance is far more than the car is worth.


I know of someone at work who had a (then) newish Toyta Auris* hybrid, who was unable to renew insurance for the same reason. He ended up having to go somewhere else far more expensive.


*I think - the Astra sized shitbox one.

[Doctor Gollum]

Would it kill the insurance company to exclude or limit claims for cat thefts? Or body part theft of Festers and Corsas