Today, 9th September 2021, we are celebrating World Electric Vehicle (EV) Day.
Transport emits more greenhouse gases than any other UK sector. In 2018 around 46% of greenhouse gas emissions by households related to travel, mostly from domestic car use. This equated to 67 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent, almost 12% of the UK’s total GHG emissions in 2018. World EV Day has been set up to encourage businesses and individuals to #DriveChange to support the transition to electric vehicles.
We’d like to use this opportunity to bust some of the myths surrounding owning and driving electric vehicles.
Myth 1: The cost of buying a battery electric vehicle is much higher than the fossil fuelled equivalent.
When considering a BEV it is imperative to consider the TOTAL COST OF OWNERSHIP. The following comparison is based on 3 years of ownership and annual mileage of 12,000 miles.
Assuming everything other than the annual mileage remains constant, the savings over 3 years vary as shown below:
Where the savings are:
- £2,020 = 12,000 miles per annum
- £1,394 = 10,000 miles per annum
- £768 = 8,000 miles per annum
- £142 = 6,000 miles per annum
- -£483 = 4,000 miles per annum
The average mileage per vehicle in the UK is about 8,000 miles per annum making the average saving of switching to an electric vehicle about £768 per annum.Further savings can be realised if charging from renewable energy sources, the comparison is shown below:
Myth 2: It’s impossible to find charging points for long journeys
Whilst electric cars are more suited to the stop-start nature of day to day town & city driving, it is possible to drive longer distances comfortably. Longer journeys may need a bit of planning which is where apps like zap map come in very handy. You can plan your journey around the charging points ahead of time to make the journey a stress free one.
If in doubt, try it out!
There are a few options to try an electric car before committing to buying one. Drive-electric.co.uk enables people to lease an electric vehicle for a month or so to test them out.
Or perhaps during the last 18 months, you’ve realised that you don’t need to own a car because you don’t use it very often. According to the Co-cars, a community owned car-sharing scheme in Exeter, the average car is used just 3-4% of the time.
An electric car sharing scheme can help people get access to electric cars without the up-front expense of a car. They can also remove 6-10 private cars from the road reducing congestion on the roads. Members only pay for the hours they use the electric vehicle. Co-cars says ‘collectively, this means we are helping to create greener, calmer, more connected places where people can thrive – and all whilst saving time, money and hassle.’
Would you like to see electric car sharing schemes in North Devon? Let us know what you think.