Many people from within the motoring world believe that electric cars are going to become more and more important in the coming years, so you can future proof yourself by purchasing one of the many electric vehicles on sale at Evans Halshaw.
Benefits of Electric Vehicles (EVs)
The main benefit of owning an electric vehicle is the amount it costs to make a journey. The Nissan LEAF can operate at a cost of just 2p per mile – try achieving that in a conventional car with petrol and diesel prices what they are. There is also of course zero road tax to pay with electric vehicles, because of the low CO2 nature of their electric motors.
EVs also do their bit for the environment as they emit no harmful tailpipe emissions. You can charge them at home overnight, or at one of the many rapid chargers positioned in city centres and at motorway service stations.
The driving experience of an electric vehicle is much better than you may anticipate. They are quiet and comfortable, smooth and easy to drive. They’re all automatic, and because 100% of torque is available 100% of the time, they feel much quicker than you might expect – quicker off the mark then most conventional hatchbacks. Of course top speeds are limited, but as long as they can keep up with modern traffic (and they can) then what does the top speed really matter?
New Electric Vehicles
Currently, our best-selling electric vehicle is the highly recognisable Nissan LEAF. It has recently received a range of uprated features, including better driving dynamics and improved battery life. The range of the new Nissan LEAF is now able to travel up to 124 miles on a single charge, given the correct conditions. This means that with a full charge costing only £2.03 (overnight on British Gas Economy 7 Tariff), it could cost as little as 2p per mile to travel in your Nissan Leaf – roughly 9 times less expensive than a traditional petrol vehicle achieving 40mpg, with petrol prices at £1.28.7p per litre. There are also a number of used Nissan LEAFs appearing in our used car pages too.
Renault are also one of the innovators in the electric vehicle market. The ZOE is a small, good looking family hatchback with the practicality of regular Clio but with none of the tailpipe emissions. Range is approximately 100 miles, which is plenty for most people’s daily commute.
The Twizy is another member of Renault’s electric line-up, and offers something completely different to pretty much any other car (or quadricycle) on the road. It’s a two-seat vehicle (one in front and one behind), and is designed to have as little environmental impact as possible. It only has a top speed of 52mph so you’re not likely to get many speeding tickets, but at town speeds around 30mph it actually feels pretty nippy. Range is limited to 50 miles, but most people will be able to commute at that, and because of its size and how easy it is to drive, it’s perfect for city streets.
The Renault Kangoo Z.E. and they Nissan e-NV200 are electric vans, which give traders and other commercial people the ability to conduct their usual business activities without emitting any tailpipe emissions. They have the same payload as regular vans and so can carry the same amount of stuff.