Electric Explained: FIVE things you need to know before you buy an electric car

I have electric car and I can tell you that a real range of 500 km and a power of 200 CP is more than enough for any kind of use. Don"t buy electric cars with 2 motors and big power because you give the money for nothing, a car with a front electric motor and 70 kw battery is perfect. Don"t buy electric cars with mode than 2 tones and rear traction or awd, you will be dissapointed.

I have had a mobility electric car rental for two years and eight months but when I renew I will only get a car that informs people dogs children that it's coming will you tell me which cars now do this as I find driving something that's completely quiet very dangerous and disterbing so much so I would rather rent a noisy diesel or petrol

That's good news... there are no negative down sides to owning a EV in the UK.

Thing to know before you buy an electric car - dont. Lease dont buy - you don’t want to own the depreciation….

IDK about someone who drives 1000 miles/week being better off with a PHEV. Their savings on fuel would be the highest of any EV buyer. If they buy a PHEV, it would only use electricity for a small fraction of their driving. No reason a good 300+ mile fast charging BEV couldn't do the job just as well as a PHEV or ICE vehicle.

This may seem like a silly question but is there any problem with charging on a slope as charging stations all seem to be on level ground?

A couple of thoughts if I may. 1. Most motorway service areas and indeed shopping malls have a time limit for parking (usually around2 hours). If the charging bays are in use, then technically you may need to drive on further in the hope of finding a free charging point at another service area, or wait till a bay becomes available which could leave very little charge time! 2. You say that the battery is aimed at lasting the lifetime of the car. Surely this depends on how you define lifetime of the car? As an example, my current car is 13 years old, and I know locally a person who has had his car for over 23 years. Would you suggest that people who tend to cling on to their vehicles beyond what a manufacturer terms a lifetime should consider ICE vehicles instead?

No 1 don't buy an one, Thermal runaway.

Well explained.

Why does public charging cost so much, up to 79p per kWh. Is it that Shell and BP setting the tariff to maintain the dominance of ice cars and their petrol prices. How can Tesla charge much less 44p for the same electric from the same sources.

Went to see the latest Mission impossible seemed odd that the Italian police were all using BMWs not Italian vehicles as they actually do then realised it was a product placement like a Bond Movie - watching electrifying is now the same I think it’s time to change the name to citrofying !

I’m a high mileage driver and a Model 3 standard range has been fine. And I’ve done 50,000 miles in 16 months… hybrids are the worst of both worlds! Don’t worry!!

Must admit to wondering what happens if you drive in a flood and it is deeper that you thought 😂

You guys really need to try the Google maps through the car as a Sat Nav, ask it for EV chargers and they all pop up. Ask it for a particular brand “instavolt”, it gives all the options on the route you’ve selected with easy divert on the route…try it out

If the battery falls below 70% capacity it will be REPLACED so not repaired. You can damage / reduce the life of the battery by constant rapid charging on a DC fast charger as stated in the owners hand book.Only 2 types of connectors in the UK. Your house is connected to the incoming supply so saying the charger is fitted directly to the incoming supply for safety is total rubbish. The charger is tapped of the incoming supply via a separate consumer unit with a RCBO breaker so is not connected via the house consumer unit. The installer does not want to touch your house electrics just like solar installers as they can then be liable for any faults and you would need the house wiring iinspected and signed off.

Thanks for very clear video, but so much FUD in the comments sadly. Completely agree that although there is still mor to do, there have been huge improvements in the charging infrastructure in the UK. The hub facilities that Gridserve have been putting in at many MOTO service areas are really impressive for long journeys, making the A1 our preferred north/south route by far! We don't have off street parking at home, but have excellent local charging options with Connected Kerb.

I couldn't imagine living with an EV without having a home charger. It's practically impossible, especially in my area. Not to mention the weather. Having the car plugged in during the winter is an absolute must.
Good tips though!

A very misleading video. Glossing over the many draw backs of EVs. These are many including the high cost of charging at public chargers anywher,that many are out of service and you waste hours of you lifè waiting to continue your journey. Whislt waitin buy expensive coffee and snacks at such place. If an EV is invloved in even a minor accident they are often written off due to the high cost of and difficulty in repairing them. Accident reapairs are very wary of them due to the risk of damaged EVs spontaneously combusting, resulting in many repairers refusing to have them on their premises. The evironmental damage caussed by the lithium mining means to that EVs are actually less environmentally friendly than an ICEcar. Thhe list goes on and on and you should if you want to be fair highlight all of the dozens of problems with EVs.

I’m a tight-fisted git. My car is 23 years old, produces 149g/km of Co2, starts, stops and runs. It’s not the prettiest looking thing but I like it. When something breaks, I fix it. Servicing and incidental repairs cost me about €500 a year. It’s on its original engine and gearbox. Though a replacement would probably set me back €1000 as it’s been used in millions of cars.

My question is, can an electric car last 23 years without serious expensive overhaul such as battery replacement while producing less greenhouse gas emissions between its production cycle and electricity production?

Isn’t the best car for the environment, the one that’s already built?

The whole model if an EV is something for you changes if a car can do V2X or V2H as than you have a huge home battery in front of your home and makes economically a ton more sense, especially if you have solar panels or an hourly rate from your electricity company. Now more car need to implement this as it's stupid this isn't a standard feature already.

So yeah. Your Range Calculator - Plugged in the numbers of my commute (actually KM, but can't change that) 65KM each way each day (so 130KM), saying 100% motorway driving, mix of hills and flat, need a range of "at least" 136KM.
This is completely and utterly incorrect.
Cars a sold with an advertised range (generally) at 100%, while they RECOMEND a maximum charge of 80%
An EV driving at motorway speed will suffer a range drop (in some cases) of at least 20-30%
Battery degradation (admittedly a lot harder to calculate)

Even the video on the page talking about "range" doesn't mention any of this.

Don't get me wrong, I have recently purchased an EV, but If I'd used your figures to base my buying on, I would have been screwed.

I stopped driving to save money to buy an ev, after a while I realised I really don't need a car so no point buying an ev, may as well spend my savings on something interesting I can enjoy instead of wasting it on a second hand ev lol

Sponsored by Citroen? Other manufacturers are available 😳

Did a return trip in my Niro EV to Inverness from Sussex using the A Better Route Planner app. Absolutely no problems there or back. Don't believe everything the tabloids tell you

"Prices are going down all the time." Wrong. Exactly the other way around.

I have a company EV and due to the tax dodge, it's worth it. Otherwise not. TOC of a typical ICE car is usually much lower than an EV.

I can’t find the calculator that the video mentions - even the story says that there is a link (the word HERE) but it doesn’t take me to a calculator! Please post here exactly how to access the calculator. Thanks!

Just Today reading some Motorway Service Operators have EV charging installed without actually having them Connected as there is insufficient capacity already in the Power Generation System, EV's are laughable compared to an ICE vehicle they simply can't get near the Flexibility.

Is it....
1. They’re
2. A
3. Waste
4. Of
5. Money?

Public charging is doable, I did it for nearly a year, but it's a bit of a nightmare. The amount of crap apps, unreliable chargers, the amount that are out of order and the sheer number of EV drivers there are now, plus having to pay around 72p per KWh it makes running the car so much more expensive, especially in winter. Home charging is a game changer though.

I’ve had my electric car for 2 months. It’s lovely to drive.

Pay way more to buy, insurance and "fuel" than the equivalent petrol or diesel if you can't charge at home and then get clobbered by the depreciation when you try to exit. Nobody wants to buy a 10 year old laptop or phone and they sure as hell aren't going to want a 10 year old BEV.

There are a lot of companies out there who rip off owners with service charges for electric cars.

Wow what a sales person!!! / presenter! Missed out all the real points of concern or gave glib answers- look at your i phone for battery life - 5 yrs on average with far less load that a car—- green, I think not - shy no mention of rare elements mined in atrocious conditions by - in most cases child labour- disposal of battery at eol ? No one knows how to do this as base metals are toxic- infrastructure!!! Our grid cant produce enough electricity to serve our demand if mass ev sold- selfish people hogging charge points - it may take 20/ 49/ 60 mins but I regularly see ( eg) shopping centre staff plugged in full shift !! Open your eyes and tell the true picture for the common driver who are just getting fleeced by this rubbish

The insurance on our new iqonic 5 was the same as our VW golf

How long is the life of the vehicle? You didn't quantify.

Only someone who has access to home charging would say don't worry if you don't have it.

Need to include tyres in the cost. Had 4 new ones put on a year ago at MOT. Had MOT last month front 2 need replacing in next few months.

Electric cars usually cost more to buy? Name 1 that doesn't?

No way on earth would i recommend anyone have an ev without off-street parking.

1. They are expensive unless via a company tax offset scheme. 2. The range is poor especially if you drive on the motorway and like to do over 50 mph (dont mention cold weather). 3.The charging network is a joke and it takes ages to recharge if you can find one that works and is free. 4. Any money saved is swallowed up by the insane insurance cost. 5.They lose a fortune in depreciation as most people dont want one. 6.If it catches fire make sure it is well away from your house. 7. Have an accident fair chance it will be written off or take ages for repair. 8 Sorry but they really arent green.

Not all of this is sensible information.


If you can't access a regular plug, either at home or at work, then you will be paying through the teeth (~70p per KWh) for electricity at public chargers, making the fueling cost for an EV about the same as a combustion car, with little hope to recoup the higher purchase cost. The only exception is if you have very cheap (or even free) slow chargers near your home or work, but these are rare as hen's teeth. Public chargers might get more competitive pricing in the future, but who knows when. The good news is that at least 60% of UK drivers do have access to a regular plug, either at home or at work.


If you drive at least a thousand miles per week - and you DO have access to a plug at home - this is exactly when BEVs (at least those with 250+ miles of range so that you can do almost all your charging at home) *make the most sense*, saving thousands of pounds on fuel per year!

A PHEV is exactly the WRONG choice in this situation, since they are typically going to do only 25 or 30 miles on electric and are thereafter MORE fuel hungry than a modern modest combustion car when doing steady motorway driving over very long distances. The break even point is likely journeys of around 100-150 miles - if you daily drive more than that, a PHEV may end up costing you more in fuel than a traditional engined car.

You made a huge understatement when you said "there's room for improvement" with the charging infrastructure. It's absolutely rubbish in the UK, and I think you know it! My nearest charger is 10 miles away and it's 7KW. I have a petrol station 1/4 mile away and another 3 within 5 miles. It takes me 5 minutes to refuel to a range of nearly 600 miles which lasts me a month......unless I'm visiting family, a 300 mile round trip (without having to 'recharge'), then the tank lasts 'just' a couple of weeks.

You have to add something to the EV TCO, that you all seem to forget. How many people will buy their car cash? . . . . . . indeed, very few.
So, when you buy a ICE Fiat 500 Cabrio, it wil cost €20k. When you buy a 42kWh Fiat 500 E Cabrio it will cost €38k that is €18k more on your loan.
In 6 years that will add €3k on interest. Also the insurance will be about €600 per year extra, In 6 years that will be an extra €3.6k.
So, that EV will cost you already €44.6 in stead of the €20k of the ICE version.
Now try to work out how long you have to own that car to brake even . . . . With that €24.6k extra. . . . . . on a €20k car. I wonder why this is never mentioned on this chanel.
Oh, and then the home charger . . . .
Yes yes, we know the story about the brakes, the exhaust, and the gearbox, and it is true . . . . . . but please, tell the complete story.

1. Don't.

I winced when you said "don't worry if you cannot charge at home..." yes you can make it work but you will pay up to 7 times as much per kwh

What scares me about electric cars…?

I bought a 2021 Kia Niro, EV and I loved it in the beginning; very cheap to charge, save money on buying gas, and low maintenance!

Here’s my problem:

20 months (21,000 + miles) into buying this new experiment in my life, the battery went out and had to be replaced. And I know the dealership told me it was “the first one to happen in the Midwest (of the United States) for a Kia vehicle“.

Where the electric car is not practical is, if my car would not have been under warranty, the price to replace a battery is ridiculous!!!

I paid $38,000 for this car (brand new) and to replace the battery cost a total of $44,000 ($32,000 for the battery and $12,000 to install it).

Until they figure out that little problem, it is worthless to buy a car, and keep it past any warranty!!! That’s why, I plan on selling this car, before the warranty is final!!!

trust me when I say that your number 1 consideration should be establishing where will you be charging? home or public network and if public network, before you buy, physically visit everyone of the chargers near your home at different times of the day to establish your chances of actually finding a working charger that is reasonably available - trust me, living in an upstairs flat without the ability to have a home charger and being fully reliant on the public network puts you in an extremely vulnerable position and means that you will likely be sat at in your car, in all weathers, at weird times of the day and night, for at least an hour, one or more times a week (after first driving around trying to find a working and available one)