Meet Beren from kendal
What’s this about?
Beren wanted to save money on petrol but couldn’t afford to buy a brand new electric vehicle with long range, so he bought a shorter range EV to cover all his local travel and kept his petrol car only for long journeys.
What did Beren do?
He decided to get an EV because of the need to drive between 1000 miles and 1500 miles per month. Having perused a few second-hand car websites to find an EV within his price range, Beren calculated that, even with the money he would be borrowing to buy the car, he would still be saving money after a little while because he wouldn’t be paying for petrol every month. There were also leasing options which still ended up costing less than running a petrol car. With this encouragement, he quickly made his purchase and now makes the majority of his journeys in his electric vehicle.
What difference has it made to Beren?
Beren says that it feels good to be driving electric as it is a smoother and quieter ride in the car, and it is hugely enjoyable not having to fill up and spend huge amounts of money on petrol! Every time there has been a fuel shortage, he thanks heavens that he drives electric! The average small EV can be completely charged for around £15.00 which is a huge saving compared to ever rising petrol and diesel costs. Servicing costs are also vastly reduced because of the far fewer moving parts an EV has. If he wants to shift a bit though, the acceleration is also phenomenal.
What difference has it made to the climate?
Around 25-30% of the UK’s CO2 emissions is emitted through travel so the electrification of our transport goes a long way toward getting us closer to zero carbon. Beren travels around 10,000 miles a year in his EV which would otherwise have resulted in harmful greenhouse gases being produced every inch along the way.
Feeling inspired?
PodPoint offers this guide to how much it costs to charge an electric car.
You can find out more about EV servicing costs in this piece by buyacar.
You can find the cheapest EVs to charge on this helpful list on choosemycar.com.
Beren recommends you calculating your own monthly expenditure on petrol. In his case, it could end up being as high as £500. Working out what you could be making in car payments and electric costs could help you make the decision about whether switching to an EV could be the right choice for you.
