I’m due to renew my Van in 6 months. I currently drive a diesel Citroen dispatch Auto. Nice fuel tank that gives me over 500 miles on a tankful which costs £80. 100% tax relief on my £80 or £64 if you’re VAT registered and the £16 claimed back in VAT.

Despite Citroen’s reputation, in 2.5 years it has been faultless and I’m quite happy to replace it with another. And now they do an EV version let’s investigate.

Complete non starter. There’s been lots of Apples and Pear comparisons so far but this really is like for like. Same van same load capacity, apart from mode of propulsion these really are identical.

With the exception of the price. Diesel £22k EV version £40k

The slightly cheaper version with the smaller battery is really in the ‘range anxiety’ bracket so no good for me.

I’ve no idea what 500 miles of electricity will cost me but it’s a few years before I take the EV plunge.

You have to take into account the value after 3 years also to get the true cost of ownership which in reality may be little different. The servicing and fuel costs will be much reduced and of course the city pricing may affect you dependent on location.

Fuel cost for 500 miles circa £10 to £14 assuming 2 to 3 miles per Kw BMW i3 Electric Car
2012 Full Fat RR 4.4 TDV8 (now gone)
2006 VW Touareg 3.0 TDi V6

At 2.5 years old We Buy Any Van are currently valuing mine at £17.5k, so the EV would have to go some to better that.

Used vans in good condition and low mileage seem to do much better than Cars in depreciation.

The point being that if the electric version had a similar rate of depreciation it looks a lot more attractive than just considering the purchase price. I had a similar situation with my driving school car, Corsa at about £10k or a golf at more than double. The true cost of ownership the Golf was much better and depreciated less over the one year period, true cost of ownership was lower despite the higher purchase price, it was also a much nicer vehicle for learners and more importantly me having to spend 8hrs plus in there per day BMW i3 Electric Car
2012 Full Fat RR 4.4 TDV8 (now gone)
2006 VW Touareg 3.0 TDi V6

SS.Lyria wrote:

I’m due to renew my Van in 6 months.

Snip snip\

I’ve no idea what 500 miles of electricity will cost me but it’s a few years before I take the EV plunge.

I've not watched it yet, but the title seems apt for this thread!

 MY23 Panamera E-Hybrid
MY19 SDV8 Autobiography - Sold

Just heard on the news that you won’t be able to buy a ICE jag come 2025 so they obviously think they’ve got it sussed. There is nothing that can't be fixed with a hammer😜😜
FFRR 4.4 SDV8 Autobiography Santorini Black.
KIA E-Niro 4+
2021 Discovery 5 D300 MHEV commercial

Martin2 wrote:

I've not watched it yet, but the title seems apt for this thread!

£17 to add not much more than 100 miles.....there's the saving gone and 5 hours to do a 213 mile journey then on the way back he thought he's be able to get a 45min charge to get him home and someone pulled in just before him, so he went to an Ecotricity charger which failed 3 times and he had to find somewhere else

I stand by my earlier point, for journeys of less than 100 miles in one go and being able to charge at home, they can make sense but otherwise stick to IC or get a Tesla. MY23 Panamera E-Hybrid
MY19 SDV8 Autobiography - Sold

How often do you drive 200 miles without stopping for a comfort break and something to eat?

If you pee into a bottle and eat steak slices on the go, showering the interior of your car with puff pastry, then an EV is not for you.  Gone D3
Gone FFRR L322
Gone FFRR L405
Now on the JLR electric highway ....

I’m not yet at the age where I can’t do a 200+ mile journey without stopping! If I do stop, it’s for as little time as possible, it’s always been the same and something I got from my Dad who hated stopping off on long journeys.

Eating / drinking in the car is a huge no as well, water is the only thing allowed to be opened in my car and it was the same when my kids were little! MY23 Panamera E-Hybrid
MY19 SDV8 Autobiography - Sold

As a youngster in the military, I used to drive for 10 hours from Germany to London for a weekend party and then return the next day. The only stops were for fuel/pee and a coffee every 4 hours. If it had to be done in an EV, I would have been late back for parade every time! It just would not have been feasible.

it's all very well saying the charge will "only take" x, but if you have to wait for others (and I've seen the queues even for Teslas at the Motorway services) then you could be waiting for over 2 -3 hours min. unless you decide to go and find somewhere nearby, but then you find yourself running around and using yet more range to find a feasible charging point with possibly the same result awaiting you.

A friend went on a golf trip to Europe in a Tesla X and a 7 hr journey took them 11 hrs

Am gonna hold onto my TDV8 for as long as poss (until it stops working!).

Don’t tempt fate like that, you might be looking for a new car tomorrow!  MY23 Panamera E-Hybrid
MY19 SDV8 Autobiography - Sold

NAh, have got it all sorted now so should be good for another 100,000 miles
Cost a few thou (inlet manifold) but all gearboxes, transfer and Diffs, oil cooler change etc done.

Was thinking of upgrading to a 405 but may wait for the costs to come down more and get one of the last 4.4 TDV8s.

Ps martin2. Like your colour. Let me know when you buy your ev and I’ll take it off your hands.

Deal!  MY23 Panamera E-Hybrid
MY19 SDV8 Autobiography - Sold

The key to electric cars is the charging infrastructure.

If it's good, it means the uptake will be quicker because there'll be no range anxiety, and the cars will be cheaper as they won't need such big heavy batteries.