For longer standing forum members the topic title might be familiar and you'd be right, it is. We've had a Would you buy a plug in electric car? topic before. Started in July 2019 and running to 172 posts over 12 pages, the latest post being three years ago in March 2022.

Why mention this?

Well; I'm gently looking around for a replacement to my CUPRA Ateca in 6 to 18 months depending on my mood and the state of my PCP finance, with a new Ateca not necessarily being an option as production may have ceased by then. I've looked, a couple of weeks ago, at CUPRA's new Terramar that it a spiritual successor to the Ateca, but it fails for me on a number of points.

There is though a new car released recently by my long term favourite brand Skoda, the Elroq, which is similar in size to the Ateca but a seismic leap for me as it's all electric (based, I have a hunch, on VW's ID4; yet to do my research on that).

I therefore thought that a new topic would be in order as the EV market has evolved significantly in recent years. Charging infrastructure is improving all the time. EVs themselves have come on leaps and bounds as well.

The Elroq is a tempting proposition for me. It would be a personal purchase on, again, a PCP. Range looks fine. I could get a home charger. Performance looks fruity, albeit only 2WD whereas I've been used to 4WD for the last 13 years. I cover 13-14,000 miles pa at the moment so hopefully running costs will be lower compared to the 28-30mpg on Super Unleaded I pay for at the moment.

Concerns I have are things like EVs are noticeably heavier, the Elroq is 400kg more than my Ateca. Tyres are bigger and more expensive. With all that weight it's going to be less nimble but then, with a battery pack in the floor pan, it will have a relatively low Centre of Gravity. High insurance cost? - mentioned in the earlier topic.

Conversely, the high torque from zero rpm is going to be amazing and will remind me to a degree of the grunt I had in my turbo diesel Skoda Yeti.

So . . . .

In 2025, Would you buy an all electric car?

Guy

we're living in the "in between" world with a plug in hybrid and i'm quite happy with it. we wanted to be able to do daily driving on an electric charge and not have any range anxiety for longer travel, since this would be our primary vehicle. we have a 2023 rav 4 prime (about 18mo into ownership). ~45-50 miles (72-80km) on a charge, which is more than enough for normal daily driving. but a 500 mile (800km) range fully gassed and electric charged. still very quick, gets very good mileage in hybrid mode. and toyota has pretty much the best track record and history out there for hybrids.

I've had my little I3S for nearly two years as our only car. It fits our use pattern exactly. 99% of the time I charge at home. It has battery management that recommends just plugging in and leaving it. (none of this only 80% stuff). So I get home, plug it in and leave it until I want to use it.
On longer trips, by the time it needs to recharge, I need a fluid swap. I don't suffer range anxiety, I do just have to plan it in to the trip.
If I couldn't charge from home, I wouldn't touch an EV.
I like driving it, it does everything well. But it's anodyne, like driving white goods. I do miss the drama of some of my previous cars, but I don't do track days now!

I have recently bought a BMW i3 with the Ranger Extender and am very happy with it. It’s my first “electric car” and whilst the range isn’t massive, nor is my mileage. I charge it once or twice a week when I know I’ll be at home all day (just plug in after the school run and walk away).

The Range Extender is a clever edition. A small motor (I think from a BMW motorbike) fed by a small petrol tank can (either automatically or on demand) fire up and start topping up the battery. It adds another 40/50 mile of range, and so is a useful back stop in an emergency if you find yourself without charge. I use it rarely, but it reduces range anxiety massively.

It’s nippy and fun to drive too.

Not sure this has at all helped with your deliberations Guy!

Just don’t get a Tesla…

As you know, Guy, I have been driving a Yaris (self-charging) hybrid for about six years now, and I’m on my second one. I like Toyota, and this car suits my purposes very well. I don’t need massive performance or lots of load/passenger capability; most of my journeys are around 10 to 12 miles, with the occasional foray further afield, usually to an airport. It costs about £30 to fill up from a typical quarter-full tank, and that gives me a range of around 400 miles in winter, and more in summer. Usually enough for a couple of weeks or more (I’m around 7K miles per year).

I haven’t reset the fuel economy on the computer for nearly 2 years now, and I’m getting an average of around 64 mpg. Again, obviously, the figure goes up in summer and down in winter. The other day I did an 11 mile journey home; the app showed fuel consumption of 65.2 mpg, and also showed that the car had spent 53% of the journey on electrical power. It does what it does and it suits my needs.

I would consider going full electric, but at the moment Toyota doesn’t seem to have anything that suits me in terms of size. I’m likely to change again later this year (PCP like you) and will be almost certain to go for the same again.

Guy, I think it all comes down to whether you feel your journey types will enable you to charge at home 99% of the time and also whether a lot of your journeys would fit in say a 35 mile range that may be better suited to a phev.
I have been driving phev cars for 10 years now and was hoping by now I would be all electric but imho the infrastructure still is not there for me to make a switch.

For info I have been driving the hyundai tuscon phev and only charging it at work and average 68mpg. It is easily the best car I have ownedand previously I have been mostly audi and mercedes.

I bought my self charging hybrid 2020 Toyota Yaris when a few months old and with 471 miles on the clock.

I love it and so does my wallet.

Just a snapshot:
scooter

To answer the question bluntly: no, I wouldn't... yet.

Upfront cost and infrastructure still cause me concern and we've just replaced our run around with a 5yo 1.2 petrol Fiat 500 and have another petrol car (Audi) for longer journeys and which can fit our family of five.

I've mentioned elsewhere about my new e-bike and I've been using that for shorter runs up to 10 miles round trip without breaking a sweat including a trip to the tip with some smaller items in a back pack to be recycled.

So, a curve ball thought, a petrol car and an e-bike for the short local distances? (I should add I'm 52 and live 5 mins from a county town with some short sharp hills with all facilities within easy reach. Maybe e-biking more challenging in rural areas).

I've mentioned before that I've been fully electric since 2017, and honestly couldn't go back to an internal combustion engine now - whenever I have to drive one they now seem so unrefined!

As @Paul Drawmer said in his post though, being able to charge at home is a key thing to really realising the benefits - its incredibly convenient to just plug a car in on your driveway. People talk about range anxiety, but unless you do 200+ miles every day if you can charge from home it really isn't a thing.

Many modern EVs (including the Elroq) sit in what I believe is a real sweet spot - a real world 200 mile range (maybe a bit less if it's all motorway and you have a heavy right foot!) and proper fast charging (100kW+)

Redpat wrote: ↑Thu Mar 06, 2025 9:49 am I have done a fair bit of reading and research, ifeel that there isn't really a massive benefit of switching to electric at this stage.
Battery degradation, more tyre replacements are a concern but the lack of range if I need to travel, I do occasionally, is an issue. The upfront cost is also a fair slice of money above a petrol model.

I thought I'd quote this Pat, as it makes some good points to address (and I mean no criticism of your points!)

Battery degradation really isn't a concern on a modern EV (it was on older versions) for a few reasons. First and foremost, modern cars have thermal management of the battery that heats/cools them to keep them within a 'sweet spot' for both efficiency and degradation. Batteries are also bigger than they need to be, and hide (up to 10% in some cases) some of their capacity - this stops the car ever being truly 'full' or 'empty' (batteries hate extremes, which is why phones with smaller batteries show such clear degradation over time). Finally, battery tech is improving all the time - LFP batteries for example have significantly lower degradation characteristics than batteries did 10 years ago.

Tyre replacement is valid - on average from fleet data you'll get about 6000 miles less, but in reality that means new tyres every 3-4 years rather than every 4-5.

The prices are dropping all the time (and if you're going the PCP route as Guy suggested, the difference is actually minimal, as the retained price at the end of the contract is also higher)

On the subject of price, it's also worth calling out that I've found running EVs so much cheaper in terms of running costs - with home charging, at an overnight rate I pay around 3p/mile on average for fuel, vs 10-15p in an ICE (if anyone wants a referral to Octopus Energy who do some of the best charging tariffs in the UK let me know!) General servicing is also much cheaper as there's less to go wrong and wear out (PHEV's have been mentioned a few times and to me they're actually far worse, as they've got twice as much inside them to go wrong...)

As a final point, I'd call out that you need to think about driving a little differently when you own an EV, particularly around fuelling - in my last petrol car I'd fill it to 75% and run it down to 25%... in an EV I ensure I have a full battery whenever I need it, and on a long journey plan to stop for food, or look for a charger when I'm around 15% (and I'm far more comfortable running an EV close to empty than a petrol car)

Recently I had to do 300+ miles in a day picking my mum and sister up 70 miles away, doubling back and then going on to Edinburgh (and surrounding area) and all the way back again, before returning home - we stopped for food before returning home and I plugged my car in on a public charger while we had a sit down meal.
I went out and moved my car after we gave the waiter our food order as it already had enough in it and I didn't want to block a charge bay... (so if anything, my car charges too fast )

I love the depth and quality of all the replies here

RichM wrote:I love the depth and quality of all the replies here

Indeed, and I'm reading them all as I go along this morning. Thank you.

I've picked up on some points to comment on, but will do so later in the day.

One quick comment though on at stiff's mention;-

The prices are dropping all the time (and if you're going the PCP route as Guy suggested, the difference is actually minimal, as the retained price at the end of the contract is also higher)

I did a Finance Caculator exercise two nights ago on an Elroq 85 Sportline vs an Ateca VZ1, that are very close on RRP.

Based on 15k miles pa and 36 month term, the deposit, monthly payment, and residual value / final payment were close to being the same as made no difference.

Guy

Sent from my Galaxy S23 Ultra using Tapatalk

One other point I'd add about public charging (particularly rapid charging) is that you shouldn't aim to fill your car - all batteries charge on a curve (filling faster when low, then slowing down) to the extent that the last 5-10% can take as long as the previous 60-70%.

If charging at home in the most part, then on a public rapid charger I'd aim to just add in what's needed (as mentioned my car can charge pretty quickly, topping out at a max rate of a little over 140kWs - I can go from 20-80% in 15-20 minutes, which in reality is barely enough time to go to the bathroom and buy a cup of coffee...)

Guy - if you're considering it then have a look on Zap-Map (you'll find it on the app store) and filter down to CCS rapid chargers in the areas you may need to charge (places 100+ miles from home) to get an idea of both the infrastructure available and the reliability of them (you might be surprised how many you find as both the number and speed of installations have grown massively over the past 3-4 years).

...and if you want to expand the search a bit, alternatives similar to the Elroq worth considering include the Kia Niro, the Hyundai Kona, BYD Atto and Volvo EX30.