Electric cars

If you mainly do local journeys electric cars are great. You might want to get a standalone home charger then just plug it in overnight on cheap electric. Servicing is obviously alot cheaper. Batteries do degrade, I think some warranties say 70% after 8 years, so do check the range and the range you need. Batteries are expensive to replace but you might not need the whole batteries replaced, maybe just some cells. They are quiet and acceleration is usually good.

The batteries used in electric cars are highly polluting to manufacture and almost impossible to recycle. They also contain heavy metals and rare metals sourced from countries where the human rights and physical safety of workers are not a ahigh priority. .com/article/green-cars/will-some-gas-and-diesel-cars-still-produce-less-pollution-evs

Thank you annieway That is helpful.

I am in the US, not the UK, so it may be a little different situation there with electric cars. My husband and I are also not car people. We bought our first electric car a few months ago and love it. It's a Chevrolet Bolt. We plug it in to a normal outlet in the garage. It charges slowly but we don't drive much. In the UK, I believe you have 210/220 volt electric service and it should charge twice as fast. You can get 220 service here also but it was going to cost >$1000 for us to have an electric panel upgraded.

The car has been very reliable - absolutely no problems whatsoever. It is slightly different to drive but we learned very quickly and in many ways it's better, and quite fun to drive.

We have not gone on any long trips yet. In the US, even in California where there are more electric cars, you have to plan ahead where to charge because the charging stations are few and far between outside big cities, but this situation should improve. There are phone apps to find nearby stations or to plan a longer trip.

I love never having to buy gasoline (petrol for you Brits) again. I feel great that I'm doing something to help the planet. And it's completely free for us to run because we have solar electric at our house.

I hope this helps you with your decision.