Want to replace my car and am looking for an electric vehicle.
Must carry 4 adults, have a range of 60 miles and a speed of about 50mph (80Kmh). Its for commuting and local trips.
Why electric? Petrol is about 15p per mile. Based on what examples I have found an electric car costs about 2-3p per mile to fuel. I expect petrol costs to rise faster than electricity costs. Also there are no carbon emissions from an electric vehicle (my electricty supplier only uses carbon neutral sources).
Finding such a vehicle is a problem. They are either too small, or too slow and short range.
There are commercial vehicles - vans / buses that meet the specs so why so few cars?
The only example I can find is the G-Wiz (Riva) which is too small. You can get cars converted but this is expensive. In any case you need to factor in replacment batteries every so often (800 charges?)
For now I may hang onto my small car. I'll get a large car for heavy loads and long journeys but look into alternative fuels (LPG).
I'll keep looking for that ideal electric car - if anyone knows of such a thing tell me.
tregeddow
Update : Came across the Carver Trike - very expensive at 30-40K Euros - it isn't in mass production yet.
I'm still following up with various car companies - Citroen did an electric van (Berlingo)- it may still be available but would need converting.
Meanwhile petrol is rising in cost - increasing the differential with electricity in cost per mile.
One tank in car 40 litres - about 330 miles range - 8 Miles per litre? Litre costs 96 pence - so 12p per mile.
G-Wiz car - 40 miles for 9KwH at 15p per KwH. Just over 3p per mile.
Journey each day to work (and back) 13 miles - could be saving just over a pound each day. Might just about cover battery replacement costs. If petrol prices rise further or road charging is introduced and electric cars are exempt then it could become more viable.
In the meantime I'll keep looking.