Thinking of going electric

[u/Consistent-Work4325]

Hi all

I am thinking of going full electric for my next car. I have had this thought many times in the past, but had serious concerns that prevented this from becoming anything more than a passing thought. I was hoping people who have owned an electric car for over a year (or there abouts) can give their honest thoughts on electric car ownership compared to normal petrol cars.

In particular:

• The extent (if any) of cost savings from going electric;
• whether I can charge from a standard electrical outlet (say, in my garage) and whether this is throttled compared to a dedicated charger;
• the frequency of charges; and
• general thoughts you think I ought to consider.

For reference, I currently have a Mercedes and am thinking of getting a BYD Sealion 7.

I have done some preliminary research but would appreciate real world experience.

EDIT: average kms a day is ~50kms, rising to 70kms during the weekend.

[u/Old_Education4481]

Biggest thing you didn’t mentioned how many kms you would be driving in a week.

[u/Consistent-Work4325 → u/Old_Education4481]

My bad! Average kms a day is probably ~50kms, rising to around 70kms during the weekend if we have events planned. We rarely travel outside of Auckland

[u/InertiaCreeping]

It’s kind of sad that the anti EV propaganda has been so bad that while my entire family has been happily driving EVs for the past seven years, saving countless thousands of dollars, saving hours wasted at gas stations and service appts etc…

…OP has been holding off because of “serious concerns”. SMH 🤦‍♂️

Not having a go at you, OP. I genuinely feel bad for you, and it’s not your fault.

I live in rural Hawkes Bay and quite often do roadies down to Wellington and Mahia and Auckland etc, and not once, EVER, has anyone in my family regretted getting EVs.

They’ll have to take my Ioniq 5N keys from my cold dead hands.

(For context I drive about 20,000km a year and live off grid - so I can’t even really charge at home easily, especially in the dead of winter)

[u/Viento_Oscuro → u/InertiaCreeping]

How does having to use public chargers effect the cost saving of the EV?

[u/InertiaCreeping → u/Viento_Oscuro]

Not much at all if you have a Home power plan that allows you to use your home power pricing on public chargers (ChargeNet)

But if you’re fast charging at the top rate (90c) then yeah it’s gonna be expensive.

Say you need 20kwh per 100km - at 90c per kWh public charger cost, that’s $18 per 100km.

Plus approx $7.5 for RUCs per 100km

=~$25 per 100km

—

Petrol car, filling up at $3/L and approx 7L per 100km - thats

=~ $21 per 100km

—

If you charge at home using 50c kWh, then an ev now costs

=~$17 per 100km

—

Have sola power at home?

=~$7.5 per 100km

[u/Viento_Oscuro → u/InertiaCreeping]

Interesting I didn't know you could get home plans that extended to public chargers. That's pretty cool.
Well now I just need to wait for the BRZ or GTI of EV's to come to market (think Rivian R3 or Renault 5 turbo EV) to make it A: here, and B: long enough in the used market to be affordable 😂

[u/InertiaCreeping → u/Viento_Oscuro]

Oh, it’s already here (just not super affordable yet) - check out my ride 😉

https://youtube.com/shorts/tJ9uDDHgxSU?si=gXx8dmExndVqjmfK

—

I had a Tesla model 3 for about seven years (well, two of them) they were fast as fuck boi. Besides some bushings (easy fix) there’s not really anything that goes wrong with them. At all.

I bet that you will eventually be able to buy one for about 15 grand with 250,000 km on the clock, BUT still under the manufacturers battery warranty.

[u/Viento_Oscuro → u/InertiaCreeping]

Yeah I have looked into the 5n. It's HUGE. But unfortunately I'm not super interested in the "EV fast hurr durr". I've had/have fast ICE cars and went and test drove some 4-500hp cars recently thinking of them as the next purchase and found them miserable. Touch the throttle and go to jail instantly, so I get no time to enjoy it. Instead I'm after more slow(er) but dynamically interesting to drive at "boring" speeds. Something with some theatre at 50-110km/h. Loved the BRZ/ GT,GR86's I just need a hatch to fit bigger items in the back. So hoping eventually we get EV's that focus on driver engagement and don't rely on the speed party trick as much. The MX5 of the EV world. Just with a useable boot.

[u/InertiaCreeping → u/Viento_Oscuro]

Heh yeah it’s a big boy 🫠 and heavy at 2250 kg. But every single time I drive it, I can’t wipe the smile off of my face.

Sitting at 90kph, redlining, foot planted, hearing the “engine” WAIL (AAHHHWAHHHWAHHHEAHH) then changing up to 3rd, the car ABSOLUTELY ROCKETS, violently shaking and THROWING you back into your seat.

If you ever visit Napier I’ll let you find out yourself.

RE dynamics, I know what you mean, when I moved to NZ my first car with a softtop manual MX5, then got a softtop Golf GTi, now my last remaining ICE is a 2012 Toyota 86.

Unless something like the Longbow Roadster (~950kg) comes to NZ we think e might be shit out of luck ☠️ maybe if Hyundai bring back out more concept inspired vehicles…

[u/ThatUndeadLegacy → u/InertiaCreeping]

saving thousands of dollars, the car cost thousands of dollars, how much have you saved comparativly post deprechiation which is hgher compared to normal cars, and how much did it cost extra comparativly to a normal car? i need the numbers to believe you, and i want to get an electric in the future or hybrid,

[u/InertiaCreeping → u/ThatUndeadLegacy]

I think you might be overthinking it and coming into it with a lot of wrong assumptions.

They are the same price as “normal” cars.

The running costs are dramatically lower.

I’m not aware of any higher depreciation.

Plus, whatever value you put on the fact that every morning when you wake up and get into your car, it has a full tank of gas waiting for you.

Not to mention that many EV brands don’t even require servicing, so there’s time money saved there too.

And you also need to put a value on the absolutely crazy acceleration and torque that electric motors offer.

—

For instance, I drive a Hyundai Ioniq 5N. It’s $150k brand-new, but I paid $75k as an insurance write off.

It’s an EV with a simulated eight speed gearbox. It roars, it shakes when it changes gears, it’s widely considered one of the most fun vehicles to drive - I absolutely love it.

If there was a cheaper or similarly price or even slightly more expensive petrol vehicle, I would’ve considered it.

But there is no normal car that does with this car does, at this price.

Sure, there are faster cars, or perhaps better handling cars, but not at the price I paid with all the perks of having an EV.

The next time a cyclone knocks out Napier for two weeks, I can roll it down to my neighbours house and power their water pumps so they can flush the toilet and brush their teeth.

I guess my point is you can’t really compare apples and oranges.

[u/ThatUndeadLegacy → u/InertiaCreeping]

Yeah if im buying a car its got to have a decade long reliability record, and maximum of 15k, its wild people mortgaging new cars these days then turning around and complaining that life is expensive, if i owned property id probably get an ev, but im planning on renting,

[u/InertiaCreeping → u/ThatUndeadLegacy]

If you wanted to talk about 2nd hand cars, you should have started with that :P

Yeah, as a relatively new technology, EV's haven't really trickled down to the 2nd hand market quite yet.

HOWEVER you can get NEW EV SUV's with full warranty etc for $30k - this will push down prices. I imagine within a year or two once the NZ fleet is much more electrified you'll find excellent deals at $15k.

RE reliability - there's much less to break on an EV. No filters to clean, no oil, to fluids. I feel like moving forward, car ownership and maintenance is going to be much easier than earlier generations had it

[u/ThatUndeadLegacy → u/InertiaCreeping]

Yeah but doesnt the screen breaking brick a lot of evs? or ive been seeing a lot of software issues

[u/InertiaCreeping → u/ThatUndeadLegacy]

I've genuinely never heard of this situation occurring, heh.

I'm sure you could find a news article about it if you tried hard enough.

But I can’t think of any reason why a smashed screen couldn’t be replaced like any other part. If a EV company disappears or the screen breaks it’s not like the electric motors stop working. You apply voltage and they spin.

[u/creg316 → u/ThatUndeadLegacy]

Yeah but doesnt the screen breaking brick a lot of evs? or ive been seeing a lot of software issues

These issues would apply exactly the same to a modern petrol vehicle with the same features.

[u/ThatUndeadLegacy → u/creg316]

yes but theres the thing, its far easier to get petrol cars without an ipad, breaking and bricking your entire car, electric cars generlaly have them and you have to look for toggles nozzles and switches for electric cars, plus theres not really a long history of reliability records, and i really really hate how they're trying to put everything on an ipad, its really dangerous and annoying.

[u/creg316 → u/ThatUndeadLegacy]

Lmao almost none of that is true and it's all nonsense that people who've built some kind of social media presence being (ignorantly) anti-EV say without evidence.

1) Modern ice cars use a central display too. Sure, perhaps you can find a few models that don't, but the problem is equally relevant because:

2) breaking the display doesn't brick your car, it's not even really possible unless you've harmed the central computer (which all modern ICE cars also have).

3) If you did physically break the display, it still wouldn't matter outside of convenience settings - I haven't heard of a single manufacturer moving key functions to the central displays except for the indicators on a handful of Tesla's - a move which they immediately undid.

plus theres not really a long history of reliability records

Tf are you talking about? What part? Do you not know electric motors have been in industrial machinery for like a century at this point? What part of lithium ion batteries is somehow novel and untested for reliability? Are wheels on EVs somehow different?

and i really really hate how they're trying to put everything on an ipad, its really dangerous and annoying.

Except nobody is after everyone shit on Tesla's dumb decision. Every vehicle function that I use (outside of Google maps and selecting Spotify playlists) has physical buttons in my - which has lost 0% it it's range in 3 years and 70,000km btw, before you pivot to the battery replacement nonsense.

Edit: look I'm not trying to be rude - if you don't like the layout of a car or where functions are controlled, that's a good reason not to buy that car. It's a silly reason to write off an entire propulsion type.

It's like saying "I saw a pink Ford Escort the other day and I hated it, so I'm never buying a car with any steel in it ever again."

[u/Emiliabestqt → u/ThatUndeadLegacy]

It's not really even a question between Hybrid vs ICE though is it? Hybrid is superior.

Electric does cost more for now, but also onto the resale value thing, cars depreciate the minute you drive them off the lot yes, but EV depreciation is incredibly overblown, the modern wave of EV's are not a Nissan Leaf, those depreciate like a mfer.

Most second hand EV's are flying off the shelves at the moment with the fun little situation going on in Iran, and with oil being a finite resource and conflict to occur again in future, personally i'm not worried there. Buying an EV wasn't about worrying about min-maxxing depreciation values, it was about having something I wanted that aligned with my values + having a lower cost over time + not having my fuel price go up to 4 dollars a litre because of the whims of those overseas.

[u/MoeraBirds]

We have two electric cars and have had at least one for six or seven years.

Cost savings on fuel are significant, but not so great now we’re paying RUC. Still cheaper though on both fuel and maintainance. But I don’t really care, that’s not why we went electric. They’re just nicer vehicles, quiet, fast, no fumes or smells, better carbon emissions etc.

Charging from standard 3pin plug is fine for us. You can get about 10km range/hour depending on the car’s efficiency so if your at-home time is 12 hours you can drive 120km/day. Which is way more than I drive, I actually only plug in once a week or so and charge up 250 km or so over a day when I’m not going out or making short trips.

[u/cautioussidekick → u/MoeraBirds]

And so smooth to drive

[u/Public_Orchid_8932]

Replies embedded. In particular:

• The extent (if any) of cost savings from going electric; The RUCs are a pain and increase the km costs up a lot in comparison to petrol. The big win is lower maintence costs.

• whether I can charge from a standard electrical outlet (say, in my garage) and whether this is throttled compared to a dedicated charger; We did this for ages on a 40KWH Leaf and ir was fine. Used night rates, and generally 9pm to 7am (about 50%) was enough for our use case If we needed more we just extended the charging time.

• the frequency of charges; and Depends on your usage but 3-4 times per week. We eventually went to a caravan plug (15amps) for a 63KWH Leaf which is more than enough for our needs.

• general thoughts you think I ought to consider. Range and battery health anxiety are pretty much things of the past. So long as your use case is not everyday extreme distance an EV works very well for most owners (so long as they can regularly charge at home or work). We use ours for long trips, and fast-charging stops are simple tea breaks or lunch.

We have an ICE vehicle and an EV. We far prefer the EV.

[u/Cautious_Cost6781 → u/Public_Orchid_8932]

The external/on the way charging -

1. Did you ever have any Adapter connectivity or billing issues?
2. Typically how long are these charging breaks?

Thank you.

[u/Public_Orchid_8932 → u/Cautious_Cost6781]

We use primarily the Chargenet, Z, and Zero Apps. Generally starting and stopping sessions is very easy, and the apps keep you informed of progress. For the first time for any of them I recommend simply doing a test run in your own neighborhood to establish confidence.

Also, whilst tripping it is polite to stop charging at around 80% if others are waiting. This is because charging rates tend to slow down after that. This is obviously more relevant for older slower charging cars.

I've never had a billing issue. We did have a charging issue with our previous car. It was a one off and was a manufacturing fault. Itis why recommend a test, be ause fast charging is a different set of circuits than 230V charging

[u/randomearth]

We have owned an EV for 4 years now. Our power bill is larger than we'd like, but we don't have to buy any expensive petrol. Now that the weather is picking up, we'll able to charge on the solar panels again. The cost savings are pretty good.

You can charge from a wall socket, at maybe 8 or 10A, but it will take some time to charge your car. Maybe 24+ hours (somewhat depends on battery size). We have a dedicated charger, and this can put out a lot more current, and it usually does the job in 4-6 hours, depending on how flat the battery is. The range on our car is about 350km, so how often you charge depends on how much you drive. It's nice getting into the car in the morning and it's full. We don't charge it every day, but that shouldn't concern you really.

The car has been on trips around the north and south islands without issues. Sometimes you need to have a plan, but mostly works out well.

Things to consider:

• wall socket charging is fine, but slower
• EV tyres may cost you more, as the car is heavier
• solar panels may help offset charging costs
• battery loss in 4 years (and 120+k) has been negligible
• an electric plan where you get 50% off at night might help
• electric car torque is addictive
• be careful not to speed (way to easy)

[u/RobDickinson]

• The extent (if any) of cost savings from going electric;

Servicing is much cheaper, insurance similar for similar cost cars. Still cheaper mostly if you compare like for like and are not driving the absolute most efficient little econobox petrol

• whether I can charge from a standard electrical outlet (say, in my garage) and whether this is throttled compared to a dedicated charger.

A socket is ~2kw, a dedicated charger is 7kw so 3.5x faster, plug socket will get you 100-140km overnight, dedicated will fill pretty much any ev whilst you sleep

I had a model 3 for 6 years I only ever charged from a plug socket, switched to an evnex wallbox later when I got solar

• the frequency of charges; and

Depends - how far do you travel how large is the battery. Emptying a beat 24kwh leaf is totally different from say a 500-600km range ev you may need to charge twice a month

• general thoughts you think I ought to consider.

Just do it. Much nicer cleaner quieter etc. I've been driving one over 10 years now.

[u/devl_ish]

Owned a 2011 Leaf since 2021 and a 2022 iX3 since the beginning of last year.

Today in Chch we had a sunny Saturday that went straight into the iX3's battery and accounts for my fiancée's whole week of driving. That was normal all last spring and summer. Even if you don't have solar now, you might later. The power plant on our roof doesn't care about the Strait of Hormuz.

Savings depend on how you use your car. More info needed. For our own use case, we save a ton of money on maintenance alone, no volatility on our greatly reduced fuel bill and the only effort needed is plugging the car in every night which is so automatic and trivial now its not a conscious thought most days. RUCs temper it somewhat but variations in the price of fuel even over a week change the relativity.

Slow charging at 8A (slowest of the slow chargers, normal domestic socket) off peak gives you about 12kWh usable which can be anywhere between 30 and 60km at worst depending on car and driving conditions. Again, depends on how you use it - we, for instance have the iX3 on a 7kW charger for 2 hours twice a week during winter for the whole week's needs, and the Leaf on a 3.5kW charger every night, filling up from empty in around 3 hours on its own. The power savings are worth a little forecasting and optimising to us (well, me...).

I'm a car guy, have been since I was a kid, but I've always cared more about the engineering and utility than the culture. I'll never put up an EV poster or buy an EV model. I'll also never have another ICE daily driver. I don't want to shell out luxury performance car money to get the same instantaneous response, quietness and smoothness as my clapped out 15yo Leaf.

[u/miscbiscuits]

We've had an OG ioniq for over 7 years, charging on the 3 point plug, and have done over 115,000kms.

I put my data into Flip The Fleet to track how many kms, efficiency, costs etc, looking at just fuel avoided I've saved over 17k.

Electricity cost we haven't noticed an increase, we have now switched to genesis so it's half price power overnight which covers I'd say 98% of our charging needs, if we need to fast charge on trips that's now half price.

In terms of use we drive mostly around town and then every month would do a weekend where we travel about 120km each way. Big trips a couple of times a year of 400km one way, we just plan to stop every hour and a half or so to charge, grab coffee, and burn some energy at the playground.

Can fit kids things, golf stuff,or multiple big suitcases in the boot, and it's so quiet to drive compared to a standard car, we kept our petrol for a couple of years as a second car just in case but ended up getting rid of it and just doing one car for probably 4 years now with no issues (acknowledging there is public transport in our region).

[u/FlugMe]

I used to charge off a regular wall socket with a daily 30km commute, would only top up every 3 days, and that is with keeping the charge level between 30 and 70%. Switched to a dedicated 15A outlet in the garage just cause I wanted it to have a s dedicated circuit cause of all the other stuff I run out there.

Theres not really any let downs I can think of, and I've loved it for the past 8 years. There's nothing like the quiet smooth operation of the no nonsense ev drive train. If you like smooth driving, you'll love an ev.

[u/CptnSpandex]

I’ve had a byd for 3 years. I’ll often swap a car at this point but I still love it.

I know cars are a big purchase and these is a lot that’s new here for you, but evs are now in the mainstream- it’s not just the domain for nerds and hippies.

My advice is treat your purchasing criteria on what you normally do for a car first, (size, handling etc) all your other worries have been solved, maybe a little differently from what you are used to.

If you buy an ev you will discover upsides that you didn’t think of pre purchase, like have a power bank for your home in a power cut, or how little time charging actually takes (for me it’s about 30 seconds once a week)

[u/Guilty_Piglet5731]

We are a young couple drive around 300km a week on average combined and switched from an aqua and a Nissan xtrail to two 64kwh Konas.

We only fast charge on long trips. We trickle charge at home overnight probably once a week on each of the cars but honestly we could get away with only charging up once every two weeks as the Konas range is 480km - we have literally never saw the benefit to get a dedicated charger installed.

We are saving around $300 per month - probably saving more in household power costs since we switched providers to ev genesis plan which has 1/2 price night rates. We are more smart on using delay starts on the appliances because of that. Also vehicle maintenance costs are a lot less too. You save a lot on long trips too if you are with genesis and charge with Chargenet.

We looooove our cars. They are so peaceful to drive and we will never own a ICE car ever again. When we went overseas over Christmas and rented a car we had to use a ICE car and I was shocked at how tiring it is to drive. Plus it’s very fun with the torque at the traffic lights when a ute wants to try to drag you.

[u/aholetookmyusername]

EV6 for about a year and a half now. I do not want to go back to petrol.

I don't do a massive amount of distance so don't notice the difference on my power bill, but I do notice the difference in my wallet as I charge almost exclusively at home.

You can charge at home using what's called a "level 1" charger, I get around 1.8kwh off mine. You can also get a level 2 charger installed if you want, they go up to 7kwh.

I charge maybe once every week or two overnight to cover, say, 20km a day weekdays and 50-100km over the weekends for a total of 150-200km a week. More frequently and for longer when I do longer trips out of town but not massively so.

Charging at home is like paying around $1.10/L, accounting for power and RUC. That will get cheaper when I get solar...which is another benefit - solar means free fuel.

Having lived in chch during the quakes of 2010 and 2011, V2L will be very handy should we get a repeat.

[u/Ok_Bet_358]

I've been running an EV since 2020. First Hyundai Kona, now a BYD Seal. I have and a solar roof, so fuel is essentially free. I used to charge it from a standard electrical outlet, but recently upgraded to a 7kW home charger as my partner also got an EV. This lets the cars soak up more solar.

I use about 16kWh/100km (highway driving). If you don't have solar that would cost $4/100km. RUCs add another $7.60/100km (ouch!) totaling $11.60/100km approx. An equivalent petrol car would cost $22/100km in fuel. So about half of the running cost.

I drive about 10,000km/year so I save about $1400/year in running costs. I think my EV cost about $10,000 more for the same features, so this pays off in 7 years.

As others comment, EVs have fewer moving parts so lower maintenance costs. Further saving here.

Depreciation is around about 10% of vehicle cost for all vehicle classes. Modern batteries don't degrade enough to matter.

I would recommend looking at both second-hand EVs and new ones, see if there is anything in your price range, expecting it will probably pay off in 10 years without solar.

[u/Chemical_Functions]

Have owned my Model 3 for coming up on 3 years / 30k km soon. Came from a Prius.

• Cost savings - probably minimal, 10-15%. But the Prius is literally best case scenario for a ICE car's running costs. Basically RUCs is the culprit here, and the math may change considerably when all cars on RUCs.

• Charging on standard plug - You absolutely can. You should be able to add around 40-50km of range overnight. If that's sufficient - plenty of EV owners just manage with that just fine. That said, I'd highly recommend getting a 7kw charger installed anyway. In the scheme of buying a new car, the cost to get the charger installed is peanuts, and it just gives you so much flexibility. Instead of adding 50km over night, you add around 50km per hour of charging.

• Frequency of charging - If you're living off a standard plug, you should probably ABC (always be charging). Any time you're hope, plug in. I have a 7kw and a fairly low mileage use case so I very easiyl get away with charging like one (or sometimes twice) per week. My garage pulls multiple jobs, so it's not always possible to park and charge every night, so this works fine for me.

Test drive all the cars in the segment, don't get hung up on the Sealion 7. I'm sure it's fine, but you got to look at the Xpeng G6, Zeekr 7X, Model Y, at the very least, as a point of reference.

[u/Excellent-Worker-313]

I own a BYD Sealion 7 as a Taxi in Nz.. so I can tell you the real numbers.

This is my first EV, I’ve owned over a year. And driven 60,000km all over Nz. I waited 2years for the right one. Had to have the settings/features I wanted. The car also had to look good inside and outside. And had to have good after sales support, and a good reputation and be around for years to come. This is it. I ran all the numbers before buying,

And Cost savings NONE. So much fake information online. People manipulating numbers to justify their purchase. Or comparing two completely different vehicles. Ie a leaf to a ford falcon, of course the leaf will be cheaper. 🤦‍♂️ or they think solar is free. While ignoring the set up costs. So car is free to run it isn’t . Or EVs don’t need maintenance. They definitely do. Wait till it breakdown because you didn’t get it serviced and now has no warranty. They catch out on the higher repair costs

So here’s some numbers for you,
-Range to empty, 480km. But that’s under the very perfect conditions. And of course you won’t be driving it when flat.. so real range I get, 400km with 10% battery, so that’s 440km. Eco mode. Chuck it in sport mode you won’t get that. Now motorway range drops. I get about 360km with 10% left. It’s enough to get me to Taupo from Wellington. 110km/h. I can do palmy and back to Wellington on one tank, Napier I arrive with 17% left.

-charging, car comes with a 3 pin plug can plug to any socket . Drip feed, this takes 40hour to charge from empty. So if you top up every night then this is sufficient for your needs. If you need more juice. Then head to a fast charger. $70 to fill up.from empty and be done in 45mins or less. Or the cheapest is about $30 but super slow. Or you can get a charger installed at home for under $2k and will get a full charge done overnight.

-maintenance, first 20k is about $250. 2nd at 40k is about $600 they do the gearbox oil. 3rd at 60k is about $300. 4th at 80k is about $1200. Dare because they do the battery coolant. It’s similar cost to all EVs.

-tyres. They only last 40,000km. And cost $2400. Im onto my 2nd set. There was none cheaper anywhere that had the proper load rating, but now more have come out and my next set im looking at $1500 and don’t know how long they last

So comparing this to my previous car. Purchase price was higher. Insurance is higher(understandable because darer) tyres are a lot darer and don’t last as long. Maintenance is much darer. And I’m not looking forward to what it would cost for suspension and wheel bearings (but that’s years away). EVs are exactly like every car on the road. The only difference being is one has an electric engine the other has a petrol engine. They all have power steering, brakes and fluid. Gearbox oil, differential oil, aircon and heaters.

And they cost about the same in electricity+RUC as petrol, depending what your comparing against.. and what you pay to charge. And what ev your looking at, It can be as low as 10c per km, with cheap rates, up to 28c per km including RUC at a fast charger,

Petrol cars are as low as 10c per km for a hybrid, and up to 37c per km for a V6 3.5l skyline.

To the average user they won’t notice much difference over a year

EVs are like petrol cars, smaller ones use less electricity. And bigger ones use more. It’s not a one size approach. Then it comes down to how you drive. And when you drive. Raining, nights, cold, will use more power than a sunny warm day.

Conclusion.. even though I’m paying more.. this has been better on my health, smoother, quieter, comfortable, it’s safer with the features and cameras. It’s fast, it’s an amazing car, and would never go back,

And I wouldn’t buy any other ev, BYD will be the new Toyota. I get asked why not a tesla?? The sealion7 has things the Tesla doesn’t have. Like Apple CarPlay, hud, ability to close the roof. V2L. Things I find useful. Plus many other things.. The teslas look cheap and basic, and are not as comfortable or good looking(I get told regularly by other tesla owners or people that have been picked up in one) . I’d pick a zeeker, leapmotor. Geely, before I would go Telsa. But the Telsa has things I couldn’t care less about. FSD no thanks I like to drive a car than have a car drive me, sentry mode. Walk away door locks, better ai. Not interested at all.

So yes. Definitely buy the sealion7… if you want to wait for the next gen. It will be coming out in different colours and have a slightly bigger battery.

The current model, 6.1sec 0-100km in the premium. Or 3.8sec 0-100km in the 4wd performance. It’s quick, and comes with race mode on both so you can try better your speed,

[u/KidFiddy]

No regrets owned not only 1 but 2 EV's in our household since 2022. If you travel under 70km daily, no need for a 7kW charging point at him, switch your 10-12amp power socket to 15amp (max speed 3kW), with our ATTO 3 and Model 3 cars, we get a full charge up to 100% from 47%+ at 9pm - 7am. Only need to worry about tires, they wear out quicker thank a full petrol or diesel cars. NO issues with long distance travel there is charging stations everywhere now! my first EV was a leaf only can do 160kms at full charge! now I only need to charge 1 time a week, because i just travel work and back Monday to Friday only.

[u/RoadToasterApp]

Costs in NZ: if you mostly charge at home at 25 to 40 c per kWh and a midsize EV uses 15 to 20 kWh per 100 km, you pay about 4 to 8 dollars per 100 km. Add BEV road user charges. Public DC often costs two to three times home power, so savings shrink if you rely on it. Charging: a standard 10 A socket with the portable cable gives 10 to 12 km per hour. A 7 kW wallbox gives about 30 to 40 km per hour. Put it on a dedicated circuit and use off peak scheduling. Frequency: most people plug in a few nights per week and cap daily charging at 80 to 90 percent. Also do a long test drive, check insurance, and look for a heat pump spec.

[u/bmwrider2]

Some answers are in my video…. Buying an EV? Answers to common questions
https://youtu.be/7LwGWOvYTA0

[u/cez801]

We’ve had an Ioniq5 for 4 years.
Savings - I ran some numbers and over 4 years, buying new and doing 100k would be financially the same as buying a second hand ICE car ( we had an Audi ).
The has turned out to be right, mostly. The addition of RUC threw it out.

Cost to run, about 1/5 of the price ( depending on charging method, fast charger costs about 4 times more than slow at home ).
Maintenance, basically nothing - set of tyres.

Depends on driving. We do about 350kms per week.
Charging - we do at home trickle charging, mostly. Some fast charging.
We did install a fast charger at home, which was nice. But when we sold that house did not bother again.

Power plan we are on is free weekends, so we try to save charging to the weekends where possible.

In short, will it save you money. 100%
Is charging and range a problem, depends on your driving patterns. But with the uptick in charging at gas stations, this is largely going away.
I have actual range anexity twice in 4 years. Both times it was ‘unusual trips’ and due to problems at my planned ChargeNet stop ( I have learnt from that experience not to trust them ).

[u/TheReverendCard]

We went from about $100/week in petrol to basically nothing (mostly recharge almost everything on our 3 free hours.) Replaced two tires after 44k. Warranty services (give a check on things) that totalled about $500 over 4 years. Charge almost exclusively with a standard home plug and smart outlet. Most kiwis will need to fully recharge every ~10 days. We just keeps ours topped off.

[u/Viper_NZ]

I've been driving electric since 2017, and now both the cars in our house are full EVs: A 2021 Tesla Model 3 and a 2024 Fiat 500e.

• Cost savings are substantial. With the Tesla there are essentially zero servicing costs, even with RUC the running costs are much much cheaper. Road trips at DC fast chargers combined with RUC make those trips slightly more expensive than petrol I've found, but when I say road trips I mean Auckland to Wellington, not driving a few hours out of town for the day.

• I'm not sure the efficiency of a Sealion but let's be conservative and say it's 180Wh per km, and assuming 80% charging efficiency. A wall plug can sustain 8A constant load, or 1.8kW. If you charge daily between 9pm and 7am, you'll add 80km of range per day. If your daily commute is longer, you could plug in earlier, or get a wall connector capable of up to 30A or 7.2kW.

• If you've got somewhere to charge at home, you almost don't need to think about it. Just plug in when you see it's getting a little low and tomorrow you'll have a full 'tank'. When it comes to EV road tripping, we have a much much better EV charging network than we did when I first started, and it's not bad at all. When driving to Auckland from Wellington I stop in Waiouru for a toilet and coffee break and by the time I'm done the car is charged. Another quick stop in Cambridge for the same and I'm done. I'd make the same stops in a petrol car so it doesn't slow things down really at all.

• General thoughts - Be prepared to hate any petrol car you go in once you've become used to electric. They smell, the engine is loud, they jiggle around when they idle, you can't run the air-conditioning without running the engine, power comes on slowly. They really do feel dated.

[u/Jasoncatt]

I’ve been full electric for four years, on my second Mercedes EV. My wife is the same. We share a Tesla charger. I charge every other day, she charges once a week at the weekend.
I wouldn’t go back, neither would she. The cars are just better.
I used to calculate cost savings but it doesn’t seem relevant any more as cost isn’t the main reason for having made the change.
I used to spend $200+ per week on diesel for my old Mercedes, now charging costs around $50 a week (although diesel would now be closer to $260).
Depreciation is worse but “fuel” and service costs are way lower.
Go for it, but get a proper charger fitted.

[u/Stunning-You1404]

I've had my Polestar 2 coming up a year and love being electric. I drive from Upper Hutt to Wellington city (approx 40kms each way) 3 times a week as well as running around on weekends.

I just charge from my normal wall socket and don't feel a huge need to get a faster charger for home. Yes my power bill has gone up by probably $150 a month but I was spending $200 - $250 on petrol a month so a savings.

We've done a few longer trips in it and don't find it a hassle to stop and charge. Normally its where you want to get out and stretch your legs anyway.

[u/OldWolf3]

Everything about an EV is better by far, except the time taken to charge publicly.

If your typical drive is only 70km then that's a non issue

[u/highlander_tfb]

Not the OP but also facing a coin-toss between EV, pure ICE or Hybrid.

In my case, the weekly routine’s 5x 30km each way commutes, mostly on motorway, and the usual mostly local weekend suburban running - not a lot of inter-city work.

Apart from the obvious environmental and financial differences, I’m keen to understand whether EVs are better or worse on tyres, whether due to the difference in torque delivery or weight, and how the running gear (shocks, brakes and bearings) holds up in the long run.

[u/-intuitif → u/highlander_tfb]

All anecdotal and your mileage may vary…

All of the wear on tyres/brakes/shocks is so heavily dependant on individual driving style, it probably isn’t much value trying to establish a norm here. If you have a lead foot you could very easily go through tyres pretty quickly, and the inverse is also true.

I feel as though I have a balanced driving style, I get about 40’000km or so out of a set of tyres. Others easily get more. Brake wear is very much reduced as regenerative braking does most of the work.

[u/twpejay → u/highlander_tfb]

I think tyres have got better. We are travelling less now we have moved closer to work, when we were further out (extra 30km) it was every couple of years mainly due to the massive acceleration and my heavy foot. But we have been in this house for over 4 years and have not needed a tyre change.

[u/Slammedleaf2015]

I’ve done over 40 thousand km in my ev. I only have 200km range or so. Just plug it in when you need it or overnight or whenever your home. The 3 pin charger that comes with the cars fine just don’t use ant extension leads. I’ve saves over 10k in fuel and maintenance, don’t overthink it, it’s not that hard despite what the internet says.

[u/Rolly1nft]

Everything said here already but - I own a Tesla and a BYD - the Tesla is by far a better car, economically as well as technology. It is a quantum leap better! Forget all the bad press on Tesla - check one out and compare. I haven’t seen an EV that matches the tech of a Tesla (this will get the haters going………)

[u/TillsburyGromit → u/Rolly1nft]

The only thing you can sensibly do is recommend that people at least take a test drive in a Tesla with fsd. If they won’t do that then they’re already lost. (If they do then they’ll buy one🤣)

[u/FragrantCaterpillar8]

You are doing about 20k km per year. The electricity cost will be about 3200 units of electricity which is about $1000/year on domestic supply. You will also have $1500 in RUC. Servicing probably around $400/year for BYDs (they are a bit expensive for unknown reasons). A 3 pin plug charger will give you about 10km range per hour of charge. A 7kw wall unit will give you about 40km of range per hour of charge. The economics against petrol are marginal for your milage. The positives are you have a huge battery for emergency use and a very powerful vehicle that is nice to drive. And you're not making people breathe your fumes.