Buying an electric car: Your complete guide

Even for enthused first-timers the prospect of buying an electric car can be daunting with new tech and jargon to adapt to. Our guide explains everything you need to know.

• Is an electric car right for you?
• How electric cars differ from plug-in hybrids and range extenders
• Are electric cars cheap to run?

Electric cars: The essential guide

Deciding whether or not an electric car is right for you is a little more involving than simply wanting to reduce your carbon footprint. To make the most of an EV, your typical daily commute shouldn't exceed a ballpark figure of 200 miles and you'd have easy access to a charging point once you were home again.

If you have guaranteed access to a charging point at work, then a commute of around 200 miles each-way is viable, if not especially desirable.

Of course, exactly how far an electric car will travel between charges - that's known as its range - is dependent on a number of factors, including its battery size, how efficiently you can drive it and the prevailing weather conditions.

Recent years have also seen enormous strides in expanding the nation's network of public recharging points, making longer journeys a much more viable prospect even for EVs with more modestly sized batteries.

Off-street parking at home is a big advantage as you can have a dedicated charging point installed, meaning you don’t have to worry about running cables across public paths or not getting parked near your house.

The cost of electricity to power an electric car is lower than petrol or diesel based on domestic prices, so you can save on daily commuting expenses, but it can prove expensive to charge up at the fastest public chargers, do so your homework ahead of a long journey.

You also won't have to pay to enter London's Ultra Low Emissions Zone (ULEZ) or any of the other clean air zones popping up across the UK as electric cars produce no CO2 or other harmful gases while being driven.

How much are electric cars?

Why are electric cars so expensive?

By far the biggest influence on electric car's selling price are the costs involved with manufacturing their battery packs. However, as with most new technologies, as demand increases, costs fall as efficiencies are made from scaled-up production.

So while historically petrol- and diesel-engined cars have cost less to buy new than their fully electric equivalents, the crossover point where electric cars are cheaper to produce doesn't look too far away.

In fact, Vauxhall has recently announced that its new Vauxhall Frontera compact SUV will cost the same whether you choose hybrid or electric power.

Although electric cars remain pricier to buy than petrols and diesels, viewed overall when taking into account recharging versus refuelling costs plus less expensive servicing and parts prices, electric cars usually work out cheaper overall across the duration of a typical finance agreement.

One area costs are increasing for EVs is with taxation as 1 April 2025 marks the end of zero-cost VED car tax, meaning they will cost the same annually as petrols and diesels.

As more than half of the electric cars on sale today cost in excess of £40,000 new, they will also be liable for the additional premium VED car tax charge that's applicable from years two to five.

What's the range of an electric car?

This is the mid-2020s version of 'how long is a piece of string?' because there's no set answer.

While some EVs from a decade ago would struggle to manage 100 miles on a single charger, several of today's will comfortably exceed 300 miles.

No surprise then, that the 200-mile figure we used at the beginning of this piece is a sensible minimum range figure for a general-pupose electric car.

If you primarily potter around town, then you could easily get away with one with a smaller battery which requires recharging more frequently, whereas a larger battery will be of greater use for those who frequently cover long distances and don't want to stop too often.

As with a petrol or diesel car, the more agressive you are with an EV's accelerator, the faster it will consume electricity.

Incidentally, we indicate electrical consumption in units of miles/kWh - as a rule of thumb, 3.0 to 3.2miles/kWh is about average, so dipping into the two-point-somethings will decimate your available range, while nearing or beating 4.0miles/kWh could extend it.

How long do electric cars take to charge?

How do you charge an electric car?

It's not flippant to suggest that charging an EV is very similar to replenishing the battery on your mobile phone - it's just that the device and cables have been scaled-up. So long as you can attach a cable between the car and a mains electricity supply, you can recharge an electric car anywhere.

While you can charge up an EV using a cable fitted with conventional three-pin plug, it's not something we'd recommend long-term.

Your typical flow rate of electricity is around 1.8kW using this method - while battery charging isn't constant or linear, basic maths indicates that even a modestly size 36kWh battery would therefore require around 20 hours' charge.

If you a driveway, off-street parking or a dedicated bay available, a domestic charging point - usually known as a wallbox - is the best bet.

As well as making it easier, quicker and safer to attach your car for recharging, it takes less time to top up the battery because the cable and connection can handle a faster flow of power, typically between 7.4kW and 11kW depending on the type of mains electricity you have installed.

The faster types of public chargepoints have even thicker cables and a meatier plug, capable of delivering a flow between 50kW and 350kW, although most are between 100kW and 150kW.

Although the higher the rate of electricity flow the quicker the charge is fine in theory, a limiting factor is the EV's on-board charger which regulates the maximum rate it will accept.

For instance, an EV with a 50kW on-board charger connected to a supply with the potential to flow at 350kW will still only be accepted by the car at 50kW, whereas a model with a 200kW on-board charger hooked-up to a supply at 100kW will easily deal with all 100kW.

How much does a home wallbox typically cost?

Having a quicker type of charger installed at home means you can zap-up the car's battery at least 2.5 times as fast compared with using a three-pin plug, so it's worth having. Budget on spending between £280 and £1000 depending on your car and the type of charger you choose.

Some new electric cars include the cost of fitting a wallbox charger at your home or office within the price of the car, so use that as a bargaining chip if you're considering buying one without such a deal.

If you live in a flat or rented accommodation you can still benefit from the government’s Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme (EVHS), which provides support for getting a wallbox fitted, with a grant of up to 75% of the cost, capped at £350, including VAT.

Given that the majority of chargers costing £350 do the majority of things most consumers require anyway, spending larger sums on a wallbox won't make sense for most people.

However, homeowners (including people with mortgages) who live in single-unit properties such as bungalows and detached, semi-detached or terraced housing, no longer qualify. 

It’s also a good idea to have a smart electricity meter installed so you can choose when to recharge your EV using the cheapest tariff.

How long do batteries last in electric cars?

An electric vehicle’s battery will easily last as long the engine in any comparable model with a petrol or diesel engine. The key to this is regular use, so the battery discharges and is recharged routinely. Like any car, EVs work better when they are used often and with care.

Some of the longest-serving EVs are now over 20 years old and still working on their original batteries. However, performance will drop off and most drivers and experts feel that when a battery drops below 70% of its original capacity it is due for replacement. That could be many years before it happens as there are plenty of EVs in daily use that have notched-up well over 100,000 miles and are still going strong.

Makers of EVs are also sufficiently confident in the batteries to offer long warranties. In most cases, that cover extends to eight years and 100,000 miles, typically guaranteeing that 70% capacity as a minimum.

Should there be a fault with the battery in an EV, it should be replaced by the car maker under warranty in exactly the same way they would with a petrol or diesel engine. This assumes you have stuck to the terms of the warranty and had the car serviced properly.

If you’re unlucky enough to have to replace a battery in an EV ooutside of warranty, it’s an expensive component and will likely not make economic sense to do so.

In a top of the range Tesla, that could be as much as £25,000, while a new Nissan Leaf battery costs around £5000. However, the good news is these prices are coming down rapidly as more EVs are sold and economies of scale reduce the price of replacement batteries.

How do you know how much charge is in the battery?

Checking how much charge is in an EV’s battery is as simple as looking at the gauge on the dashboard. Just as with a petrol, diesel or hybrid car’s fuel readout, an EV’s will tell you the battery’s charge usually with a graphical display of the percentage and a count of how many miles of range is available.

It’s also possible to check the battery charge remotely in many EVs using a smartphone app. This lets you look at vital information such as battery charge, range and how long it will take to fully charge up the power pack.

You can also use these apps to remotely programme the car to only charge up on low-cost electricity tariffs and pre-heat or -cool the cabin before you get in so it’s not wasting battery range on these systems as you drive.

Are electric cars' batteries owned or leased?

When electric cars were in their infancy, with both Nissan and Renault leading the charge - pun very much intended - customers were given the option to lease the battery packs separately from the car or bundle them together.

It wasn't a popular business model, with most customers opting for the combined price, and the leasing option was soon dropped. 

All EVs sold today have the cost of their batteries included in the overall cost of the car.

Where can I charge an EV for free?

The EV charging network is expanding rapidly, so you should be able to find a charger close to wherever you’re travelling to.

If you’re unsure, you can check online to see what facilities are offered at most car parks, shopping centres and supermarkets, where the dedicated spaces are usually clearly signposted. These days it's unusual to find a drive-through fast food restaurant or café that doesn't have EV chargers installed.

Many supermarkets still offer free recharging at their facilities but not usually in conjection with the fastest types of connections. Needless to say, being of no cost, they are usually swamped as soon as they become available.

To find other charging points, there are online maps such as ZapMap, although this still suggests some on private driveways that aren't publicly accessible.

Most EVs' in-built navigation systems have a function to find charging points, often with live updates about their availability. Choose which one suits you best, programme the navigation and it will take you directly there.

What's a range extender?

If you think of a PHEV as a hybrid car with a larger battery than usual that's most efficiently charged by hooking it up to the mains, a range extender (occasionally shortened to REX) is an electric car that happens to have an engine to purely act as an on-board generator.

In other words, the engine isn't directly involved in driving the car and it typically only fires into life when the remaining charge within the battery gets low.

Few REX cars have been sold in the UK previously, with some versions of the BMW i3 along with the Chevrolet Volt and Vauxhall Ampera twins being the most common.

Today, Mazda sells a range-extender version of its Mazda MX-30 — although confusingly refers to it as a PHEV on its website — while the latest LEVC taxi cabs also used REX technology.

How many electric cars are in the UK?

Tips for improving your electric car's range

One of the most common concerns with EVs is battery range — how far you can travel on a single charge. That depends on how, when and where you use the car, but there are ways to extend the battery’s range.