Discussed in this thread.

www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/122750/any---elect...c

I genuinely quite like the idea of an electric car, especially as I have a 23 mile commute in heavy traffic so the ease and cost are appealing - assuming I can afford one with that range.

However, after the 3rd long power cut (5+ hours) in as many weeks (nice job there NorthernGrid!) I realised thats probably 3 times I wouldn't have made it to work as these cars require a decent charge overnight.

Power cuts are still a common occurence around my area and have been since we moved in 20 years ago. They're getting worse now as they build more houses on green land so this is pushing my electric car idea further away. I know our roads are a broken mess, but it seems a lot of the infrastructure is pretty creaky too.

It's an issue that's only going to get worse, too.

I'm very much enjoying my plug-in hybrid (BMW 225xe), which I've had for nearly a year. My commute is 4 miles each way, and the car's electric-only range is between 12 and 16 miles depending on ambient temp / driving conditions etc, which means I can go weeks without the petrol engine starting.

On my current electricity tariff, electric-only driving is about 7 pence per mile, compared with 14.5 pence per mile on petrol only. And you have to be pretty daft to run out of both petrol AND battery power :)

I think that where we are at the moment is that:

'Pure' EVs are fine if you can charge them at home and/or at work (which you can't if you have to park in a street), and you either don't do long distance or have another car to do them in. Their time will surely come: hopefully ranges will extend further and further, and someone will invent remote charging from home of a car parked in the street.

Plug-ins answer the disadvantages of pure EVs, but don't make sense financially for a private buyer (e.g. Audi A3 e-tron is about £10,000 more expensive than an equivalent 1.5 petrol A3). For company car drivers like Craig, the BIK savings make it much more worthwhile.

I hadn't thought of the power cut issue, Snakey, but clearly that's another factor.