Buying an EV as your first car
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- Опубликовано: 26 июн 2024
- We are entering in a era where the first car will be an electric car for more and more new drivers.
In this episode we crunch the numbers and compare an electric Renault Zoe against the most popular petrol car for new drivers, the Ford Fiesta 1.1L.
We take into account the purchase price, cost for insurance, tax and fuel. We even do a rough calculation for the amount of depreciation one should expect over 3 years and 30, 000 miles for such cars. I think most would be surprised which comes out cheapest and by how much. 
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My wife had an identical fiesta… nowhere near 60mpg… averaged 35mpg over a couple of years, so that makes the maths even better for the Zoe.
I don't even care about my first car. I prefer to remember my first EV because unlike my first car, my first EV actually left me with an amazingly good impression. Instead of a giant hole in my wallet and a lot of having my gasoline vehicle randomly dying, no fond memories there
You forgot servicing. Further, I'd always persuade any child of mine to go EV because of all of the other positives besides cost. Even if an EV ended up being more expensive to own.
We did discuss servicing but decided to leave it out. 👍😀
We left it out as we don’t plan to service it unless it needs it. But I’d expect the servicing costs to be less on the Zoe. 👍
Understand but perhaps this should still have been mentioned in the video 🙂.
And of course the older Zoe is just 22kWh, the newer is 40kWh, so I reckon the depreciation of the Zoe will be a lot less than you budgeted for. Good deal you got there too buying it. Hope your son has several years of safe & pleasant motoring in it 🙂
My first car was a 1988 Peugeot 205 XS, what a first car that was 😊
This's why I wound up moving abroad to a tropical country where my insurance for driving an electric motorbike is $40 a year. Much better than the $160 a month I used to pay in western countries
My first car was a 1969 sunbeam rapier rust bucket, it cost me £220 in 1978 and lasted 6 months before the rear suspension collapsed. It ran so rough, as the timing was so far out, than when driving to middlesex poly in Enfield for my day release for my 4th year of city & Guilds as an engineering technician apprentice, it took two of us to drive it there, me operating the accelerator and brake and the oppo in the front passenger seat the clutch, because if it stalled it took an age to start again. Happy days!
When I was 24, I got my first job and bought myself a 1983 Zastava Z101 for around 500 euros. I was fixing it up and upgrading whenever I had some extra cash of course. A couple of years later I went to China, to earn more said cash, but my dad sold it (he technically stole it). He actually sold it for firewood, from a guy who illegally cuts trees from a nearby forest. After me going to a police station one day, my wonderful father decided to give me his Fiat 2008 Panda Multijet, which I still drive today, 4 years after that... debacle.
Although depreciation is an important factor, you cant really include it into the end tally because it only comes into effect if you sell the car. That said, the Zoe is still way cheaper over all.
Another thing to consider would be servicing costs. Oils, filters, spark plugs, belts, engine sensors etc (plus labour costs) General maintenance over the three years would be a lot more on the fiesta than the zoe.
Also the depreciation examples in the video were for battery lease Zoe, not (more valuable) battery owned. Not clear if the rapid charge option (also more valuable) is fitted either, which affects the resale value. Zoe prices are holding up well overall because they are a small reliable EV with decent range that's affordable.
Including depreciation, even if the sale is just potential, is standard when calculating the total cost of ownership (TCoO), because even if the cost is not realized until you sell the car, it's still there. When calculating the TCoO for the next period (in this case in 3 years for another 3 years), you'd take the current value of the car you already have (Zoe in this case) and take it as its purchase cost (since that's what you can sell it for and in theory you'll sell it to yourself for the case of keeping it) to level the playing field with the other options. This is very important to understand if you have a car and you're thinking about replacing it with another one, otherwise your current car is in massive unfair advantage.
The 65mpg quoted for the Fiesta is generous to say the least. I've owned three Fiestas and loved them all, but they were nowhere near 65mpg. In fact the VW Lupo Diesel had a reputation for the best economy and was the only car I remember being cited as achieving 65mpg (mind you that's pre-Dieselgate figures). No, I wasn't surprised at the result as I own a Nissan Leaf and the savings over owning any of my prior Fiestas were huge.
My first car was in fact an EV, a 2015 Nissan LEAF with a smaller battery than this Zoe, but I was quite a bit older than your son when I got it, so not quite a parallel situation. I'd gotten my license as a teen because my family decided it was a useful skill to have, but basically just drove my parents' vehicles when we were going places as a family to keep my skills up, and occasionally borrowed a family vehicle as needed when carrying more stuff. We had pretty good public transit so I mostly used that or the occasional taxi rather than driving. Now I have a later model LEAF with a larger battery, but really, while it's "mine" it's more of a family car, with more than one driver. It's more convenient to use for going into town for many things because it's smaller and easier to manoeuvre than the 11 year old hybrid sedan we use for longer trips, plus not needing to go to gas stations as much, and it's newer so has better safety systems, so it tends to get more use even if the other car is available.
First person apart from Oliver I’ve heard had an EV as a first car. I’m sure there must be more. 😉👍
@@ElectricClassicCarsit will be more common now that EVs are getting cheaper on used market. Would be interesting to compare safety features on cheap EV with comparable ICE cars too.
Insurance premiums for young people these days are nuts. I insured my first car for £89 in 1981 under my own name. Based on what I was earning then and what you would get for doing the same job now, that premium would be no more than £500 today.
1964 Singer Gazelle. In 1982. It cost £15 for the value of the road tax left on it.
My first car was a 1961 Beetle (£25), followed by a 1963 Beetle (£50), then a 1961 Mini (£25). Which proves there were good things about the late 1970’s when it came to motoring in the UK!
Today I own a 2 year old Mercedes EQA, which cost substantially more! 😂
Quite a comparison when you look at my first car: a 1964 Ford Cortina Estate Mk 1, 1500cc, 190,000 miles, and did 30 mpg (8 gallon tank, so 240 miles range), and it cost £50 in 1976 (so 12 years old). I think the tax was £12 a year, and the insurance (like Oliver, my father took out my first year's insurance with me as the named driver) was £24 extra for him. Mind you, my first job paid me just over £1,000 a year, to put those figures in context. Petrol (4-star) was about 50 pence a gallon. The car had no radio (Cassettes? Too early!), no seat-belts, no rear-screen wash/wipe or screen heater, no air-conditioning, and drum brakes all round. Mind you, it had good acceleration, a remarkably tight turning circle as it was rear-wheel drive, and a really powerful heater!
First car was an Austin A40, followed by a mini 850 with a fibreglass front section ( bonnet and wings ) then an Austin 1100, an Escort 1100, an Escort1300 with a 1600GT Cortina engine squeezed in, a 2 litre ( V4 facelift ) Capri, Triumph Dolomite, Triumph Stag, - got married, bought house and started family - sold Stag to cover house buying costs 😥😭and bought MkV Cortina Estate, great for space for all of kids stuff but a piece of crap reliability wise. Replaced that with a Nissan Cherry, Nissan Bluebird, wrote that off and got another Bluebird, Cavalier SRi, Mercedes Vito for work, sold Cavalier because it had become a Patio ornament, Vito number 2, retired and got first MB B200, replaced with my current B200. Would love a 2 - 3 year old EQA but can't get there yet!!
And the Zoe’s used for depreciation comparison would have had smaller batteries - so actual depreciation could easily be less on a 40 kWh Zoe. And no maintenance costs considered.
I am really surprised that the initial purchase price was so different.
An interesting comparison and video, thank you.
Nice to hear about a realistic depreciation amount.... Proving pretty well that getting a EV that is just a few years old, gives you the technology without the massive depreciation hit of the first few years
Had 1977 Lancia Beta. Had lots of long-distance driving fun in Germany in that ol' thing. It went to the scrappers after only 9 months. Went without a car for a long time after that. 😆🤣
Bright orange 1975 Viva. When it was only four years old, I put my finger through the rusty wing! Sticky, black vinyl seats a nightmare in the summer!
Ah, the memory of sticky black vinyl seats. 😆😉👍
My first car was a Renault 9 TSE, just below the Turbo when it comes to specs. I bought it second-hand and consumed 8l/100km. I had a bump/crash which caused the bottom radiator/heater to rust faster and ended up losing all the water during a trip to the beach, which caused overheating and finally killed the engine. I sold it later to a mechanic who replaced the engine but did not last long until it went to the crusher.
First car, Yugo 45. It wasn't worth much when I got it so depreciation was minimal. It was my car though, so it was priceless.
First car in 1987: CYR 105H VW Beetle.
Would have loved to have seen that converted to electric.
My first car was a 1972 mini 1275GT. It ran on a Leaded Petrol/Oil mix as i topped up the oil a lot.
Can you REALLY get 64mpg on the fiesta? Can your son? 😅🤣 '73 SuperBeetle!
Great show, as always!! my first car was a 1980 Honda Prelude. One half of the car was silver and the other half was blue due to the fact I had to replace the frontend body panels from a gunk yard lol OH and if you stopped too quickly the it would shake violently lol
Loved it! My first car was a 1964 Beetle that I bought in 1978. It had, of course, little to no heat and I could see the road going by through the holes in the floor. I used the keep an ice scraper handy the clear the INSIDE of the windshield! I grew up in very cold New England in the US. Sadly, I'm sure it has long been turned into tuna cans or something.
Ice scraper for the inside of the windscreen was a standard feature in all old Beetles. 😆😉👍
First car was a ‚‘76 Firebird. Bored out to nearly 400 cu in. I want allowed to drive it for nearly a year though because within 3 weeks of getting my license I was followed home by a sheriff while I was going 80 mph (assuming the speedo was correct) in the family ‚‘80 Chevy Malibu… had he signed that ticket I would have lost my license then and there. One of the few times being Catholic was good because we went to the same church and knew I was an altar boy and let me off!!!! BTW: I barrel rolled the Firebird a year later and went for a Triumph Spitfire … luckily with the better rear suspension!
I understand that you didn't include service costs because you weren't planning to do so. However, this approach doesn't align with the depreciation narrative. If you aim to resell the car later, it must remain in good condition, which is only achieved through regular maintenance. This was precisely why I opted for an electric vehicle. The significant differences in total costs mainly lie in taxes, charging versus refueling, and periodic maintenance tasks such as:
- Changing engine oil.
- Replacing the oil filter.
- Topping up coolant.
- Replacing spark plugs.
- Changing transmission fluid.
- Replacing the transmission filter.
- Swapping out the air filter.
- Replacing brake pads.
- Refilling or changing brake fluid.
- Swapping out the interior filter.
- Refilling windshield washer fluid.
Very good point. How much is the annual servicing on a Zoe?
Someone said "what about if you don't have off street parking" and I remembered the episode with Richards dad where he charged his car for free on public chargers. So you could knock 90% off the cost of fuel!
Sadly, the days of free rapid charging are (mostly...) long gone... 😥
Without the ability to charge overnight on a cheap rate, the financial benefits of driving an EV are basically wiped out - though, of course, not everyone runs an EV purely for the cost-savings, but for the good local air quality environmental reasons, too... 👍
I think you have been very generous giving the Fiesta the claimed MPG. I have never had a car that could reach those numbers. My Kia E Niro has actually been able to reach the WLTP several times exceeding it.
Other thing as you would know, the EV battery still has a value, so I do wonder if we will see EV's prices drop to the £500's as some people pay now for an ICE car.
2nd hand EV's 4 to 5 years old are now giving great range and still have warranty!
71 Duster, 72 Scamp, 67 Mustang, 53 NewYorker, the New Yorker had power windows, shifted into Overdrive at about 65-75 and I had it up to around 110 MPH. Was caught doing 71.5 that day.
Wow, 3 of those cars I had to Google. Cool car selection. 😎👍
Thank you for this, I'll be facing this issue in the near future 👍
ICE maintenance: oil changes, etc. Will increase the cost of ownership
Personally, I thinks that's good as it breeds practical skills and teaches respect
Yes, good point
2 door HA Viva. £130 in 1976. Sold it a year later for £120 and bought a 2.0L Victor for £120. I then got into Rover SD1's.
I had a C reg HA in 76 cost £125, insurance also £125
And the most important for your son is to stop burning fossil fuels.
Excellent presentation. My first car was a Ford Maverick (I lived in the US at the time). I had to wait for my 7th car for it to be an EV. NO way will the Fiesta give you 60mpg.
First car was a BMW 325E (2.7 liter) sweet purring engine, then a 318i, followed by a red Corrado G60. Common sense set in, so the sensible cars that followed were two VW Polo's and two Renault Clio's. The last one was from 2004. Replaced by a Model Y AWD almost a year ago.
Regardless of the number crunching, I bought my daughter a manual ice car so that she can practice clutch control, changing gears etc so they are second nature, as I still feel it's a good skill to have. After a couple of years i'll be looking out for a Seat mii or Citigo EV for her.
Good point 👍
Yeah ! Then she’ll be wondering what to do with her left foot.
Out of curiosity did you buy a mechanical typewriter to practice typing on before using a computer?
Seems a bit obsolete to me, but I can go years before needing to hire a vehicle that comes with gears.
@@watcher24601 Since I grew up before computers were mainstream, I can easily use both. And, I started drafting on a drawing board and now use CAD, 3d scanners etc.
Top marks for the reply though. I suppose it might be relevant if my life was the same as yours.
@@johnwalker6736 haha I still do that when driving our Enyaq haha
2000 Pug 106, 1.5 NAD bought in 2006 for £1200... kept till 2016 only bc chassis rotted away due to salt. Had clutch done 2 times, injection pump 1 time, mufflers 4 times, brakes also 4 times. Plus oil and filters every 10k miles. H a p p y days:)
But now since 2022, i've a Seat Mii Electric (2020, 36kWh) and super happy with this one. Done 22k miles already, if only it could go a bit further on a charge ;) 100% of charging at home.
First car, 1955 3/4 ton Chevy Pick up. Third car, 1960 Bug.
My first car was a 1981 Vauxhall Chevette cost me £500 loved it had for just over a year and then brought a Rover 213 SE.
My first car was a 1969 Ford LTD 4-door with the 390 police interceptor package (optional shoulder belts, 4bbl carb, high output alternator, etc) with which I could get 21mpg if I tailgated a lorry, or 6mpg if I stood on the throttle.
Single digit mpg 😲😆👍
My first car was a 1973 Peugeot 204 Estate, it was either that or a Lada 1200 Estate which was newer but I felt quite lucky to get the Pug as I really liked them.
1967 Austin A40 Farina which I bought for £100 in 1973, I replaced that with a 1200cc Triumph Herald with a slipping clutch which I bought for £30 and repaired myself,
There is no way in hell that fiesta gets 65 MPG unless they've done some amazing changes. My friend had a fiesta from around like 2010 and it got at best 40 MPG.
64mpg in a Fiesta? Never going to happen
I know, but I had to use the book figures or all the anti-EVers would be up in arms. 😆😉👍
I get that! We've got a Zoe - far cheaper to run than our legacy Fiesta, real world 42mpg (average over 160,000 miles). @@ElectricClassicCars
1971 Super Beetle - would love to have another fully restored and converted to EV.
Love a super Beetle. 😎👌
1969 Zephyr 4 Mk4. No PAS 6 turns lock to lock which was fun on a 3 point turn on my test
First car, from my brother was a Horizon 1.3GLX
UK insurers have always hated young drivers, I know teens - 20's have more accidents but the prices are not justified. I find it weird electric cars have higher insurance though, something suspicious is going on there.
When I bought my Kona Electric I had a rebate from the insurance from my 1.6 diesel Golf...ie. it was cheaper than the Golf despite having double the power and costing 4x as much. Amazing how things have changed.
My first car was a 1976 Escort mk2 1600 Ghia. My second was a 1978 Mk2 Mexico, plate number WSR500T, in Signal Amber (tint no 2). We had some adventures together on Scottish’B’ roads over the next 5 years. Still slightly obsessed with the thing. Would love an electric replica of it.
First cars and adventures go hand in hand. Happy memories. 😎👍
My first car was a 2014 Nissan Leaf. Before that my vehicle of choice was called a Bus. 😂
Super cool video! I do have a Renault Zoe 2014. Quite happy with it. My first car was a 1977 VW Passat TS, and I had to buy it… lucky guy your son hahahahahah.
1963 Morris Minor 2dr that cost £250 in 1981. Enough said of crash gearbox on 1st lol Great channel!👍
My first car was a 1973 Peogeot 404, my Old Man's car, off the road when the front McPherson Strut bearing failed. I got it for the price of getting it back in the road again. Sold 2 years later for less than the value of the set of new door/boot rubbers that went with it :-(
1970 or 1971 Opel Manta, white with red side stripes and wing mounted bullet mirrors.
Very nice 😎👌
1969 VW Beetle Deluxe - with individual chrome finger strips that fitted over the rear air vents (posh) - have never seen these fitted since ! Great car BTW.
No surprise at all. 65 Ford Falcoon. Got it free.
1990 rover metro clubman 1.3l was mine and now drive focus diesel
My first was dual-fuel Talbot Horizon... It lasted few meters before the fuel pump died... lol...
Not 710 liters of petrol but I think the cost came out correct in the end anyway. The trouble of having two systems of units... and the US gallon is different from the Imperial gallon too... gahhhh!!!
Wow, the insurance is stupidly expensive. Average drive time til complete write-off estimated to 3 years? Is the accident statistics for young drivers really that bad?
I should have clarified, it’s 710 litres a year. 👍
@@ElectricClassicCars Ah, that makes sense, I was trying to figure out how 710 might fit with gallons but I didn't get a match.
First car was ex-MANWEB 850 mini van painted British Racing Green. Also you are better off in the Zoe as service costs are lower..
Bloody brilliant video, thank you 👍
On insurance, I would guess that as a name driver your son is not building his own NCB. It may be worth while next year to put him on his own policy, so he actually has an NCB himself for his next car. Probably a more expensive car, but at least the discount would be there.
Just a thought.
30,000 miles, 3 years, 365 days.
27 miles daily. 3.7kwh/ mile =£1 daily avg.
1972 Austin 1100 in pillar box red, registration DUM 861K.
Not my personal choice but without my dads help it would have been another couple of years before I could have afforded a car.
My first car was a 1949 Plymouth coupe that was badly rusted and had a lot of fiberglass in its panels. I could NOT get a date with that car. Never mind, it was low-geared and almost impossible to stall in the most difficult hill climb in our driving test. During my college years, it got me back and forth to a summer job. I found a suitable young woman in college and she and her mother came to visit my parents. Of course, I had 'The Car' and she refused to even get in it. Her mom told her frankly to either get in the car or get a new fella. Unfortunately, she got in the car.
My god Richard the insurance, Oliver for god sake don’t crash it. God knows what the insurance would be.
1980 Holden Gemini $4500AUD.
Hey Richard. Love your work 👍
Cool, thanks
6600 for insurance in 3 years? 2563€ a year? Thats mad, I pay 136€ a year now and when I was 18 my bmw e30 320i had insurance of 780€ a year
I’m less concerned about Oliver’s taste in cars than I am about his taste in trainers.
I’ll hold my hands up on that one. I bought them for him. 😆😉👍
@@ElectricClassicCars I dread to think what he was being punished for! 😈
Oil changes, AMC Gremlin 74. Wife helped Oliver genes wise. Lol
12:24, you name "The beast", a robin casually dashes away from underneath the Zoe :D :D :D
Yes spotted that. We’ll try and get him to feature in the next episode. 😀
@@spudproductions7606 that'd be awesome! :D
Road tax on EVs needs to apply from 2025 registered cars only - not backdated to earlier models. But we could have a more enlightened government by then…
At least you know he'll never be too far away with a range of 150 miles and having to charge at home. Overnight. When he'll want to be out in it with his mates.
Is yours a battery lease or owned outright for that money?
My first car was a Red Austin Mini Metro worth £400 back in 1993. The insurance costed the same as the car itself which I could not believe. But the insurance on the Zoe and the Fiesta in todays prices are a shocker. But at least its not the same as the price of the car. It would put me off driving completely if I had to pay that much in insurance. I remember when the cost of petrol was only about 45p per litre, £2.50 a gallon.
My first car was 1962 Austin-healey 3000 mk2. Triple cars. I bought it in 1979.
My second car was an Aston Martin DBS.
I may not still own them and couldn't afford either today. But know both are still on the road.
Wow that’s a hell of a first/ second car 👍👍
You win the ‘who had the coolest first car’ award. 🥇🏆
Ridiculous first car! Awesome!
I used it everyday, sun, rain or snow.
Everyone at work, had knackered Escorts and paid far more for insurance than me.😊
@@meeshker That's insane that I bought a car as a student that I cant even afford now. I paid 16k for mint R32 GT-R, now they are what 50-60k?
Can you please please do a Honda goldwing e v conversion, that would be so awesome the way you make everything look so clean!
My first car was a Morris Minor ... and the passenger door fell off.
You have not included servicing costs. I would expect the Fiesta to cost more than an electric car to service.
Initially shared my Dad's C 86' Talbot Solara and then his J 92' 309 GLD before I got my own car which was bought by my dad for me a C 86' Vauxhall Astra 1.2 Merit. I had my eyes on an 89' 309 GRD.😂
I now have a e2008.
Need to factor battery lease costs if applicable to this generation of Zoe. If the car is "battery owned" not an issue, but the lease is about £50/month otherwise. Also range, and charging speeds if long journeys are needed regularly. ZE40 is probably a safer car though?
Awesome as always!! This was your interesting to really see the numbers, but you could have added or mentioned that with an electric car you get a chance to make your driving even cheaper and cleaner by having solar panels……. But more importantly for kids uh young adults they also have a chance to charge at their friends house for free (I’m sure others parents won’t mind:-) which brings the price for fuel all together very low. 😂
What about including servicing costs over the 3 years too
Mine was a Leyland mini panel van.
You're missing a important point in the fuelling costs for a Teenager's car.
If he charges it at home, then that's free for him and expensive for you.
If he had a petrol car he'd have to pay for it all himself!
Not with a smart charger. He pays for his own charging at home.
Thank You for All that you are doing for our Planet Earth.... Peace.. Shalom.. Salam.. Namaste 🙏🏻 😊 🌈 ✌ ☮ ❤
My first car was a 1998 Suzuki Wagon R+ 1 liter petrol loved that thing even when i did'nt chose it
funky little things those
I will probably also buy an EV as my first car. I just don't have money for petrol, and since we have solar and quite a bit of electricity left over, I can pretty much drive for free. I think I will go for the first gen ioniq.
Great review and comparison but you didnt mention the range of either car, or more importantly the battery rental scheme that Renault charge. This is what put me offf the Renault Zoe, as it'd cost me £60 just to sit on the drive for a month whilst im not using it.
I do like the look of the new R5 though.
Yes all that was quite an eye opener! Two years ago I thought it was best to learn to drive in a manual. I'm no longer sure that's necessary. In 10 years time there will not be that many ICE cars on the roads. That's my guess. Time will tell if I'm right.
I don't know anyone who had a car newer than 12 years old for their first car . I spent £600 on my first car (pug 206 1.1)
My first car was a 1963 Austin Mini 850
mine was a 1976 mini 1000. I've still got it!
1965 Mini 850 😂
Just starting the video and you have to buy an electric to stay on brand.
Number 1 is safety btw not cost.
Get Jonathan EV sales involved to buy at auction…
Don't you need to rent the battery?
In Germany you had both options, but here the cars with the battery included are north of 11k where the ones with a rentable battery are about in the price range of the car you referenced in the video.
i got quoted £11,000 on a Renault Zoe at 18
and thats not just all cars i am paying under 2600 on a Mazda MX5 it would be cheaper for me to insure a brand new Fiesta ST
Blimey - insurance is mad…
Not sure you can count both purchase price and depreciation - but a good comparison.
You can’t. Interesting way of doing the maths all round really…when 66% of the 3 year running costs is insurance then something is wrong in the world
@@ObiePaddles When you pay more in insurance in 3 years that you car is worth. For context in Finland I paid 136€ for a year or 11€ a month for my C5 corvette. I was 26 at the time.
@@DuBstep115 wow
Regarding the insurance. To have a named driver on any insurance, where the named driver is actually the main driver then that would be fraudulent and invalidate the insurance at the very least. I am a driving instructor and I warn all my pupils against going down that route if they mention it.
I agree but how do you prove who the main driver is? Without metrics it's impossible.
The pricing comparison was given as an example as it took me only 10 minutes to get quotes with my own details whereas it would taken Oliver more time than we had prepare for this episode.
First rule for first car ownership, is it needs to have been manufactured on or around the year you where born.
2nd rule, it needs to be unreliable, with every MOT a, character building exercise.
These rules, introduce you into a world of engineering fun, and not paying halfords to change your wiper blades!!! 👌
So true. 👍👍👍
Sounds familiar 👍