Is it the right time to buy an electric car?
If you ask the Brits, they do think so! Around 12 million people in the UK are planning to buy an electric car in the following two years. The news is encouraging as the government plans to stop the sale of new combustion engine cars by 2035.
Apart from saving the environment, the move can help drivers curtail £8 billion in fuel costs. On average, people who drive electric cars save £329 per year. It can be a positive thing when we are experiencing an economic slowdown due to COVID.
Registration numbers are also matching up the growing interest in electric cars. In March, the market share of new battery-driven vehicles grew to 4.6%, pushed by increasing sales. It’s the highest volume of sales the UK has ever experienced in the sector of electric cars.
A Slew of Brand New Electric Cars
Brits will be spoilt for choice when they sit down to decide which car to buy. Many promising models are already in the marketing, while many more are up in the roster.
If you want reliability, the Tesla Model 3 is always present. In fact, it has been voted the most flawless electric car by the UK. According to the survey, only 5% of Tesla Model 3s experience an issue. Even then, none of the faults is serious enough to stop you from driving the car.
On closer inspection, all those faults were found to be associated with the inner trim. This is in stark contrast to other electric cars, where issues with the engine, gearbox, or exhaust are common.
We also have players like Audi joining the race with affordable models. The E-Tron Sportback 2021 was just launched in the UK a few days back. It comes in three variants with prices starting from £79,900. Then you have the Launch Edition at £85,900, and Vorsprung for £95,100.
The base model of E-Tron packs quite a few features to woo car lovers. The fully-electric SUV packs a sport suspension and 21-inch wheels to give it a mean look. The dynamic indicators and the LED headlights complete the Audi getup with plush Valcona leather interiors.
In the passenger segment, we also have the Honda e, a small and chic urban car you’d love to own. The car was released just a few days back and brought back the memories of retro Honda models. You can surely spot the inspiration from the 1960s N600 and N360 two-door models.
Honda has designed the car to take on the city streets. It’s compact and weighs much lesser than premium models thanks to its lower capacity batteries. Honda e drives 280-km per charge with a battery capacity that is half of Model 3.
According to Honda, higher battery capacities are not useful in cities where you drive limited distances. The company reduced the capacity to drop the weight and make the car more city-friendly. Along with that, Honda specially worked on the handling to make the vehicle easily manoeuvrable on narrow roads.
Several other cars are also planned for release. You will soon be able to buy Polestar cars as the company just decided on their first showroom location in the UK. Polestar showrooms are called “Polestar Spaces” and adopt a completely different approach compared to traditional dealers.
You won’t find any salesperson pressuring you to place your order. Instead, you can take your time to learn about the cars at your own pace and comfort. The first showroom will come up in Westfield London and sell two models, the Polestar 1 and Polestar 2.
Polestar cars are gaining popularity for their performance. The sibling brand of Volvo is eyeing to taking on Tesla, and some critics are already in its favour. The Polestar 2 is even the first car on the planet to feature an in-built Android infotainment system with access to Play Store and Google Assistant.
UK is Getting Prepared
The electric car market in the UK shows strong growth even in the face of the pandemic. That’s encouraging as we shouldn’t really be taking a break from saving our planet.
However, to encourage the mass adoption of electric cars, the UK still needs to work on building infrastructure. Right now, it has only 5% of the chargers required to fulfil the 2035 goals.
The government has allowed a £70 million funding to double the number of chargers. Three thousand new units will also be installed across the country within 2024.
If you are planning to buy an electric car, it might as well be the right time!