r/ElectricVehiclesUK

As European automakers keeps disappointing and Chinese offer better quality cars, better warranties and better prices - mid-2026 Skoda excited many with what seemed imposible - a genuinly competitive, comfortable, European, 7-seat, full-size EV SUV under £49k!

Unfortunately, after 3-months of promises, Skoda Peak launched in the UK from £52k+luxury car tax! That is at least £3k above anticipated price! While many families in the UK were hoping for a genuinly good and affordable Skoda Peak range under £50k, Peaq SportLine 90x starts at £60,380 + luxury car tax offering nothing of an affordable kind.

https://www.skoda.co.uk/new-cars/peaq/peaq-range

What are your thoughts? Would you rather buy £60k Skoda Peak with 3-years warranty or something like Kia, Xpeng, Aion or Leapmotor D19 with 7-year warranty, better tech for significantly less?

I've just had solar, battery and an EV charger installed at home. I have around £10-12k to spend on an EV. Current car is a Ford B-Max which is towards the end of its life.

I work 2 days a week in the office that has free chargers (need to pre-book which may be an issue as they are very popular). Office is 43 miles each way. I currently do around 8k miles a year.

What would you suggest getting ?

Thanks in advance

EDIT - Thanks for all your responses. I forgot to mention That I wanted range over 200 miles which rules out some of the options but thats all the same !

I just swapped over from a Cupra Born to an Alpine A290.

Yesterday I charged the car, thinking I set the limit to 80%, but realised too late that it went passed that. I stopped it at 93%

I drove it for a bit last night with maximum AC, to bring it down a bit, but I’m still at 88%. I’m planning a long trip tomorrow, but can’t do another drive to bring the charge down further before that.

I usually only charge above 80% if I will be driving long distance straight away, so I’m a bit worried about leaving it on higher charge for a few days.

As a one-off, am being needlessly overcautious?

ETA:
Many thanks for all the replies. I accept that I have been overcautious to the point of neurosis. Before getting the Born, all my cars have been mechanical, and I fully understand how they work, and how to fix them if something goes wrong. EVs are still like black magic to me.

I do a 62‑mile round‑trip commute most days. I own a 2023 Cupra Formentor 1.5 TSI DSG outright, averaging around 40mpg. It’s been reliable, but I’m getting tired of burning petrol and the running costs are creeping up.

I’m considering selling it (likely £18–19.5k) and moving to a used Tesla Model 3, probably a 2022 LR in the £24–26k range.

Good idea?

I'm looking to purchase an EV from a private seller (VW ID3 Pro 2022).

I do not currently own an EV and although I've been researching everything about them for a good few months now, I know that actually viewing and purchasing a car is a whole different story.

Does anyone have advice on what I should ask and look for to make sure it'll be a worthwhile purchase?

I know this is a UK sub but we've just done a road trip through north Spain and Portugal. To reassure others, charging was fine. We mostly found CCS sites and used one Type 2 in a shopping centre while we walked round Bilbao. One of our hotels had chargers although we didn't use that one.

Electroverse worked about half of the time it said it would :/ but all sites accepted our Monzo debit card without needing a signup or app. The main networks we saw in Spain are Iberdrola, Mueve and Zunder.

Along the motorways, some of the sites were right next to the junctions like UK services. Others were a few km detour to a petrol station on the bypassed road (similar to Shell sites in the UK).

Hi, for context, not in the UK but all my experience with cars is there and this sub seems very knowledgeable.

After several years of no car since leaving the UK I'm looking at finally getting something and am fairly convinced to get an EV. Primarily for commuting a 20 to 25 minute drive, mixed urban/fairly short motorway stretch.

Prices and availability are unfortunately much worse, largely due to insane taxes, often looking at 80% more.

The 5 was initially launched at something like 42,000 if I convert, and it seems as though they didn't sell very many, so now it looks like it's about 5-6k off. Not seen one used yet.

Used my potential options are

500e

Corsa/e208

Mini SE

Born/id3

Ioniq 28/38

Megane etech

Not so sure about the 500e, feels more style over substance but one of the few small evs that was imported officially so there's a few around.

Corsa/e208. The 208 is a good looking car, i just read very mixed things, there aren't loads of these around, mostly from 2021 to 2023, would probably cost half the r5.

Mini se(prev gen) : tempting, but the asking prices are just way too high to justify, especially with the short range.

Born/id3: technically never imported but there's a few around anyway, probably bigger than what I need/want. Would be looking around 25k, unsure what they would have cost new but likely heavily depreciated.

Ioniq: not many around, quite a bit bigger than what i need, potential a lot of car for the money.

Megane etech: very few around as never officially imported, i found a few comments from local fb groups saying to avoid as servicing is a headache. (Not seen this said about the vw cars even though it's the same issue, possibly because it's similar enough to id4 which is imported).

The most obvious is the e208 (being and actual b segment) but i read very mixed things. The id3/born is already golf tier which i could live with but generally prefer small cars.

The 5 is tempting but buying a new car feels over the top, especially when prices are so inflated, but they are inflated for used as well, possibly even more so.

Is the Renault 5 really that much better? I know it has won all the awards and plaudits but forking out that much for one seems excessive, still.

I was sitting someday and observing that EV industry is going really fast and thought what can be a business idea that should start in the industry which very few people are doing and have lot of scope, This is just a curiosity based question I have

My mother in law has recently moved in with us with her 2017 Nissan Leaf, bought 2 years ago. We're in London and have never needed to own a car so MOT, servicing, tax, car insurance, etc is all very new to us. We luckily have a parking space where we can reach a granny cable cos the back garden so charging is no issue, especially as the car is now rarely getting used (less than weekly).

My father in law (now passed) always arranged the maintenance and MIL is fairly clueless about what needs to be done so I'm starting from scratch with research. I know he was over the top in lots of ways, so I'm taking everything he did with a grain of salt.

Is a full service needed every year with an MOT? Is it not necessary but a good idea for peace of mind? Is it a complete waste of money? We're very very low on car DIY. I'm capable of learning, but low on motivation, time and space for any equipment.

Does the garage need to be an 'EV garage' in order to do an MOT and/or service. I'm trying to book a full service/MOT but most places don't specific of they do EV and I'm not sure how much it matters.

Been down a bit of a rabbit hole comparing EV tariffs after getting fed up with my standard rate thought I’d share what I found because the difference is actually pretty massive, you know.

The cheapest off-peak rates I’ve found so far

EDF GoElectric: 6.99p/kWh, 11pm–6am. Cheapest I’ve seen. No smart charger needed, just set a timer. The catch is the daytime rate is a bit higher.

Intelligent Octopus Go: around 8p/kWh, 11:30pm–5:30am + extra smart slots. You need a compatible charger or EV, but the smart charging is actually pretty handy.

E.ON Next Drive Smart: around 8p/kWh, midnight–6am + smart slots. Quite similar to Octopus, just starts at midnight.

Good Energy EV Charge: around 8p/kWh, midnight–5am. Shorter window, but 100% renewable.

E.ON Next Drive: around 9p/kWh, midnight–6am. Pretty simple, no smart charger needed.

British Gas EV Power: around 9p/kWh, midnight–5am. Another simple option.

OVO Charge Anytime: flat monthly fee of around £27.50–£37.50 for unlimited off-peak charging could actually work out quite well if you do a lot of miles.

The differences are actually quite big, you know, so it’s definitely worth checking what works best for how much you drive.

So what does that actually mean in money?

For a typical 60 kWh battery, like an Ioniq 5 or Model 3 LR:

Cheap tariff (7–9p/kWh): around £4–£5.50 for a full charge

Standard rate (24.5p/kWh): around £14.70

Public rapid (79p/kWh): £47+

Over 10,000 miles at 3.5 mi/kWh, that’s roughly £200 a year on a cheap tariff, compared with £700 on standard rate or around £2,250 using public rapid chargers alone.

Simple or smart tariff which one actually makes sense?

If you’ve just got a basic charger or granny cable, a simple tariff like EDF, E.ON Next Drive or British Gas is probably the easiest. Just set a timer and forget about it.

If you’ve got an Ohme, Indra, Hypervolt or a car with smart charging, then the smart tariffs like Octopus or E.ON Smart are probably worth a look. They can sort of move your charging around automatically and grab the cheaper slots.

I’ve put together a more detailed breakdown of the tariffs, off-peak times and requirements here:
https://honestrange.co.uk/guides/ev-tariffs-compared

What’s everyone else using? I’m quite curious about OVO’s flat-rate model it could actually be brilliant if you do loads of miles, but maybe not so much if you don’t.

I have an ioniq 5 that I love. AWD, tonnes of power, great bells and whistles. It's been a few months now but my partner hates it.

The rear seats are giving her pins and needles on longer drives - both the seat height and the seat belt positioning is awful for her. She has to sit there at the back as we have a little one. Plus this car also have an annoying motor whine from the rear motor, so that adds to the frustration.

Anyway, I need to look for something similar that can give me some smiles as the driver but also practical enough for a family of 3 (rear facing child seat), with good rear seat and seat belts.

Suggestions to research? I'll be buying used, not new.

Quick research shows up Nissan Ariya, Skoda Enyaq, Q4 etron, VW ID4, but keen to hear from the community

Looking for some advice as I’m getting my first EV tomorrow. Based in South London and getting a CLA 250+ 85kwh.

Does anyone have recommendations on best prices for charging or anything else I should be aware of?

Is it just me or do I wish I never bought an EV, the whole reason for me to buy it was to save on road tax and not pay per mile. Now I am paying £200 a year for my 21 plate Ioniq facing 3p a mile charge in 2028. Why would anyone now want an EV? Add to that the rip of charge station kWh cost.

Considering this as a cheap runaround for my wife, thoughts?