My wife is getting a new job, and a company car is part of the package. The main issue is that the car must be either BEV or PHEV. She will have access to a range of options via their fleet rental system, but details are still TBC, but at an estimate, it’ll be somewhere around £40,000 final price. There’s a number of options in the price range, so we’re looking at various models and have kicked some wheels in showrooms, mainly small SUVs, think Kia Niro/Fisker Ocean/Peugeot 2008 as representative models.
The big question is whether a BEV or PHEV is best suited for her. The company has 5 locations, situated (approx) 40 (base office), 50, 100, 190, 210 miles away from our home. Our expectationis that she will be spending 4 days a week in the base office, and driving to one of the other offices on a rotating basis on the other day, so 80 miles a day minumum and there will be 400 mile days at least twice a month, all on 70mph motorways. We are in the process of getting a driveway and charger installed, but currently do not have either (ETA 2/3 months.) There are public chargers available to us within a mile or so, and the office locations have chargers installed in 3 of the 5 locations (base office, 50 and 190 miles away, not in 100 or 210, so would rely on public charging en route.) The battery only range of PHEVs is too short for any of these commutes, so we’d still be using petrol regularly; but relying on public charging for a BEV on long distances is still a lottery in the UK and being late for a meeting because of charging is not a good look.
In terms of finances, we expect a BEV will be around £800-1000pa cheaper in taxes than a PHEV. The company will pay for any home charging, provide a payment card for public charging/petrol fillups, then bill her for personal use (don’t know what rate that will be yet).
What would your thinking be in this situation? What else should we be considering in making the final decision?
Try putting the routes in using ABRP (A Better Route Planner).
Occasional 400 mile days for most BEVs is no big deal, especially if you have chargers on both ends.
Even with a household plug for the first couple months, your car will slowly get closer to empty over a week, then charge back to full over the weekend.
With ABRP, you can plan out a whole week with slow charging at home, faster charging at work, and then see where and how often it needs you to stop for fast charging.
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We’ve currently got an old Honda Jazz that will be my car after I pass my test later this year, after I’ve been qualified for 12 months they will put me onto the insurance for the company car and we will probably get rid of the Jazz. We will probably get an old second hand BEV that I can use as a commuter if we need it.
It depends on the details of the car scheme. A BEV is great, assuming you can charge it cheaply at home, except for the two days where you have a 400 mile round trip. For those, motorway fast charging will get you there and back. I have had a company BEV for 3 years. Worked out ok with lease cost and tax benefits. But I have now decided to abandon the company car scheme and got a private car with a petrol engine. Never saw the point of a PHEV, lugging a heavy battery around while running a small petrol engine. Probably good if you mostly drive around town, but that’s not my use case. For private cars, BEVs are just too expensive, to buy, to insure and to repair. My reasons include:
I get a cash alternative if i don’t take a company car,
I can’t claim actual cost for motorway charging, which is very expensive. It works out more expensive per mile than a petrol car (for me, a small modern BEV may work out better) This is the main issue for me as I do long trips fairly regularly.
My car needs 2 hours to charge even on a motorway fast charger. Normal local public chargers don’t work for me, too slow. The car needs 12 hours on my 7kw home charger.
Thanks for the reply. As someone else mentioned, charging speed seems very important for this use case.
I don’t think it actually is that important? She wouldn’t need to charge up during any of those commutes so the only problem to solve is finding a charger near the 210 office (while pressing them to put in chargers there, of course).
She’s going to be able to expense charging when doing these runs, so the only issue with public charging is time / convenience, right?
I’d always go BEV, because I already drive one and would never go back. I know that’s different to most people though and the thought of a BEV is scary to some. It will be the better car to drive without a doubt. PHEVs tend to have low power engines and small batteries / motors in order to make everything fit. It’s a compromise car. A BEV will have a full size motor and battery because there’s no engine to also fit in. Servicing will also be a lot simpler if you care on a company car.
On the days where she’s going to a site with a charger there should be no problem (as long as there are enough chargers or she can reserve one). Drive there, plug-in, work, drive home. No petrol stations ever.
At the sites without you could look in zap map to see if there’s anything nearby. You’re looking for 7, 11 or 22kW chargers with a type 2 (not CCS) plug. If there’s anything within walking distance then it’s the same drill. Just be aware of any parking charges.
Alternatively you’re looking at high power charging at motorway services or similar. On that 420 mile round trip I’d suggest it’s probably a stop on the way out and one on the way back. Maybe 20mins each way. Again zap map or even better “A better route planner” (ABRP) will help you find chargers. (There’s more than you think).
Don’t be the owners that think the range is limited to what you can do on a full charge from home / work. Be comfortable with public charging, just like you’re comfortable refueling your current car. It’s different, but not scary. Just give it a go somewhere local before you NEED it to work on a long journey that became a little longer than expected because of a road closure or diversion.
Biggest tip is to consider which car charges the fastest. This may not be the car with the highest headline figure, but the one that sustains a good rate for longest. This is where reviews are good. People like Tesla Bjorn on YouTube do a lot of charging speed comparisons and keep tables of this stuff if you really want to go nerdy. ABRP tries to bake it all into the calculations, so comparing different cars on the same journey should give you an idea.
Thanks for the advice. I’ve had a play with ABRP and the options are endless! I think we can mak a BEV work, but it’ll be a change of mindset, topping up when doing the stops that you tend to do on long drives, rather than doing a complete fill up once a day. My gut feeling about PHEV is that you get the worst of both worlds, rather than the best of both, still reliant on petrol, but with added weight and bulk of batteries.
That’s the way I view PHEVs too
It’s a nice part about having a battery electric vehicle is that every morning when you wake up the car will be fully charged and you will never have to go to a gas station again.
Plus you’ll realize how better battery electric vehicles smell and that they don’t produce any pollution. Oh yeah, they also have tons of power and are a lot more responsive to drive!
