I don't think the R4 will be the success the R5 is, it looks a bit odd but then I was never a fan of the original R4. The R5 in yellow is a brilliant decision, a throwback to the mid-engined rally car of the 80s. Not so sure about the inflated price for the colour though.

Cheap runabouts don’t get much cheaper. www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202509136309927?u...p

Decent battery healthy for the mileage as well.

I find bargain LEAFs sell really easily and very quickly. In fact all of the fastest selling cars I've dealt with in the last two months have been EVs.

"Decent battery healthy for the mileage as well."

I don't understand how having 10 bars out of 12 is helpful when the seller says it has a real world range of 60/70 miles. That's approaching half what it would have had new and should result in maybe 7 out of 12 bars.

The maximum range is, I assume, completely full to completely empty - a theoretical but unlikely scenario. Similar to running an ICE until the tank is dry.

With say a maximum range of 150 miles:

• battery degradation of 12 to 10 simplistically reduces the range by 25 miles
• assume you recharge while there is still 30 miles range remaining
• assume you only charge to 90% to prolong battery life loses 15 miles range

You are left with a usable range of 80 miles.

Not much use for a motorway run, but if its usages (possibly as 2nd car) is local shops, school run, 5 miles work commute etc it may be fine.

The "how often are you going to need the full range" argument has been done to death here but if you are buying second hand, I don't think it's unreasonable to know what the range now stands at. It's part of the due diligence when buying a car. Whilst a low range may not be an issue for weekday running around, if you visit the parents at the weekend and they don't have the facility to recharge, knowing that you can safely get there and back without sitting in a supermarket car park with restless kids in the back for half an hour, makes sense.

The problem is you can only give a best guess. Many ICE cars will do 20mpg in worst case scenario and 50mpg in best. What's the range of them?

With EVs are you talking hacking down a motorway at 75mph (on a private road naturally) on a wet day in winter at 1 degree C outside or a potter around country lanes on a 20 degree C June afternoon?

Most sensible sellers will give the SOH of an EV they are selling. If they won't I'd buy elsewhere.

Edited by pd on 21/09/2025 at 11:24

Or this one SLO?

www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202507034137679

Choices choices.

Edited by SLO76 on 21/09/2025 at 02:24

I recently got my first EV, a Skoda Elroq 85 Edition and so far I'm very impressed. It's at least as quiet as a Rolls Royce, it's comfortable, spacious, comes with plenty of toys and is very well put together.My previous car was a Hyundai Ioniq Hybrid and I loved that car, but the Elroq is a clear step up in quality.

The main thing I've discovered that is contrary to many of the naysayers of EV's is the time I take charging. They always say they can fill up in 5 minutes while I would be hanging around for half an hour. That simply isn't true. Probably 95% of the time I'm charging at home, so it's literally charging while I sleep. It costs me no time at all. Even if I was on a long trip, I just don't see it taking that long. I want to arrive home with 10-20% only left in the car, so that I can charge at home with the cheapest possible rate. That alone means very few journeys will require a full charge. Even if it was required, by the time I've been to the toilet, had a bite to eat and stretched my legs, the car will have its charge anyway. Again, it's costing me no time at all. I've invested in a 3-pin plug charging cable so that if I visit friends and am staying overnight, I can charge at their house. I give them more money that the electricity will actually cost them and it's still very cheap for me. If I visit my son, the car charges while I'm literally playing with my grandchildren. Again, it costs me no time at all.

I do have concerns, mostly about how long the battery will last. Skoda says it should last 300,000 miles and as I'm 60, I doubt I have 300,000 miles left in me, so it would be nice if I never had to change it. I've been looking at various videos on YouTube about how best to care for your battery and the answer seems to be to keep the maximum charge low and top it up frequently. As a result, as I only work 6 miles from the house, I'm only charging it to 60% and topping it up at the end of the week when it's down at 50%. If anyone has any great insights into how to make the battery last as long as possible, I'd love to hear.

Overall, I love the car and I love driving an EV. At this point I have no desire to return to ICE.

Assuming you didn’t do 305 miles in the day, that’s two separate trips of 152.5 miles. Easy enough for just about any modern EV with a charge whilst in Hexham. If I’ve a 55kW/h battery, and I’m cruising at 4 miles per kW/h, that’s 220 miles on a cheap tariff at home. That’s £3.85 for the first 220 miles. Rough calculations suggest about £15 to cover the remaining 85 miles, using a public charger. So just under £19 for the trip. 305 miles divided by 70mpg gives 19.8 litres, multiplied by a current diesel price of £1.36 per litre gives £26.90. And with zero tailpipe emissions.

I can get about 63kWh out of my high mileage Tesla before it really starts bleating and it tends to do about 4.3m/kWh this time of year on a motorway (sometimes 4.5). So 270 miles as a practical maximum.

63kWh at 7p a unit (which is what I pay) is £4.40 plus, say, 15kWh at a Tesla supercharger to be on the safe side at 39p a unit adds £5.85. So, £10.25 or about 200mpg equivalent.

I don't think that's bad for a 400+ bhp 4wd car capable of 0-60 in about 4 seconds.

4.4miles per KWH on my BMW i3.. I can get 90 miles from the on board petrol driven generator and about 120 miles from the Electric battery. so 150 miles one way is easy (Did 157 miles round trip Saturday with no refueling/charging and about 50 miles range left.. mainly M6/M5 , rain storms and queues)

But it's easy to compare costs for one particular journey, where any EV with available home charging will show a big advantage. My 17-year-old car is different kettle-o-fish - zero depreciation and no cash outlay for recent purchase !! You need to be a very frequent driver to make the savings balance the outlay !

Any 17 year old car will almost inevitably be ICE - unless you were the lucky owner of a Gwizz. Comparison with EV is pointless - despite close to zero depreciation.

For new or newer EVs, fuel cost per mile is overly simplistic and gives a predictable answer. The average UK car is driven ~7000 miles pa. An EV at 7p kwh costs ~£120 pa. An ICE at 50 mpg cost is ~£850. Saving potential ~£730pa.

About the same as pizza delivery once a month for a family of 4!!!

Savings will be eroded by use of public chargers, with no benefit for those who cannot home charge at cheap rates. It is small by comparison with the cost of leasing a new vehicle (largely reflecting depreciation and finance costs) of ~£3-4000 pa.

A far more thoughtful approach would be to consider the whole cost of car ownership than just one element accounting for 15-25% of the total. Individual needs and circumstances vary materially meaning there is no right answer.

I changed my car about year ago. I considered EV but chose ICE as the £6-800 annual fuel saving was insufficient to cover increased risks (range, depreciation, charging network etc). I expect my next car will be EV as perceived risks are declining.