The reality of Buying/Living with an EV in 2026 that nobody talks about !!

Each year I take a look at the EV landscape, both the excellent and the bad. It is safe to state a lot has happened in the last 12 months!

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Comments

43 responses to “The reality of Buying/Living with an EV in 2026 that nobody talks about !!”

  1. @steveatkinson2892 Avatar
    @steveatkinson2892

    Although 35% of households in the UK do not have access to off road charging you have to also ask the question ” What percentage of this number actually own a car at present” It is estimated that 7.0 million cars are in this situation out of a total of about 34 million cars. The reason for the discrepancy is that many households in this category are either in urban settings where it is more convenient to use public transport, or the owners could be too old to drive or have insufficient means to afford to drive ANY car.
    This drops the percentage of household who might have an EV but can’t charge at home to about 20%. Still significant but not as high as some might think.

    1. @FredFox-m9v Avatar
      @FredFox-m9v

      Sounds like a good twist of the figures there, you should be in charge of the EV sellers misinformation charter.

    2. @hannahtimson2526 Avatar
      @hannahtimson2526

      You do realize that outside London/Manchester evrybody has a car,, try driving 50miles without hitting a traffic jam even at 4 bloody am theres an extra 10million cars on the roads since 2020….. Would luv a renault 5 ev but i live in a FLAT so got a BMW X1 2lite turbo 3 weeks ago it already has 1000 miles on it

    3. @hannahtimson2526 Avatar
      @hannahtimson2526

      @FredFox-m9v Hes making my piss boil………………

  2. @johnbrown3951 Avatar
    @johnbrown3951

    A dog walk video without the dog or walk but still very watchable.

    1. @PetrolPed Avatar
      @PetrolPed

      Very true 😂

  3. @ianmenai Avatar
    @ianmenai

    I have to say the clue is in the title Conjestion Charge! If it was pollution charge then I would agree. As an EV owner you do get a discount, 25% not much but every little helps as said by Tesco!

    1. @iannolan-f4g Avatar
      @iannolan-f4g

      and the EV exemption was always temporary.

    2. @UnknownUser-rb9pd Avatar
      @UnknownUser-rb9pd

      Plus, probably 80% of vehicles in the UK never drive into London. There’s a reason that millions travel into the city by public transport every day. And a substantial percentage of people in the UK never go near the place and have no reason to go there.

    3. @nickyoung4799 Avatar
      @nickyoung4799

      ​@UnknownUser-rb9pdyou couldn’t pay me to go to London…..from rural Yorkshire 😢

    4. @stevenham1937 Avatar
      @stevenham1937

      Blimey you lot are the reason people throw out words like sheeple. Go back on YouTube and watch videos of politicians talking about the congestion charge and you’ll see all of them using pollution as an emotive way of selling it because what right person wouldn’t want cleaner air. They used it to stop arguments and silence people. Now you’ve all been bent over you’re here defending it ffs. Please sir can I have some more. When did critical thinking die a death in the U.K.

    5. @DaveVantage Avatar
      @DaveVantage

      Pollution was the main reason for introducing the congestion charge back in the day.

  4. @gordonmackenzie4512 Avatar
    @gordonmackenzie4512

    My Renault Megane Etech is almost always charged at home at £4 from almost empty to full. I can DC charge at 130kw, or AC at 22kw. I’ve got the Tesla app, which are pretty quick and not expensive, 35-48p usually. 16 months into EV ownership and I recon I’ve saved around £600 in fuel compared to Qashqai diesel. I’m a low mileage, mostly short journey driver.

    1. @PetrolPed Avatar
      @PetrolPed

      Great to hear 👍

    2. @hannahtimson2526 Avatar
      @hannahtimson2526

      @PetrolPed Have you taken into account the £15,000 lost in depreciation on a £35,000 car in 16mths,, that may cover morethan what i pay for petrol as am not priveleged enough to have a driveway to charge an EV hence the renault 5 i liked had to give it a miss..

  5. @shadowx2k2007 Avatar
    @shadowx2k2007

    The issue with range is that for people that can’t home charge the longer the range the fewer times they have to spend charging

    1. @PetrolPed Avatar
      @PetrolPed

      Yep 👍

  6. @simonwilliams33 Avatar
    @simonwilliams33

    I have a friend, a retired teacher who lives in Bristol. She has had an electric car since 2018 but has never had a home charger. She has used the public charging network for all her charging needs without issue. She also goes to the isle of Mull in the summer. There are chargers even on the Isle of Mull!

    1. @PetrolPed Avatar
      @PetrolPed

      Great to here 👍

    2. @gordonmackenzie4512 Avatar
      @gordonmackenzie4512

      Scottish Government started installing EV in every town and village around 15 years ago. It’s called Chargeplace Scotland. They are literally everywhere. They are now all getting upgraded under a new contract, oldest ones first. Some near Me are only 2 years old.

  7. @Neilda Avatar
    @Neilda

    Good video – you’ve covered every point. I have an EV and an ICE – I can charge from home which, if you can’t, makes EV’s more expensive to run than a diesel. The EV was bought for commuting 80 miles each way into London – in other words a boring and unavoidable chore (particularly as rail travel takes longer, is a lot more expensive along with being dirty and either rammed full or unsafe at night). The EV does the boring stuff with aplomb and at roughly a tenth of the cost of the car it replaced – it’s quick, silent and needs no servicing. But the costs (taxes) are rising – £195 VED (my wife’s petrol Audi pays £35 a year – based on emissions… what’s my charge based on?!), pence per mile coming, congestion charge etc. This government couldn’t run a bath.

    1. @PetrolPed Avatar
      @PetrolPed

      Glad you found it comprehensive!

  8. @MrBassaman Avatar
    @MrBassaman

    I’m a car guy. First of all.
    I’ve had a Peugeot 205GTI, 206Rc, 308Gt (hdi180).And that was fun to chuck down a road in sport mode. Or to hi speed trott down the highway. And it was ok size around town. I even had a towbar so I could pull some stuff to and from the house. Then we (in Sweden) were slammed with a diesel price of 26sek (2.20GBP). That basically forced me to look at ev. I got my self an ev and now the gas and diesel prices are down way below what it was when I was forced into ev.
    It’s not only to get a car you should have home charging etc.
    So I feel badly tricked by the politicians.
    As I said I have a cheap e208 and it’s nice to ride in and around town. And you can throw it down a B road instant torque and in my I can pull the gear shifter an get B mode before roundabouts or into curves.
    I think EVs are great and it should be insensitivitied so you drive a EV in and around town. And on a weekend you should be able to have a hot hatch or 911 to go for a blast in. My opinion/David Johansson

    1. @PetrolPed Avatar
      @PetrolPed

      Thanks for sharing your perspective and experience!

  9. @AndrewHgs Avatar
    @AndrewHgs

    Many good and valid points made Ped, and well done on essentially a 27 min piece to camera, whilst driving, and ‘off the cuff’ too!
    But, cars, motoring and drivers have always been a massive source of tax income to all UK governments, so it’s always going to catch up with EV owners to match IC owners, tax income has to come from somewhere. Nothing from Government comes for free, it’s money from someone somewhere. As they say, the two things you can’t avoid are death and taxes… whatever you drive.

  10. @philhough3596 Avatar
    @philhough3596

    I wouldn’t mind all these extra taxes and charges… if they actually spent all that money on the roads. The roads are a joke round here and yet the taxes just keep going up, with no sight of the money being used to fix the roads.

    1. @SWR112 Avatar
      @SWR112

      We should all demand at least 20% go on road maintenance by law it ring fenced.

  11. @RoydenEvans Avatar
    @RoydenEvans

    I wonder what queue etiquette is when all charging stations are in use, I can imagine waiting patiently and as one comes available someone else takes the space 🤯🤬🥴

    1. @ImDavidJames Avatar
      @ImDavidJames

      Yeah they need to work on that. If I get jumped at the pumps I’m not happy. But ok it’s a couple of mins.
      If I get jumped costing me half hour I’m very angry

    2. @dannyseville2543 Avatar
      @dannyseville2543

      It’s the uk, pretty much depends where you are. I have been places where it was a free for all and others where it was all very civilised and had a nice chat with others also charging.

      I’ve had mixed but from reading around, ev drivers are usually more sympathetic to the cause so play nice.

    3. @philhartley7564 Avatar
      @philhartley7564

      I’ve never really found it to be an issue. 94,000 miles in an EV and around 120+ public charger visits over nearly 5 years.

    4. @ImDavidJames Avatar
      @ImDavidJames

      @philhartley7564my only limited ev use was a euro trip in an alpine a290 and had no issues over multiple days and a lot of distance.
      But I’ve seen the horror queues in the uk on bank holidays or whatever.
      A standardised queue system may be needed the more uptake there is

  12. @mra9085 Avatar
    @mra9085

    Pete is by far one of the most sensible automotive YouTubers. Great analysis mate! So I have the fire-breathing Ioniq 5N, which is 6 months old, on lease, and it costs next to nothing in its “fuel”. Sure it’s bad on tyre wear, and they’re 275/35/21s which will set you back £1500+ a set more often than you’d like, but I was looking at servicing costs the other day and was again pleasantly surprised. There is an entirely optional health check service at 1 year/10k for £89, then the routine 2 year/20k service for just £200. You’ll hardly get through too many brake pads/discs because of the regenerative braking. A 5 year manufacturer warranty for the car and 8 years for the battery. The insurance cost is fine, no more than an M or RS or AMG product. It’s a genuine alternative to something like an Audi RS6, at a fraction of the overall cost to run, giving smiles per mile. And don’t get me wrong – I am the biggest petrol car fan you could meet, but there will come a point where battery tech will get to the point where being hung up on engine noise and diesel for driving range will seem quite childish and antiquated. So if you think you can, just try one out. At least you’ll have that experience and a taste for the savings on offer. You can always go back to petrol/diesel if you want to, and I’m still leaving that door open as well.

    1. @convertorx Avatar
      @convertorx

      EV’s are going away GOOD BYE

    2. @davidviner4932 Avatar
      @davidviner4932

      It’s going to be expensive as a long term second hand option, regenerative braking systems way more expensive to replace than discs and pads for instance, it’s a no from me, I’ll stick with our BMW and Audi convertibles and our motorhome for the foreseable, thanks

  13. @UnknownUser-rb9pd Avatar
    @UnknownUser-rb9pd

    You can see if chargers are in use before you reach them with many apps and cars in built software. Plus Arnold Clark (for example) allow you to book a charging slot.

  14. @adinigel Avatar
    @adinigel

    I have now made my move to electric (assuming the finance company cooperates!) I have ordered a Hyundai Inster to use as a driving school car.

  15. @shakesnbake Avatar
    @shakesnbake

    Brilliant overview – I just wish the government would have someone who understands cars on the committee that comes up with these things sp that there was a much better timeline? Also – love those Porsche stools in the Dream Garage 🙂

  16. @derekholmes6427 Avatar
    @derekholmes6427

    At 67 year old, I’ve just bought my first EV a 2021 Tesla Model 3 long range, I traded in my 2017 Range Rover Sport SDV8, But Im / was a life long petrol head, starting my working live as a car mechanic in the mid 1970s, at a Austin, Rover, Jaguar, Triumph Dealership, So as you can imagine I’ve never had to eat so much humble pie 😂

  17. @craggy4749 Avatar
    @craggy4749

    Hi. Been a long time Drive torque Podcast listener. YouTube recently suggested your channel “subscribed”. As for Sainsbury’s Smart charge network all of their sites are 300kW 800v ready and a lot of them are already running at that speed but all are max 150kW @400v. Seems they have just labelled them all as Ultra Rapid.

  18. @steveyoung8376 Avatar
    @steveyoung8376

    my first EV in 2012 I had for 7 years and did 60000 miles – the amount i sold it for – to a dealer had ZERO depreciation as the money i svaed on petrol, car tax and servicing – was the amount the car had depreciated by.

  19. @davetomley3145 Avatar
    @davetomley3145

    Regarding the range thing. I have an ev which in normal driving in cool weather does 200 miles. My son lives 200 miles away. I stop at the same place for a break for about the same time each way as I always have in previous ICE cars. Yes charging takes longer but I don’t stay with the car when it’s happening.

  20. @winstonpittaway5270 Avatar
    @winstonpittaway5270

    Great video and totally agree that the congestion charge is to make money any other reason doesn’t make sense, with regards the 3p per mile what’s your thoughts on the 1.5p per mile for phevs ? I have a Phev and it’s only does 45miles on electric only so a run to my sister in laws sees me doing a combined 200 miles 150 miles on petrol not electric and I have already paid my fuel duty on the petrol but in 2028 I will need to pay another 1.5p per mile regardless of electric or petrol miles it’s just nuts

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