The Independent looks at the burgeoning used EV market, with electric vehicles offering a wealth of positives as a used car.
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00:00Here's an interesting thing. While it's fair to say that sales of new electric vehicles
00:04could be better, sales of used electric cars are booming. It seems more and more people
00:10are turned on by the thought of going electric and the savings that buying a used EV can
00:14bring. But we know there are still concerns people have particularly about buying a used
00:18electric car. So we're here to give you all the facts and help you decide, should you
00:24buy a used EV? Whatever you call them, EVs, electric cars, battery electric vehicles,
00:36they all have that one thing in common. Yep, batteries. And when it comes to longevity,
00:42batteries don't always have the best reputation. Mostly down to those things, our mobile phones.
00:48Well let me tell you about this car. This is a Tesla Model S, but it's nearly 10 years
00:54old and it's got a whopping 250,000 miles on the clock. Now in that time, all that they've
01:01replaced the tyres and thankfully the carpet mats as well. Now I know what you're thinking,
01:07what about the battery? Well this car, after nearly 10 years and 250,000 miles, still has
01:1484% of the original capacity of this battery. 84%. I think that's pretty impressive. Now that
01:22means this car can still do the best part of 250 miles on a single charge. Is that unusual? Well,
01:29I'm off to Tesla's base in West London to find out. Tesla has its own certified pre-owned program.
01:38Other car makers call them approved used schemes. That means every used Tesla sold
01:43under the CPO banner gets a 90 point check, which includes making sure the software is up to date.
01:48That includes a check of the battery and Tesla tells me that my 10 year old car is nothing
01:54unusual. You'd normally see less than 10% degradation in the first few years. Tesla
01:59has also promised that it will continue to support older models like this one and that
02:03includes things like software over the air updates. So when it comes to buying an EV in
02:08the tech, the chances are the EV could be better used than it was new. That includes the battery
02:14tech and efficiency. That means as far as Tesla is concerned, that every certified pre-owned car
02:20gets enhanced autopilot, which is about the most advanced self-driving system you can get right
02:25now. And the car will even park itself. So let's give it a go. Spooky. So that's the Tesla view.
02:40I'm now off to one of the UK's leading independent EV specialists where they not only sell every
02:46maker model of car, they service them too. It's a hundred miles away. So should I be worried about
02:53range anxiety? Well, not in this car because I'm still showing 200 miles range left and a
03:02hundred miles away. I might stop for a quick top up on the way home, but probably for about 15
03:08minutes and that'll be plenty. And that's one of the things about EVs. You don't always have
03:12to completely fill it up. Just charge with what you need. Two things about charging. Now I'm going
03:20to be using the Tesla supercharging network, which is one of the good things about running a Tesla,
03:25but charge anxiety isn't the thing it used to be. One new public charger is being installed every 25
03:32minutes in the UK. So the charging network is bigger than ever and more reliable than ever.
03:36In any case, if you've got an EV charger at home, you soon realise it's the most cost effective
03:41place to charge. And you only ever really charge on the go if you really need to. What you really
03:46need to do is make sure you have a smart energy tariff at home to really cut the cost of driving.
03:51For example, using E.ON Next Drive's smart tariff, you can charge up at just 6.9 pence per kilowatt
03:58hour between the hours of midnight and 7am. That's less than a quarter of the normal price. So on a
04:04home 7 kilowatt charger, you'll get 49 kilowatt hours of charge for just £3.38 and that charge
04:11will probably take you over 150 miles. Try travelling that distance in a petrol car for
04:17that money. It'll more likely cost you around £25. We're here at Cleveley EV in Cheltenham,
04:22one of the UK's leading independent electric car specialists. Now inside they not only sell
04:28every make and model of electric car, they service them as well. With me is Matt Cleveley,
04:36the founder of Cleveley EV. Now Matt, we're seeing a bit of a surge of EV sales at the moment. I'm
04:41seeing some sold signs on the cars around here. Is that something you're experiencing? Yeah,
04:45absolutely. Yeah, definitely seeing confidence growing in the market. And what excites people
04:49about buying a used EV and what concerns do they have as well? How cheap they are to run,
04:53how economical they are and what great value for money they are. You can pick up a used electric
04:59vehicle for decent money now and then you've got something that will be perfect second car within
05:03the family. It's a local run around. If you're brave enough, you can go further. The whole
05:08argument about public charging infrastructure, for me, it doesn't really exist. There is plenty
05:13of infrastructure out there, you've just got to be brave enough to use it. Bums in seats gets
05:17people excited once they drive them and they realise what pleasure they are to drive. You
05:20service cars as well. They're less complex electric cars, so surely they must be cheaper to service,
05:25are they cheaper to maintain? They are, yeah. Servicing is still important, but it's a lot
05:30lower cost. And are they more reliable? They are hugely reliable, yeah. What do you think are the
05:34most important questions for somebody who's shopping for an EV? When they go to meet the
05:38seller, what should they be asking? Making sure the seller is knowledgeable about the car, where
05:43it's passed, where it's come from, that it's been serviced and looked after and maintained. And
05:48battery state of health. There are multiple tools now to be able to read state of health. So I set
05:53out to find out whether you should buy a used EV or not. And let's put it this way, I would. The
05:58usual rules of buying a used car apply. Do as much homework as you can into the car and the
06:04seller. There are loads of online tools where you can check the MOT history and look at reviews of
06:09the seller if they're a business. And you can carry out a full history check into whether the
06:14car has been stolen, written off or whether there's any outstanding finance. And you should
06:19always ask lots of questions about the car to the seller that will tell you as much about dealing
06:24with them as buying the car. Assuming that's all clear and you're 100% happy with the deal. And if
06:30you're not just walk away, then I'd be very happy to buy a used electric car and I'd recommend it
06:35to you too. In fact, I did recently to my nephew, he's just bought a used Tesla and he's very, very
06:41happy. Phew, the last thing I want is his mum, my sister giving me a hard time over it.