Are you EV ready?

Transitioning to electric vehicles (EVs) is a hot topic across the board at the moment. With technology advancement in cars, and rapidly improving charging infrastructure, and when you look into it, you might be more ready to switch to an EV than you previously thought.

I drive too far for an EV

The main reason people give when they say they aren’t ready to make the switch is that EV range isn’t enough to cover their day-to-day needs. However, this is getting less and less true every day.

Department for Transport data suggests that the average annual mileage for UK drivers is 7,100 miles – in other words, a little under 137 miles a week.

To contextualise this, the Dacia Spring – Britain’s most affordable EV – has a range between 135-140 miles, depending on driving conditions. The next step up the ladder, the BYD Dolphin Surf, offers a range just shy of 200 miles.

If you were to step a bit further up the ladder, but not splash the cash, the new Renault 5 can cover 250 miles on one charge – or top-shelf BMWs or Mercedes are offering 400+ miles.

What this really means, in a nutshell, is that EVs will more than cover your daily use from a car.

But I can’t charge it at home

A great point, but one that’s quickly becoming null and void.

Public charging infrastructure isn’t just growing – it’s booming. Zapmap figures for 2026 revealed there are over 118,000 public EV chargers in the UK, with 1500 being installed in February alone.

In 2025, 13,281 EV chargers were added, representing a growth of 13% across the country. Since the end of 2023, nearly 40,000 chargers have been added.

So, it’s a great point that you can’t charge it at home, but the public infrastructure is very near a point where that’s not really a problem.

Have a think about the places you visit regularly. Is there an EV charger near your office that you could plug into for a couple of hours on Monday morning? What about a rapid charger at the supermarket?

But I can’t afford an expensive EV

Another great point, to an extent.

Yes, new EVs can be expensive – but they aren’t a great deal more expensive than new petrol or diesel cars. Let’s look at the Ford Puma, which has been a best-selling car in the UK for a number of years now. A brand-new petrol model will set you back around £27,000 – whereas the all-electric Gen E model comes in at just under £30k.

There’s also a government scheme running until 2028, which means you can save up to £3,750 on a brand-new EV – which would take the Ford Puma Gen E price to the same as the petrol model.

You also could take advantage of schemes like Salary Sacrifice, which comes with great tax and national insurance savings, which can offset any increase in costs.

Finally, you could go down the route of looking at a used EV. Studies have shown that modern EV batteries will still retain upwards of 90% of their original charging capacity more than 10 years after it was first built.

At the time of writing this, there are nearly 40,000 used EVs for sale on Autotrader, many of which are under £10,000.

I’ll have to pay the 3 pence per mile EV tax!

Yes, that’s true – from 2028.

It is off putting to some, but let’s compare it to petrol. Fuel duty on petrol sits at 53p per litre, which typically will translate to around 12-15 pence per mile. So yes, you’ll be paying 3p per mile, but you’ll also be saving 9-12p per mile versus petrol.

But again, this is in 2028. Enjoy some more savings while they’re around!

And while we’re on the topic of petrol, it’s worth noting that a full charge on an EV is a lot cheaper than a full tank of petrol – even when you’re paying rapid charging rates?

Give it a go!

So, with all of this information taken into account, have you changed your mind on whether an EV is right for you?

‍

‍