Question of the Month: Will the next car you purchase be an EV or a Hybrid Electric Vehicle?

If manufacturers were to finally bring some of the nicer concept light electric vehicles to market, at a price point that matches that of a one year old ICE vehicle, and without any lease or subscription lock-ins, then I'd be interested in one.

I think this question should be market specific.

In the US the objective of the Model 3 launch was exactly what you ask: to undercut the competing performance/sporty ICE price point. It was 5 years ago.

I will get a hybrid next week Friday - a Toyota C-HR. Replacement company car for my current diesel one.

Currently Hybrids make the most sense for range and use of scarce resources if one is worried about CO2.

beacon_dave said:

without any lease or subscription lock-ins

That will not be a differentiator. Those are becoming practices across all types / brands. My car just sent me an email that the free-4-year-trial of an option expired and that I have to pay to keep using it.

Even in a heavy year, I barely drive 5,000 miles.

My goal is an EV charged by solar (while in my garage.) Not because of anything related to environmental impact or "saving money (the biggest lie anyone tells themself when buying a car)," but because I think it would be so cool to drive a car around that is recharged mostly by sunlight. I think it is possible with how little I use mine.

However, none of the current EVs are appealing to me. Especially the one I used to be interested in.

The car I bought in June was an EV because I felt it would work well for us (BMW I4)  Currently, paying £6 to drive around 280miles and potentially up to 360miles.  However, that in itself would never pay back the extra cost for buying it but I like the way that EVs drive and I particularly like not having to go to the petrol station! It's my first EV by the way.

I think for many people an EV would work well, other's perhaps not.  I think the key is being able to install a charger at home without which I would think the ownership experience might feel like a bit of a hassle at the moment, depending where you lived.  Perhaps that's where a hybrid might work for people, particularly if the majority of journeys are less than the range that can be done on pure electric.  Really, most people do a LOT of very short journeys.

A perspective I have is that Europe is way more geared up for EV ownership than the UK (or the USA, but this would be based purely on randoms on the internet.)  UK government has decided to ban ICE vehicles from 2030, and hybrids from 2035, but left it up to private business to roll out the infrastructure how they think.  They've also avoided investing in Giga Factories, unlike Europe, which really endangers an industry that has a massive input to UK GDP.  In other words, and hardly unsurprising for this government, they've really hamstrung us in converting the country to EV by not investing in infrastructure.  That means the unit price for a vehicle is really high and many people just can't afford it.  I predict pain ahead and that the UK government will back down from its 2030 ban.  

I do think ICE vehicles day's are numbered though.  The progress towards purely EV vehicles seems to have passed the tipping point with manufacturers; but it's more than that and a real shift in industrialisation.  Industrial revolution 2.0.

I think it is possible if you have the roof space at home but I suppose the question is where to best use the electricity it generates - in the house, or in the car.  Perhaps you can afford a great number of panels :)  There was a Hyundai which came with a solar panel as a roof but it only generated a piddling amount of electricity to recharge the battery.  

What are you particularly looking for in an EV and which one were you interested in?  

Another concern people might have with EVs:

Ameland rescue: Crew jump off ship ablaze with cargo of 3,000 cars
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-66310280
An electric vehicle is believed to have been the source of the fire

To be clear, I meant panels at home on the garage's roof to re-charge the car when not in use.

(Not panels ON the car, which is what it sounded like I initially wrote. I doubt that's viable anytime soon.)