The Vauxhall Ampera: Electric Cars
Electric cars have taken the US by storm recently, due to the enormous savings in fuel costs they enable people to make. Are the UK ready to do the same?
Take the Vauxhall Ampera for instance! Charging this vehicle to go 50 miles will cost you around £2.50 to £3.00 (or nothing if you can reach council-installed charging points) , so we’re pretty sure that compared to the price of petrol these days you’d rather be taking this bad boy than your standard fuel run motor. Another key saver is that you don’t have to pay vehicle tax or congestion charges, and we know what a headache both of those can be!
Sounds too good to be true doesn’t it? That is because maybe for more motorists, sadly it is. Although the government are doing their bit and giving a £5,000 grant to those who buy one, the cost is still £30,000. Another put-off is the amount of time people may spend charging these cars, and time is money! Compared to similar non electrical vehicles it is twice the price of the cheapest Ford Focus or £10,000 more than a standard Ford Mondeo.
It was voted UK Car of the Year 2012, however it has seen a more positive reception from the United States where it was launched as the Chevvy Volt. Sales have begun rising recently, especially in California. However it seems some other electric vehicles are not doing so well, such as the Nissan Leaf.
The Guardian reported “Money did the number-crunching and found that someone currently driving a 35mpg petrol car 80 miles every working day (around 20,000 miles a year) should save around £3,000 a year in petrol by switching to an Ampera – but, crucially, they will need somewhere to charge the car at work and at home”
So will we see our UK residents switching over to electric cars any time soon? For those using their cars to drive long distances on a regular basis such as company car drivers could an electric car like the Vauxhall Ampera be the one? Only time will tell…
To see the full story visit The Guardian
