Electric vehicles

You may already drive an electric car. At 20% of the UK new car market, they're a lot more common than Net Zero Homes! If you do, that's great, they are one of the critical techs for a sustainable future. Ignore any of the propaganda you may see about EV problems, even that they're not really green - this is all wrong or fake, and we talk about this below, together with evidence links (see this car industry mythbuster for a start).

If you don't, you might be wondering how much of a priority an EV is. Should you put your money there, or into the core net zero techs we feature elsewhere on this site: PV, heat pump or battery. After all a second hand EV could easily cost £20,000, and this money could equally pay for ALL these home techs instead!

In fact we don't think the decision is like that. The first and simple point is, do you really need a car? If you do, it's not an alternative to net zero home tech, it's a vital tool you will own already, whether EV or ICE (Internal Combustion Engine). Used EVs have roughly reached price parity with conventional ICE cars, so it's not an extra cost - in fact, you will probably save enormously on fuel costs, because home EV charging is between 1/5 and 1/10 of the cost of petrol or diesel. So you can treat it as a separate decision and get an EV next time you need to change your car.

If you don't need a car, or not badly, then consider having no car, or one less. If you live in 

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Reasons not to get an electric car

There are really only three:

1. I don't need a car! In green terms no car is the best option, if you can manage it. If you live in a place with good public transport or a Car Club, or can borrow a car, then why bother with the expense and occasional hassle (parking, security)? With so many delivery services and the ubiquitous Uber, a car is optional for many. Nearly 1/4 of UK households don't have a car, rising to nearly half in London.

2. They're still too expensive for me. Electric cars are newer cars, and this makes them more expensive. If you're used to buying and running cars 5-10 years old (which is a very cost-effective approach), then you may need to wait a few years before you have a good choice at this price point.

3. I don't have off-street parking. This affects around 35% of UK households, and is the single biggest obstacle to buying an EV. It makes it much harder to make use of cheap home charging. You can use public chargers for sure, but this will cost nearly as much as petrol or diesel, which is offputting. Many local authorities are installing street chargers eg in lamp posts, but you don't have the same guaranteed cheap access as home charging. There are other solutions but really we need a nationwide legal framework on how to do this.

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How does an electric car integrate with the Net Zero Home?

Can it be "Net Zero Home & Car"?

When you get an electric car, and charge it at home, you are effectively just adding a large new appliance. It will probably use less than your heat pump, but more than anything else you own, unless you have something like a hot tub or swimming pool. At average mileage mostly charged at home, it will use about 1,500kWh per year, vs maybe 2,500kWh for a heat pump (again average heating demand).

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