350 miles a week mainly motorway. Is EV a good idea?

[viki2410]

Hi all,

New user here but been reading your threads with interest. I’ve seen a second hand 2023 MG ZS EV Trophy Connect - Long Range at a local garage and I’m considering it but not sure if it’s right for me. It’s got just over 5,000 miles on the clock.

I travel around 300miles a week back and forth to work, 270 those miles are motorway miles. I usually have a diesel car, filling up about twice a month costing around £70ish each time and I get around 500 miles to a full tank. I’ll be honest, I will drive at around 70/75mph and likely would still do that with an EV.

We have an at home charger as my husband has a Peugeot 2008. We don’t have an EV rate with Octopus as it stands as the charger isn’t compatible with their better EV rate and I just haven’t gotten round to switching to the 4 hours rate.

This car is a couple of grand more than a Diesel Peugeot 3008 I’m looking at, but I don’t mind paying that if I’m going to see a bit of a return on my investment. Husbands car gets about 150 on a full charge but he only does 15 miles a day so harder to compare.

I understand the range will be worse in winter, logical, but how bad does it get?

Just after some thoughts and opinions.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Gadget Geek]

Hi, and welcome to the forum.

You are correct that range does drop in the winter by about 10% depending on how you drive, temperature, rain, etc.

From personal experience I have driven 210 miles round trip, winter and summer, and from a 100% charge, made it back with over 10% remaining.

You could consider a second hand Hyundai Kona or KIA Niro, both of which have better efficiency and can get 300+ miles with normal driving.

Do you have destination chargers at your work place? That makes a big difference. Costwise, fuelling an EV at home will always be cheaper, Rapid chargers, you have to shop around for the cheapest networks.

Hope that helps.

 

[JimD]

The OP is expecting to drive 350 miles in a WEEK, not in one go. Almost any EV will easily do that if it's charged every night.

 

[JCFlippen]

I have a ZS EV Trophy Connect and can assure there would be no problem doing your proposed mileage. Winter would be about 220-240 on a full charge if you drive at 65 on the motorway. At the moment my guess o meter says 310 but it really means about 260 or so. The MG is good value but do make sure that it has had all software updates. I’ve done 25,000 miles in two years and love the car.

 

[Gadget Geek]

The OP is expecting to drive 350 miles in a WEEK, not in one go. Almost any EV will easily do that if it's charged every night.

Ah, yes. Misread that. Thank you. 350 miles a week is a walk in the park.

 

[Robf]

Hi all,

New user here but been reading your threads with interest. I’ve seen a second hand 2023 MG ZS EV Trophy Connect - Long Range at a local garage and I’m considering it but not sure if it’s right for me. It’s got just over 5,000 miles on the clock.

I travel around 300miles a week back and forth to work, 270 those miles are motorway miles. I usually have a diesel car, filling up about twice a month costing around £70ish each time and I get around 500 miles to a full tank. I’ll be honest, I will drive at around 70/75mph and likely would still do that with an EV.

We have an at home charger as my husband has a Peugeot 2008. We don’t have an EV rate with Octopus as it stands as the charger isn’t compatible with their better EV rate and I just haven’t gotten round to switching to the 4 hours rate.

This car is a couple of grand more than a Diesel Peugeot 3008 I’m looking at, but I don’t mind paying that if I’m going to see a bit of a return on my investment. Husbands car gets about 150 on a full charge but he only does 15 miles a day so harder to compare.

I understand the range will be worse in winter, logical, but how bad does it get?

Just after some thoughts and opinions.

Thanks in advance!

Definately I would go for it, and get Octopus Go and an electroverse card from them. From experience, charge car when there is enough charge in the car for a full journey, you will never then be stuck if there is a problem overnight charging (never happened to me though).
I used to drive 70+upwards on motorways, now drive at 65 ish, doesnt make much different to journey times, much more efficient and so much more relaxing.

 

[Bricktop X PWR]

Honestly a no brainer IMO.

You will need to put in a bit more effort plugging the car in every other day, but your fuel savings will be immense.

You can stretch that interval (plugging in the car) in the summer depending on what range you end up with.

As said above, range does drop in the winter but it is easy to manage and make allowances for.

You won't look back.
I didn't ?

 

[martyn681]

I do that sort of mileage a week. tend to top up charge from around 30% twice a week. but only to 80%. On occasions have to do a long trip I will then push the charge to 100% - but then if I have to charge when I am out and about, never go above 80%. MG ZS LR Trophy 2023 its really not an issue - in April I did over 1400 miles, all at home charging, around £35 total!

 

[pollenface]

You won't look back.
I didn't ?

My only issue is that i don't have two

 

[viki2410]

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for all the replies. I am booked in to test drive this afternoon so fingers crossed!

 

[fred12345]

Just after some thoughts and opinions.

Thanks in advance!

wherever you live, you will be charged some kind of ULEZ or clean air tax very soon. Add tax and service cost and fuel cost. Diesel? No! I think I pay about 2p per mile, maybe even less... yours seem to cost 14p per mile...

you will be able to get enough charge for your daily journeys, don't worry about that. 70-ish is fine, I do that on motorway and range does not suffer that much.

There are other tariffs with BG and E.ON that are better than Octopus overnight rate ... remember that you can also use 3-pin plug to charge and top-up overnight, you don't have to fight over one charger ...
100 miles is about 50% charge on standard range ZS and that is 3-4 hours on 7kW charger
(I hope my mental maths are correct)

is that from an MG dealer? If not, check service record is up to date so the warranty continues. Make sure to service it annually.

finally, you cannot compare diesel and EV drive enjoyment ...

 

[DB Go Rex]

If ROI is important to you and the car is spending it's time on the motorway a lot I wouldn't buy the ZS.

I'd get a 2 year old Hyundai Ioniq 38kwh. You can get them for about 12-14k, they are rock solid from a reliability point of view, they are impacted much less in winter on mileage due to the heat pump and aerodynamics and I found them to be more comfortable on motorways.

The infotainment system also is actually designed by someone who understands usability.

 

[viki2410]

Just want to say thanks again everyone, picking it up next Friday!

 

[fred12345]

Is t from an MG dealer? if so, ask them to get all the updates and checks done.

make sure it comes with 3-pin charger so you get an option to charge at the same time as the other car. if not, Amazon ... I had to buy one because it was sold "as is"

make sure you check service record - it must be serviced every year regardless of mileage for the warranty to be valid.

Congratulations and Enjoy !!!

p.s. search this forum for electricity rates and check out BG and E.ON tariffs for EV, they are better deal than "non-intelligent" Octopus... and don't even think about forking out £1,000 on compatible charger unless you also have solar panels ... £1,000 will buy you 50K miles on BG overnight

 

[viki2410]

Is t from an MG dealer? if so, ask them to get all the updates and checks done.

make sure it comes with 3-pin charger so you get an option to charge at the same time as the other car. if not, Amazon ... I had to buy one because it was sold "as is"

make sure you check service record - it must be serviced every year regardless of mileage for the warranty to be valid.

Congratulations and Enjoy !!!

p.s. search this forum for electricity rates and check out BG and E.ON tariffs for EV, they are better deal than "non-intelligent" Octopus... and don't even think about forking out £1,000 on compatible charger unless you also have solar panels ... £1,000 will buy you 50K miles on BG overnight

Hi,

Yes it’s from an MG dealer. It’s not 12 months old yet but it’s got its had a service this year and it’s got the 3 pin plug. I’m also told (after they checked) that it has had all updates etc done.

We have a charger at home already so not looking to change to a different one but I’ll definitely have a look at the other tariffs this weekend! We’re not in contract with octopus so I don’t need to stay with them.

Thanks for all the advice, it’s much appreciated

 

[Anon70]

If you can find a home tariff that lets you charge at 8p per kW and you can get 3 miles per kWh from the car ,your fuel costs will be 2.6p per mile. From your diesel figures £70 for 500 miles that is 14p per mile for fuel. So going electric would be saving you around 11.5p per mile just in fuel.

 

[Tread Softly Terran]

Welcome to the MGZS EV LR club.
I appreciate the MG dealer has said that all software updates have been completed. However it would be worthwhile specifically telling them that the purchase is also depended upon the car having the software updates to be able to use 'open' Tesla superchargers. That way if you find you want to charge there in the future & it doesnt work, there will be no argument about them updating it.
I find Tesla superchargers a very good option for very occassional long journeys.

 

[Elec Car Aust]

Hi all,

New user here but been reading your threads with interest. I’ve seen a second hand 2023 MG ZS EV Trophy Connect - Long Range at a local garage and I’m considering it but not sure if it’s right for me. It’s got just over 5,000 miles on the clock.

I travel around 300miles a week back and forth to work, 270 those miles are motorway miles. I usually have a diesel car, filling up about twice a month costing around £70ish each time and I get around 500 miles to a full tank. I’ll be honest, I will drive at around 70/75mph and likely would still do that with an EV.

We have an at home charger as my husband has a Peugeot 2008. We don’t have an EV rate with Octopus as it stands as the charger isn’t compatible with their better EV rate and I just haven’t gotten round to switching to the 4 hours rate.

This car is a couple of grand more than a Diesel Peugeot 3008 I’m looking at, but I don’t mind paying that if I’m going to see a bit of a return on my investment. Husbands car gets about 150 on a full charge but he only does 15 miles a day so harder to compare.

I understand the range will be worse in winter, logical, but how bad does it get?

Just after some thoughts and opinions.

Thanks in advance!

Do it! Just need to schedule/plan charging. You will wonder why it took so long to change. ?

 

[viki2410]

So “reopening” this thread… looks like I have been sold a standard range rather than a long range.

Do people still think that for the kind of weekly mileage I’m doing (about 300 - 250/270 is motorway) that this car is still a good idea?

I’m getting between 160-190/200(at a real push with less motorway), I don’t mind plugging in, usually twice a week or so, I’m more worried about winter to be honest! Is it going to cost me a fortune?

Trying to decide if I keep the car, or hand it back. If I keep obviously want money back from the dealer. I like the car to drive, I like the spec etc, it’s just the battery issue that’s putting doubt in my mind.

Thanks

 

[Bam Bam]

So “reopening” this thread… looks like I have been sold a standard range rather than a long range.

Do people still think that for the kind of weekly mileage I’m doing (about 300 - 250/270 is motorway) that this car is still a good idea?

I’m getting between 160-190/200(at a real push with less motorway), I don’t mind plugging in, usually twice a week or so, I’m more worried about winter to be honest! Is it going to cost me a fortune?

Trying to decide if I keep the car, or hand it back. If I keep obviously want money back from the dealer. I like the car to drive, I like the spec etc, it’s just the battery issue that’s putting doubt in my mind.

Thanks

If you can charge at home and the SR covers your distance I don't see the issue. You would just plug it in an extra session per week?

You'll lose some efficiency in the winter (and it will lose range and cost more as a result) but that is only compared to summer. Surely the only reference is 'compared to the alternative.'

The overall cost should be the same whatever the battery size, as long as you can still complete the journey and charge at home.

If you can charge at home then isn't it still going to be a huge saving over a fossil car?