Meatyfool wrote:What is lost to a great many "ordinary" people is that they could have an electric car now, but are scared away by reports about charging infrastructure.
If it is a second car that is only used for a short commute, runs to the shops etc, has a charger at home with off-road parking, then it is a no-brainer to go electric.
There must be more than a million cars on the road that fit that description.
Meatyfool..
Are you sure you are right? Mrs H's car requirement fits that description. She changed last year from a brilliant BMW 330e which was charged each night in the garage. (The cost of extending the lease wasn't economical.) Despite our preference for a BEV, we ended up with a new petrol Golf 1.4 which is a very nice second car. It was much cheaper to lease than any comparable BEV including the EGolf, despite any subsidies.
Whilst the cost of electricity is cheaper than petrol, for a low mileage (6k a year) second car which gets 44 mpg (measured on spreadsheet) the overall costs of ownership were much lower for a petrol Golf than any BEV available at the time.
I was impressed with the Nissan Leaf which our local dealer lent me for the day. A nice car to drive, but expensive to buy or lease at the time, and a little bit larger than the Golf.
Obviously second hand BEVs are cheaper, but so are their ICE equivalents and buyers are worried about battery life as well as the other issues you mention.
regards
Howard