12th March 2021
Considering purchasing an electric vehicle, but want to get to grips with the benefits they offer? As well as the well-known environmental advantages, electric cars can also offer benefits on reducing your costs, your road tax, and the general running costs, too.
The main benefit associated with buying electric vehicles is, of course, the benefit that this has upon the environment. Petrol and diesel vehicle engines release carbon dioxide emissions to the environment, which create a polluted environment for residents and locals of the area, but also damaging gasses which affect the earth’s ozone layer.
As electric vehicles do not have any tailpipe, they do not release any exhaust gases to the environment – making them a much more environmentally friendly solution to road travel. The main environmental benefits of electric vehicles are:
Of course, it should be noted that electric vehicles – although they significantly reduce CO2 emissions – do use electricity required to fuel them, which in turn has an impact on the environment. However, the European Energy Agency found that even with the electricity generation, carbon emissions are still around 17 – 30% lower than driving a petrol or diesel car.
And in terms of producing the vehicles themselves, this also uses energy – but according to the ICCT, more than 1/3 of the lifetime CO2 emissions from an electric car come from the energy which is used to make the vehicle itself. This suggests that with the lowered carbon emissions, and the little impact electricity has on the environment compared to petrol and diesel, that electric vehicles are still significantly better for the environment and our planet. Learn more about how electric cars work from our detailed guide.
A lot of cities around the UK are attempting to make their cities’ air cleaner, and a lot of that is controlled by the use of vehicles and congestion zone charges. Clean Air Zones are designed to discourage polluting vehicles from entering this area, as they will be charged if they do so – however, a key advantage of an electric car is that they are exempt from these charges.
For example, driving around London in the Ultra Low Emission Zone costs £12.50 a day for cars – however, by driving an electric vehicle, you could save massively on these costs, as well as being able to drive conveniently in these areas free of charge – which could make the commute into work a lot more bearable!
Another key benefit of electric vehicles is the price is takes to run them. Compared to petrol or diesel, electricity is a lot cheaper – costing on average around £1.30 to drive for 100 miles, compared to an average petrol equivalent which would work out to be around £10.
In some workplaces and councils, it’s even free to charge up – as they are offering free or low-cost charging benefits for those using electric vehicles.
As well as the difference between fuel and electricity, electric vehicles also benefit for zero road tax charges – meaning you won’t need to fork out once a year on tax.
Of course, it’s absolutely your choice as to whether you decide to buy an electric or petrol car. However, there are movements coming into play which will mean that the sale of fuel-based vehicles is likely to be banned by 2040 – and there is a strong encouragement for vehicle owners to move towards electric vehicle motoring.
Here at Merityre Specialists, our service branches have fully trained experts who can provide maintenance checks and services for electric vehicles – meaning, whatever vehicle you choose, we’ll always have you covered. Locate your nearest Merityre Specialists garage now for more information about the importance of electric vehicles.