Electric vehicles
Get ready to feel the love for electric vehicles
How to fall in love with EVs
Are you in love with the idea of owning an electric vehicle, but worried about the reality versus the fantasy?
From hunting for charging points to busting myths about driving an electric vehicle, we can help you learn more about EVs and help you find your perfect match.
The future of EVs
Electric vehicles are the future! But what does that actually mean? We talked to three experts to find out.
Your guide to financing an electric vehicle
Going greener with your car is great – but will it hit your wallet hard? We outline how you can finance your EV.
Powering up – a quick guide to charging your electric car
It can take a little more planning. But, with the UK’s EV infrastructure improving all the time, there’s plenty of ways you can build charging your electric car into your daily life – whether you’re at home, out and about, or on the move.
Ready to find your perfect EV match?
As with any commitment, it’s worth making sure you’ve got the facts before you take the plunge. Buying an electric vehicle is no different.
In this section, we can help you learn enough about EVs for make sure you can make the right choice for your lifestyle and your budget.
Your guide to buying an EV
We’ll help you get to know what you should be looking out for when you’re considering going all in on an EV.
Let’s bust those EV myths
Find out the truth about all those things you might hear whispered about electric vehicles in our myth-busting guide.
The UK’s most affordable electric cars
New or pre-loved? City living or driving further afield. Whatever you’re looking for, we can help you get the juicy details when you’re eyeing up EVs.
Looking for a pre-loved electric vehicle?
New as they are, there is a flourishing second-hand market for electric vehicles. Get tips on how to find what you’re looking for.
Are electric vehicles cheaper to insure?
Is there a difference between petrol, diesel and electric vehicles when it comes to insurance. Read on to find out.
Protecting your beloved EV
Insuring your car isn’t just a legal requirement, it’s a way of showing how important it is to you.
With Aviva Car Insurance, you get cover tailored to your electric vehicle. From taking care of your battery and charging accessories to coming to give you an emergency roadside boost if you run out of charge, we’ve got you.
Out of charge recovery
If your electric ride runs out of charge, an RAC mechanic will come out and either charge your battery to get you to a working charging point, or transport you, your vehicle and your passengers to a working charging point or your home. Whichever’s closer Footnote [1]
Accidental damage protection
We’ll be there for you if your car’s lost or damaged, including if it’s damaged by electrical surge while charging
Electric vehicle accessories covered
We cover accessories such as charging cables (in your vehicle and while in use), as well as wallbox chargers installed in your garage
Everything you need to know about insurance for your electric car
Find out what’s covered and what’s not, and what you can add to your car insurance.
Keeping your EV in tip-top shape
Running an EV comes with the same kind of commitment as a petrol or diesel car – you need to regularly show it some love. From keeping your battery topped up to getting it physically checked over by a qualified mechanic, we can help you discover more about how to love your EV.
Powering up – a quick guide to charging your EV
From charging at home to charging on the go to how much it all costs, we’ve got you covered.
Electric car battery basics
Petrol? Where we’re going, we don’t need petrol. Moving from petrol to electric could help save the planet, but what do you need to know?
Getting an MOT for your EV
You need to take care of your EV just like you do a petrol car. Here’s what you need to know.
Hear from other EV lovers
When you’re thinking about taking the leap, it’s good to hear what other people who have already gone there think. Listen to what EV owners really think about their electric vehicles and how they’ve slotted them into their lifestyles.
Transcript for video The city-based electric driver
We originally bought it because the price of fuel was going up just too drastically.
For us, we don’t do a huge amount of long-distance driving, for the range that we’ve got which is 90 miles, that is plenty to go back and forth to work a few times, drive around the city to do your bits and bobs.
One of the things we had to take into consideration when buying an electric car is that we can’t install a home charger on our property because we rent, but fortunately we’ve got a granny charger for our car.
Essentially, it’s a three pin so I can plug it into a normal socket inside the house and it allows me to be able to charge from outside my window because we’ve got a driveway outside of our house, which actually saves a huge amount on our fuel.
Secondhand buying is an interesting experience, you definitely need to do your research online.
We spent countless hours just understanding the differences between all the vehicles. You get the option with electric cars that you can lease the battery from the retailer, which basically means that if anything goes wrong with your battery, they just change it out. So we pay a monthly fee, it depends on the level of miles you’re doing. Not too much of a price to pay.
Transcript for video Green-thinking Adriaan tells us why he drives electric
We’ve all got to make changes and everybody’s got to make a little difference.
When we bought the house we had solar panels put on to help bring the energy bills down and generate ten times more electricity than I’m using.
The next step is charge the electric car. I definitely save money. 50 kilowatts costs me 55 pence per kilowatt to charge if I want to fast charge it, but it’s definitely worthwhile charging it from home because you’re paying between 5 and 12 pence per kilowatt.
There’s two apps that I use; one is for the solar panels, the second one setting the car up to charge. Once it’s all set up, you just plug and play.
If you’re thinking of getting an electric vehicle, see if you can test drive one to see if it fits with your journey. Going back to petrol or diesel car or have an electric and a petrol or diesel. Because the electric is really nice to use for the shorter journeys, if suddenly I have to immediately get somewhere and the car isn’t charged, you just get in your other car.
Transcript for video Always the last one to jump on a trend?
Speaker 1
Hello, I'm Nicola and I've been driving an electric car since 2007. I definitely think of myself as a pioneer.
Speaker 2
Hi, I'm Roy and I've been driving electric cars since 2000. Well, my first experience for electric cars, to be honest, was slot car racing with my brother when I was 10.
Speaker 3
Hi, I'm Warren. I've been an electric car owner since 2016. For me, it was about my daughter. My daughter was born, had some reflections about my life and what I was doing. Yeah, going electric was all part of that.
Speaker 1
For me,. I feel like I'm part of this evolving technology and I'm doing something for the planet.
Speaker 2
The advent of electric cars for me was just dream like because I'm an electronic engineer and a classic car enthusiast, and all of a sudden these two fields have come together and allowed me to build electric classic car.
Speaker 3
We have solar and we have an AC couple battery. We're one of the very first in the country to get one. It is easy and quiet and reliable and powerful and all the things you want.
Speaker 2
The horn’s quite loud, so instead I just do a little <laugh>.
Speaker 1
My children had to get used to being laughed at and pointed at and I would just say, you wait. When the petrol runs out, we'll be laughing.
Speaker 3
I still love fast cars, love all these things. This car is the best car I've ever had. It's 200 brake horsepower. There's 60 in seven seconds and it's a family wagon.
Speaker 2
Went on the London Brighton first EV rally, which is 2021, and I was the only classic car that didn't have to charge up, so that was a bit of a feather in my cap, really.
Speaker 3
The biggest electric car myths I hear them all. It ranges from can you drive it in the wet, can you charge it in the wet through to, you can't go anywhere with them or the batteries only last 10 minutes.
Speaker 1
A couple of times I've stopped outside my brother's house and plugged in through his letterbox, so as long as there's a three pin 13 amp plug around I can manage.
Speaker 3
I plug it in, I go to bed, I get up and the car's charged.
Speaker 2
I absolutely haven't regretted anything about making it electric. It's, it's streamlined.
Speaker 3
If we can do it, so can anyone.