I traded in my BMW 520d Touring for a BMW i5 eDrive40 Touring MSport Pro.

As the i5 was 9-months old I got £29k off the price compared to buying new. This has to be the best way to buy an EV.

 

But what caused me to do this was the maths on the cost of running the car. And I realised that while I can drive 700-800 miles on a single tank in my 520d I never do that kind of distance in reality. The biggest single journeys are ~220 miles. And, with a full charge, that is easily done on most EVs (but not all, so check your battery range and your journey requirements).

This is the costs on the old family cars:

This is the costs on an EV and using various charger types:

 

It becomes clear that owning and EV is only cost effective if you have the opportunity to charge it at home. Also, if you buy a home wall charger (around £850-£1000), you can get off-peak (overnight) low-cost electricity rates to minimise your annual charging costs.

Now, there are other perks…like zero Vehicle Excise Duty and no “expensive car” charges…but as of the 2025-26 UK tax year the government is removing these perks. A standard charge of £195/year for an EV and the £400-per-year-for-five-years “expensive car” charges will apply. Most family EVs (SUVs abound in the EV market) are in-excess of the £40k list price threshold. These VED charges are off-set by the EV savings but you *must* then charge at home to make it work financially.

With no new Petrol/Diesel cars being sold from 2030 onwards a new car will be impractical for everyone who has only on-street parking.

My office for working at home is in the conservatory. Although it has a solid roof now it can still be a little bit colder than the main house when outside it’s 0C.
I’ve created a monitoring system to check the temperature and when working, or overnight, stop the place getting too cold. I control a heater via a wi-fi connected plug and control that though it’s API. I even manage to capture the temperature changes and can see how good or bad things have been.

I have added “switches” to override the heating for various cases. Summer is coming so this should be used less…but it is only February so we’re not in the clear yet.