The lease of our current car is up in the spring of next year. We are thinking of going electric! We mostly use the car for driving in and around Berlin, with regular trips out to where Juliane works and her parents live. Maybe once a month we need it for a trip to another city in Germany, and once a year for a longer summer trip.
The best option so far is the Renault Zoe. We already lease a Renault, so we can return our current car and get a new one all in the same deal.
Outside our current apartment is an electric car charging point, which is super handy! It costs a base price of ā¬5 per charge, and a maximum of ā¬12 for an overnight charge from 0% to 100%. Compared to our current carās fuel cost per km, those prices means about a 50% savings.
However, Julianeās parents are also thinking about getting an electric car, and when they had their house built 8 years ago, they already asked for a high power electric line to be installed across the garden to where they park their car. As Juliane visits at least once per week for a nearby job, we could charge there, probably for much cheaper than a public changing station, for less money overall. Also weāve asked about a charging station put in the parking garage of our current building. But the way the building owners canāt work together, it doesnāt seem like itāll be happening soon.
The downside is the lease of the car doesnāt include the lease of the battery, so that is an extra cost per month. Putting it all together, we donāt actually save all that much on per km cost compared to our current car, if comparing our current usage. However, Juliane expects to be driving much more next year with a new job, so it start paying off economically after a while.
But weāre not doing it for the economics. Itās fine for us to say we are concerned about the environment and pollution and all that, but unless we put our money where our mouths are, weāre really just bullshitting ourselves*. Our current car was the most eco-friendly we could do at the time, but now electric is just within our price and comfort range, so weāre going to do that instead.
Or thatās the plan!
*See also: not having kids.
