What is EV?

What is EV? 

The term EV stands for electric vehicle and is referring to vehicles that use electricity as their power source, these vehicles do not require petrol or diesel to run. Electric vehicles are charged up and store the power required in a large battery. This battery holds enough power for many electric vehicles to run for 150- 200 miles without needing to be charged again.  

Petrol and diesel vehicle ban 

Electric vehicles or EV have gained popularity in recent years due to government plans to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars in 2030. This ban pushed more car manufacturers to begin to adapt and produce vehicles for the EV market. Many vehicle manufacturers are focusing all of their efforts on researching and developing new EV technology to increase range and improve EV battery life.   

Environmental need 

Electric vehicles are considered the future of personal travel by many motorists and car manufacturers. The need for electric vehicles stems from the environmental crisis that the world is currently facing. Global warming is significantly impacting the climate and action needs to be taken to reduce emissions. Emissions from vehicles contribute to global warming by reducing the amount of heat that is able to escape from the atmosphere, instead these emissions trap the heat and warm up the planet's temperature. The transport industry accounts for around 30% of the world's total carbon emissions emitted annually. If the majority of motorists are able to switch to electric vehicles the amount of carbon emitted into the atmosphere will reduce significantly.  

Limited fossil fuels  

Another driver of change is limited resources, petrol and diesel use crude oil and other fossil fuels in their production and transportation. Fossil fuels are predicted to run out in the next 50-60 years. When this happens we will need a viable alternative for personal travel. Electric vehicles provide this alternative as they do not heavily rely on the use of fossil fuels. Renewable fuels such as wind, solar and hydropower can be used to provide electricity to homes and charging points. Eliminating the need for fossil fuel usage in order to charge the EV.  

Infrastructure 

When it comes to EV, infrastructure is key. Petrol stations have had many years to build and populate all over the world, this makes it easy and reassuring to motorists that on any given journey they are likely to easily find a petrol station on route. When fuel becomes limited motorists often panic and will queue to find fuel to avoid running out. This has been seen in many fuel shortages, such as the 2021 fuel crisis that sparked many motorists to spend hours queuing for fuel. It is therefore essential that the infrastructure is in place to support a large network of electric vehicles, without this many motorists will be reluctant to make the switch.  

The network of charging points is growing quickly with many more being added each day into car parks, traditional petrol stations, supermarkets, shopping centers and workplaces. Electric vehicle charging takes significantly longer compared to filling up a car with petrol or diesel, this means that the network of charging points and the number of charging points at each location must be sufficient to meet the demand to help encourage motorists to switch to EV.  

Used electric vehicles 

As manufacturers continue to focus on producing new electric vehicles these will inevitably trickly down into the used EV market. More new vehicles will result in a reduction in the cost of buying electric on the used car market as there will be more choice and range. There are currently many used electric cars for sale through SPOTiCAR at a range of prices. Although EV cars are currently slightly higher in price compared to similar petrol or diesel models they do offer additional benefits and cheaper running and maintenance costs. Find out more about the costs and benefits of buying an electric vehicle in our article, Are electric cars worth it? 

Browse our whole range of used electric cars and used electric vans find out more about the commitments and guarantees we offer our customers, including a minimum 12 month warranty and 12 months’ roadside assistance, you can also use our vehicle valuation tool to get a free estimation for our part exchange programme.