I am a retired electrical/energy efficiency engineer. I live in the UK.
I have just bought an I-Miev. I got it second hand, 154 miles on the clock and £6000 less than MRP. (Ex dealers demonstrator)
Glad I didn’t buy it new at these depreciation rates.
Very pleased with it so far though I haven’t done more than local journeys.
I have solar PVpanels, so I can charge the batteries from these most of the time.
Hi Harry130747
Firstly, welcome to the forum and good luck for the future with your electric car.
I noticed two comments in your thread, firstly you have mentioned the subject of depreciation which many people seem to have avoided and some people do not quite understand. What kind of depreciation have you experienced in the electric car market with regards to the I-Miev?
The subject of solar panels is also something many people have discussed in the past. Do you find them useful? What kind of additional power do they supply?
Well the depreciation was £6000 in less than a year. I have since seen other I-mievs that have depreciated even more.
Re solar panels, I have a 3.88Kwp array.
On a domestic socket the car draws 2.3Kw of power so on a fine day I can easily charge the car on free electricity Partly free electricity on less than fine weather.
I keep an eye on the weather forecast and can delay charging the car if I see some sunny weather is due.
It’s helpful thatI can charge the car at any time there is free power, whilst for other uses I can’t do this.
In prior years the US tax credit would just about cover the depreciation loss as long as it was purchased new. Used models, even dealer demos did not qualify for the credit.
I am from the UK. There are tax write-off advantages here but only to business users.
There is a government subsidy of $10,000 for a new car that anyone buying gets.