Vivaro e -
Has a 205 mile range. Driving normally when it’s dry and warm can get easily 180-190 and thats including lugging 500 litres in the morning.
Last couple of days it’s been minus 5. Hard to be exact but I would say it’s probably doing around 150. That’s with being frugal with the heater as that can have a big impact on the range. The heated seat doesn’t use anything off the range so have had that on full time.
I’m charging pretty much every night at home.
As long as you are using the charged up battery pretty much straight away then it’s fine to keep charging it up to 80/100%. Charge it to what you need. I don’t even think about anymore.
There’s an 8 year /100,000 mile warranty on the battery so that to me shows confidence by the manufacturers. I may be wrong only time will tell.
So far then I’ve done just over 5000 miles in this van and it’s been faultless.
I do 80-90 miles a day and it’s costing me less than a fiver.
Drives really nice. Pulls the weight easily.
And an added bonus is using the cab pre-conditioning in the morning. Totally de-iced and toasty warm when you get in it.
If you can charge at home and do less than 100 miles a day then it really is a no brainer.
There is of course a caveat. Will the extra charge of 3p per mile for ev drivers come in?
If it doesn’t then that has to be factored in.
Won’t make too much difference to me to be honest.
Any questions feel free

Quote from: windowswashed on November 21, 2025, 08:01:52 pm

Depreciation values and second hand ownership running costs would put me off. Thankfully I'm semi retired and won't need to worry about EV's going forward in my lifetime.

Depreciation is a positive if you buy a used ev.

Also in theory there is less to go wrong, no dpf and egr valves or add blu to worry about.

Yes, maintenance is the biggest benefit, or lack of!

That’s the biggest pull factor for me. A van that has almost nothing to do wrong, starts every time, even in minus degrees (my transit custom struggles in winter to turn over, needs new glow plugs but comes with massive risks changing them, they often get stuck)

Fuel savings, obviously a no brainier.

Quote from: zesty on November 21, 2025, 12:09:39 pm

For the few days a year it’s below 0, none of it is financially viable for me.

I don’t work enough these days to need it.  My round is now so well refined that a long day is 4 hours.

Just no point running a diesel heater, I lose so few days to cold it’s not worth it.

So surely not worth buying a new transit custom in the spring then ? That’s not a wise investment

Buying a new vehicle is never an investment. It's a depreciating loss. However, it's a tool needed to aid us in doing our job. So I would class that as a need.  No van equals no window cleaning. Simple

Having a diesel heater does make the job of hose management easier in cold weather. We appreciated having ours going today. But I wouldn't call it a need. We worked through 15 winters without hot water.

Many years ago there was a diy window cleaning forum. There was a cleaner on there who used his brush until there was hardly any bristles left as he refused to spend money on equipment until he absolutely had to. His priority was saving as much as he could for his holidays. He would definitely never have bought a diesel heater.

For the few days a year it’s below 0, none of it is financially viable for me.

I don’t work enough these days to need it.  My round is now so well refined that a long day is 4 hours.

Just no point running a diesel heater, I lose so few days to cold it’s not worth it.

So surely not worth buying a new transit custom in the spring then ? That’s not a wise investment

I bought some of that 10mm rubber insulation with a silver backed foil with the really sticky backing, that is very good for insulating the tank and the R/O out in the garage.