Driving instructor shares 'things you should know' before buying electric car

A driving instructor admitted there are a number of things she wishes she had known beforehand after purchasing her first electric vehicle.

Chloe Miller-Aird, who is based in South West London, took to TikTok to point aspects of the car's specification she had previously been unaware of - both good and bad.

"I didn’t get time to do much research before my last car change - and the only one available immediately that was the car I wanted in the spec I wanted was a full EV," she explained.

Chloe elaborated: "I was previously in the identical self charging hybrid. I thought how different can it be and the numbers just made sense. I have no regrets but I wish I knew this before."

In a video recorded at a car park's charging station, she pointed out that whilst the bay stated "up to 300kW", this isn't always the case - in fact, far from it.

"It does not mean you are going to get 300 kilowatts charging," Chloe said, before heading inside her car.

"Although it says this, sometimes all you will get is 24 kilowatts. The reason being is because once your battery hits 80%, your charge significantly slows down to protect your battery. But even before then, you still don't get 300 because each individual manufacturer sets a cap on how fast it can accept a charge."

Next, Chloe confessed she never knew you should "only really utilise 80% of your battery" in order to protect its longevity.

"It means if your car is advertised as a range of 280 miles, you can actually exepct to realistically utilise 80% of that," she explained.

Chloe closed her clip by highlighting that home chargers are "super expensive", and can cost up to around £1,000 to install. Without one, she pointed out that you're stuck with public ones, which are "quite pricey".

Offering one silver lining, she added: "However, if you drive nicely, you do actually get way more range than advertised."

The reaction to Chloe's video was mixed, meanwhile, with drivers arguing both for and against the convenience and use of electric vehicles.

"Got a Tesla in January," one TikTok user said. "Charger cost £1,000 fitted. I’ve charged 2,665kWh at home, 247kWh at superchargers. Total cost on EV tariff £293 for just over 9000 miles. Zero maintenance. I’ll never buy anything other than electric."

Whilst a second person advised: "I’ve had electric cars for four years and I’ve never had to charge at a public station. My daily commute is 80 miles and I pay less than £100 per month charging at home. Also so nice to drive - the instant power is great. I used to be a petrol head but now I’ll only ever drive electric."

Conversely, however, a third declared: "Never wanted an electric car, they don’t have the same range as petrol or diesel the ones I’ve seen."

And a fourth concurred: "Last week I filled my little petrol car, drove hundreds of miles south, got on a ferry and still had 1/3 of a tank. Drove around IOW for 4 days and put £25 in to drive home again. Can't do that in an EV. I’ll stick to petrol thanks."