UKC – We review what we sell!
You might have seen either on our site or on our social media pages that we are strong believers in switching to electric driving. And depending on which news outlets you see, sales in EV’s (electric vehicles) went up dramatically in September due to either the fuel crisis or the lack of semiconductor chips being available for new cars being built? In all honesty, we will never really know the exact answer to that.
And yes, you’ve got your big named brands like Tesla and Polestar. But what about the main brands like VW, Renault and SEAT? These household brands have been cranking out some amazing little city EV’s. Like the Fiat e500 which is due out in November, or the VW eUP landing in the new year and not to forget the Vauxhall Corsa-e and so many more.
So with this in mind, it was only right that we spoke to Warren on our sales team. He’s been with UK Carline for nearly 8years and is one of our first account managers to make the switch back in May 2021 from standard fuel to the WHAT CAR? of the year 2020 Small electric car less than £25000 the SEAT Mii.
[due to this deal being so popular back in May, SEAT have now stopped production for the Mii for time being while they catch up on all the demands]
How long have you been driving? Crikey. I’d say 17 years now.
On average how many cars do you think you’ve driven since passing your test? I’d hazard a guess at 50?
What has been your favourite car to drive? I once hired a convertible Mustang on holiday and that was a lot of fun!
Why did you decide to make the switch to electric? I’d been thinking of going electric for about 12 months prior to taking the leap. The idea of never, ever, having to put petrol in a car was pretty appealing and having spent 4 years driving around in 300bhp hot hatches I thought it was time to start thinking about the environment and my bank balance for the foreseeable future!
Why the SEAT Mii? The car was on offer at the time and after a lot of research, I realised that the car, despite its size, would actually work for me. My wife drives a Hyundai Tucson so we have the flexibility of jumping in her car if we need some more space when out with the kids on a weekend and I only use a car to drive to and from work so I realised I didn’t need anything bigger than this. As long as the kid’s car seats fit in it which they do and there’s room for a buggy in the boot then I knew it would be fine. The SEAT Mii Electric has a very reasonable 166-mile range, heated seats, cruise control, DAB radio, parking sensors so it had all the creature comforts I was used to.
What do you like about it? It saves me an absolute fortune driving this car and it’s A LOT of fun! When doing my sums before taking this car, with a reduction in rental, insurance premium savings and the fact that my fuel bill would be virtually non-existent I worked out that over the 2.5 years I’d have it that I’d be saving somewhere in the region of £9000 which was an amount of money that was very difficult to ignore. It’s ridiculously quick as well! Coming out of Golf R’s and Leon Cupra I was worried that eventually, I would miss that sub 6 second 0-62mph time but in reality, the Mii, because it’s pure electric, has no gear changes and it’s instant power so it gives pretty much anything else on the road a good run for its money! I’ve had a few puzzled looks from people when I’ve tootled past them silently in my little black box!
What do you think could be better? I’m struggling to find anything that could be better. Maybe a digital dash if I was being really picky and front sensors as I’ve had those in my 2 previous cars and I do miss front sensors sometimes but it really does have everything it could possibly need and more!
Will you be getting another EV once this lease is up? And which one do you think you’d like? Absolutely! I think I’d struggle to go back to a petrol/diesel engine car now and I think the only time I’d get one is if I was ever in a position to buy a Porsche 911, I’ve always wanted one but then I think it’d be a retirement/toy car for the weekends. The cost savings driving an electric car compared to an internal combustion engine car are really difficult to dismiss and you also get that warm fuzzy feeling whilst driving that you’re making a small difference to the environment as well. My little boy thinks it’s amazing that Daddy’s car plugs in and doesn’t need petrol/diesel as well and takes great pride in telling everyone that it’s free to charge it at Tesco!!!
What about on the Motorway? Good, it’s limited to 85mph but when do you ever need to go faster than that! Before this weekend the furthest it had been was to the Trafford Centre, but we took it down to Stoke to visit family and the electro-whizz got there and back with ease on a single charge. It’s roughly a 125-mile round trip which is the longest journey it’s ever done and we landed back in Leyland with about 30 miles of charge left so that entire journey cost me absolutely nothing in fuel whereas taking our other car we’d have spent about £20-25 in petrol doing that kind of mileage 😉
Has your mileage changed or concerns over range reduced? I’m currently working at home 2 days a week so I’ve dropped from 10,000 miles a year to 8,000 miles a year but I knew before I took the car that I’d never do a single journey longer than 160 miles and even if I did I’d just plan a route to stop at a charger.
And lastly, is plugging your car in whilst it’s raining annoying? It is a bit but I imagine driving around trying to find somewhere to fill your car up in a fuel shortage is worse haha!
Has Warren’s review of going electric put your mind at ease? Want to see the right EV on offer for you? Click on the link to view our incredible selection of EVs. This constantly expanding new way of driving is not just the future but the now!
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