Electric car guide - everything you need to know

Avtotachki shares with you their electric car guide. Whether it's buying, building infrastructure for recharging, or maintaining a car, there are many things to consider and monitor when you want to go electric. We present them to you in this article.

Purchase

Choose the car that suits your needs

Consider Your Aid Based Budget

One of the first purchase criteria is budget. The price of a new electric vehicle is high because the technology is still very new. The cost of production and the cost of technology have not yet been optimized in the same way as for thermal ones. Therefore, electric vehicles are more expensive on average.

To overcome the brake that the price of an electric vehicle may represent, reason is the perfect solution... Thanks to the discount, this is a very good way to save money and switch to electricity at the same time. 

In addition, there is numerous state aid and certain communities or metropolitan areas... The most famous are the environmental (second hand) bonus and the conversion bonus. 

Environmental bonus

The environmental bonus is a help in the amount maximum 6000 euros (from July 1000 it is planned to decrease by 6 euros every 2021 months) allocated for the purchase of a new clean car. To be eligible to participate, the following criteria must be met:

-There is CO2 emissions 50 g / km to the maximum

-The car must be purchased or rented at duration not less than 2 years

-It must be new 

-Registered in France in the final series 

-He shouldn't will not be sold in 6 months after purchase or lease

-Not even before I drove at least 6000 km

For a used environmental bonus, the bonus is 1000€. This requires meeting the following criteria:

-Buy a used car, maximum CO2 emissions 20 g / km

-To be bought or leased for a period of 2 years or more

-Was registered for the first time in 2 years or more depending on billing or payment of the first rent

-Be registered in France in the final series

-Do not sell for 2 years according to the date of billing or payment of the 1st rent.

As stated earlier, the environmental bonus for new cars must be reduced by 1000 euros every 6 months until it disappears. So it's time to consider the possibility. 

Conversion bonus

As for the conversion bonus, it is assistance from 2500 to 5000 € for the disposal of an old car that is more polluting (1st registration until January 2006 for vehicles with a gasoline engine, until January 2011 for vehicles with a diesel engine). To be eligible to participate, the following criteria must also be met:

-To be major

-To be lives in France

-Lead in destruction old car

-To buy a car slight pollution

The procedures for obtaining various benefits and bonuses can sometimes seem daunting. For this reason Avtotachki takes care of all these processes for its customers.

Choose the autonomy that suits your needs

Autonomy is also a buying criterion to consider. There are several factors to consider. To better understand your needs in terms of autonomy, you must take into accountuse what you want from him. Indeed, the frequency and duration of the trips you want to make are critical when choosing an electric vehicle. 

In addition to these major factors, there are other, more minor factors to consider before buying a car. V topography the roads you walk on are yours driving style or comfort elements which you want to use during your appeal should influence your choice.

Therefore, you need to evaluate your usage habits in order to choose the most suitable vehicle. To help you in your decision-making process, you can model the autonomy you need with our simulator.

What to look out for on occasion

Battery health

Over time, the condition of batteries in electric vehicles deteriorates. So there is loss of autonomy and performance, and one increased recovery time... Whether you use it or not, an electric vehicle's battery will age over time.

Therefore, when buying an electric vehicle, you need to pay attention to the condition of its battery, also commonly called SOH (for health conditions). This SOH is used to determine the battery status as a percentage.  

This is a benchmark that obviously needs to be considered when evaluating the value of a used electric vehicle. Avtotachki strives to ensure that all of its cars are Not less than 95% SOH... Car batteries are certified by our partner LaBelleBattery, battery certification specialists.

General condition of the vehicle

Of course, in addition to the health of the battery, the more general condition of the used EV needs to be considered. Either outside with any addicts and rubbing marks, and interior a car with all electrical parts, everything needs to be controlled. It is for this reason that Avtotachki performs 95 point control on each machine... This applies in particular to electrical parts such as the battery.

Recharging 

Electric vehicle charging

Charging frequency 

Charging frequency really depends on how we use our car. For many, it's not every day. In fact, only one in five people charge their car at home every day. Every third person uses it twice a week and the same number - three times a week. However, for 1% of them, electricity is the main mode of transportation. Electricity is very useful for normal trips such as travel between home and work... Moreover, it is regular micro-recharging is not recommendedis likely to accelerate the aging of electric vehicle batteries. They correspond to a charge level of 80-100%. A little advice on refueling, connect the car during off hours, this will allow you to further reduce your electricity bill. Specifically, off-peak hours are times defined by your distributor during which electricity consumption is cheaper than usual. Often these are the hours of the day or the middle of the night.

Charging cable

Before recharging, make sure that have the correct wiring for your vehicle. Our partner Securecharge has developed a virtual assistant to help users determine the charging solution that suits them. The cable must fit into the socket of your vehicle. : type 1, type 2 or even CHADEmo. It usually comes with your chosen model. It will still need to be adapted to suit your needs and your use. For example, you can use the old standard model T3 cable on the Autolib terminals.

Charging solutions for home, condominium or work

If you want to charge your electric vehicle with domicilethere are several factors to consider. Your distance traveled per day и frequency of your recharges very important. Then you can use a wall outlet or charging station. If you choose the first option, your recharging will take a long time, and it will only last if you don't drive a lot. If you have a significant need for autonomy, you will have to choose a terminal. You may need to increase the capacity of your electricity subscription.

Concerning recharge condominium, you also have 2 options. The first is to give the right to accept the request. It will then be connected to the common parts rack and an invoice will be assigned to you. The second option is to install common charging stations. This allows all residents to switch to electricity whenever they want. 

Finally, when it comes to recharging in the workplace, you need to find a solution that is tailored to your needs. This can include the installation of one to several dozen terminals.

For all questions of recharging, you can contact our partners:

-Evbox

-Securecharge

-Charge guru

Maintenance and Best Practices 

The Interview

Less important service

The main element of an electric vehicle is battery. Him life expectancy is usually 7 to 10 yearswith. Its storage capacity is gradually decreasing. Therefore, it is preferable to carry out regular check (yearly). Moreover, if you want to buy or sell an electric vehicle, do certify the battery with our partner La Belle Batterie. They do a full diagnostic. It shows the degree of wear of the battery of the car in question. Other main items to check are steering, filtration system, suspension and shock absorbers. Tires and brake pads also watch. On the other hand, they are used much less frequently than on a diesel locomotive. To have an idea, the number of inspected parts on an electric vehicle is about 50 times less than on a "regular" vehicle. There are really only about twenty of them, compared to more than 1000 for a thermal imager. 

Reduced maintenance cost

What is the real cost of maintaining an electric vehicle? As stated earlier, the number of controlled parts is about 50 times less than for a thermal imager. Hence, this necessarily calls much lower maintenance cost... It is believed that in the maintenance of an electric vehicle there is Decrease in cost by 25-30% maintenance of the thermal imager. An electric car is often considered expensive. Hence, it must be qualified because its lower maintenance cost makes it much more profitable over time.

Cutting-edge techniques to consume less and spend less: eco-driving

To conclude this article, we give you a set of best practices that will allow you to waste and pollute even less. These are the best practices:

-Prepare your trip before departure (steps and recharges according to plan)

-Use ECO mode as soon as possible (in the city)

-Accept smooth ride

-reduce your speed

-Expect braking and other slowdowns

-Stop the engine for stops longer than 20 seconds

-Remove them unnecessary loads

-Adapt the ventilation technique to driving conditions (windows open in the city and air conditioning on the highway).

-Make regular maintenance a car.

If this article has taught you about using electric vehicles and you want to take the plunge, check out our suggestions.

Electric cars no longer hold secrets for you. 

Bonn route!