All posts by Jason

Our Vision for Fuel Included

We want our customers to understand what we are about and where we are heading.

Our immediate goal is to transform how you find the right electric car for you. We want to make your experience more enjoyable, and ensure that we leave the world cleaner and greener than we find it. Our larger goals extend into the world of green energy, and, to help explain what we mean, I have recorded a short video message outlining our vision for this industry.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIvVajU82cI&list=PLEkXV5fvxEy9Tk54V9EBCru7_eh_XLjOg
Video Link

The full transcript is here:

“At Fuel Included we want to have an impact on climate change by changing the way people engage with cars and energy.
We use the internet to talk to our customers, and offer innovative ways for them to own green technologies.
Our goal is to make owning an electric car easy, fun and value for money. To do this, we sell electric cars with a unique offer; the cost of the fuel is included in the cost of the car giving fixed price motoring.
We are preparing to sell Solar Panels and Battery Storage solutions to give you energy security and independence.
Ultimately, our vision is to provide your car, your energy systems and your energy for both home and travel as a single package that saves you money and reduces your carbon footprint.
So please join us at Fuel Included and become part of the green energy revolution.”

Government Financial Incentives for Electric Cars

Here is the third eBook in our series, and gives a clear overview of the grant and tax benefits of an electric car:

  • Dealer discount at the point of purchase
  • Road tax savings
  • Charge point installation grants
  • Income tax benefits

If you are considering an electric car and you want to understand the various grants and tax incentives that the government offer to encourage electric cars, then this is the guide for you.

Electric Car Benefits - Government Financial Incentives

Click on the image, enter your details, and download your free guide.

Previous titles were:

If it leaves any questions unanswered, just get in touch (contact details here and in the eBook).

Jason Tisdall
FuelIncluded.com

First try of an electric mini

We are lucky today to get the loan of the new plug-in electric hybrid Mini Countryman for the weekend from our friends at BMW. Jo, our sales and business administrator, drew the long straw and will  get to enjoy the new car until Monday.

It shows an electric range of up to 22 miles (25 if you drive really gently), so the average driver won’t need to switch on the 1.5l engine.

Looking forward to lots of fun with an iconic car.

POD Point Installation Guide – Mohamed Aly Makes My Day

What Happened after the application?

I wrote last week of what is required to fill out the on-line application for the POD Point charge point. Once I had applied things moved pretty quickly.

Attaching the POD

The following day I got an email outlining the name and time of an installation appointment a week later. They also sent me a link to click should I need to reschedule. Two days before the install, I got a further email confirming I was still available and confirming that the engineer would arrive between 1pm and 3pm.

Come the day, a minor glitch. 3pm came and went and no engineer. I followed up with an email at 3.40pm, and 10 minutes later got a call from the engineer saying when he would arrive. So at 4.15, the installation began.

My installer turned out to be Mohamed Aly and was very knowledgeable and enthusiastic. He had the whole job done and dusted in an hour and a quarter.

First he laid the cable and drilled through to the desired mounting point for the POD, and then attached the POD.

Lay the cable and drill through

At the other end, he now connected to the mains. You can see my Photo-Voltaic Solar Array converter to the right. Mohammed commented that he used to install Photo-Voltaic systems, and that the SMA inverter I have was the most reliable he ever came across.

Connect to the mains

The final step was commissioning the system and connecting it to my WiFi router. A neat process in which he connected his tablet wifi to the POD, then selected the router from the list and ‘handed’ it over to the POD.

Connect to WiFi

The finished POD. We did test it, and it all worked as expected. Many thanks to POD Point and to Mohamed.

Job Done

 

Untethered and Tethered Charge Points (Image: POD Point)

POD Point Installation Guide – Applying for the charge point

I Have my New Car Ordered – Now I Need a Charge Point

Untethered and Tethered Charge Points (Image: POD Point)
Untethered and Tethered Charge Points (Image: POD Point)

With my new Leaf, I get a new, FREE, POD Point charge point.
Thanks to a Nissan discount of £264 and the government OLEV scheme discount of £500, there is no charge for me at all for the entry level unit, although there are a couple of upgrade options you can choose.

Here is a quick guide to what to expect when you are ready to get your system installed. This blog covers the on-line application, with a separate blog that covers the installation.

Ordering my New Charge Point

The process starts with an email from POD Point to start the application. It was pretty straightforward and the pictures below step through the choices offered. The three choices I made of most significance to me were the following:
1) Upgrade to a 7kW charger. This cost £95. This seemed good value and future proofs me for longer range cars in the future.
2) Upgrade to a key so that I can lock the charger if necessary. This cost £30. I am not sure if electric thieving is likely.
3) I chose to have an un-tethered system with a type 2 socket so that it could work with any car. This was no charge. POD-Point tell me there is no difference in charge between a tethered and un-tethered system.

1 – The initial email from POD Point

2 – website starting point

3 – charge power choice

4 – tethered/untethered choice

5 – extras: key, cable, freestand

6 – Order summary showing total price less the nissan discount

7 – A statement that I have bought/leased a new car and have suitable off-street parking for a chargepoint to qualify for the OLEV grant

8 – 2nd Order summary including the OLEV grant

9 – payment for my extras

10 – payment summary

11 – address for installation

12 – installation specific questions

13 – statement of whether I do or don’t want the OLEV grant

14 – formal grant application. This needed a form downloaded, filled in and uploaded. Not particularly difficult and definitely worth it to save £500.

15 – MPAN number needed from my electricity bill.

16 – the thank you

Five ways that autonomous electric cars will change your life

Here are five ways that autonomous cars will change our lives for ever – and much sooner than we think. Is this progress or decadence (or just sheer nonsense)? You decide:

image: comingtozero

Mobile homes. With real estate becoming ever more expensive, there is a case for owning a permanently-mobile home. With the low per-mile cost of electric driving, balanced against the sky-high price of real-estate, a fully autonomous electric home can take its owner to a quiet location at night, or even just drive at low speeds throughout the night, and still be a fraction of the cost of a land based home. Pre-set destinations and recharge automation will mean the vehicle can recharge as required, and arrive at the residents needed location at just the right time the following morning.

image: solar alley

Cash generating asset. If the budget runs low, then simply connect your vehicle to the grid at a fixed location for a few days and let the battery earn you some revenue as part of a grid-balancing aggregation program.

image: vetse news

Party heaven. For those of us that enjoy a drink, there is no longer a need for a designated driver. The car will always be sober and safe. However, what does this mean for public health? Is alcohol going to become a greater problem for more people without the ‘excuse’ of driving to have a night off?

The weekend starts here. After a Friday night-out with work friends, you can sleep it off as your car heads off overnight to your weekend destination.

The car is THE venue. Whether for business meetings or small social gatherings, the interior of an autonomous car no longer needs to be designed for the purpose of driving and so can become a location in its own right with more comfort and leg room and inward facing seats. With the expected safety improvements of autonomy, seat belts will no longer be a necessity. Imagine a lunch meeting with friends where the food is pre-ordered and picked up by the car before it collects your group. The car gives a tour of London’s most picturesque sites while you eat and relax.

 

For more information on autonomous driving,  visit our searchable news blog here or check out a couple of specific articles: MIT have ideas on technology for autonomy and people are talking about the effect on people.

A Total Cost of Ownership Comparison of ZOE Vs CLIO

At Fuel Included, we have run our Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) Calculator on a real-life example to help show the way the costs break down, and the considerable savings that can be made.

Today we have gone head to head with an all Electric Renault ZOE Dynamique 40 kWh, and a Petrol engined Renault CLIO Dynamique Nav TCe 90.

Renault ZOE and Renault CLIO

We have taken a commuter travelling into central Milton Keynes each day and parking as our representative driver. These tables show the total monthly cost* by summing all costs for the three year period of the lease and dividing them by 36.

Total Cost of Ownership

Electric ZOE Vs Petrol CLIO cost comparison for 20,000 miles per year
Electric ZOE Vs Petrol CLIO cost comparison for 15,000 miles per year
Electric ZOE Vs Petrol CLIO cost comparison for 10,000 miles per year

Conclusions

Even at the lower ranges of driving there are significant cost savings to be made. However, we see that as the mileage increases, the money to be saved is simply staggering.

Please contact us if you would like us to assess the cost of ownership of an electric car for your use case.

*Assumptions made for these calculations:

  • Petrol price from Sainsbury’s Bedford £1.21 per litre.
  • Electric charging is home charging plus 10 charges per year at £6 per charge from the Ecotricity rapid charge network.
  • CLIO mpg 52 from https://www.honestjohn.co.uk/realmpg/renault/clio-iv-2013
  • Both cars taken on 3 year PCP. Clio prices from http://offers.renault.co.uk/cars/clio/selection?offer=305 and ZOE prices from our current Fuel Included offer.
  • ZOE miles/kWh 4.5 from manufacturers real-world mileage figure divided by battery capacity.
  • Home charging Economy-7 unit cost 7.5p
  • Tax: Clio 1.2L 118 g/km CO2 = £160 in year 1 and £140 per year subsequently.
  • Parking costs based on person parking 200 working days per year in Milton Keynes town centre
Copyright: convisum / 123RF Stock Photo

Total Cost of Ownership – Price Comparison of Electric Vs Petrol Cars

We are asked all the time to help people make sense of the Price to Value balance between Electric and petrol cars. The way the two types of cars work is quite different so it is not always straightforward.

To help, Fuel Included have today launched their Total Cost of Ownership calculator and information service to help you look at the actual costs associated with owning an electric car and comparing it to the actual costs associated with a petrol or diesel car.

This is available for both private and fleet enquirers

Copyright: convisum / 123RF Stock Photo

Our Total Cost of Ownership Calculator takes many factors into account, including the following:

  • Lease costs
  • Deposits
  • Comparison with petrol alternatives
  • Benefits (savings) of electric cars where you live i.e. congestion charge, parking
  • Different forms of charging (home vs public and rapid vs standard)

We know that cost is only part of the story, but now you can at least answer the cost part simply and clearly.

We provide access to a simple form on-line, that will provide a straightforward Total Cost of Ownership Report to help you make the right decision.

If you want a more detailed assessment, we will work directly with you to refine your circumstances.

 

The new Acenta+ will come with a 6.6kW on-board charger as standard (Image: Nissan)

Fantastic May Prices on Used Nissan Leafs


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