After announcing the A5 earlier this month as the replacement for the A4 starting the change Audi's use of model numbers as a way to show drivetrain options between EV and ICE vehicles, the new Audi A6 has moved from concept to reality. Experience the future of electric mobility with the Audi A6 e-tron—a perfect blend of luxury, performance, and cutting-edge technology. Whether you choose the elegant Sportback or the spacious Avant, the A6 e-tron promises to make every journey extraordinary.

Price Parity - the point where the costs involved in changing to an EV over a petrol or diesel car - could be as little as 2 years away. New Automotive, an independent transport research organisation, have released their latest report looking at cost of ownership for EV's. By analysing a sample of 7 EV's with a comparable petrol equivalent across  the most common funding options of buying the vehicle outright, using Personal Contract Purchase, and Leasing. The headline points from the report are: 

1. Costs upfront for an EV are roughly 12% more than a similar petrol vehicle.
2. In 30% of the options payback for this was within 1 year
3. Within 2 1/2 years or less, a further 25% hit the payback point.
4. For drivers taking any of the EV options, over 4 years, regardless of funding method savings could be between £3,000 and £7,000.

Amongst all the data compiled to generate these statistics, one of the key factors is that how a driver chooses to charge an EV can make a large impact on the overall savings. While using a 13A plug allows any EV to be charged at home, it prevents owners from accessing some of the lower rate EV charger rates offered. Some manufacturers going as far as no longer supplying this hardware as standard, for example BMW removed this from their EV range as standard equipment across their range this time last year, meaning a driver would have to purchase this separately increasing the initial outlay slightly. These 13A charging cables also increase charging time significantly, and are the least efficient potentially loosing 10%-30% of the energy being lost to heat. Public charging was calculated to be the most expensive way to recharge an EV for the average driver, and the report calls for the a reduction in VAT on the public charging network. The recent House of Lords Environment and Climate Change Committee Report highlighted this, and no clear outcome was reached and needs addressed to support the policies for Zero Emissions.

As part of looking ahead to helping incentivise consumers, one of the factors that could make the largest impact would be to supporting home charger installs, especially for used EV buyers. Many car brands have some form of offer for new car purchasers to receive some form of charging offer. However with used EV prices as low as £2,500 (at time of writing) for an early Nissan Leaf, supporting the 2nd or 3rd owner is just as important. Regardless of cost and brand of a used EV, home chargers and installs will not vary. With this being our core business at Lemac Power, we know that everything we do for an install is entirely independent of what vehicle you drive, and do everything we can to make sure that your install is the best possible value we can provide for this reason. We understand our part in the overall larger picture of helping customers find the benefits of EV driving, along with the savings that our customers can make.

Among all the other questions and factors with making a change to an EV from an ICE vehicle, one you might not consider is that EV's use specialised tyres to help you get the most of all it's benefits. What does this mean, and why is it important?

 A few basics on the way tyres work on your car. We all know that they are what keeps your car moving, and pointing in the correct direction. With weight and speed ratings, all round performance in any weather, noise profiles, efficiency, and tyre wear that all play a part in those black circles, they are more complex than they seem. The average contact patch for car tyres on a modern car is roughly the size of two sheets of A4 paper, holding all the forces your car generates to the road. 

Specifics for EV tyres

One of the reasons that EV's can be fantastic to drive is down to the electric motor produces instant torque from a standstill. This means it's possible to walk into a dealership, buy an EV in 2024 that can seat a family in comfort with every convenience you can think of, that can give an F1 a close run to 60mph. The energy that tyres need to contain to be able to manage this are staggering. Not every EV will post figures like that - but when a Volvo family SUV can outpace a Ferrari Enzo, the demands are there across the board for EV tyres. This all adds up to tyre makers needing to produce tyres with construction and compounds to be able to manage these loads. 

With the comparison to an F1 car carrying on, on the best wearing compounds, an F1 team would expect to get at most 200 miles from a set of tyres. As a road driver, we expect around 20,000 miles from a set of standard tyres. The compounds needed to help make sure that an EV can maximise grip in all seasons are another reason that it's important to make sure you are fitting the correct tyres to your new EV when needed. Grip and wear are a very fine line for tyres, a grippier compound may provide better driving feeling, but sacrifice the life of the tyre to do so, while having a harder compound means less traction, but a longer life.

Another defining feature of EV driving is the complete change in the sound of driving. While most electric cars will have some form of noise to give feedback that we are used to from ICE powered cars, their interiors are far more relaxed at any speed, with the wind noise whilst driving is likely to be the loudest sound outside of whatever is being played on the stereo. That means that the noise profile of the car's tyre becomes something that needs to be considered in making sure this experience continues. Excess noise from the tyres will be more obvious in an EV, and also can be a sign of inefficiency in the tread of the tyre.

This efficiency is another key part of EV tyre choice - you may not realise that something as simple as incorrect tyre pressures affects the overall range of every vehicle regardless of how it's powered, but to maximise battery range, having EV specific tyres that are correctly inflated is an important factor in the overall driving range per charge in your EV. For example when tested by tyre maker Michelin, having an EV specific tyre can extend the range of the car by almost 7% of the WLTP range of the battery.

Lastly - with the battery pack and weights of EV's being higher than an equivalent ICE vehicle, the tyres have to provide all of the above with a heavy load than other vehicles. This means that most EV's use XL rated tyres that are designed for heavier loads. So making sure any tyres you chose when it comes time to replace your current set, making sure the tyres match the demands of your EV driving experience is potentially more important than ever.