Your Definitive Guide to Leasing an Electric Car in Manchester

Leasing an Electric Car in Manchester-Your Definitive Guide

For our local Manchester personal and business leasing customers, they can be assured that there are a number of automotive businesses like ours who can assist you with the Electric Vehicle (EV) journey. Around 2020, with the onset of the Tesla Model 3, the car industry incurred some noticeable changes, namely the huge increase in supply and demand for pure electric solutions.

The historic nervousness and trepidation about this fuel type quickly dissipated, with an increase in vehicle choice, charging infrastructure and tax / grant incentives making this a logical choice. But even at 2023, there are still many consumers, small businesses and fleets left wondering if lithium-ion batteries really are our automotive future and what they need to understand in order to make a safe and secure transition toward zero-emission driving. Since 2015, the e-car lease team have been addressing just that and as at 2023, our electric car lease website is simply the best EV procurement resource in the UK; without exception.

For Manchester-based customers, you are welcome to visit our bespoke charging and EV centre in Leigh (Greater Manchester). However, much of the information you MUST know before moving ahead with your new EV lease is all contained and set out on our website.

To answer one of the early questions, almost every customer (mileage, budget and location dependent) is able to make an all-electric decision so long as they properly educate themselves before doing so. A critique of UK consumerism - we pursue the cheapest price with reckless abandonment without ever really considering the information and detail being offered to us.

An EV is not just a combustion option without an engine; there are lifestyle and practical investments you need to make. While they are often more cost effective than combustion equivalents, none more so for business and company car drivers, the cost-savings need to be balanced against these undertakings. In effect you substitute financial and ethical reward for some additional time obligations.

But how does the e-car lease website solve this?

After 1500+ electric car deliveries in the last 7 years, we truly know what challenges customers face and how the various manufacturers present their product. To be clear, EVs are not equal and there are huge discrepancies in terms of range, charging times, battery configurations and customer experience. With our website all of this is amply detailed with our “Living with your  …” tools along with our bespoke EV synopsis (see - the EV EPC©).

The “range” is always presented in a detailed manner, with warm and cold weather driving plus motorway and city style driving also set out. It’s ridiculous to present just one “range” based on WLTP as this is incredibly inaccurate and misleading; any broker or dealership using that as their metric is effectively misleading a customer (innocently or otherwise).

The battery size and faculties are also made clear to customers, with this detail providing a key understanding of charging cost (the bigger the capacity, the bigger the electric bill) along with the AC and DC charging abilities. For a comprehensive overview on the battery, use our “battery and charging” tab to understand the connector types, battery size and charging speeds - the “mph” means the amount of miles added to your EV for every hour of charging on your maximum charging rate. And for the exact times, use the “charge times” and “charging specs” to see exactly how long it takes to charge your new car.

And the website doesn’t stop there, with company car / business leasing customers being offered a company car tax calculator, integration with Zap Map for finding the best charging solutions on the UK roads, maintenance packages (for taking care of all services, maintenance and tyres on the new EV), charge point solutions at home (via RightCharge) or at work (via Raw Charging) plus a motor insurance and fleet policy solution (via Churchill). When we tell customers we have thought of everything, we really mean it.

And to explain this very simply to PCH, BCH and Salary Sacrifice customers in Manchester, we are going to be offering (for free) an EPC on each and every BEV we supply to ensure that this product is entirely suitable for their needs and requirements.

How to know if an electric vehicle is suitable for me?

But the need to go into electric isn’t always just about the car and your lifestyle; there are some big changes upcoming in the UK which will essentially enforce you or your business to consider cleaner and greener automotive solutions. One of the big changes for “Manchester” customers is the new Clean Air Zones (CAZ) which have been put in place by the UK Government.

A CAZ is an area where targeted action is being taken to improve air quality by limiting the most polluting vehicles from entering this zone. The three main outcomes are to 1) Reduce the number of journeys; 2) Shift journeys to public transport, cycling and walking; and 3) Improve the emissions on the vehicles entering and operating within these zones. While the Local Authority is responsible for creating their plan, these must be presented to the Government for authority and sign off before being implemented.

When are the CAZ being released?

To be clear, this is not some suggestion or threat; there are a number of  CAZ  in operation across the UK - Bath, Birmingham, Bradford, Bristol, Portsmouth, Sheffield and Tyneside are already live.

To discover the significance on your vehicle, simply insert your details into the checker and allow the website to do the rest. Or, for fleet operators, head to the  BVRLA tools  on the CAZ which provides a great level of detail and advice on how this impacts you and the business. And don’t forget to use their interactive Google Map for understanding where, when and how this impacts you:

With a CAZ there are classes of rules which the Local Authority can put in place and this essentially dictates what TYPE of vehicles are impacted - Class A includes Buses, Coaches, Taxis and Private Hire Vehicles, Class B adds Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGV), Class C includes Light Goods Vehicles (PCVs) and Class D includes car vehicles.

For any customer driving around these CAZ, this means that only a Class D area will impact you and your vehicle. But this doesn’t mean you need to go electric at this juncture, with the current standards only requiring a petrol car to meet Euro 4 requirements and a diesel car to meet Euro 6 standards.

But some areas have already implemented a “Class D” area, so do be careful as Birmingham and Bristol have moved to this approach plus London and Edinburgh using low emission and ultra-low emission zones. For most cities, the CAZ are operating 24 hours and 365 days a year, so compliance is key to avoid the fines which will be levied on you. But with electric on the agenda, it may well be that more restrictive measures are put in place.

But what “Manchester” areas are impacted by the upcoming changes?

As set out below, residents from the below will have to make necessary preparations including:

•  Bolton
• Bury
• Oldham
•  Rochdale
•  Stockport
•  Tameside
•  Trafford
•  Wigan
•  Cities of Manchester and Salford

As at January 2023, the Greater Manchester Clean Air Plan is looking to replace the Clean Air Zone (Class C) which failed to launch in May 2022. Because of the supply chain issues in the automotive sector, rising vehicle prices and cost of living crisis, the original plan was put on hold. The current “investment-led” plan is being considered on the basis set out below:

Greater Manchester leaders do not believe a charging Clean Air Zone is necessary. However, government has asked GM to provide modelling to understand how GM’s case for an investment-led, non-charging Clean Air Plan performs (in terms of delivering compliance with legal nitrogen dioxide levels) against the ‘benchmark’ of a charging Clean Air Zone to address the nitrogen dioxide exceedances identified in central Manchester and Salford. 

With this being an evolving plan, personal and business customers are still in limbo as to how this will all affect them. But if you are looking to transition to electric cars, or vans, before this is confirmed, just speak to our expert team.

In terms of the car shown, the Porsche Taycan Saloon 500KW Turbo 93kwh 4 door Auto [22KW] [5 Seat] Pure Electric Vehicle, this is based on the following configuration: 

• Porsche special metallic paint - Crayon
• Carbon interior package - Taycan
•  Leather free - Black
• 21" RS Spyder design alloy wheels
•  Factory Options Dealer Fit Option
• Adaptive cruise control Ceramic Coating
• Homelink (programmable garage door opener)
•  Lane change assistant with blind spot monitoring
•  Park assist including surround view
•  Porsche electric sport sound
•  Electrically folding exterior mirrors
•  Fixed panoramic roof
•  High gloss black side window trims
•  Illuminated door sill guards in matt carbon
•  Model designation painted in high gloss black
•  PORSCHE logo LED door courtesy lights
•  Privacy glass
•  Windscreen with grey top tint
•  Ambient lighting
•  Passenger display
•  Rear axle steering including power steering plus
•  trim B pillars race tex
• High gloss black exterior pack – Taycan
•  Side airbags in rear compartment
•  Comfort access system
•  150 kW On board booster
•  Wheel centres with full colour Porsche crest
•  Steering wheel trim carbon matt/steering wheel

Should Manchester leasing customers consider a Taycan This option uses a 83.7 kWh usable battery which will deliver 500 kW (or 671hp), 0 - 62 times of 3.2 seconds and top speeds of 162 mph. Combined real ranges are at 215 miles in cold weather and 290 miles in warmer weather (on a full charge).

In terms of charging times / capabilities - the standard  11 kW AC max allows a 0 - 100% session in around 9 hours with the 268 kW DC rapid charge enabling 17 minutes 10 - 80% times. There is a 366L cargo volume available with this hatchback. Browse our latest Taycan lease deals