Even the most hardened petrol and diesel fans can’t have failed to notice that electric cars are literally on a charge.

Once considered to be a pipe dream and with many manufacturers’ past efforts being little more than show cars, electric cars have come on leaps and bounds in an incredibly short period of time. So much so, that it’s now possible to own a practical electric car that has an acceptable range and turn of speed for the price of a conventionally-fuelled hatchback.

Advances in technology
Only a couple of years ago there were under 4,000 plug-in vehicles on the road and that figure has now risen to in the region of 40,000. The immense growth in the Electric Vehicle (EV) sector can be attributed to the advances in technology, an increasing amount of vehicles available and also the extension of the charging network across the country.

If you’re considering an electric car though, they’re not suitable for everyone. Ideally, you need to be covering at the most 100 miles a day with a route that you know well and also have access to off-street parking where you can charge the car overnight. If you can meet these criteria and are happy with the cost of a new vehicle due to production EVs being relatively new, then there’s plenty of models to choose from and, better still, the Government will even contribute towards the cost of selected EVs with its Plug-in Car Grant.

Offset the purchase cost
Obviously, you can offset the purchase cost against what you’ll save on fuel and, if you’re really ‘green’ with solar panels providing a level of electricity to your home, then you can charge your EV literally free. In the future, it’s likely that electric cars will also be seen as a place to store electricity for other uses – potentially earning money for owners – but that’s a good few years away.

If you’re wondering what EV to choose, then one car that’s becoming increasingly popular and which offers a great entry into electric vehicle ownership is the Renault ZOE.

Awarded the titles of What Car? 2015 ‘Best Electric Car for less than £20,000’ and ‘Best Electric Vehicle’ in the Auto Express Driver Power 2015 survey, the Renault ZOE offers five-door versatility and a decent specification for as little as £13,445 after the Government Plug-in Car Grant. The official NEDC range is 149 miles and Renault estimates that in real-world driving conditions that this equates to around 106 miles in summer and 71 miles in winter

Plug into the future of motoring
Like a lot of EVs, owning and driving the ZOE is remarkably easy. With instant torque it’s great around town and it’s more than comfortable on the motorway too. The only thing you’re guaranteed to find a little strange at first is the noise – or rather the lack of it.

Like purchasing a ‘normal’ car, buying an EV does require plenty of research, but if you do opt for an electric car then you can be safe in the knowledge that you’ve plugged-into the future of motoring in every sense.