[Beki]

I’m always so amazed at the impact our Community has. We have solved queries, raised queries, amended processes off customer feedback and best of all, we have had some awesome conversations about energy this month and healthy debates too. The top 4 on the leader board this month are @theunknowntech & @meldrewreborn with @Landmark and @Tracy in 3rd and 4th place! I also wanted to share a little overview of the most popular areas on our Community:Most viewed thread - Introduce yourselfMost popular forum - Help & SupportCan you guess what our top search is on the forum? Answers below!

Whilst we are chatting about how awesome our members are, have you all seen the blog written by our very own @Andy65? If not, you can check it out here. @Andy65 shared some thoughts and changes he has made personally, to reduce his energy. We are so proud to have you as a member on our Community, Andy65 - absolutely well done and so many thanks from the Community Team! We had 1564 new users sign up and 1923 new posts created - 673 of those had their questions answered! You generous lot gave out 363 thumbs up and the most liked thread was last month's Highlights!



You’re reading the E.ON Next Community highlights for April, a space for us to recap on the month we have, shout about those of you who are making a difference and also look forward to events that are happening in the future. I’m Beki, Community Manager, team leader and an environmentalist and climate change activist. We have a small team here in our Community and you can Meet the Team here. Trust me when I say that they are an awesome bunch of humans and always ready for a chat!

As the Community grows we need you to continue giving us constructive feedback and reaching out to us when you feel something isn’t quite right. Take the recent posts surrounding our bereavement process - we know, it was really pants and I understand that members here had to go through that process, as well as the many customers previously. The Community Team and I apologise for your experience, and for the stress and upset that it must have caused at such a difficult time. With your engagement and concerns, we were actively able to take a hard look at the outdated process and drive that change throughout E.ON Next! This Community made that possible and for that relationship and trust, I am thankful to our members for reaching out.

This community is not only about being a space for members to connect and give feedback to us, it is here as a discussion space and we have some great chats about anything and everything! One such discussion asked whether you air dry your clothes, which has sparked conversation about saving energy and why you may be shy to put your washing out on the line! @Landmark 😉)
37.5% always air dry their clothes
25% air dry most of the time
25% rarely air dry their clothes
And 12.5%never air dry their clothes.

The biggest factor that swayed that poll was whether our members had outside space or not. I suppose the counter argument to that is, you can air dry inside too. This is what I do at home but it becomes very cramped very quickly, with 3 kids and a collie running around! His name is Rocket and he is the dumbest Collie that ever lived. He is also scared of the chickens... 🤷‍♀️


@meldrewreborn had some great examples of what you can do to improve drying inside though, you can read about them and add your vote here. [/COLOR]I have been reading a lot of articles about oil and gas prices (it is everywhere at the moment!) and I have noticed how significantly my fuel costs have gone up! Take this quote for example from Tom Stacey, a senior lecturer in operations and supply chain management at Anglia Ruskin University:

"Driving an EV (electric vehicle) 100 miles will, on average, cost around £4 to £6, compared with £13 to £16 in a petrol or diesel car."

Even with energy prices being driven up, that is a considerable saving! Have you got an electric vehicle and would you like to share your experience with me? You can pop me a private message and I'll get
back to you asap.



One policy I have been reading about and that I am 100% backing if it was introduced, would slash how much oil we burn and that is shortening the work week by a single day. Countries such as Germany, Denmark, Norway and the Netherlands do this successfully, so why couldn’t the UK? We just enjoyed the early May bank holiday weekend, in which many workplaces remained closed on Monday. Dénes Csala, a lecturer in energy storage systems dynamics at Lancaster University, calculates that every bank holiday saves more than 100,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions. It comes down to fewer work days, which means fewer car journeys, less heating and air conditioning in offices, and less energy demand in general. If long weekends became a permanent fixture, and Britain switched to a four-day week, the carbon savings could be enormous.

I may not be able to change the work week, however we have had a few changes on the Community platform itself. You may have seen that there are a few more profile questions to answer and that verified answers have changed to ‘best answers’. Little changes across the forum will be happening this month too, but I won’t say too much about them so keep your eyes peeled for those. 👀

See you in the Community,
Beki
E.ON Next Community Manager
Everything & everyone powered by sustainable energy. 🌍

[Andy65]

I've seen a few comparisons about running costs between electric and petrol/diesel cars, but they don't compare like for like in my opinion. Remove the fuel duty and reduce the VAT to 5%, then I think 100 miles in my diesel would cost me £8.04 maximum, £5.74 cruising at 60-70 mph. An electric car eats through the battery as the speed increases so I would doubt that an EV is cheaper at 60 to 70 mph when the costs are compared on a like for like basis.

[Brain]

@Beki_EONNext

It would be ok if we could all afford an electric car, with rising energy, food, and general living costs kit will be a long time before I can switch over.

A second hand electric car is not as up to date technically as a new one and the batteries are very expensive to replace, think I may have to go back to the Fred Flintstone model to reduce

my costs.

[meldrewreborn]

On the EDF site it says that charging at 24p per kWh will cost £6- £7 and drive you 100 mile. It also says the average UK fuel price is £1.34 a litre and electricity is 17.2 p per kWh.

Problem (1) is what is the price of electricity? perhaps nearer £0.30 per kWh if you're at home on price capped tariff, or perhaps 18 p if you're on economy 7 and charge at night. And what is the price of road fuels?

Problem (2) how much will an electric vehicle cost compared to a hybrid or standard vehicle of the same specification? The government doesn't subsidise these vehicle on first sale anymore, so you could be looking at anything up to £12,000 extra as a purchase cost.

Problem (3) can you recharge at home? Like in the drying clothes discussion, options if you live in a flat are quite limited.

Over time if assumptions hold, there may not be much either way over 5+ years of ownership. But assumptions of fuel future prices are a fools errand at the moment. And while EV don't pay the London Congestion charge at the moment (hybrids used to be exempt too but Khan needed the money) we've seen before that these concessions can be withdrawn at a moments notice.

I think I'll stick to my pre 2017 hybrid - a real 55 MPG and no road tax.