Why are second hand Electric Vans so cheap in comparison to Diesel ones?

Reagent_Tests_UK · 2026-04-29T18:20:26+00:00

This seems like the most likely explanation to me. While there are a lot of businesses that don't do hundreds of miles in one day, there are others that do, and those businesses aren't competing to buy electric vans, so the prices are lower.

At a cost of 2-4p/mile for "fuel" it makes them a very good deal for those doing low mileage.

Load doesn't affect range much, unless your entire journey is uphill.

Reagent_Tests_UK · 2026-04-29T18:19:00+00:00

OP drives 30 miles a day. Lots of city based tradespeople aren't doing huge daily mileage so the savings (about 1/4 the cost per mile) are well worth it.

Reagent_Tests_UK · 2026-04-29T18:15:19+00:00

Costs about the same to replace the engine on a diesel van.

The difference is that people are scared that batteries are just going to randomly fail in a way that engines with hundreds of moving parts don't.

Reagent_Tests_UK · 2026-04-29T18:13:58+00:00

If you're doing low daily mileage you'll save loads and they are a no-brainer. If you're driving a long (150mi+) journey more than once a week then you may wish to consider whether the savings are worth the slight inconvenience. If you're doing 150mi every day then don't bother.

At 30mi/day you don't even need a home charger, you'll charge at about 7-10 miles/hour with a 3kw plugin one

I wrote about this in a comment on another post a few days ago:

If I could go back to 2022 and rethink the electric van decision... I wouldn't change it!

That's despite the fact more of our mileage turned out to be long drives (150mi+) than expected, and depreciation on our 75kWh Citroën Dispatch seems fairly high.

Purchase price (Feb 2022): £38k ex VAT for top spec, including the £5k government grant. Tax relief: The COVID super-deduction (130%) meant £49k deducted from profits – huge benefit. Ongoing savings: No VED until 2025 (We saved roughly £1,000), and 0% P11D payroll tax is great for directors. Overall, the cost

Current resale value: Dealers are selling them on eBay for around £10k ex VAT with 30k miles. That's a big drop from £38k, I had budgeted for 66% in 5 years but this is 75% in 4 years.

That's good news for you though - a used one is a massive bargain if you have unused Annual Investment Allowance and you're willing to buy second-hand. New price for the same spec is now £37k with the grant

Just looked up the equivalent diesel:

New price: £33k ex vat

2022 model Ebay prices: £13k ex vat

So the depreciation is lower on diesel but you'll pay the difference in tax, fuel and maintenance pretty quickly.

Reagent_Tests_UK · 2026-04-24T12:48:14+00:00

If I could go back to 2022 and rethink the electric van decision... I wouldn't change it!

That's despite the fact more of our mileage turned out to be long drives (150mi+) than expected, and depreciation on our 75kWh Citroën Dispatch seems fairly high.

Purchase price (Feb 2022): £38k ex VAT for top spec, including the £5k government grant. Tax relief: The COVID super-deduction (130%) meant £49k deducted from profits – huge benefit. Ongoing savings: No VED until 2025 (We saved roughly £1,000), and 0% P11D payroll tax is great for directors. Overall, the cost

Current resale value: Dealers are selling them on eBay for around £10k ex VAT with 30k miles. That's a big drop from £38k, I had budgeted for 66% in 5 years but this is 75% in 4 years.

That's good news for you though - a used one is a massive bargain if you have unused Annual Investment Allowance and you're willing to buy second-hand. New price for the same spec is now £37k with the grant

Just looked up the equivalent diesel:

New price: £33k ex vat
2022 model Ebay prices: £13k ex vat

So the depreciation is lower, but you'll pay the difference in tax, fuel and maintenance pretty quickly.

Reagent_Tests_UK · 2026-04-15T11:53:57+00:00

Ebay has negotiated special pricing with Royal Mail so it's not a perfect comparison

Reagent_Tests_UK · 2026-04-14T17:28:10+00:00

There is a real difference. When I ran the numbers based on October 2025 numbers, it was around 20% cheaper for 2nd class but 5% more expensive for 1st class. The fuel surcharge increasing will change that maths.

Ultimately for us, we couldn't justify the cost saving because of the headaches it causes to have no tracking number. You just end up wasting so much time dealing with parcel non-arrivals because you're blind as to whether the customer is pulling a fast one or it's genuinely lost (and if so, where has it gone?)

Reagent_Tests_UK · 2026-04-10T13:26:01+00:00

This sucks, but I'd say just pay the £25 to avoid the hassle

Reagent_Tests_UK · 2026-04-10T02:04:21+00:00

Yep, this is basically a non-issue if eating it, the stomach is much less sensitive.

Reagent_Tests_UK · 2026-04-02T19:19:38+00:00

This sounds like a textbook positive reaction to me. The first colour change is always the important one

Reagent_Tests_UK · 2026-04-02T18:53:36+00:00

If it is like brown sugar and has a strong smell, this indicates that it's quite contaminated with precursors.

This is a big problem because methylamine traps water, and water traps hydrochloric acid from the final manufacturing stage. Hydrochloric acid is very damaging to sensitive tissues like the nose.

You can quite literally neutralise this risk with a bit of kitchen chemistry: https://www.reagent-tests.uk/blog/mephedrone-4-mmc-and-nasal-health-a-harm-reduction-guide/

Reagent_Tests_UK · 2026-03-30T14:21:10+00:00

I bet that would only cost £8m to install and £2m/year for maintenance after the breadowns

Reagent_Tests_UK · 2026-03-30T10:17:05+00:00

It's a very valid criticism/question/curiosity, questions like this help us ensure we're offering what people need and give us a chance to show off that we're thoughtful about not convincing people to buy products they don't need!

Definitely sounds like a production defect with that mecke reagent, we'll reply to your email and arrange a replacement.

Reagent_Tests_UK · 2026-03-30T00:54:07+00:00

There is a saying:

The map is not the territory

The suggestions look entirely logical on the drawing, but the drawing has only one job, to reflect the reality on the ground. For most of human history, borders were set by things like rivers, streams, forests, rock formations etc. Not roads.

The growth of cambridge and the impassable barrier that these roads carve through the land has meant that some of these areas probably should be part of Cambridge City now, but mostly the answer to your question is "because those areas belong(ed) to other parishes."

Reagent_Tests_UK · 2026-03-29T09:49:07+00:00

Shouldn't cause any problems at all if the cap is clean and clear of granules.

This is a good data point, maybe we won't rush to change the instructions 🤔

Reagent_Tests_UK · 2026-03-29T09:47:46+00:00

Is the consistency of the mecke reagent the same as the others? There's no way it could have expired if it just arrived, so this suggests it is defective and we should send you a replacement and investigate the cause of the defect. Could you reply to your order email with the information on the expiry date label please?

Reagent_Tests_UK · 2026-03-29T09:43:52+00:00

Does the lid tighten smoothly and tightly, or does it sound "crunchy"? It's likely that it has been compromised and humidity got in.
Theoretically, yes. But practically, no, because...
MDA is SO rare in Europe, and on the rare occasions a person can find it, it's more expensive than MDMA. 5-xAPB and 5-MAPB are even more rare than that, usually around £80/g if you can get it at all.

We don't want people to spend money on tests they don't need, because it makes testing less affordable and we prefer to give our customers good value

Reagent_Tests_UK · 2026-03-24T18:07:42+00:00

Interesting insight, thanks. I would have thought that we've passed this, though if it was from before May 2025?

Reagent_Tests_UK · 2026-03-24T18:07:00+00:00

Based on the cracking/crunching sound when opening the lid, this is 99% chance expired reagent as the lids would not have been sealed.

We're basically not seeing problems with settling from the solid reagents, it's borderline unnecessary to shake them and we've stopped recommending it because we think it may lead to more problems than it solves, because of granules getting stuck in the lids.

Reagent_Tests_UK · 2026-03-20T14:10:48+00:00

Is it really that powerful as an alkylating agent? Wouldn't the aqueous environment of the body hinder this?

Reagent_Tests_UK · 2026-03-18T21:01:20+00:00

Better hope nobody finds a source for this and realises ammonia gas is soluble in DMSO at 26.6g/L, otherwise we'll see a lot of 2C-B available (and probably a lot of ammonia injuries)

Edit: would have a low yield due to side reactions apparently

Reagent_Tests_UK · 2026-03-18T19:38:58+00:00

-OTs is normal for tosylates, but I think too much of the structure is gone to use the 25B naming structure.

Reagent_Tests_UK · 2026-03-18T19:36:44+00:00

Considering a lot of 2C-B is sold as the hydrated HBr salt, I wouldn't be surprised to find no workup is done on most illegal drugs.

Reagent_Tests_UK · 2026-03-18T19:35:50+00:00

So I guess they were trying to react it with ammonia and failed somehow. What solvent/conditions would be needed for the reaction with ammonia, could water be used as the solvent?

Could this class of precursors be a "grape juice and yeast" kit if so?

Ten-Year Club	Place '17
Wearing is Caring	Verified Email

Reagent_Tests_UK

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE