electric cars

[Flyingfifer]

Of which there are 14... in the whole of the UK. With 2 more being built currently... might struggle to storm the world once the energizer bunny runs out

Yes, the UK is once again much, much slower at preparing for 'tomorrow.' Other countries are not so slow, so the UK will catch up eventually.

There are only 600 stations in the USA... thats not that far ahead of us in terms of land mass.
As has been rightly pointed out Hydrogen is realistically the future here and throwing stacks of cash into the furnace to power these full EVs is like throwing out all your music and buying it on minidisk... remember those

[BeeEmm]

There are only 600 stations in the USA... thats not that far ahead of us in terms of land mass.
As has been rightly pointed out Hydrogen is realistically the future here and throwing stacks of cash into the furnace to power these full EVs is like throwing out all your music and buying it on minidisk... remember those

You can of course use normal chargers or charge at home. Hydrogen sounds great, I have been following progress over the past 5 years. It has been very slow. Electric cars do need competition to push them to better things. As for throwing out all my music, I use Tidal, at home, in the car, in the street. I haven't had CDs or LPs for years, or mini discs (whatever those are). Where have you been?

[Flyingfifer]

You can of course use normal chargers or charge at home. Hydrogen sounds great, I have been following progress over the past 5 years. It has been very slow. Electric cars do need competition to push them to better things. As for throwing out all my music, I use Tidal, at home, in the car, in the street. I haven't had CDs or LPs for years, or mini discs (whatever those are). Where have you been?

Of course you can but that wasn't your point, 18mins is a great sound bite but not that great when its not actually a reality.
Progress has been slow but its been slow due to a lack of investment.

I will give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you're being facetious rather than completely failing to grasp the minidisk analogy

[greggy50]

So I have an electric van. The savings I’ve made are immense. I bought it used so none of the new prices and tax. In town I’m not paying any congestion and often not paying parking as silly councils in their rush for green labels haven’t put parking charges on street chargers. Often charging from these are free as well. Comments about waiting hours or days to charge are just wrong. You charge and electric only to 80 percent which is always under 30 minutes. Mine takes 22 and after 80 percent it goes into trickle charge. 80 percent gives me around 140 miles. Over night at home I leave it on charge as my EV tariff only charges 5 pence per KW. I can fully charge over night for around 70 pence. There’s no servicing costs as there’s nothing to Service. I’ve had 24000 miles of quiet worry free motoring for less than a couple of tanks of regular fuel. Having said that I can’t compare against an electric car but when I turn off ECO button on my van and with my tools loaded I can wheel spin all the way to 30 mph

So no brakes or suspension components to service then, amazing vehicles

With regen you hardly ever use the brakes so they should last 3/4 times as long as on a ICE car.

[pvr]

Thought the government was already stopping the subsidy of the EV so the prices will go up rather than down?

I was told that the new Porsche Taycan would be best as a company vehicle as the purchase price was 100% deducatable from business profit and no personal charge for it, but I see that they are already changing that now as well. Don't want to step into something that will bite me later with the usual retrospective charges they do.

[greggy50]

In terms of the lifecycle of the car the breakeven point in Europe is circa 45k miles on an electric car vs ICE (on my Polestar at least)

https://www.polestar.com/uk/sustainabil ... nsparency/

This will improve as we get more solar/wind power etc.

[greggy50]

Thought the government was already stopping the subsidy of the EV so the prices will go up rather than down?

I was told that the new Porsche Taycan would be best as a company vehicle as the purchase price was 100% deducatable from business profit and no personal charge for it, but I see that they are already changing that now as well. Don't want to step into something that will bite me later with the usual retrospective charges they do.

BIK was 0% last year it is 1% this year and confirmed at 2% next year.

The time to buy is now if you want to offset it or run as a company vehicle as it won't be as generous in the future.

Porsche now sell more Taycans than 911s

[pvr]

Not very practical with a dog, but yes, my next non-toy car will be electric and run as a company vehicle if the rules are still like that.

I wished I had the need as the Taycan cost less than a Golf as a company car like this.

[Flyingfifer]

With regen you hardly ever use the brakes so they should last 3/4 times as long as on a ICE car.

This is true, F1 tech in the real world, love to see it!

But, the battery replacements cost upwards of £4k, batteries are either bought outright as part of the vehicle or you need to lease them which is an additional cost, also the actual servicing costs isn't massively different in reality. The range of the car also diminishes as it ages and the battery is cycled I believe its around 2 or 3% per year, which doesn't sound like much but the Kia would lose around 9 miles from every charge each year.
There is a reason that electric cars seem to lose vast value in depreciation as they age a 2016 Nissan Leaf with only 12k miles is worth 70% less today than it was new, that's about the same as the Z4 coupe in 10 less years

[BeeEmm]

I like the idea of 100% electric cars. I have some interest in the environment, but not as much as many others. My feeling at this stage is, are they any worse than the internal combustion engine? Range is a problem and charging is a problem. It is getting better so I ask myself, when do I buy? What am I looking for from 100% electric car?

I want similar things to my internal combustion engine (ICE) car. Comfortable interior, good acceleration and a quiet cabin. Yes, the sound of a V8 is lovely, a BMW straight six thumping away is great, but I don’t want it all the time. When driving slowly on the M25 or any road for that matter, my pleasure turns to music. Being able to hear my sounds clearly at any speed is heaven to me.

At the moment I have a BMW 545e, which is a plug in hybrid. It has a 3 lire straight six engine and an electric motor. I have had it for six weeks and not put any petrol in yet. I charge it overnight. It takes about 5 hours to charge from zero using a normal 13 amp plug, but I usually charge it to 100% from 40%. It only does 24 miles from a full charge, which you might think is ludicrous, but I use it to take my wife to work, return home, pick her up again then return home again. That is a normal working day. It is all done on electric. I have done two long journeys where I used the ICE. If I use the navigation map the car works out that I need electric power only for London, Birmingham or wherever else has a congestion charge, and saves enough electric to power the car through those zones. I am told that most people’s journey to work is less than 16 miles so you could use a plug in hybrid and charge it at work.

I will buy a 100% electric car, but I don’t yet know when.

[Pondrew]

I am told that most people’s journey to work is less than 16 miles so you could use a plug in hybrid and charge it at work.

I know someone who had a mutiny at his work because of exactly this.
One of his managers has a 330e as a company car. Pays virtually no tax on it and lives 12 miles from the office. He was using the electric to get to work each day and then charging it all day in the warehouse for free and using the electric to get home. They have to pay their own "fuel" to and from the office so he was getting it for free. There was nearly a walk out because of it. He was then stopped from charging it at work, so didn't have enough battery to get home, so now uses the ICE. Defeats the object really.

[BeeEmm]

I know someone who had a mutiny at his work because of exactly this.
One of his managers has a 330e as a company car. Pays virtually no tax on it and lives 12 miles from the office. He was using the electric to get to work each day and then charging it all day in the warehouse for free and using the electric to get home. They have to pay their own "fuel" to and from the office so he was getting it for free. There was nearly a walk out because of it. He was then stopped from charging it at work, so didn't have enough battery to get home, so now uses the ICE. Defeats the object really.

The world is full of chancers like him and I am sure he has found another solution. Positives and negatives.

[Woodrow]

So I have an electric van. The savings I’ve made are immense. I bought it used so none of the new prices and tax. In town I’m not paying any congestion and often not paying parking as silly councils in their rush for green labels haven’t put parking charges on street chargers. Often charging from these are free as well. Comments about waiting hours or days to charge are just wrong. You charge and electric only to 80 percent which is always under 30 minutes. Mine takes 22 and after 80 percent it goes into trickle charge. 80 percent gives me around 140 miles. Over night at home I leave it on charge as my EV tariff only charges 5 pence per KW. I can fully charge over night for around 70 pence. There’s no servicing costs as there’s nothing to Service. I’ve had 24000 miles of quiet worry free motoring for less than a couple of tanks of regular fuel. Having said that I can’t compare against an electric car but when I turn off ECO button on my van and with my tools loaded I can wheel spin all the way to 30 mph

So no brakes or suspension components to service then, amazing vehicles

So I have an electric van. The savings I’ve made are immense. I bought it used so none of the new prices and tax. In town I’m not paying any congestion and often not paying parking as silly councils in their rush for green labels haven’t put parking charges on street chargers. Often charging from these are free as well. Comments about waiting hours or days to charge are just wrong. You charge and electric only to 80 percent which is always under 30 minutes. Mine takes 22 and after 80 percent it goes into trickle charge. 80 percent gives me around 140 miles. Over night at home I leave it on charge as my EV tariff only charges 5 pence per KW. I can fully charge over night for around 70 pence. There’s no servicing costs as there’s nothing to Service. I’ve had 24000 miles of quiet worry free motoring for less than a couple of tanks of regular fuel. Having said that I can’t compare against an electric car but when I turn off ECO button on my van and with my tools loaded I can wheel spin all the way to 30 mph

So no brakes or suspension components to service then, amazing vehicles

There’s my point. Another bod who knows nothing about electric vehicles. I’m lucky if I touch my brakes as you’ve not heard of regenerative braking. And what do you service on a suspension. Educate me.

[Ole gits rule]

This Hyundai Ioniq 5 is taking the world by storm at the moment and has the same platform as the KIA EV6. It is capable of charging from 10 to 80 percent in 18 minutes (with the right charger).

That does look quite nice both interior and exterior - may tempt me depending on price

[Ole gits rule]

I am told that most people’s journey to work is less than 16 miles so you could use a plug in hybrid and charge it at work.

I know someone who had a mutiny at his work because of exactly this.
One of his managers has a 330e as a company car. Pays virtually no tax on it and lives 12 miles from the office. He was using the electric to get to work each day and then charging it all day in the warehouse for free and using the electric to get home. They have to pay their own "fuel" to and from the office so he was getting it for free. There was nearly a walk out because of it. He was then stopped from charging it at work, so didn't have enough battery to get home, so now uses the ICE. Defeats the object really.

My old boss bought a mere c350e and never plugged it in once, but he saved a load in BIK and the car was doing a third less than his A6 diesel estate - crazy situation.