electric cars

[TitanTim]

I would imagine tax will undoubtedly creep up as the way of weaning people off fossil fuelled cars and make electric a more tempting proposition.

Tim.

[Ole gits rule]

IMHO, upping RFL is only going to penalise those not able to afford an electric vehicle, the major issue will be that before long when all the company car drivers are in electric vehicles, revenue is down so where will this get recovered from.

My guess is that the BIK will start to creep back up so the benefit is going to be disappearing in the next few years.

[rdm05z4]

I don't know about electric for me just yet hitting 64 this year so not many years driving left maybe 10 or so. In any case I think I would miss the lovely sound of our straight six or a big V8. If I was to just travel around town then maybe practical for me. But I like to take trips and just can't see right now stopping to charge all the time and waiting God knows how long to top off. Turn a 10 hr trip into 3 days for time to charge. Anyway I caught a show this past weekend were they put in a muffler (back box) in a Tesla 3 2021 model. The cool thing was you could program the engine sound with your ph or internal car screen. There was even a option to have the sound change when you hit the gas!! I can see that as a must if I bought a electric car.

[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

[firebobby]

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

[BeeEmm]

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).

[Pondrew]

It is capable of charging from 10 to 80 percent in 18 minutes

I presume all vehicle batteries are still Li-ion at present? If so, is fast charging to 80% or so in 20 minutes not going to cause battery problems sooner rather than later? How much does a replacement battery cost for an average EV?

[Nictrix]

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).

The interior looks like a lovely place to be

[Flyingfifer]

Everybody can. A massive majority of new cars are either leased or PCP (same thing in reality). You don't have to be rich to have expensive cars anymore. That's why every other car on the council estate is a Range Rover.
I have a £25k new car on the drive, costs me £115.00 plus VAT a month including road tax for three years, then just hand it back and get another one.

Electric car, though, no thanks.

Dude... no.
With a £3k deposit you would be paying £536.56 per month for the electric lunchbox mentioned here at its most basic model level, no options etc

The new M135i with a £3k deposit would be £433.20 per month
A basic bitch 3 series 320i MSport again same deposit is £413.43 per month.
And to tie it back to your council estate jibe an Evoke with a £3k deposit is £396.48 a month.

[buzyg]

I am yet to be told how, the current and earlier generations of electric cars are helping the planet. I heard recently they are now trawling the deep ocean floor for precious metals for battery production. So as someone who has little interest in superfluous technology and prefers ownership to renting. (I spent £1300 on my current daily shed three years ago. It ows my nothing, it's fun to drive, practical and cheap to both run/maintain. I will leave you to guess where I sit wrt current electric cars. (no pun intended there)

The elephant in the room that needs to be addressed long term, is too many folk on this small planet, not cars. Cars are simply one more first world sideshow/distraction. Right now, we are just pliable consumers in all of this. Wish I had some more constructive answers.

Your Sincerely T-Rex

[Argyll Andy]

.

Your Sincerely T-Rex

Is that because you’re a 20th Century Boy Buzy?

[Colin_E]

I read a review yesterday (on What Car website) of Toyota Mirai which uses hydrogen fuel cell technology. The review itself is pretty underwhelming. Weirdly they didn't even specify the range. But I could see this technology being the answer to some of the current issues with batteries & charge points providing hydrogen can offer a decent range from tanks that don't dominate the space. Maybe the ideal would be a hybrid battery / hydrogen combo with (say) a battery range of 100 miles & hydrogen kicking in thereafter?

[Flyingfifer]

It is capable of charging from 10 to 80 percent in 18 minutes (with the right charger).

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

Buzyg is 100% right, the lithium industry is a unbelievably dirty industry and it requires vast amounts of water and that requirement also often comes in places where thats a valuable commodity AND they end up polluting the water table devastating the local ecosystems
Clicky 1
Clicky 2
Clicky 3

[firebobby]

Who remembers when the buzz word was "Diesel" when buying new cars. Everyone was told to buy them, how great they were (still are) etc etc
Now they are the worst things to be seen in, if you believe what you read or are told.
The most polluting part of any vehicle is in the building of it, electric vehicles are far more polluting to make than a fossil burner.
So called 'green' vehicles, run on batteries, which need charging.
The mining and use of materials used to make these batteries are not pleasant on the environment.
Just how long will the batteries last ? what do they do with all these spent batteries, once they give up?

Only time will tell, but don't be surprised if you start to hear about battery mountains, polluting the world in a few years, and maybe... how bad electric vehicles really are

[BeeEmm]

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.