[Technology] If you could afford it would your next car be an EV?

[chickens]

Big chip on your shoulder

Honestly I’m fine, I’m just not getting this idea that people love listening to car exhausts.

I’ve never noticed the enthusiasts gathered round Kwik Fit, swapping tapes, etc.

Although I’ve heard a rumour that if you drive a Mk II Cortina round a Sainsbury’s car park at exactly 20mph for 2 hours, then start playing the recording back as the lion roars at the start of the film, the exhaust note fits perfectly to “The Wizard of Oz”

 

[Bozza]

And that’s the thing. All the time you need off street parking to make it viable it’ll be a middle class conceit, like getting to pick a diet or buying a new build eco home. The sooner we can make this all affordable and convenient the better for the planet.

Yep.

The other problem with being unable to charge directly from your home is that public chargers are considerably more expensive than domestic electricity, particularly the very low overnight EV tariffs.

And it's not like motorway service stations being 15-20p more expensive for a litre of fuel, it's multiple times the price. I've just found the chargers on my mum's road on an EV-charger finding app, and they're 53p/kWh. The EV rates for home charging are 7p/kWh.

 

[zefarelly]

It has to be said, @nicko31, your approach here does seem to be a little, er, inconsistent.

Niko31 knows f*** all about I engines. . . . Or electric motors

nothings exactly quantifiable as there are infinite variables.

A 60 year old 2 stroke scooter is beter than a new EV IMO.

 

[BrightonCottager]

My office is in Bristol and I travel all over the country for work too so a pure EV is likely not a great solution for me. I am keen on some of the hybrids though - the Skoda Superb Estate Hybrid (whilst unfortunately being a Skoda) looks very comcompelling

Ooh hellooo.
I've Skoda Fabia Estate and love it (except for the crap DAB radio) & thinking of getting another newer one. I didn't know there's a Superb Estate hybrid. Will look at this.

 

[Bozza]

Pays your money make your choice. You are a convert, I’m not. No right or wrong imo. Enjoy your EV, you will be buying one.

Was it you who removed the option to view who voted what?

Seems a strange take.

I'm saying that I find it slightly strange that someone without an EV has close tabs on charger availability as, on my one long-distance EV journey there seemed to be loads of options.

I fully conceded that in tightly-packed urban residential areas, where there aren't driveways and there's no guarantee of being able to park directly outside your home, there are two issues: availability of public chargers and the cost of the electricity.

No - I don't go around changing poll options for no reason. I shall look at the mod log, find out who did and ask them why. I fully suspect it was done in error, and it doesn't make much sense to change it. Assuming that, I'll turn the voting visibility back on. That may not be until tomorrow, depending on when I get a response.

 

[Fungus]

How old are u? I guess you drill holes in your exhaust to make vroom vroom sounds?

I put playing cards in the spokes of my EV. Same effect.

 

[chickens]

Yeah, not sure you've quite nailed this mind-reading thing yet. I'm also not interested in someone revving their engine for no reason, but I like the sound of some cars as they drive. I like racing cars and watching cars race, which I'm guessing isn't your thing.

I dip in and out of F1 and MotoGP. F1 has actually been interesting recently, rather than a Verstappen formality. I’ve never, even for a second, cared about the sound the cars made however. It’s the speed and bravery of the drivers that make racing interesting, the noise is just an annoying side effect of using combustion engines.

 

[Blues Guitarist]

Me and the Mrs have one each. She has a Renault Zoe which is mainly used for local trips. I have a Renault Scenic which does 600 km on a charge when driven carefully. Most of the electricity here in Austria in hydro, so no worries about using electricity generated by fossil fuel. Both are fantastic, but I guess that current ICE cars are also fantastic.

 

[Triggaaar]

I dip in and out of F1 and MotoGP. F1 has actually been interesting recently, rather than a Verstappen formality. I’ve never, even for a second, cared about the sound the cars made however. It’s the speed and bravery of the drivers that make racing interesting, the noise is just an annoying side effect of using combustion engines.

I guess you think it's strange that the TV broadcasters choose to put mics around the circuits to record the annoying sound effects of the engines.

 

[nicko31]

,

Wrong! Air cooled Porsche, VW and Citroen 2CV are not water cooled

You missed out the iconic Fiat 500!!

 

[zefarelly]

Wrong! Air cooled Porsche, VW and Citroen 2CV are not water cooled

And TR6 . .

although some of them had water in when they were built

Your husband is the boss isn’t he, do you also have a desire for an electric Lambretta?

No . . . we're a team. She's No1, sometimes I'm allowed to wear the captains arm band

And maybe . . . TBH . . . When I can drop a 125 cc slug and bolt in an electric for nipping round town, at a comparable price, to an engine rebuild I will. . . I won't ruin a classic to do it. . . . . And the impact environmentally is probably worse than using a 2 stroke for 1000 miles a year For the rest of my tenure.

It will need a noise and smell generator . . .

 

[nicko31]

Niko31 knows f*** all about I engines. . . . Or electric motors

nothings exactly quantifiable as there are infinite variables.

A 60 year old 2 stroke scooter is beter than a new EV IMO.

I’m not an expert but I do know that electric motors don’t need radiators full of coolant to stop them from overheating.

 

[zefarelly]

,

You missed out the iconic Fiat 500!!

And the triumph stag

 

[zefarelly]

I’m not an expert but I do know that electric motors don’t need radiators full of coolant to stop them from overheating.

Since when has water been a problem?

or air ( see other posts )

a lot of electric motors are cooled . . .not by air. . . but by some form of magic juice . . . . I wonder if thats green. . . Simple . . . Efficient . . .reliable . . . .

 

[nicko31]

And the triumph stag

That was a water cooled engine and possibly one of the most unreliable iCEs ever built.

 

[Nitram]

Do you have a fuel station outside your house?

More or less it’s 100 yards away, just pop in and out in a few minutes, if I had to find a charging point I would have to drive in the hope of finding one nearby and hope someone else was not using it. I would then be hanging around for ages waiting it to charge and paying a fortune compared with overnight home charging. So until it becomes more practical for someone in my situation l’m out.

 

[chickens]

I guess you think it's strange that the TV broadcasters choose to put mics around the circuits to record the annoying sound effects of the engines.

I find the way they mic it up on TV actually works really well for me, I don’t notice it at all. In person at the track is very different however, it genuinely detracts from my enjoyment of the race.

 

[Greg Bobkin]

And that’s the thing. All the time you need off street parking to make it viable it’ll be a middle class conceit, like getting to pick a diet or buying a new build eco home. The sooner we can make this all affordable and convenient the better for the planet.

But that's my point. I popped up to Holmbush earlier and saw a BP Pulse sign. I followed it around and there's a bank of 50kW chargers in the M&S car park. Pop to the shops/cafe and potentially charge your car for the week. A charger outside your house would be great but it's not essential.

Like I said before, how many drivers have a fuel station outside their front door?

 

[Greg Bobkin]

More or less it’s 100 yards away, just pop in and out in a few minutes, if I had to find a charging point I would have to drive in the hope of finding one nearby and hope someone else was not using it. I would then be hanging around for ages waiting it to charge and paying a fortune compared with overnight home charging. So until it becomes more practical for someone in my situation l’m out.

Well you wouldn't, because when the fuel station has chargers added to it, you'd have THAT on your doorstep, instead

 

[Nitram]

But that's my point. I popped up to Holmbush earlier and saw a BP Pulse sign. I followed it around and there's a bank of 50kW chargers in the M&S car park. Pop to the shops/cafe and potentially charge your car for the week. A charger outside your house would be great but it's not essential.

Like I said before, how many drivers have a fuel station outside their front door?

About as many as have Holmbush as a handy place to pop out to for a coffee and wait around for the car to charge at inflated electricity prices.