[Travel] Electric cars

[Deleted member 2719]

Not sure I have seen a thread purely on this before.

Have you got one?
Are you thinking of getting one?
Why do you want one?
Why don't you want one?

According to Germany, the electric car is worse than electric cars at giving off Carbon dioxide.

http://ow.ly/37ZG50vsgA5?fbclid=IwAR3pN556zDSIwY2fL9aFDUApEvA8E_rQjADJAVLsCrAxQUCwijok1RXqUPA

Long way to go IMO.

 

[Triggaaar]

No
No
No
Too expensive, not enough range.

 

[Gazwag]

According to Germany, the electric car is worse than electric cars at giving off Carbon dioxide.

.

You can still edit if you are quick enough

 

[midnight_rendezvous]

I looked at getting an EV this year but they’re just too expensive. Even with the government grant (which has been reduced in the last few years) a brand new EV was still costing upwards of 23k. Second hand models are obviously cheaper but the battery deterioration on models pre 2015 is frankly appalling meaning that some of the cars we looked at had a range of 80 miles and under. I like the idea, I like the eco friendly side but not enough resources are being put into pure EVs to make them cost effective at the moment.

Also worth mentioning that a lot Think Tanks’ findings should be take with a pinch of salt. Who knows who funded the research...

 

[Stumpy Tim]

I have a BMW i3, and really love it. I mainly use it for driving around town, kids drop offs etc - and hence very rarely test the mileage limits. I do drive to Gatwick and back (from Hove) and that uses about half the battery. When I need longer journeys I use my wife's car which is petrol. However, that's very rare. If you need it for local journeys I would recommend one.

I should add, I have a driveway so have a charger there - that makes it very easy to charge, and probably less hassle than using a petrol car. If you don't have a driveway I could see an electric car being a pain

 

[Deleted member 22389]

I will wait until the government completely bans petrol. I love the idea of electric, but like many I can't afford it.

 

[Surf's Up]

I have 2 + years to go on my current petrol car contract and anticipate getting either a hybrid or an electric car next time around. The battery technology, range and design are improving all the time and I reckon that within the next 4-6 years electric cars will have become the norm not the exception. The government does need to sort out the national network of charging points PDQ though.

 

[PoG]

I have a BMW i3, and really love it. I mainly use it for driving around town, kids drop offs etc - and hence very rarely test the mileage limits. I do drive to Gatwick and back (from Hove) and that uses about half the battery. When I need longer journeys I use my wife's car which is petrol. However, that's very rare. If you need it for local journeys I would recommend one.

I should add, I have a driveway so have a charger there - that makes it very easy to charge, and probably less hassle than using a petrol car. If you don't have a driveway I could see an electric car being a pain

Out of interest what is the cost of a full charge?

 

[Deleted member 2719]

You can still edit if you are quick enough

I wasn't!!

But I am sure they will decode it!

 

[Greg Bobkin]

They are becoming more and more popular, but still only account for a TINY amount of the new car market. Plenty of reasons why, but none that won't be overcome in time. They will become more affordable, for a start, plus the charging infrastructure is expanding at a huge rate, which means that range becomes less of an issue (it's fine anyway for most people's daily driving, but lots are used to hundreds of miles from a tank).

 

[zefarelly]

I've been thinking about converting one of my Lambrettas to electric, just for local zipping about. . . . . cars will get there but the cost, sustainability and carbon footprint are all highly questionable compared to a sensible modern petrol car.

 

[studio150]

Not currently, need the market to mature more.

Currently there is little detail on the residual value of the car. Given that the battery is a huge cost and has a life of 7/8 years? Does the value of an electric car plummet the closer you get to the end of the battery life. Or will pricing models from manufacturers develop where you buy the car but lease the battery or similar,

 

[Stumpy Tim]

Out of interest what is the cost of a full charge?

Hard to say exactly, but between £3-5

 

[Icy Gull]

No
No
No
Too expensive, not enough range.

Old school here, I don’t do mega miles and I find modern cars dull, electric ones even more so. I LOVE the sound of a sports car engine (and I don’t mean a big exhaust chav mobile or a Lamborghini being over revved at traffic lights and in town, or the modern ones that use speakers (?) to make the sporty sound ).

Manual gear changes make most journeys an adventure and keep the brain ticking over. Traffic down south makes it a pain in traffic though.

My worry with electric cars is how much it will cost to replace the batteries when they go, which they will and with so many gizmos and safety features where has the fun gone?

Cars today have no soul for the most part.

 

[exKT17]

I've had a Leaf for 5 years, got a very good deal on a demonstrator.

Love it. Incredibly reliable, cheap to run and service, comfortable and well made. No tax, no congestion charge and free parking in Westminster, so perfect for tootling around London.

On the negative side, you do really want a drive to park it on, so you can charge from the mains or fit a charger to the front of your house. Range is rarely as quoted - when new Nissan said 124 miles but in real life conditions it was more like 90 and now the battery has dropped by about 15%. (Newer EV's have much improved ranges.)

So we keep a second petrol car for long journeys.

When I re-buy I think I'll get a Kia e-Niro - huge range, get rid of second car.

 

[zefarelly]

Old school here, I don’t do mega miles and I find modern cars dull, electric ones even more so. I LOVE the sound of a sports car engine (and I don’t mean a big exhaust chav mobile or a Lamborghini being over revved at traffic lights and in town, or the modern ones that use speakers (?) to make the sporty sound ).

Manual gear changes make most journeys an adventure and keep the brain ticking over. Traffic down south makes it a pain in traffic though.

My worry with electric cars is how much it will cost to replace the batteries when they go, which they will and with so many gizmos and safety features where has the fun gone?

Cars today have no soul for the most part.

this does it for me most of the time. twin webers, manual gearbox, no aids, no radio . . . . it just needs roads . . . .

 

[GOM]

I looked at getting an EV this year but they’re just too expensive. Even with the government grant (which has been reduced in the last few years) a brand new EV was still costing upwards of 23k. Second hand models are obviously cheaper but the battery deterioration on models pre 2015 is frankly appalling meaning that some of the cars we looked at had a range of 80 miles and under. I like the idea, I like the eco friendly side but not enough resources are being put into pure EVs to make them cost effective at the moment.

Also worth mentioning that a lot Think Tanks’ findings should be take with a pinch of salt. Who knows who funded the research...

Not currently, need the market to mature more.

Currently there is little detail on the residual value of the car. Given that the battery is a huge cost and has a life of 7/8 years? Does the value of an electric car plummet the closer you get to the end of the battery life. Or will pricing models from manufacturers develop where you buy the car but lease the battery or similar,

Old school here, I don’t do mega miles and I find modern cars dull, electric ones even more so. I LOVE the sound of a sports car engine (and I don’t mean a big exhaust chav mobile or a Lamborghini being over revved at traffic lights and in town, or the modern ones that use speakers (?) to make the sporty sound ).

Manual gear changes make most journeys an adventure and keep the brain ticking over. Traffic down south makes it a pain in traffic though.

My worry with electric cars is how much it will cost to replace the batteries when they go, which they will and with so many gizmos and safety features where has the fun gone?

Cars today have no soul for the most part.

I'v been interested in getting an EV and have found this...

Not sure about other makes but every Toyota Hybrid vehicle comes with a 5-year 100,000 mile Toyota warranty, which – with an annual hybrid service extends the cover on your battery for up to 15 years.

The cost of replacing the battery pack costs between £1000 and £1200 depending on model (apart from the Prius plug in which is over £6000 !)

 

[dazzer6666]

Interested in this.......................wife's car is overdue for replacing but she only does short journeys and v low annual mileage so would suit an electric (and parks on driveway next to house so could easily put a charging station in). Otherwise, range is no good for me - most of my trips are longer (awaydays being a fair part of that) and having to stop for an hour (and hoping there's a charging station available) on a longer trip would be irritating. Could see us having one EV and one petrol though

 

[Driver8]

I am looking to get a Tesla Model 3 soon. I will be going for the extended range version (340 mile range) which I hope will cope with my 600 mile round trip to the Amex with one half hour stop to charge either way (which I do anyway).

I am currently trying to persuade my employer to adopt the salary sacrifice leasing that HMRC allow which will effectively give me a 42% discount on the lease costs.

 

[Wozza]

If you don't have a driveway I could see an electric car being a pain

In what way?