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

[Flounce]

View attachment 190067

Decent looking in truth but it’s not actually a proper sports car is it? It’s also Chinese, which to me is a BIG negative

Whatever floats your boat though at £55000 to £60000

7/10
MG Cyberster review

Battery range up to 316 miles
The MG Cyberster is a proper electric sports car – it’s a low-slung convertible with sleek styling that’s a really classy interpretation of MG roadsters of old. It’s not the best car for driving hard on a twisty road, because it’s quite easily unsettled by bumps, but for enjoying a countryside jaunt on a summer’s day, it’s a lovely thing. It’s comfortable, fairly spacious (despite the small boot) and has a decent range of up to 316 miles (or 276 miles in the 510hp GT model)

 

[Flounce]

Somewhat remarkably, over 96% of new car registrations in Norway in September were EVs, and they now have more EVs on the road than ICE cars.

They don't seem to worry about range in colder conditions.

Norway leads the world in EV adoption, thanks to government incentives that include exempting electric cars and trucks from sales and emissions taxes, lowering tolls and parking fees for these vehicles, and allowing EV drivers to use bus lanes.

 

[GOM]

Decent looking in truth but it’s not actually a proper sports car is it? It’s also Chinese, which to me is a BIG negative

Whatever floats your boat though at £55000 to £60000

7/10
MG Cyberster review

Battery range up to 316 miles
The MG Cyberster is a proper electric sports car – it’s a low-slung convertible with sleek styling that’s a really classy interpretation of MG roadsters of old. It’s not the best car for driving hard on a twisty road, because it’s quite easily unsettled by bumps, but for enjoying a countryside jaunt on a summer’s day, it’s a lovely thing. It’s comfortable, fairly spacious (despite the small boot) and has a decent range of up to 316 miles (or 276 miles in the 510hp GT model)

It is more of a tourer, and price wise similar to say a BMW Z4 with equivalent spec. As has been said before it's quite hard to exclude everything 'Chinese made' from your possessions.

 

[zefarelly]

Decent looking in truth but it’s not actually a proper sports car is it? It’s also Chinese, which to me is a BIG negative

Whatever floats your boat though at £55000 to £60000

7/10
MG Cyberster review

Battery range up to 316 miles
The MG Cyberster is a proper electric sports car – it’s a low-slung convertible with sleek styling that’s a really classy interpretation of MG roadsters of old. It’s not the best car for driving hard on a twisty road, because it’s quite easily unsettled by bumps, but for enjoying a countryside jaunt on a summer’s day, it’s a lovely thing. It’s comfortable, fairly spacious (despite the small boot) and has a decent range of up to 316 miles (or 276 miles in the 510hp GT model)

Looks like a knocked off MX-5, everything looks the same these days with the exception of those who've used styling cues from their own back catalogue

 

[carlzeiss]

Electric car insurance premiums set to soar

Introduction of Vehicle Risk Rating (VRR) system could send cost of insuring EVs and Chinese-made cars skyrocketing

www.telegraph.co.uk

 

[Flounce]

Looks like a knocked off MX-5, everything looks the same these days with the exception of those who've used styling cues from their own back catalogue

I see what you did there

 

[Flounce]

It is more of a tourer, and price wise similar to say a BMW Z4 with equivalent spec. As has been said before it's quite hard to exclude everything 'Chinese made' from your possessions.

My other hate is BMWs, I accept that I have no rational explanation for it

I think my Apple stuff is the only valuable Chinese made stuff I own.

 

[Tim Over Whelmed]

I remain unconvinced that they are a viable and greener offer

 

[Flounce]

I remain unconvinced that they are a viable and greener offer

Hang around, it will be explained to you!

 

[kojak]

Got a Zoe as a 2nd car,well call it the 2nd car
If I have to pop out anywhere I'll use it 75% of the time

 

[beorhthelm]

I remain unconvinced that they are a viable and greener offer

of course they are viable, practical for many drivers, and probably ideal for short town driving. the trouble is those handwaving away the compromises.

the green credientals are also an improvement, but overstarted, rely on a lot of idealism and hope for future changes.

 

[Monkey Man]

of course they are viable, practical for many drivers, and probably ideal for short town driving. the trouble is those handwaving away the compromises.

the green credientals are also an improvement, but overstarted, rely on a lot of idealism and hope for future changes.

I haven't yet come across anything that goes really deep into the environmental costs involved in the manufacture of EVs, or the issues involved with disposal of batteries, so I have to keep an open mind about all that.

However I can say it's a very nice feeling not having to pump dirty fossil fuel into my personal box on wheels every week, and it definitely feels nice not to be belching out toxic exhaust fumes, at pushchair level, when I'm driving through busy streets.

 

[Brovion]

I voted 'fence'. When our 8 year old Fiesta finally gives up the ghost we may get an EV, it depends on where we are in our lives and how the technology as evolved. Currently the biggest argument against for me is that they're too big and/or too expensive. That will hopefully change. I won't be able to afford to spend a lot, certainly less than £10k - a lot less.

Currently we live in a terraced house so we don't have our own parking space, and as even the most ardent EV fan has admitted that can be an issue - especially in Brighton. Having said that though my neighbour has an EV, had with a bit of pleading and messaging on our street WhatsApp group she can get the space outside her house to charge up. (She has a little ramp-thing she puts over the cable when it goes across the pavement so that it isn't a trip hazard). It's not ideal but it's not impossible.

IMO EVs have two big things going for them:

1 - We can put charging points almost anywhere. In other words in order to get fuel one doesn't have to drive to a specific location in order to 'fill up'. My neighbour for example installed a charging point on the front of her house. There is no way she could have installed a petrol pump.

2 - Every time someone charges their car that's one tiny little dollop of money that won't find its way into the coffers of an unpleasant regime.

 

[BLOCK F]

My other hate is BMWs, I accept that I have no rational explanation for it

I think my Apple stuff is the only valuable Chinese made stuff I own.

I used to sort of dislike BMWs and like you didn’t really know why. I like them now and my wife and I both have one.
Funny old world

 

[sparkie]

It is more of a tourer, and price wise similar to say a BMW Z4 with equivalent spec. As has been said before it's quite hard to exclude everything 'Chinese made' from your possessions.

Surely it is not a case of excluding everything Chinese made - just excluding cyber-hackable death machines made by a potentially hostile geo-political foe ?

If it kicks off in Taiwan I wouldn't want to be driving an internet enabled Chinese car - or other nearby road users to be driving one - but that might be a minority viewpoint. It could be 'exploding pagers 2'.

 

[cheshunt seagull]

I've had a Seat Leon plug-in hybrid for 3 years and I love it and do 90% of my driving locally on electric. I can plug in at home and with a good range, better charging facilities and reasonable prices I would go fully EV next time.

 

[wealdgull]

It sounds like battery technology is continuing to result in cheaper and lighter batteries. Both benefits can extend to EVs, which may dispel some of the concerns people have had so far.

Electric vehicle battery prices are expected to fall almost 50% by 2026

www.goldmansachs.com

 

[dsr-burnley]

It sounds like battery technology is continuing to result in cheaper and lighter batteries. Both benefits can extend to EVs, which may dispel some of the concerns people have had so far.

Electric vehicle battery prices are expected to fall almost 50% by 2026

www.goldmansachs.com

That, ironically, is a powerful reason not to buy an electric car. Not until 2026, anyway. If the price of new cars falls in 2026 the the second hand price of 2024 cars will drop accordingly.

For me, the inconvenience of an EV while living in a terrace makes it a no. (And, unlike Brovion's neighbour, I don't believe that covering a cable with a little tunnel stops it being a trip hazard. It certainly doesn't stop it being a wheelchair hazard.)

As for the price, I could afford one but then I could also afford a more expensive petrol car. But why? At present my motoring costs about £2,500k per year including depreciation, for 8,000 miles. Electric motoring - new or second hand - hasn't reached that level yet.

 

[chickens]

I’ve today seen the Cyberster in the flesh. I have to say it’s better looking in the flesh than in the press photos. It’s also bigger. I was thinking MX5 before I saw it, but in reality it's more between the Mercedes SL and Mercedes SLC/SLK. It was also in a bright yellow that I wouldn’t be seen dead in, but despite that I have to say take a look at it if you get the chance.

I won’t be buying one due to having a family etc, but it had a lot more presence than I was expecting it to, and the couple who took it out for a spin while we were there came back and immediately started talking figures with the sales guy. The automated gullwing doors felt suitably “future retro” too.

I don’t like China being several technological steps ahead of us, but I can’t argue with the end result. It’s a proper bit of kit. If you’d swapped the MG badge for a Prancing Horse, you could easily believe it could be on sale for £150,000+

 

[Greg Bobkin]

I'm spending a week with this bad boy at the moment and it's a right laugh - which is surely the point of everything, especially driving. Fake exhaust sounds are actually pretty realistic (and hilarious) and loads of power, although Eco mode calms everything down a lot. The £65k price will put a lot of people off but, performance-wise, it's on par with a load of ICE stuff at our above that price.

I was also at a Nissan gig this week where Vehicle to Grid technology was being unveiled. No, it's not for everyone (and the anti-EV crew will no doubt dismiss it - possibly just at the very mention of it!), but it's another step on a very long path. The guys there also talked about its solid state batteries (coming in 2028) and pretty much dismissed any hydrogen cars for the foreseeable).

Anyway, as you were...