Why are people buying electric cars?

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ancient_mariner said:
The instead is that we can stop in a beauty spot or we can sit in a supermarket car park. Sure we could do both, but then I would really begrudge the time spent in the car park.
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Again, it's 20 minutes. If 20 minutes is stopping you buying a car then you really didn't want it in the first place.
 
Steep said:
Again, it's 20 minutes. If 20 minutes is stopping you buying a car then you really didn't want it in the first place.
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To be pedantic; it is 20 minutes every time. And on long journeys, 6 hours or more, you really begrudge every unnecessary minute's delay. It would be the same if my diesel car only did 300 miles between refills.
 
Clive K said:
To be pedantic; it is 20 minutes every time. And on long journeys, 6 hours or more, you really begrudge every unnecessary minute's delay. It would be the same if my diesel car only did 300 miles between refills.
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Yes I get that it's an issue for both of you, but it's still you talking yourselves out of it. You have every right to, if the step is too big now it might not be later so it's always good to talk it through.
 
Steep said:
Yes I get that it's an issue for both of you, but it's still you talking yourselves out of it. You have every right to, if the step is too big now it might not be later so it's always good to talk it through.
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The problems for me are that I have too many specific requirements that are all covered by a variety of ICE cars, but are too way off mainstream for the fledgling EV models. They are aimed at a more mainstream market. We have a dog cage in the car so the boot space needs to be over 500 litres on the once a week we go shopping or have the hassle of temporarily removing it. We probably do three or four long trips a year, sometimes with friends. So, a long range is needed for those trips and when we have the dog motorway aires or supermarkets aren't ideal to stop at. I sometimes fish in places that need a higher ground clearance and 4WD. And like many of us in France it will need to have a towbar fitted to it to pull a garden trailer. Plus the normal use is higher than the UK average probably 16k miles a year. Other than the running costs ICE had far more viable options until the recent Middle East situation.

But, next year compromises will have to be made. The dog is going to have to go :p
 
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If, or more likely when the time comes for me to move to EV it will probably be something like the VW ID.7. Ticks a lot of boxes and is a smart looking car as well.

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I'm still keeping my eye on them and they're just creeping below the £30K mark, would really like to have a test drive of one. Like you say it ticks a lot of boxes for me too, it's a decent sized estate with a flat boot area (annoyingly an optional extra on the Arteon/Octavia/Superb), it has a good spec including blind spot monitoring (a must for me)and while less important I think it's a good looking understated car.

I was pleased to get a Toyota Prius self charging hybrid hire car recently which is similar to the Toyota Corolla estate I've been considering to replace my current car although wasn't keen on it which is making me more interested in trying the ID7. I'm hoping my current car will last a while longer and I think by the time it needs replaced there will be more pushes to go electric.
 
Jelster said:
They still persist on putting $h!t wheels on EV's......
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Yeah I'm not really into overly fancy alloys. A nice set of regular five spoke does the job for me, easy to clean, easy to check brake pads, discs etc.

Like these

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And when knackered, easily recoated to this

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I enjoy perusing the shelves in Continental supermarkets! All the different snacks, drinks etc. that we don't often see over here.
 
Not overfond of the 21" wheels and rubber bands on Mrs Nod's from a ride point of view (mainly down to the state of the roads) but do like the looks of them!
 
Next door neighbour appeared yesterday with a new Polestar4 not bad looking but too big a car for our needs, really strange with no rear window and a see through roof from the inside but looks painted from the outside, heard many things about electronic glitches but didn’t mention that to him. Seems overkill to have 360° cameras yet keep rear view mirrors and so many gadgets apparently, still ev not for me.
 
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mj4456 said:
Next door neighbour appeared yesterday with a new Polestar4, not bad. Looking but too big a car for our needs, really strange with no rear window and a see through roof from the inside but looks painted from the outside, heard many things about electronic glitches but didn’t mention that to him. Seems overkill to have 360° cameras yet keep rear view mirrors and so many gadgets apparently, still ev not for me.
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The Skoda electric SUVs are probably some of the best out there at the moment, and also don't look as odd as many of the other EVs.
 
Nissan Quashqais have had 360° cameras for a while - the ICE ones.

The cameras on Mrs Nod's are a boon for close parking, both to cars in front/behind and the kerb.
 
mj4456 said:
Next door neighbour appeared yesterday with a new Polestar4, not bad. Looking but too big a car for our needs, really strange with no rear window and a see through roof from the inside but looks painted from the outside, heard many things about electronic glitches but didn’t mention that to him. Seems overkill to have 360° cameras yet keep rear view mirrors and so many gadgets apparently, still ev not for me.
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I think Polestar is an offshoot of Volvo, but I may be wrong...
 
Jelster said:
I think Polestar is an offshoot of Volvo, but I may be wrong...
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I believe it was the sports side, now Chinese owned. The polestar 2 became very affordable a while back but has a reputation for heavy handling and poor suspension on bumpy roads. Later (more expensive) versions are apparently better
 
ancient_mariner said:
The Skoda electric SUVs are probably some of the best out there at the moment, and also don't look as odd as many of the other EVs.
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The company I work for is standardising on Skodas, good quality and lots of space inside. We will apparently get a choice of KIA PV5 vans or the Enyaq.
 
Swiss Company in cooperation with SNCF is laying solar panels on the unused ground inbetween rail tracks that feed power straight into the grid. No extra land taken up, no huge turbines.

www.groupe-sncf.com

The world’s first removable solar power plant on a working rail line

Together with Swiss start-up Sun-Ways, we’re exploring ways to install movable solar power generation equipment directly between the rails of tracks in active use by passenger trains.
www.groupe-sncf.com www.groupe-sncf.com
 
Steep said:
Swiss Company in cooperation with SNCF is laying solar panels on the unused ground inbetween rail tracks that feed power straight into the grid. No extra land taken up, no huge turbines.

www.groupe-sncf.com

The world’s first removable solar power plant on a working rail line

Together with Swiss start-up Sun-Ways, we’re exploring ways to install movable solar power generation equipment directly between the rails of tracks in active use by passenger trains.
www.groupe-sncf.com www.groupe-sncf.com
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They don't have "this".

1777546804299.png
 
Seeing a few new Skoda EVs look very much like Tesla from the back.
 
jerry12953 said:
At least he's one politician in power who takes the climate crisis seriously.
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We would like to think so, but in his case I'm not convinced that will make things less bad.
 
jerry12953 said:
At least he's one politician in power who takes the climate crisis seriously.
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Even if true, that doesn't necessarily make it a good thing. But he already has previous for questionable behaviour, so I'm fairly certain that his enthusiasm is not honourable, but instead it will most likely be enriching him in some form or another.
 
I'm a relative EV novice having bought a Volvo EX30 last October. In the last couple of weeks I've done over 2000 miles with plenty of public chargers (hardly any issues) - car has claimed range of 295 miles, but this is more like 230 at motorway speeds.

I (madly) decided to take my 88 year old mother on Holiday to Poolewe just north of Gairloch (Wester Ross), whe lives in Horsham, I live in Northwich!!!

So here goes:-

1) Having Charged Volvo up to 100%, I drive to Oxford Services (145 miles) to pick her up (my sister shuttled her from Horsham to Oxford), 12min boost charge at Banbury on way back to return home with approx 25%

2) Two nights low tarriff charging retun car back to 100% (My mother needed a rest day)

3) Set off for Poolewe (465 miles), stopped for breakfast at Tebay Services (100 miles), charged car back up to 90% while we ate breakfast, no extra waiting, Then drove 178 miles to Perth (arrived 24%), charged back up to 90% at Tesla open to all chargers while we had lunch (took 40 mins), then drove 186 miles to Poolewe arriving with 20%

4) Holiday Accomodation had 7kW electric charging point (at normal domestic rates), so charging up for days out was no issue :)

5) Return Journey back to 100%, decided to stay in Perth overnight on way back, drove to Perth, again recharged at Tesla charger back to 90%. following day drove home (276 miles + a detour for a decent lunch!) with a boost charge (back to 80%) while we stopped for coffee (28mins) at Todhills (Tesla open to all chargers)

6) A further rest day at home, charged the car back to 100% overnight (2 x low tarriff), then drove to Beaconsfield services to drop my mum back with my sister, put the car on a Gridserve Charger while we had a coffee. This charger was slow despite headline 150kW figures it delivered 22kW!!!, rather than wait the hour that it said after coffee, I disconnected and again topped up at Banbury (9 min to get back to 60% charge), so I could return home with 10%

For my first long EV trip I was pleasantly surprised, the public charging added next to no time to my overall journey time.
 
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Mr Perceptive said:
I'm a relative EV novice having bought a Volvo EX30 last October. In the last couple of weeks I've done over 2000 miles with plenty of public chargers (hardly any issues) - car has claimed range of 295 miles, but this is more like 230 at motorway speeds.

I (madly) decided to take my 88 year old mother on Holiday to Poolewe just north of Gairloch (Wester Ross), whe lives in Horsham, I live in Northwich!!!

So here goes:-

1) Having Charged Volvo up to 100%, I drive to Oxford Services (145 miles) to pick her up (my sister shuttled her from Horsham to Oxford), 12min boost charge at Banbury on way back to return home with approx 25%

2) Two nights low tarriff charging retun car back to 100% (My mother needed a rest day)

3) Set off for Poolewe (465 miles), stopped for breakfast at Tebay Services (100 miles), charged car back up to 90% while we ate breakfast, no extra waiting, Then drove 178 miles to Perth (arrived 24%), charged back up to 90% at Tesla open to all chargers while we had lunch (took 40 mins), then drove 186 miles to Poolewe arriving with 20%

4) Holiday Accomodation had 7kW electric charging point (at normal domestic rates), so charging up for days out was no issue :)

5) Return Journey back to 100%, decided to stay in Perth overnight on way back, drove to Perth, again recharged at Tesla charger back to 90%. following day drove home (276 miles + a detour for a decent lunch!) with a boost charge (back to 80%) while we stopped for coffee (28mins) at Todhills (Tesla open to all chargers)

6) A further rest day at home, charged the car back to 100% overnight (2 x low tarriff), then drove to Beaconsfield services to drop my mum back with my sister, put the car on a Gridserve Charger while we had a coffee. This charger was slow despite headline 150kW figures it delivered 22kW!!!, rather than wait the hour that it said after coffee, I disconnected and again topped up at Banbury (9 min to get back to 60% charge), so I could return home with 10%

For my first long EV trip I was pleasantly surprised, the public charging added next to no time to my overall journey time.
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Nice trip!, it's what we always say, driving EV needs a different mindset but it doesn't impact your journey times that much (for most people).
 
Steep said:
Nice trip!, it's what we always say, driving EV needs a different mindset but it doesn't impact your journey times that much (for most people).
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I went to Crewe (from Cambridge) for footie. Charged at Keele for a loo break and food but it actually charged so quick I had to move it before we had eaten!! I guess had we had an ICE I MAY have gone straight to Crewe town centre and gone for other food but what we did was fine.
 
Drove back from France on Saturday. Left at about 09:10 French time, stopped for a couple of 5min comfort breaks plus about 25min for lunch, got an early crossing through the tunnel, stopped to pick up some food and was home by about 17:50 UK time. That's 9hr 40min for 505 miles with an actual driving time of 8hr 22min. For the entire trip (out and back plus local trips) we averaged 59.6mpg over 1294 miles. We were tired by the time we got home, but less so than if we'd taken an extra couple of hours.
 
ancient_mariner said:
Drove back from France on Saturday. Left at about 09:10 French time, stopped for a couple of 5min comfort breaks plus about 25min for lunch, got an early crossing through the tunnel, stopped to pick up some food and was home by about 17:50 UK time. That's 9hr 40min for 505 miles with an actual driving time of 8hr 22min. For the entire trip (out and back plus local trips) we averaged 59.6mpg over 1294 miles. We were tired by the time we got home, but less so than if we'd taken an extra couple of hours.
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And your carbon emissions were?
 
Now obviously nobody follows the recommendation of having a break every 2 hours while driving (which is 140 miles max in UK), but if your reason for not having an EV is because you drive 5 or 6 hours non-stop, maybe, just maybe you need to reconsider if your driving safely and not over tired.
 
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LeeRatters said:
Probably less than a data centre. Or a big corporation. Or lots of other unnecessary waste.
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ancient_mariner said:
Some.
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It was a rhetorical question really, but you have given us a lot of detail about your journey without mentioning carbon emissions. Aren't they the background to the question posed in this thread?
 
Delphin said:
Now obviously nobody follows the recommendation of having a break every 2 hours while driving (which is 140 miles max in UK), but if your reason for not having an EV is because you drive 5 or 6 hours non-stop, maybe, just maybe you need to reconsider if your driving safely and not over tired.
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There are too many variables to take into account that could undermine your opinion.

The underlying issue is that we have become accustomed to being able to do 500 miles without refueling and having a widespread refuelling network. With an ev all that has to be re-considered. You would have to factor in recharging stops at more frequent intervals. As Toni said; adding two hours to an overly long journey is at best unwelcome and may cause the journey that was feasible in a diesel car in one day to entail an overnight stop.
 
Delphin said:
Now obviously nobody follows the recommendation of having a break every 2 hours while driving (which is 140 miles max in UK), but if your reason for not having an EV is because you drive 5 or 6 hours non-stop, maybe, just maybe you need to reconsider if your driving safely and not over tired.
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Possibly more than one driver?
 
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