Electric Cars

Atletico_Seasider said:
I've got an EV Chunky. I absolutely love it and I've had no problems at all with range issues or recharging. It has a range of 320miles but that is 'perfect' driving conditions so the reality is more like 260 on a full battery. Plugging it into a standard 240v wall socket gives me between 5 - 10 miles per hour, so around 100 miles on an overnight charge when it is cheaper. There is an option to buy a home charger which needs to be installed by an electrician and this gives 20 miles per hour of charge, but I haven't really felt the need to get one of these. The key thing is if I go on a long journey, I can stop at a supercharger (now at most service stations) and get 200 miles in around 20 minutes. It's never really worth fully charging the battery anyway because it takes the same time to charge between 80%-100% as from 0%-80%.. Also, it's better for battery longevity to not fully charge. Even though EVs are more expensive than ICE cars, you do get a lot of payback over the lifetime through much lower fuel cost (around 80% less than petrol/diesel) and much lower maintenance costs as a result of very few moving parts to a ICE car. Then there is the fun aspect. You get instant torque (mine does 0-60 in 4 seconds) so the acceleration is like the sensation you get on a roller coaster. Lot's of other positives too so for me it's a big thumbs up 👍
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Great feedback. We’ve got the home charger coming too as works bought that but even without 100 miles overnight Is fine.
Not worried about the battery bit as it’s a 3 year lease. Bet they’re great fun to drive at that speed?
 
BFC_53 said:
I think many people are still viewing the viability of EV's with current technology in mind, which is fair enough and only natural to do. But the tech is moving and developing rapidly as it's a massive opportunity for businesses to make a lot of money if they can hit on the ultimate solution. For example, the point that it will be "a faff" to replace batteries, and that they are heavy...... yes absolutely they are now, but in the future this may not be the case. Also, the point that we may need to build power stations to generate the power required for everyone's cars.....consider that in future we may not even need power stations i.e. single sources of energy generation. There's a company in the US that has microgrid tech which is basically a power grid without one single source, it efficiently manages and distributes energy generated from multiple homes. We're already seeing with wind farms that you don't need a single source of power generation like a power plant. It's a long way off meeting all our needs, but the point is when thinking of the viability of EVs, you need to consider what might/will be possible, not what's possible now. I think EVs will be the way forward, but the battery/charging tech and infrastructure will not be as we envisage it at the moment.
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I also guess that like everything we need to start the demand to create the need for technological improvement?
War is the normal catalyst for mass technology improvement and climate crisis might be the next one?
I accept the mining element and recycle of the current EV is not great but at least they will improve air pollution in towns and cities?
My own car will remain a polluting petrol silly one with poor mpg for now so I’m striking a balance 😂
 
Chunkylad said:
I also guess that like everything we need to start the demand to create the need for technological improvement?
War is the normal catalyst for mass technology improvement and climate crisis might be the next one?
I accept the mining element and recycle of the current EV is not great but at least they will improve air pollution in towns and cities?
My own car will remain a polluting petrol silly one with poor mpg for now so I’m striking a balance 😂
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Yeah agree, it's like a race isn't it, but I think as the use of EVs rises, the tech is likely to follow pretty rapidly. The mining of the minerals for the batteries is another big factor, but again there are already companies with proven technology to recycle lithium ion batteries cleanly - but they are very much start-ups at the moment. So the whole thing is developing all the time. But as others have said, the one thing there is no doubt about is that the current infrastructure regarding batteries and charging is inadequate, and not viable at the moment for people who live in apartments for example.
 
Need to knock down whole towns and cities to introduce/reintroduce more trams like they do on the continent to get around as most car journeys are a matter of a few miles - however that won't happen so I guess we'll all be buzzing around on scooters instead perhaps?
 
Chunkylad said:
Great feedback. We’ve got the home charger coming too as works bought that but even without 100 miles overnight Is fine.
Not worried about the battery bit as it’s a 3 year lease. Bet they’re great fun to drive at that speed?
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Yes, great fun to drive Chunky. I used to find driving very tiring and dull in particular on the motorway. Now, if there is any excuse to go out in the car I'm more than happy to drive. The acceleration is difficult to describe until you feel it yourself. I think the new Tesla Plaid car can actually do 0-60 in under 2 seconds which is almost as quick as CJ Hamilton 😀
 
Chunkylad said:
Has anyone on here gone full EV yet?

I am wondering how you’ve got a long with it so far, with charging away from home etc.
Just placed an order today to buy the wife a Jaguar I-pace EV (not hybrid) and going to order the home charger kit.
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I have had a number of them for the past 7 years, my new one is coming in October. They certainly consume mush more energy during the winter Months but on the up side the pre-heating in winter is a real bonus. It depends on your driving profile really, mostly I only cover 30 to 50 miles a day. If I want to do a longer journey the range anxiety certainly kicks in.

Why not try a plug in Hybrid before thinking of full EV? Good luck with it.
 
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