Electric Cars

Chunkylad

Well-known member
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.
 
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.
I still cannot see how the practical issues can be overcome without some kind of gigantic improvement in battery charging points (especially for people living in terraced streets with no parking spaces, battery charge time, battery range and battery life, and that's not even taking into consideration the issue of battery disposal. Seems like far too many aspects need to be overcome to be more attractive than fuel.
 
Nope, they're far too expensive and the local infrastructure is not good enough.
Yep, I reckon it will be 5 or 6 years before mass production brings the costs down to reasonable levels. I intend to run my existing petrol and diesel cars to the end of their useful lives, which will be at least 8 to 10 years. After then I may not buy another car but lease or rent one as required. I think there will be a lot more of that, rather than purchase in the future. Or call a driverless car to take you to your destination
 
Has anyone actually discussed the possibilities electrically ? In absolute dream land in anyone’s lifetime on this board I’m afraid. Unless of course everyone is happy for us to start building nuclear power stations every week 😂
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I still cannot see how the practical issues can be overcome without some kind of gigantic improvement in battery charging points (especially for people living in terraced streets with no parking spaces, battery charge time, battery range and battery life, and that's not even taking into consideration the issue of battery disposal. Seems like far too many aspects need to be overcome to be more attractive than fuel.
And flats, high rise etc.
 
Has anyone actually discussed the possibilities electrically ? In absolute dream land in anyone’s lifetime on this board I’m afraid. Unless of course everyone is happy for us to start building nuclear power stations every week 😂
Agree with that to some extent, but they also need to look at solar charging of much more efficient batteries via electric cells built into car windows or on the roof. Cars are sat on driveways or in the office car park for over 90% of the time
 
Last edited:
Bought a "nearly new" car 2 years ago, we considered buying an electric model but there simply doesn't seem to be enough charging points available, which is a worry. As already posted we'd prefer to keep the car for about 10 years at which time there'll hopefully be plenty of charging points. Also expect some sort of incentive to buy either electric or hybrid models. Or perhaps improved technology for alternative charging as Pete mentioned
 
Agree with that to some extent, but they also need to look at solar charging of much more efficient batteries via electric cells built into car windows or on the roof.
I applaud the ambition. But from my job, training and knowledge illl be very surprised if this really gets off the ground in my lifetime. I’m not saying it won’t eventually but the infrastructure is lightyears away I’m afraid.
 
Read an article about a guy trying to reject an I pace because he couldn't use the majority of charging points in this country, Might be worth checking which type of charging port it has.
 
Read an article about a guy trying to reject an I pace because he couldn't use the majority of charging points in this country, Might be worth checking which type of charging port it has.
The technology is changing very quickly, I suggest anyone in the throes of a green revolution to do your homework.
 
The simple solution to this charging point problem is swappable batteries. This will happen because its the most obvious answer. In fact in China there are EV manufacturers that offer battery swapping as a subscription service and have hundreds of battery swapping stations all over. So no need to spend ages recharging.
I imagine in the future the tech will be developed to allow people to easily charge batteries inside their homes and connect them to the car easily, and taking that further there will be cars developed that have several in built batteries that automatically swap when they run out, allowing a car to go much longer distances without any recharging.
All imo. The tech of this is moving at a rapid pace and charging points will barely be a flicker on the road to a full EV network.
 
The simple solution to this charging point problem is swappable batteries. This will happen because its the most obvious answer. In fact in China there are EV manufacturers that offer battery swapping as a subscription service and have hundreds of battery swapping stations all over. So no need to spend ages recharging.
I imagine in the future the tech will be developed to allow people to easily charge batteries inside their homes and connect them to the car easily, and taking that further there will be cars developed that have several in built batteries that automatically swap when they run out, allowing a car to go much longer distances without any recharging.
All imo. The tech of this is moving at a rapid pace and charging points will barely be a flicker on the road to a full EV network.
I can just imagine the businesses excepting that. Nope, personally hydrogen is already moving in and offers a lot more viable option. I’m sure it will depend on the big boys as to what path us minions take first.
 
Did London with one stop the other week (Corley). Just takes a bit of a change in attitude. You'll be charging at home 95% of the time anyway.

Download the Zap App for route planning.

Peanuts to run, I couldn't give a shit about the environment or degredation as it's a lease.
 
I can just imagine the businesses excepting that. Nope, personally hydrogen is already moving in and offers a lot more viable option. I’m sure it will depend on the big boys as to what path us minions take first.
I'm really not convinced about the Hydrogen solution. Creating Hydrogen currently isn't environmentally friendly and the possibility of that changing could be some years away. By which time the majority of our electricity will be cleanly generated anyway, so I'm not sure of the benefit of spending millions researching/developing something that probably won't be needed. Plus, there are already companies with technology to cleanly recycle lithium ion batteries when they reach the end of their life cycle.
Like you say, it will come down to the cost benefit to the businesses offering it and what it will cost the consumer. Just my opinion but who knows, maybe Hydrogen will become the dominant thing. Or maybe we'll have the option of either in the future.
 
We use our dirty 2L diesel to tow about 1300kg regularly, so I doubt if anything will be available that could do that for any appreciable range for an affordable purchase price for a while. That's before we go into the charging/battery swapping infrastructure & how that Lithium mining/battery production/disposal will affect the carbon footprint, compared with petrol/diesel. These stat's don't seem to have been widely publicised. Only the urban based direct air pollution. I'm not totally convinced we're not just playing at it. Would you like a bag sir 🙄
 
There’s hydrogen cars. Cold fusion will be along before long. There’s also that U.K. bloke who has produced power from compressed fresh air in his shed. The national grid would fall over if we all plugged in every other night. How many power stations would be needed? It’s not feasible, given the current and likely infrastructure. How long does the battery lifetime last for? The precious elements are in short supply. Are they recycled. The 2nd hand electric car market would be like what? Not good, I imagine. ATM they are okay for knocking about locally. Short commutes. Expensive option though, especially in a low income area like this.
 
Here on the west coast of the US Tesla's are incredibly common, charging stations everywhere. May be a different story in our wonderful home town but it's certainly feasible if the investment is there.
 
Last edited:
Had an iPace for a day a few weeks back Really enjoyed the ride - it’s acceleration is incredible
They have charging point search engines built into the sat nav plus there are some great apps
Yes the charging infrastructure is currently crap on the Gold Coast but if you are home charging that’s not an issue plus for most people 99% of journeys are 10m or less
Think I’ll be going fully EV next change
 
Where are we going to get all this electricity from with them fasing out gas boilers also by the 30's and moving over to Hydrogen which needs electricity to power it?

Whatever they do they better get a move on as one scientist spoke on TV the other week not a flaming chance we will be ready with all these changes for cars and your home.
 
Just not affordable for me. The current car I have is approx £25k new, the new electric version is £35k....a big increase on my current budget. Maybe once junior has moved out a smaller car is an option.
 
Another issue highlighted on BBC news yesterday was the amount of mining needed to get the raw materials of tin and lithium that's used to make the batteries. The damage to the environment that the mining would cause hasn't even been considered so we could be thinking we are saving the planet but destroying it another way.

The point made above about swappable batteries. That sounds a faff. Plus, the battery are heavy units. To carry the weight of an extra one around presumably then makes your car less efficient?
 
As
We use our dirty 2L diesel to tow about 1300kg regularly, so I doubt if anything will be available that could do that for any appreciable range for an affordable purchase price for a while. That's before we go into the charging/battery swapping infrastructure & how that Lithium mining/battery production/disposal will affect the carbon footprint, compared with petrol/diesel. These stat's don't seem to have been widely publicised. Only the urban based direct air pollution. I'm not totally convinced we're not just playing at it. Would you like a bag sir 🙄
Don't change for environmental reasons. A new EV has a huge carbon footprint. Apparently more environmentally friendly to modify existing cars.
 
Also got a full electric (Hyundai) on a business lease, love it, performance certainly isn’t an issue and drive quality is excellent. Love the fact that it’s silent. Get a range of about 230 miles on a full charge, slightly more in summer. If going on a long distance trip charging away from home is an issue, you need to plan in advance and it takes a while to fully charge so for this reason we tend to take other car which is a petrol hybrid.
As much as I like it I wouldn’t consider buying one as it is just too expensive but as it’s a company lease it’s cheap as chips to run and additional tax benefits. Also wouldn’t want one if it was my only vehicle!
Hope this helps
 
Did London with one stop the other week (Corley). Just takes a bit of a change in attitude. You'll be charging at home 95% of the time any
Download the Zap App for route planning.

Peanuts to run, I couldn't give a shit about the environment or degredation as it's a lease.
Also got a full electric (Hyundai) on a business lease, love it, performance certainly isn’t an issue and drive quality is excellent. Love the fact that it’s silent. Get a range of about 230 miles on a full charge, slightly more in summer. If going on a long distance trip charging away from home is an issue, you need to plan in advance and it takes a while to fully charge so for this reason we tend to take other car which is a petrol hybrid.
As much as I like it I wouldn’t consider buying one as it is just too expensive but as it’s a company lease it’s cheap as chips to run and additional tax benefits. Also wouldn’t want one if it was my only vehicle!
Hope this helps
It’s a business lease so for the same reasons.
Home charging makes it easier and she has a charge point at work too.

Id have thought with the quick chargers at BP etc even long journeys are doable away from home now, but time will tell?
 
As

Don't change for environmental reasons. A new EV has a huge carbon footprint. Apparently more environmentally friendly to modify existing cars.
I’m not sure this is true. I found this fairly compelling:
Dirty oil!

To the original post, my dad has an EV (bmw) and loves it, wishes he’d bought one sooner. I can’t currently justify the spend, especially since the pandemic removed my commute, but my next car will be electric.
 
Don't change for environmental reasons. A new EV has a huge carbon footprint. Apparently more environmentally friendly to modify existing cars.
This is so much the way we need to go. We need to stop seeing our happiness and personality intrinsically tied up with buying shiny new stuff and learn how to properly recycle, rebuild and adapt. It's obvious that resources are finite.

It's really frustrating that it's entirely possible to imagine say, a phone, with modular design so a processor or camera could be upgraded but people want to wave a purchase about. The visibility of our 'upgrades' is part of our we gain cultural capital I guess. I'm absolutely not exempting myself from the curse of the modern age - I'm no tree dwelling solar panel toting environmental martyr...

Same with cars in a way. We've got a culture based on disposal and whilst recycling has come on a pace, there's still an incredible amount to do.

What we really, really could do with in multiple areas of production is certain standards so repair, upgrade etc were possible. It wouldn't stifle innovative thinking, it would just define lines for that innovative thinking to be within. Currently we have shit loads of stuff chucked away because upgrade or repair is impossible or prohibitively expensive as parts are so specific and require long supply chains. (Or stuff is actually designed not to be repaired or upgraded)
 
Recent traffic hold up on M25 for 4 hours. Imagine in the future, middle of winter, all electric cars at a standstill. Heating depletes the battery, lights on, no way to get a charge. Huge numbers of cars eventually stranded. What a nightmare!
Best bet is get a petrol or diesel in 2029, and hope it runs for 10 year or so.
After that, who knows?
 
Just not affordable for me. The current car I have is approx £25k new, the new electric version is £35k....a big increase on my current budget. Maybe once junior has moved out a smaller car is an option.
No petrol to buy though. Imagine the savings.
 
If the carbon footprint proves to be vastly less than petrol/diesel, then I’m sure these cars will suit many. I’m just a bit concerned we’re buying into the hype & really swapping one pollution issue for another (not as obvious one). I’ll have to carry out some research as I’m not fully up to speed, but whose statistics do you believe 🤔. Probably a petrol hybrid would be suitable for my occasional towing needs, providing the thing could run for enough time on battery when travelling through residential areas.
 
Where are we going to get all this electricity from with them fasing out gas boilers also by the 30's and moving over to Hydrogen which needs electricity to power it?

Whatever they do they better get a move on as one scientist spoke on TV the other week not a flaming chance we will be ready with all these changes for cars and your home.
Oil (and gas) uses huge amounts of electricity to produce even before you then burn it though. It’s the same as the anti-vegetarian argument about where do we grow enough vegetables if we quit meat; producing meat requires vast amounts of crops, so is hugely inefficient.
 
It’s a business lease so for the same reasons.
Home charging makes it easier and she has a charge point at work too.

Id have thought with the quick chargers at BP etc even long journeys are doable away from home now, but time will tell?
I'm in the same boat as Catcher ie. Hyundai on a salary sacrifice scheme. Bargain. Would echo what's already been said. Plan for longer journeys by aiming for a service station with a bank of fast chargers. Don't even waste your time with other, slower ones. You can easy get to Manchester/Liverpool and back on a full charge and I've not noticed a hit on the household bills. Would recommend.
 
Was at garage other day and owner and another bloke were talking... someone had new electric and 2 months out of warranty the battery went.... 10k apparently for new one, no idea on car etc. They were also saying if most the road got one to have charging points in each house the electricity cable to supply (so charged in decent time) would have to be that big the whole of UK would need to be dug up... again no idea as to how true but this is what they were saying.

I'll just stick to my knackered 14 yr old aygo.. she has done well.
 
Oil (and gas) uses huge amounts of electricity to produce even before you then burn it though. It’s the same as the anti-vegetarian argument about where do we grow enough vegetables if we quit meat; producing meat requires vast amounts of crops, so is hugely inefficient.
The point I was making we haven't enough electricity to power your houses or cars even if we use more renewable energy in the future and no one wants to build power stations.

By all means get rid of fossil fuels but this seems the wrong way around we need to sort the infrastructure out now to make power and the rest will follow not hoping we won't need petrol and gas in 10 + years time.
 
I’ve not done any calculations but I would imagine there would be sufficient capacity for the extra load needed for charging EV’s especially at night, when we’ve been encouraged to use things like economy 7 etc, when the power stations are running light.
 
Was at garage other day and owner and another bloke were talking... someone had new electric and 2 months out of warranty the battery went.... 10k apparently for new one, no idea on car etc. They were also saying if most the road got one to have charging points in each house the electricity cable to supply (so charged in decent time) would have to be that big the whole of UK would need to be dug up... again no idea as to how true but this is what they were saying.

I'll just stick to my knackered 14 yr old aygo.. she has done well.

I'd heard that EV batteries had long warranties, so, as you do, I checked on Google. Hyundai, VW and Nissan all have 8 year warranties.

So, the car those guys were talking about must have been made in 2013 - an early EV - for the battery to be two months out of warranty. Battery technology has improved since then.

I'm no advocate for electric cars. Like others, I'm planning to run petrol for as long as I can to see how things develop. I'm not sure that EVs are the ultimate long-term solution.
 
The point I was making we haven't enough electricity to power your houses or cars even if we use more renewable energy in the future and no one wants to build power stations.

By all means get rid of fossil fuels but this seems the wrong way around we need to sort the infrastructure out now to make power and the rest will follow not hoping we won't need petrol and gas in 10 + years time.
Sure and I completely agree we have challenges in electricity production and infrastructure, no doubt about it (although I'm pretty sure the oil companies do their best to keep it that way!), I was just saying that if we use LESS electricity moving away from fossil fuels (because of the amount we use to produce the oil and gas) then it makes sense to me that it makes things easier, not harder. We re-purpose the electricity we already produce and use it instead to provide our home heat/cars rather than to extract oil, refine it, transport it and then burn it. Win/win to me.

Renewables are the answer IMO, we just need to get better at it. I think as a species, our skill is that we can solve any problem we really put our minds to (We went from the Wright brothers to the moon in 66 years!!). Sadly, I'm pretty sure many of those with the money and influence aren't really keen to put our collective minds to solving it. For example, how can solar panels be less financially attractive to homeowners now than 10-15 years ago, it's bonkers. I worked it out, and at the moment it would take 42 years for solar panals on my house to pay me back. I'm unlikely to have that kind of time unless I make it to 90! If we reeeeally meant it, they'd pay you back in 10 years with subsidies and every house in the country would have them, and new houses would be obliged to have them, and heat pumps etc.

Dunno much about hydrogen, but its always seemed to be a bit hindenburg'y to me :)
 
Not for me, if I can't fix it myself (or at least know what's wrong with it) then I'm not interested.

Not the best attitude but it's just sort of how I've always viewed cars.
 
Dont really know to much, however for my work it will not be feasible to buy one.( Drive to many miles) My work colleagues who have them plan there journey with electric stops on the way..it adds loads of time on especially if you just want to get home. The other thing I've noticed is how expensive electric is, especially at the motorway service, I walked past one being charged it had cost £48.00 pounds , that's nearly my full tank of petrol that get me 360 miles..
 
This is so much the way we need to go. We need to stop seeing our happiness and personality intrinsically tied up with buying shiny new stuff and learn how to properly recycle, rebuild and adapt. It's obvious that resources are finite.

It's really frustrating that it's entirely possible to imagine say, a phone, with modular design so a processor or camera could be upgraded but people want to wave a purchase about. The visibility of our 'upgrades' is part of our we gain cultural capital I guess. I'm absolutely not exempting myself from the curse of the modern age - I'm no tree dwelling solar panel toting environmental martyr...

Same with cars in a way. We've got a culture based on disposal and whilst recycling has come on a pace, there's still an incredible amount to do.

What we really, really could do with in multiple areas of production is certain standards so repair, upgrade etc were possible. It wouldn't stifle innovative thinking, it would just define lines for that innovative thinking to be within. Currently we have shit loads of stuff chucked away because upgrade or repair is impossible or prohibitively expensive as parts are so specific and require long supply chains. (Or stuff is actually designed not to be repaired or upgraded)
Agree with most of this. Irrespective of fuel source we consume far too much resources looking for the latest version of a car every 3 or 4 years or phone every 2 or 3 years. We should be making things to last much longer and be able to recycle 95% of what we consume. The existing rate of population growth will make this even more critical
 
Will they ever improve the charging time?
If you drive a long way, as I do going through France to the Dordogne, how long to recharge?
 
I've just got a new hybrid, averaging 75mpg. Thought about full ev, but really don't fancy it. Next door neighbor has one, was going away on holiday to Scotland had to plan route and stops to charge. If you're going somewhere with limited charging points, what do you do if they're not available when you get there?

I was stuck for two hours crawling out of Wembley. If if had a half charged EV that I was planning on going up on the way home, what should I have drive? Keep stopping? No aircon on a sweltering day? We're just not there yet.
 
Imagine Christmas morning and you excitedly unwrap your brand new VW ID.3 and there is a sticker in the window saying “Batteries not included”, there will be tears before bedtime!
 
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.
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 👍
 
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.
 
So how much does 20 mins charging at a service station cost?
About a fiver if a fast charger. Honestly wouldn't even bother with the slower ones unless charging for a long time/overnight eg. Wembley Red Car Park which had an abundance of chargers on every floor. Remaining static in traffic uses next to zero power, even with AC, radio on etc and you aren't using petrol/worried about the engine overheating.
 
Back
Top