Are we being forced to go electric?

[bobzmyunkle]

It's what people in the olden days used to wear to work in offices. I believe high ranking executives often still wear them.

Sort of like Sunak wears, but with longer trousers

 

[CXRAndy]

A question on regen braking on electric cars following the discovery of yet another annoying facet of the Hyundai Ioniq PHEVs at work - if you have a fully charged battery, do you still get the regen braking to give the effect of enginge braking? The Hyundai I used today had been left on charge overnight so had a 100% battery and refused to give any level of engine braking effect until it dropped to 90% - to get this I had to move to 'sport' mode (ICE) and use the flappy paddles to drop a gear negating the benefits of the electric motor on local trips.

This car annoys me more every time I drive it.

I get reduced regen when battery is very near to full, but it is still there. You only need 5 miles of use and full regen braking returns

 

[Jameshow]

It would be nice to have much wider cycle lanes behind a barrier on main routes. And to relax the laws about other electric vehicles. ideal world, a slim electric vehicle (something like a Twizy or whatever they are called) but limited to lets say 15mph. Could be treated as a bicycle but big enough to carry 2 people. Fully enclosed. I guess a 2-seater mobility scooter but able to go as fast as a legal e-assist bike. Could be used as a single commuter, or carry a child to school. Simplistic design would allow battery to be taken out and charged indoors. ICE/Hybrid car could be used for longer journeys but at least the majority of short/city trips could be avoided by car. Many trips you wouldn't average more than 15mph anyway. But if it was cheap I'd not mind taking longer to get anywhere, but I bet on some routes would be quicker overall if you didn't have to sit in traffic and had a dedicated infrastrucure you could safely share with cyclists.

It seems that the more we clog up the roads with full-sized cars, the more idling will be done, the more stop-start traffic means more emissions. but having EVs on the road will only partially offset that. Perhaps single occupancy vehicles should be looked into me, but not ebikes, something you can hop in and out of whilst wearing a suit

Like an oversized sinclear C5?
Space frame chassis, light weight wheels and brakes, brief case sized removable battery? Plastic side sheets but fixed screen with wiper?
Room for 2 and luggage or 1 and 2 kids?

 

[CXRAndy]

If I was raiding the savings for an EV now, I'd look at the likes of JD Power and Consumer Reports - my quailty criteria might point me towards a Kia or MG.

The numbers of remedials compared to sales of vehicles is still small. There are similar production problems with any mass made item.
I would choose Kia, but not MG yet. There again my order of EV preference

1. Tesla
2. Kia/Hyundai
3. Porsche
4. Rivian
5. Ford
6. Audi
7. Merc

2000 Jaguar 🤣

 

[Electric_Andy]

What is a 'suit'?

well that was an example. People want to hop into a vehicle with their work clothes on (well I do anyway) without showering and changing at the other end. Cycling to work is great if you have enough time and facilities to shower and change. A 1000W ebike would be ideal, no pedalling, but of course they're illegal. So something needs to fit into the gap between car and bicycle IMHO that takes up less space, is greener, doesn't make you sweaty, doesn't get you wet in the rain and doesn't need a lamp post or charging station to refuel. It's the best of both worlds I think

 

[CXRAndy]

Most of my journey this morning

 

[cougie uk]

well that was an example. People want to hop into a vehicle with their work clothes on (well I do anyway) without showering and changing at the other end. Cycling to work is great if you have enough time and facilities to shower and change. A 1000W ebike would be ideal, no pedalling, but of course they're illegal. So something needs to fit into the gap between car and bicycle IMHO that takes up less space, is greener, doesn't make you sweaty, doesn't get you wet in the rain and doesn't need a lamp post or charging station to refuel. It's the best of both worlds I think

Why would you need a 1000w ebike ? A normal ebike would let you commute without breaking a sweat.

 

[vickster]

well that was an example. People want to hop into a vehicle with their work clothes on (well I do anyway) without showering and changing at the other end. Cycling to work is great if you have enough time and facilities to shower and change. A 1000W ebike would be ideal, no pedalling, but of course they're illegal. So something needs to fit into the gap between car and bicycle IMHO that takes up less space, is greener, doesn't make you sweaty, doesn't get you wet in the rain and doesn't need a lamp post or charging station to refuel. It's the best of both worlds I think

Don’t electric scooters/mopeds already exist? Those Getir riders use them for example in these parts

 

[Scottish Scrutineer]

well that was an example. People want to hop into a vehicle with their work clothes on (well I do anyway) without showering and changing at the other end. Cycling to work is great if you have enough time and facilities to shower and change. A 1000W ebike would be ideal, no pedalling, but of course they're illegal. So something needs to fit into the gap between car and bicycle IMHO that takes up less space, is greener, doesn't make you sweaty, doesn't get you wet in the rain and doesn't need a lamp post or charging station to refuel. It's the best of both worlds I think

Commuters in other countries seem to cope;

 

[simongt]

Be interesting to see if this Govt. goes the whole way and eventually demand that the 3.6 million ICE motor bikes on our roads be changed to EV ones - !

 

[Dadam]

Why would you need a 1000w ebike ? A normal ebike would let you commute without breaking a sweat.

Depends on rider weight/fitness and hills. I have a "normal", legal 250w ebike and even on max assist I still get a pretty good sweat on the commute home (finishes with a 1 mile hill averaging 4-5% with a short 10% section in the middle.

 

[FishFright]

Be interesting to see if this Govt. goes the whole way and eventually demand that the 3.6 million ICE motor bikes on our roads be changed to EV ones - !

They will eventually, it needs to be done.

 

[Electric_Andy]

Why would you need a 1000w ebike ? A normal ebike would let you commute without breaking a sweat.

a road legal e-assist bike will not get you up a steep hill. Nor will it get you up any substantial incline without pedalling. And even a bit of pedalling in the summer made me sweat

 

[Electric_Andy]

Don’t electric scooters/mopeds already exist? Those Getir riders use them for example in these parts

They do, but they're not enclosed. Easy to get soaked when it's raining. And most (all?) are too powerful to legally use dedicated cycle ways. Even though some 50cc equivalent e-peds are limited to 28mph, they're still classed as a motor vehicle

 

[vickster]

They do, but they're not enclosed. Easy to get soaked when it's raining. And most (all?) are too powerful to legally use dedicated cycle ways. Even though some 50cc equivalent e-peds are limited to 28mph, they're still classed as a motor vehicle

Nor would a 1000W e-bike be enclosed which is where you started off and wouldn't that be too powerful? What's wrong with a normal e-bike? How steep are the hills on your commute?
Just get an e-moped and a bike license?