First electric car experience

[Illaveago]

It is all very nice but they haven't sorted out the charging issues yet. The Hyundai which takes 5 minutes to charge giving 62 miles on a 350KW charger sounds fine but if there were a lot of them charging at the same time then there would be a few blackouts .
Unless they increase the numbers of charging points vastly people could end up queueing to charge their vehicles.The other thing is will there be charging point hogging ? The people who are charging their vehicles go off shopping and forget that other people might be waiting to use the machine .
Also there will come a point when people will have to start paying. The government will soon discover that they won't be getting the same income that they used to from selling fuel .

 

[bikingdad90]

Ooh @gzoom now that is interesting! Shame it isn’t affordable yet.

 

[gzoom]

Ooh @gzoom now that is interesting! Shame it isn’t affordable yet.

Its a real shame with all EV pricing these cars really aren't getting any cheaper, because as family cars they are fab. Massive amounts of space, top safety rating, peanuts running costs despite crazy performance.

The starting price of our Tesla was £64k in 2016 its now a mad £95k!!! I persume all these companies need to make ££££ from developing these cars and if people are buying them at inflated prices they feel no need to reduce prices. Its much like bike companies charging crazy amounts for their top end machines.

 

[keithmac]

Am not sure why you waited so long to try an EV. I traded in a 380whp BMW 335i running a Quaife LSD, Bilstein dampers for a Nissan Leaf after a test drive!!

I haven't looked back since, and when our current EV is due for replacement some time near 2030, I cannot wait to try a quad motor, 1000bhp+ machine that will do 0-100mph in sub 4 seconds .

View attachment 601764

Some Teslas are already doing 2.5 second 0 to 60. Instant full torque from standing start.

I'm sure I've seen some Tesla 9 second 1/4 mile runs.

Amazing really!.

 

[JhnBssll]

Sounds like an excellent choice, EV's are certainly becoming more and more popular. The Tesla model 3 was the highest selling car in the UK in June. I'm sure this was partly due to supply issues, but even so it's a big swing towards electrification.

I was lucky enough to order a Model 3 a few weeks back. Went for the long range dual motor variant with 19" sport wheels in the standard white, pretty excited! It's a company car so the low BIK made it the only sensible choice. With an achievable real world range of over 300 miles (362 advertised) and 0-60 of 4.2 seconds it should be able to do my 24 mile round trip commute quite comfortably

 

[fossyant]

The Tesla model 3 was the highest selling car in the UK in June

Lease.

Not ownership though is it !

I am not paying that silly money for a tin box. Fark that...

Sorry most of these cars are not 'owned'.

 

[Ridgeway]

Once the range is there i'll be switching over, that should be at the next car change so in 3yrs approx. Just changed cars and in my investigation there were 2 things that made an EV a non option: 1) no choice of an estate/load lugger and 2) too limited range, i believe both will be resolved over the next 24 months or so, at least enough for my needs

Until then i'll just keep burning some petrol

 

[JhnBssll]

Lease.

Not ownership though is it !

I am not paying that silly money for a tin box. Fark that...

Sorry most of these cars are not 'owned'.

Was it something I said?

I beg to differ - all of these vehicles are owned, just some not always by the registered keeper. I joined a Model 3 Facebook group recently and they did a quick poll to gauge ownership type and over 60% of those that responded had paid cash for their cars. Its probably not statistically relevant to the wider population, but its interesting none the less.

I paid cash for my last car and I wish I hadn't. When it went catastrophically wrong a few days out of warranty it cost me nearly £5k to repair, then I lost another £2k selling it on at a reduced price with another fault still present. I could have given a lease car back at any point and lost far less money. I won't be buying a car outright for the foreseeable future, I've seen the lease light

This Tesla as a company car is anything but silly money, it'll cost me £16 a month in BIK and I'll save far more than that in fuel bills, insurance, tyres, servicing etc etc

 

[cougie uk]

still above my budget at 10 k for a whole car

You do need to factor in your needs too. If you do regular decent mileage that's within the range of the car then you're paying what 25% of the cost of petrol or diesel. That adds up pretty quickly.

 

[Tenkaykev]

For those with a deeper interest in the construction and “ under the bonnet “ engineering of electric vehicles there is the “ Munro Live “ YouTube channel. Sandy Munro is an engineer who worked his way up in Ford Motors to head research departments.The company is an engineering consultancy that purchases Electric vehicles and strips them down to the nuts and bolts, analysing and reporting on the good and not so good aspects of the component and construction choices. A really interesting and deep insight into Electric vehicles.

 

[cyberknight]

You do need to factor in your needs too. If you do regular decent mileage that's within the range of the car then you're paying what 25% of the cost of petrol or diesel. That adds up pretty quickly.

about 4000 miles a year

 

[fossyant]

about 4000 miles a year

Like me, not enough miles.

I've considered one for the commute, but a bit pointless now due to covid, and my commutes will be a couple of times a week, and likely by bike now.

Also I could just squeeze a trip to the caravan in an EV, but not get back, charging points are poor in North Wales, and not so sure a caravan electrics will cope with a charger.

Cost is also an issue. e.g a petrol Corsa is about £10k or more cheaper than the electric one. Bonkers - i'll never get the fuel difference back.

 

[figbat]

Also I could just squeeze a trip to the caravan in an EV, but not get back, charging points are poor in North Wales, and not so sure a caravan electrics will cope with a charger.

Some caravan sites specifically forbid the charging of EVs from the general EHU network. A limited number provide EV charging capability. I did wonder about charging mine from the caravan on the drive, since it is plugged in to the house and has a convenient spare socket right there next to the car, but as you say even though it is nominally a 13A circuit in the 'van and the car's granny charger is supposedly rated at 10A, I'm not willing to try it.

 

[fossyant]

Some caravan sites specifically forbid the charging of EVs from the general EHU network. A limited number provide EV charging capability. I did wonder about charging mine from the caravan on the drive, since it is plugged in to the house and has a convenient spare socket right there next to the car, but as you say even though it is nominally a 13A circuit in the 'van and the car's granny charger is supposedly rated at 10A, I'm not willing to try it.

Our caravan trips if you have the kettle and microwave on. 3kw is about max.

 

[Sittingduck]

What is available in terms of 'hot-swappable' battery packs? I think if this doesn't exist, it needs to be invented.
Not saying they can't have conventional charging and batter packs in there but a supplementary hot swap battery that can be plugged in and would be organised like BBQ gas bottles with instant swap of empty for a full one (offered at all garages) seems to be a good idea, at least to me. The hot swap pack would offer perhaps 100 miles for extended range and remove the time to charge mid trip. Anybody know if this exists yet or if not when?!

I tried to order a PHEV on the company scheme late last year but it didn't work out and for now at least we have a petrol which is likely to become our second car in a few years time. I would like to go to full EV but the range limitations and charging requirements (plus high cost of the car) are off putting.