First electric car experience

[gbb]

Recharging is a lot cheaper than diesel. This article is from 2019 but it makes the point:-
drive-electric.co.uk/electric-vehicles-vs-petrol-diesel-hybrid/

Even superchargers are cheaper than Diesel by a fair amount, and Diesel is only going to get more expensive.

Your second point is valid, but the same can be said of fuel consumption figures for ICE cars.

Your third point is a mystery. No one on here driving an EV has reported a problem with working charge points. Maybe Guy should have got a Tesla?

I watched Guys program last night where as part of it, he drove a considerable distance, attempting (sometimes unsuccessfully) to use just superchargers. At the end of the trip they calculated electric charges were considerably more expensive than had he done it in a diesel.

 

[cougie uk]

I watched Guys program last night where as part of it, he drove a considerable distance, attempting (sometimes unsuccessfully) to use just superchargers. At the end of the trip they calculated electric charges were considerably more expensive than had he done it in a diesel.

He was paying 70p a kWh on the motorway. The normal rate is 30p.

It's almost like he was doing it deliberately.

 

[gbb]

He was paying 70p a kWh on the motorway. The normal rate is 30p.

It's almost like he was doing it deliberately.

Yes he was, the idea was to do the trip (over 1000 miles) in 24 hours. In the end it took him 27 iirc. Using superchargers was central to the attempt...inevitably, theres a (higher) cost.

 

[cougie uk]

Yes he was, the idea was to do the trip (over 1000 miles) in 24 hours. In the end it took him 27 iirc. Using superchargers was central to the attempt...inevitably, theres a (higher) cost.

But he was paying supercharger prices but not getting the faster charging rates.

Blooming ridiculous to try 1000 miles in a day when the average annual mileage is about 10,000.

And so unsafe unless he had a co driver ?

 

[gbb]

But he was paying supercharger prices but not getting the faster charging rates.

Blooming ridiculous to try 1000 miles in a day when the average annual mileage is about 10,000.

And so unsafe unless he had a co driver ?

I did wonder actually how he / they did it, its not advisable to say the least.

 

[Pale Rider]

Martin made a fair attempt at a real world long EV journey.

Not everyone can be bothered to research kw/h prices, particularly because at present they are not displayed on a board near the point.

The number of broken chargers is what it is.

And as regards motorways being more expensive, nothing changes there, does it?

Martin did make his journey, proving that it can be done, but the extra faff over slapping in a few tanks of juice is hardly going to encourage anyone who regularly does long journeys to switch to electric.

 

[cougie uk]

Martin made a fair attempt at a real world long EV journey.

Not everyone can be bothered to research kw/h prices, particularly because at present they are not displayed on a board near the point.

The number of broken chargers is what it is.

And as regards motorways being more expensive, nothing changes there, does it?

Martin did make his journey, proving that it can be done, but the extra faff over slapping in a few tanks of juice is hardly going to encourage anyone who regularly does long journeys to switch to electric.

1000 miles in 25 hours ? How many people do that ? Especially in the UK.

It's 30p per kWh on the motorway. It was only 70p as he was wanting to use the ultra fast charging. (that didn't work anyway).

If you're doing a long drive - you'd stop for food and toilets and rest. Just charge when you're doing that. It's not an additional thing like filling up with petrol - you charge whilst you're doing other things.

 

[Sittingduck]

How long does it take to do those things roughly, 20 mins or so? Just curious on the faster chargers how much capacity you can charge in the time, assuming there is a charge point available of course? Is it literally like boosting your phone charge and worth it for short periods, dunno...

 

[cougie uk]

Last time I charged away from home it was 27 mins on the M6 whilst going to the loo/having a wee.

I put in 16kwh (my battery is 40) and it cost me £4.80.

16 kwh takes me about 64 miles.

That gave me plenty to get back home and I fill up there for cheaper.

 

[Pale Rider]

1000 miles in 25 hours ? How many people do that ? Especially in the UK.

It's 30p per kWh on the motorway. It was only 70p as he was wanting to use the ultra fast charging. (that didn't work anyway).

It's just an example of a long journey.

The number of broken chargers he found suggests everything in that garden is not rosy.

In turn, that could force a driver into using an expensive one, even if that driver could be bothered to research the various prices.

Regulation aside, if electric cars are to succeed they will have to appeal to 'ordinary' drivers who are merely looking for convenient and cost effective travel.

The experience of early adopters, prepared to pay a lot of money and work at making an electric car work for them, is not relevant to most of us.

 

[gzoom]

The experience of early adopters, prepared to pay a lot of money and work at making an electric car work for them, is not relevant to most of us.

I still find it unbelievable so many people come up with excuses to resist any kind of deviation from the status quo.

After our recent 1000miles trip to Scotland in our EV, I've now had the 'OK' from SWMBO to plan the Norway road trip for next year. The plan is to try and book 10 -12 days of leave and do a road trip to cover the major Fjords in Norway.

You can now buy a used Model S for a little over £25k that will do this trip tomorrow if needed. EVs work absolutely fine, but some people just choose to ignore that fact.

 

[midlife]

My max budget for the last car I bought was £4k.

£25k was way out of my budget, I think that's a good enough excuse. However unbelievable you might find the excuse.

 

[Archie_tect]

We traded in my lease car and our 2008 Polo and bought a 70 reg Seat Leon Estate e-Hybrid, 4 month old ex manager's car, for £10800 less than the £32000 new one in the garage... they were like hen's teeth during lockdown - there were 2 manager's cars in the whole of the UK- both in Pentagon Seat in Bolton.

90%+ of our journeys are local [ie less than the car's electric only range of 31-34 real-time miles [it costs £1.70 to charge fully from flat], anything nearer than [say] 10 miles we use the bike or e-tandem!

When we go on longer journeys the petrol engine will do up to 61mpg but that is offset by using hybrid mode which saves the battery for setting off from 0mph, regenerating under braking/downhill to give an average of 109mpg depending on traffic [and wind direction!] typically driving from Newcastle to Sheffield- Oxfordshire drops that to 72mpg [worst case so far].

I couldn't justify the cost of a full electric yet but by the time this hybrid is 10 years old there'll be a sea-change in infrastructure and new models and options available and the second hand market will have stabilised.

 

[Pale Rider]

I still find it unbelievable so many people come up with excuses to resist any kind of deviation from the status quo.

No excuses or resistance, it's simply a matter of assessing the options available.

At present, an electric car is significantly more expensive to buy for which you get compromised real world performance in comparison to a smelly diesel.

The overall environmental benefits are questionable.

Some reports of child labour being used in Africa to mine the precious metals used for batteries, which in themselves are a finite resource, same as oil.

At least oil is taken out of the ground by big beefy blokes who are earning decent money.

Dropping £25K on a second hand electric car makes no sense to me when I can get a better diesel one for a lot less.

Further, given that I'm not especially wealthy, spending that amount could be seen as financially irresponsible.

The carrot just isn't going to work, hence the stick due in 2030.

Which is fine, but let's not kid ourselves as to what's going on here.

 

[mikeIow]

A definite element of truth in PRs post there....for so many people, EVs are *way* too expensive and chargepoints still far too inaccessible...

Interesting report in a recent AutoExpress about why (how) Norway because such huge adopters....government removed taxes from EVs which had the impact of making them cost the same. Charging infrastructure is ahead of us too - we are getting there, but still very much work in progress. We can learn from their approach

All that said: our first experience is now 26 months into a Kona EV - 25k miles.
It is simply brilliant
Lucky to already have solar (which helps, but only a bit) & easy parking at our detached house.
We tend to be doing regular (3-4 times a week) 70-mile round trips.
We also moved to Octopus Energy & got on a very low cost Go tariff - the net effect being that although our electricity usage has doubled per annum, our monthly payments have remained the same (& we are a few hundred in credit), so technically the fuel has cost us nothing (man maths!). If anyone wants a code to join & share £100 between us from them, msg me 😉

The car is simply astonishing - it feels like driving the future 😎
We are lucky to have my older XC60 for runs where we need more capacity, or indeed longer runs where we don't want the hassle of lots of charging (eg, trip to Scotland to move mucho luggage for our offspring, or trips to the tip, or runs to get to the Alps for skiing).....
....but otherwise our go-to car is the Kona, which makes the 2014 XC60 feel like a dinosaur - astonishing acceleration, heated and cooled seats, brilliant adaptive cruise (& lane control) - the tech is superb!

2030 is some years away....I still think a chunk of people will struggle to move to EVs even then, & yes, today battery tech is far from perfect (but so is burning fossil fuels!), & development is cracking on apace to get better at all these things.
Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good, as a smart philosopher once said!