First electric car experience

[ericmark]

I like the idea the AC can run when engine is stopped, but could only be a second car, will not pull caravan and with a 60 amp total supply to house, charging is an issue, so maximum time I am likely to drive is 30 years, and the electric car uses so much energy, my e-bike has a 12 Ah battery at 48 volt and can take me 20 miles to shops and back, compare that to battery size in a car, clearly some thing wrong.

 

[gzoom]

The electric car uses so much energy

If you think EVs are inefficiency work out the energy wasted in combustion engines!!

Roughly speaking at most combustion engines has 40% thermal efficiency, older engines closer to 20%. Add in gear box losses you are looking at 1/4 the efficiency of EVs!!

Than add in the energy needed to extract, refine, transport the fuel, its amazing we are waiting till 2030 to ban the sale of new combustion cars.

 

[Tenkaykev]

I like the idea the AC can run when engine is stopped, but could only be a second car, will not pull caravan and with a 60 amp total supply to house, charging is an issue, so maximum time I am likely to drive is 30 years, and the electric car uses so much energy, my e-bike has a 12 Ah battery at 48 volt and can take me 20 miles to shops and back, compare that to battery size in a car, clearly some thing wrong.

The car industry has spent over a century making vehicles and the design has evolved usually around a box for the engine, a box for the passengers and a box for the luggage. This has been refined to make the vehicles more “ squishy “ to protect passengers in case of crashes and more aerodynamic to help fuel consumption. This methodology has become embedded in car manufacturing with the traditional manufacturers just substituting an Electric drive train and still keeping construction/ component usage much the same. “ Munro Live “ has stripped down several electric vehicles down to the bare shell and analysed and questioned why certain design decisions/ component choices were made. The latest YouTube video from them even had a design person from Ford answering questions and explaining various choices. Well worth a watch for those interested in the Engineering and construction, both good and bad of various marques.

 

[cougie uk]

electric car uses so much energy, my e-bike has a 12 Ah battery at 48 volt and can take me 20 miles to shops and back, compare that to battery size in a car, clearly some thing wrong.

Not really. How heavy is your bike ?
Compare that to the car.
And the ebike is just topping up your efforts too.

Imagine trying to pedal a 2 tonne car with those wheels on and see how far you'd get.

My EV is powered entirely on renewable electricity. Far better than an ICE car.

 

[ericmark]

The problem is to pass crash tests the car has to be so heavy, Citroen 2 CV was 600 kg (1,323 lb) and carried 4 people, there is no need to have a car weighing over a ton unless using it to tow with.

 

[MrGrumpy]

What you should be doing is encouraging everybody who can buy a new car to get an EV, that is the only way used prices will fall!!

The actual ownership and running costs of an EV is pennies compared to combustion cars. My 'luxury' SUV, costs £0 in VED, I have serviced it ONCE in 4 years and 40k+ miles, and despite been able to do 0-60mph in under 5 seconds the 160 mile we did to see family last night cost us under £5 in fuel.

The low running costs and ease of ownership is why used prices of EVs are holding firm, ours has depreciated less than 30% in 4 years and its going to be long long time before it reaches the same price of current used combustion cars. But that isn't anyone's 'fault' its simply supply and demand.

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Not interested in an EV , it does not tick all the boxes , I’m pretty sure I’m not alone neither. So yes combustion engine all the way for now. I’d maybe consider a hybrid next but that’s it. Once all the boxes are ticked then I may jump in.

 

[MrGrumpy]

My EV is powered entirely on renewable electricity. Far better than an ICE car.

Do you have your own solar panels ?

 

[MrGrumpy]

The problem is to pass crash tests the car has to be so heavy, Citroen 2 CV was 600 kg (1,323 lb) and carried 4 people, there is no need to have a car weighing over a ton unless using it to tow with.

Wouldn’t want to be in a 2CV in a crash !

 

[cougie uk]

Do you have your own solar panels ?

Not yet. Maybe in the future. But in the meanwhile we only use renewable electricity from Octopus.

https://octopus.energy/blog/what-ma...VHwHPBYKdh5E3PlSZXDXYq_fBcPgjPqxoCgEEQAvD_BwE

 

[MrGrumpy]

Not yet. Maybe in the future. But in the meanwhile we only use renewable electricity from Octopus.

https://octopus.energy/blog/what-ma...VHwHPBYKdh5E3PlSZXDXYq_fBcPgjPqxoCgEEQAvD_BwE

Not quite true is it!? What they do is invest in renewables only. One things for sure once EVs become mainstream, they will be taxed to the hilt as well !?

 

[cougie uk]

Basically it's the same. Obviously there's no way to separate solar power electrons from the rest...

I don't doubt they will have to tax EVs - but probably technology will have evolved and we can do pay per mile. In the meantime I'm paying 25% of the petrol bill I used to.

 

[Drago]

Not really. How heavy is your bike ?
Compare that to the car.
And the ebike is just topping up your efforts too.

Imagine trying to pedal a 2 tonne car with those wheels on and see how far you'd get.

My EV is powered entirely on renewable electricity. Far better than an ICE car.

That's over simplistic. You're talking 30,000-50,000 miles of use before it starts to draw ahead of an ICE powered vehicle.

For someone like me who does 1000 miles a year or less it would be very disadvantageous to the environment to buy a new electric car, as at my age I'll likely never reach the break CO2 even point.

On the other hand Mrs D, who is disabled, relies on her car much more than I do and does much higher mileage, so he Polestar 2 will quickly go into the black on the pollution balance sheet.

Nevertheless, it's not a panacea. It brings only a moderate reduction in vehicle lifetime CO2 usage, so is merely trimming around the edges and not a cure. Throw in the massive heavy metal soil pollution, use of child labour, and irreversible damage being done to subterranean water sources being caused in the name of extracting the rare earth metals to make the batteries and electronics, and one can see a massive pollution disadvantage that is being all too conveniently overlooked.

Electric car ownership or aspiration is all well and good, but none of us should be getting smug. Their manufacture and use still inflicts enormous environmental damage. If we really cared we would be working to eradicate unnecessary private car use entirely, not prolonging and justifying that it with specious talk of environmental goodness.

 

[cougie uk]

I do think that EV cars will bring self driving vehicles a lot faster than with ICE vehicles. It'll be like Taxis but less racist.

Obviously I prefer to walk or bike if I can - but cars do have a use.

 

[gzoom]

If we really cared we would be working to eradicate unnecessary private car use entirely, not prolonging and justifying that it with specious talk of environmental goodness.

The reality though given how resistant to change people are to give up the combustion engine (just see the comments in this thread), any demand or mandate to make people cars disappear will gain 0 traction amounts any one. Even though I use my pedal bike to commute to work, there is zero change I would give up our cars, regardless of any global environmental concerns.

Any one can probably see our planet is already pretty much done with us as the dominate species, we'll almost certainly go down in the fossil record as nothing more than a blip.

 

[figbat]

Whilst there is a natural and understandable focus on total emissions and if/how and EV benefits, the other factors is emission location. The emissions that power an EV are usually out of town, away from schools and shops and kitten sanctuaries (and possibly even in another country) whereas ICE emissions follow it wherever it goes. And if EV charging is overnight then the emissions are too.

Of course there is the inevitable focus on other emissions which EVs cause - particulates from tyres is one.