What's the problem with electric cars?

[Benzine]

Originally Posted by S60D5-185

Out of all of the posters on this thread how many actually own a Pure Electric car at the moment?

I honestly see many benefits but I also see a huge amount of virtue signalling from people who have probably never lived day to day with one.

Purchased in 2016. It's a motorbike though, couldn't afford a car!

[Whyman]

Originally Posted by Fastpatsilents

Effectively we are acknowledging that the UK government has failed to introduce enough charging points to keep pace with the increased number of EV cars sold.

Some time ago someone worked out that to keep pace with the increase in EV numbers they needed to install 3,000 charging points per day!

Not going to plan?

[Existential Crisis]

Originally Posted by S60D5-185

See post 65 of this thread George. 👍

Thanks Daryl, sounds like another who simply didn't do his homework before buying?

[S60D5-185]

On the contrary George, he's retired and " usually" is pretty local.
When he needed to do several journeys from Durham to London at short notice the charging situation throughout the Country became readily apparent.
Car was great. Charging it mid journey unacceptable.

[DaveNP]

My wife's cousin has owned an all electric car since well before covid, he lives in the home counties and for work would drive into London where he could park on a charging point before driving home at the end of his shift, his parents live on the Welsh borders and he could drive there in one go except in the winter when he is using heater, lights etc but there is a coffee shop 3/4 of the wat there where he can charge up enough while having a coffee to complete the journey.
With just one anecdote I presume I have proved beyond all reasonable doubt that EVs are the best thing since sliced bread. Or perhaps could we accept that while sliced bread is great for sandwiches sometimes a crusty roll is nicer with a bowl of soup.

[SnineT]

Originally Posted by Benzine

Wow. An i3 is a nice little car, looks different and quick off the line. But a motorway mile muncher it isn't. She didn't even have the REX version which would have been better for the odd longer journey. An i3 would suit my average driving week down to the ground, but if I had a journey like Essex to Blackpool I'd be borrowing or going straight down to Enterprise for a rental.

It's also amazing how many people buy an electric car, sit at 80 on the motorway and then complain about range being poor.

Exactly right, they are ideal for 20 miles a day motorists or even those that go no further than the next county but for a rep needing to be 150 miles away this morning and in the office asap they're not so convenient, imagine this, you drive from say Oxford one morning to say Newcastle but as the range anxiety becomes an issue the national grid goes down (extreme I know but not so much so in the current theatre) now the poor chap is still a few miles from the meeting and has no chance of making it in time or getting home, ok a gas station won't be live for petrol either in this scenario but the driver had the chance to put 400 miles under the back seat.


Btw I do like the leccy scrambler type bike, could see myself wanting one of them.

[Fastpatsilents]

And there has never been a shortage of fuel for ICE?

https://www.herefordtimes.com/news/1...shire-garages/

[The Thong]

Originally Posted by SnineT

O Deer.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...n-reverse.html

This is what happens when things are not thought out very well. Fuel prices go mental and supplies become sketchy because of alleged fuel shortages etc, people look to electric cars. Then the supply out strips the infrastructure plus the cost of these vehicles, people look to ICE powered vehicles again etc etc. meanwhile on the world stage our leader ship is crowing about how we’re getting greener etc etc. it’s madness. This seems to be something we’re good at, panic and rush without consideration to the consequences.
Nothing changes.

TT

[Rocinante]

To gather up a few points that have come up over the last few pages:

I don't own an EV, I've got a 12 year old diesel Volvo, so I’ve no EV experience. I’m not actively looking to replace at the moment, (subject to my current steeds reliability), principally down to the price of second hand cars, so I’m hoping the market will settle and drop, but one option I’ve been looking at is the MG5 EV. I tend to buy my cars when they’re 4 years old, (so I’ve actually had my current Volvo for 8years) hopefully missing on the steepest depreciation, and when I replace am looking for similar.

So when the time comes, I’m considering a 4 year old MG5 EV, some on here would no doubt consider this a crazy decision, as they would consider that the battery would already be on its last legs by that point. It comes with 7 year warranty, so I’d still be in warranty cover for the first three years, and I don’t expect it to fail as soon as it leaves warranty. Some would consider this risky, I don’t think the evidence backs that up. How would the EV be at 12 years old, I suppose that is less certain.

As for use, I’ve a daily commute of 90 miles (round trip), and the MG5 has a range of 214miles, so I’m comfortably under that even with a reduced range both for age and conditions. So I plug it in at the house, drive to work and back and plug it in the next night. Savings over Diesel were over £2000 per year, last time I worked it out, (but it’s been a while, and both diesel and Electricity prices have went a bit crazy since I did the calc, so I’ll need to review in due course) as well as reduced servicing costs etc., so my views aren’t altruistic in any way. I really only do longer trips maybe a couple of times a year so it doesn’t weigh heavily on the decision making process.

So an EV for my use seems quite suited. Would it suit everyone, of course not.
Are some points being exaggerated on both sides of the debate of the of EV’s, almost certainly, but from my point of view, I think generally (certainly within this forum), that the pro EV crowd accept that EV don’t fit every use case, but will fit most (75% of commutes are less than 10 miles), and you can still purchase ICE cars for the next 7 years for those that it doesn’t suit, and they will be on the road a lot longer than that. However on the anti EV side, there certainly seems to an element of ‘Petrolheads’, that insist that EV’s are the worst thing to happen to ever happen to motoring, as so well parodied by Benzine in post 81. The ‘Petrolheads’ on the other hand, no doubt think we’re being blind to the EV’s failings.

Just my tuppence, which largely missed the OP’s question of “What’s wrong with Electric Cars ?” which I suppose from my point of view is largely nothing, use case dependant.

[SnineT]

Originally Posted by The Thong

This is what happens when things are not thought out very well. Fuel prices go mental and supplies become sketchy because of alleged fuel shortages etc, people look to electric cars. Then the supply out strips the infrastructure plus the cost of these vehicles, people look to ICE powered vehicles again etc etc. meanwhile on the world stage our leader ship is crowing about how we’re getting greener etc etc. it’s madness. This seems to be something we’re good at, panic and rush without consideration to the consequences.
Nothing changes.

TT

The tin foiler in me ran a scenario about all of this and these are the results...



After 20 odd years of being invaded by our "liberation" driven leaders the places where oil resides have all told us to ****off!


The whole thing is badly thought out but hey everybody knows the science is always right even when it flies in it's own face.