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What's the problem with electric cars?

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Old Sep 12th, 2024, 03:11   #1751
Forg
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Originally Posted by Kev0607 View Post
If the Government did the same here as Norway did (so lots of public chargers that worked and were accessible), but on a much larger scale than Norway... Would EV uptake be the same? I don't think it would. I think EV's have been plastered with such a bad name that most won't even consider it
Just on this point ... I'm not sure I agree there.

I think it's the echo-chamber thing, where if you go looking for that bad name then not only do you find it, but wherever you're looking then starts picking other instances of that same bad name & throws those at you as well.

I don't think there's a high percentage of the people who buy cars, or initiate the purchase of a car, that are necessarily caring enough to go looking for that stuff. So they'll just get whatever they think suits them, either 'cos they think it's going to make them look funky or because it goes hard in a straight-line during the test-drive or because they get a tax-break or whatever. They're not in that echo-chamber so they're not seeing the same (?mis?)information being sent to them all the time as though they're different pieces of information that build-up a picture.
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Old Sep 12th, 2024, 08:59   #1752
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All the professionals I know with a car through work or a car through a work scheme are getting into electric cars for the BIK. Zero concerns about any “bad name”.

I think the bad name thing you hear in a minority from some corners comes from spending too much time watching ‘influencers’ spreading their theories on YouTube which later becomes s**t chat down the local 😂

The rest of us laugh it off and carry on 👍
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Old Sep 12th, 2024, 12:56   #1753
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Our Southern sales manager dropped the company Tesla he inherited as soon as he could, opted back out of the car scheme and went back to diesel.
Our Northern sales manager dropped his full electric thing ( I don't remember what it was tbh) and went back to hybrid.

They've tried full electric, not liked it/found it a pain in the rear to use full electric for work, and reverted.
I've heard of a few other company car drivers within the business doing the same.

Of course if you just had a car _through_ work rather than needing it _for_ work and only did a few miles to an office etc per day, the results would be different.
(That said, I being in the former camp of having a sub 1k per yr business mileage and the car just being a perk, handed back the company hybrid [which was perfectly fine as a car, just automotive white goods], left the company scheme and now daily a 35yr old volvo..)
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Old Sep 12th, 2024, 13:31   #1754
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Originally Posted by Cull06 View Post
All the professionals I know with a car through work or a car through a work scheme are getting into electric cars for the BIK. Zero concerns about any “bad name”.

I think the bad name thing you hear in a minority from some corners comes from spending too much time watching ‘influencers’ spreading their theories on YouTube which later becomes s**t chat down the local 😂

The rest of us laugh it off and carry on 👍
It's a valid post and I'll be giving you a thx for it in a minute.

My point with EV's isn't about range, charging times although they don't help to make an EV appealing, my one concern is the speed the fire escalates once the car is on fire vs a fuel car, there are loads of video's from China especially and indeed the USA of EV's fully burned out some of which the occupants did not escape in time, I would also say this frenching of the door handles is a bad idea as well but that applies to all modern cars that the maker is choosing style and sleekness over functionality.

Anyway maybe soon they will be able to use a better battery source that is more stable cos one good T-bone in a current full EV and the only advice I have is "gtfo quick because squashed lithium batteries once squashed only do one thing and that's combust.
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Old Sep 13th, 2024, 14:13   #1755
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my one concern is the speed the fire escalates once the car is on fire vs a fuel car, there are loads of video's from China especially and indeed the USA of EV's fully burned out some of which the occupants did not escape in time
My job is road safety, in particular testing of new vehicles.

For EU markets, new cars undergo 5 crash tests - offset frontal, full frontal (with a focus on restraint systems), side, side pole, and rear.

In each of those 5 crash tests, when testing an electric vehicle specific checks are made post-test to ensure there is no danger to the occupants from excess voltage etc. A vehicle catching fire during the test would also result in it not gaining approval to be sold in that form! If you want some bedtime reading, you can find the full requirements in UNECE Regulations 94, 95, 135, 137 and 58, which are available freely online.

This is a video of a pole side impact test on a Tesla Model 3 - unfortunately it's to the US standard rather than the UNECE one but it's a very similar test.

+ YouTube Video
ERROR: If you can see this, then YouTube is down or you don't have Flash installed.


This video shows several tests on the Polestar EV, and even shows the voltage tests showing the battery disconnects when the car is crashed:

+ YouTube Video
ERROR: If you can see this, then YouTube is down or you don't have Flash installed.


In addition, the battery pack as a component is tested under a range of conditions, including vibration, mechanical impact, thermal shock, fire resistance, over-charging and so on. If you're still struggling to sleep, UNECE R100 has the full requirements.

I'd have no hesitation to use an EV (on safety grounds, or any other) based on my experience. There's always a chance someone could crash in a spectacular enough way to damage the battery pack, but the same is true for vehicles with a tank of flammable liquid.

Other markets may have lesser safety standards, or those posting the stories could have ulterior motives. There are plenty of articles on Snopes where it appears videos have been mis-captioned to spread concern over EV safety...

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/tesla-on-fire/

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/el...arehouse-fire/


Last edited by tofufi; Sep 13th, 2024 at 14:19.
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Old Sep 13th, 2024, 14:44   #1756
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Originally Posted by Chris1Roll View Post
Our Southern sales manager dropped the company Tesla he inherited as soon as he could, opted back out of the car scheme and went back to diesel.
Our Northern sales manager dropped his full electric thing ( I don't remember what it was tbh) and went back to hybrid.

They've tried full electric, not liked it/found it a pain in the rear to use full electric for work, and reverted.
I've heard of a few other company car drivers within the business doing the same.

Of course if you just had a car _through_ work rather than needing it _for_ work and only did a few miles to an office etc per day, the results would be different.
(That said, I being in the former camp of having a sub 1k per yr business mileage and the car just being a perk, handed back the company hybrid [which was perfectly fine as a car, just automotive white goods], left the company scheme and now daily a 35yr old volvo..)
Quite a number of my friends and colleagues have done that, but not becuase they don't like the electric car, they love them, it's the inconvenience of charging and availability of chargers (for non-Tesla).
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Old Sep 13th, 2024, 19:05   #1757
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Quite a number of my friends and colleagues have done that, but not becuase they don't like the electric car, they love them, it's the inconvenience of charging and availability of chargers (for non-Tesla).
Which brings us back to insufficient infrastructure compared to demand…. I’m seeing more and more charging stations going in. There’s a village east of Leamington where they’ve put in 4/6 chargers next to one of those Tesco type mini marts. The EV future in incoming and while the Anti EV brigade are waving theirs arms about the infrastructure is being installed. I’d be quite happy to have an EV once the conditions are tight for me.

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Old Sep 13th, 2024, 19:10   #1758
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It’s easy to let your company to fund your EV because it is ok for the task in hand, then throw it back at the end of lease.
Spending your hard earned in buying one is very different.
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Old Sep 13th, 2024, 19:50   #1759
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It’s easy to let your company to fund your EV because it is ok for the task in hand, then throw it back at the end of lease.
Spending your hard earned in buying one is very different.
Spending your hard earned on any new car seems rather futile unless you can shrug off the depreciation.
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Old Sep 13th, 2024, 21:32   #1760
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Spending your hard earned on any new car seems rather futile unless you can shrug off the depreciation.
Soimebody has to bear the cost somewhere, and it won't be the dealers. You can bet your life they will have calculated depreciation into the monthly fees, along with all the other "free" servicing, "free" AA membership, "free" windscreens, "free" this, "free" that ...
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