UK Energy Needs

I find your quote re EV battery longevity slightly understated Simon. My VW is battery is guaranteed for 8 years, I take that as they would last significantly much longer otherwise it wouldn’t be cost effective for them to guarantee them .

The next interesting step will be charge your car overnight on cheap tariffs and power your house from the car battery during the day….That would be amazing.

 

Not interested in the Beamer that’s a luxury car and the most untypical electric car you could have chosen. To suit a nonsensical argument perhaps.

I assume you own an EV to make such a bold statement?

I have a family EV, 5 seater in comfort , does 260 miles on a full charge in summer and beats most petrol cars on the road at 0-60 in 5.8 seconds

November 2021 running costs

All data recorded and available . I don’t have solar and all juice from the National grid.

Total mileage 1,241, Approx 50% at 70 mph
Total charging cost . (100% at home and no free public charging) £23.68. 1% added to the charge takes about 4.8 minutes, 10% 48 mins and so on

1.9p a mile

So far from a gimmick these are day to day running costs over a month last autumn from a real owner not an 18 year old journalist writing for the Daily Express .

Like to share your Petrol / Diesel fuel costs over 1200 miles to see where the gimmick lies?

I’m more than interested!

 

As far as I’m aware all EV batteries degrade their most in the first year, some more than others depending on how they are charged. . It’s battery chemistry and charging procedure. High DC charging at public chargers degrades batteries at a far higher rate than home AC charging . My car battery is preserved longer by 100% AC charging , keeping it in the State of Charge region of 20%-80% . It is recommended you charge to 100% once a month and don’t let it stand at 100% for long periods after charging. Hope that explains?

 

Your charging time is where it all starts to fall down, it’s totally impractical. I’ve got a 2020 BMW 320d and does about 40mpg but vast amount of that is city driving. Of course you will beat me on cost per mile. My argument is initial cost, practicality and servicing. Most of the EV purchase prices are pricing people out. The practical side, takes 3 mins to fill my car up, takes hours and hours for an EV, the infrastructure is not readily available and is slow. Servicing, you’re not telling me with the amount of torque an electric car has that you won’t be ripping through tyres for fun? Oh and forgot more costs, the insane insurance quotes. Look to get a Tesla in a fairly nice part of Leeds, just under a grand. My beemer is £410. I’d say in five years it might start to be more affordable and more practical for the normal working person, but at the moment it’s still very much work in progress and expensive.

 

First service due after two years, UNLIMITED mileage Cost £170
Brakes one check at 150,000 miles
I have my own 7.2kw charger on my drive, I don’t need to queue and it charges when I’m asleep. So ZERO inconvenience.
My car has covered 7k miles and worn less than 1mm tread.
On board technology prevents wheel spin, I haven’t spun it once. And I drive faster than most.
It cost LESS to insure than my 18 plate TRoC did costing £10k LESS. ( Too many automatic safety systems on board )
It isn’t a Tesla, which is an overpriced US car and poorly built

All your comments, born out assumptions and mis-information, clearly, negated with facts.

 

I have had a plug in hybrid for nearly 3 years now. It's ok. Claims 41 miles on a full charge and most I have ever managed is 20 driving with the touch of a butterfly. The transition between the 2 drive modes can be clunky and unpleasant. Not sure which way I will go next. It has always surprised me no one has made an EV with a tiny supplementary petrol engine, say 300cc and 40mph. Just enough to rake away the anxiety of being stranded out of charge.
However if you haven't already done so google Trevor Jackson and his aluminium ion batteries. When I last heard him on the radio he reckoned his technology was about ready but the contractual obligations of the big car companies to the lithium battery manufacturers was holding him back. Tbh I don't know how close it is to reality but see if you can find the vudeo of him drinking the electrolyte out of one of his batteries to prove it's safe

 

I can't find the video but this is a recent picture of him......as you say completely safe to drink.

 

Brilliant

.....but do look him up too

 

Electric vehicles are the future. But with that will come problems just like any form of technology. It's a great option for people who can afford it but as the second hand car market shows, most working class people and those from poorer backgrounds simply cannot afford to go out and a purchase a new vehicle. Most rely on the second hand market and im waiting to see what the market for second hand electric vehicles look like in say 5 to 10 years time when maintenance costs start to kick in and batteries start to fail. Worryingly for me I can see poorer people being priced out of owning a vehicle.

 

Ditto

 

I'm guessing something may have changed in the last week or so, but a couple of weeks ago the CEO of Quadrilla was on the radio saying that despite what some ministers and others were saying in the media, his company had received no contact whatsoever and were still under directive to cap the existing wells

 

Haven't they just had the deadline for capping extended rather than uncap anything? The moratorium on actually using them is still in place