O/T........EVs

[basil6345789]

I test drove one of the new Polestar 4s last week, and it is quite incredible. I haven’t made up my mind between that and the Audi etron GT yet, but I’ll be ordering one of them.

I’m a proponent of leasing cars so long term issues aren’t on my radar. Electric cars do feel more like pieces of tech than they do traditional cars - I’m not sure I’d want to buy an electric car with the view of driving it for 15+ years. Mind you I’d say the same about ICE cars too.

You must be posh

[Taffy on the wing]

I've had a Tesla with home charging for the past 3 months and it's been a serious quality of life upgrade. Never going back.

The main problem now is everyone thinks you're an Arseholio for driving one........thanks to the bell-end who owns the company.
...
I'm into my 7th yr of owning my Tesla 3......no serious issues & practically no service required....I charge at home & have used a super-charger once.....$3.50 for 100 miles of range....the regenerative braking prevents pad-wear & i'm still on the original ones. Never going back to petrol!

No complaints about the car except the software downloads keep moving the Fu#king gadgets around....i've lost count of how many times my glove-box button has moved.

Never going back

[footballdiedin92]

Is there any information on expected battery life on ev's. For example with a 10 year old vehicle is the battery life going to have halved? I'm intrigued how the second hand market for older vehicles is going to work for those of us who can't afford to buy new or lease. It's probably a difficult question to answer as the cars haven't been around that long in a large volume to have a good sample size but wondered if there had been any research done on them.
Cheers

[Oshkoshclaret]

My girlfriend is a bit of a lefty. I told her the T on the bonnet stands for "Trump"... makes her want to borrow it even less

[Quicknick]

I'll stick to my diesel pickup in Chiang Rai.

[karatekid]

How do those people "charge" their petrol and diesel cars? Come on it's not difficult to envisage where we need to get to, the transition just seems slow when we're in the middle of it.

Haha, the transition to a network of charging points is virtually non existent. Especially outside of metropolises. Have you seen any terraced streets , of which there are plenty around here, with charging points outside on the road?
It’s a hypothetical question of course but the reality is that we are a million miles,excuse the pun, away from being in the middle of the transition.
Most fuel stations only have a couple of charging bays whilst hundreds of cars fill up with petrol every day.

[dougcollins]

Haha, the transition to a network of charging points is virtually non existent. Especially outside of metropolises. Have you seen any terraced streets , of which there are plenty around here, with charging points outside on the road?
It’s a hypothetical question of course but the reality is that we are a million miles,excuse the pun, away from being in the middle of the transition.
Most fuel stations only have a couple of charging bays whilst hundreds of cars fill up with petrol every day.

I was in a service station on the M5 last summer, and I thought to myself if all the cars currently refuelling in here were re-charging it would be a living hell.

[It Is What It Is]

There are millions of people living in apartments with no access at all to charging points.
What's the solution there?

[wilks_bfc]

There are millions of people living in apartments with no access at all to charging points.
What's the solution there?

Very long extension leads

In all seriousness it is something that needs improving.

New build/renovated developments are starting to incorporate charging points.

There was some talk of adapting lamp posts to incorporate chargers for those with one street parking

[Plissken]

I’ve got a polestar 2 how do you use yours? Small journeys or are you using it for regular long journeys?

Mainly small journeys - 20 miles or so, with a regular trip to the Turf and back which is 100 mile round trip. Generally for a day out into the Peak District or North Wales, again, that would likely be 100 miles at most.

Longest trip has been up into the Lake District for a few days. We almost always visit Tebay, so that is our guaranteed charging point if necessary. But with the excellent Google Maps integration, with charger info and anticipated usage, I've got good at doing the EV equivalent of a "splash and dash".

[Plissken]

Most fuel stations only have a couple of charging bays whilst hundreds of cars fill up with petrol every day.

How many people have petrol pumps at their house?

[Rick_Muller]

I'd love to be able to afford a BEV, but I am not entitled to a company car, which is how many people who have one can get one, and my annual mileage profile prevents personal lease or purchase.

Certainly since the previous discussion regarding BEVs on this forum the position has moved closer to a reality for me, but until my hand is forced I need to hold off as long as possible with my diesel.

It's now 8 years old, but I get 60+ mpg and I pay no road tax either. Servicing costs are reasonable, for now, and tyres are cheap enough. My monthly running costs including everything is about £300/month for 25k miles/year - and the car is still a great car to drive and comfortable - so far no need to change.

That said, it is aging and more things will go wrong soon enough and when the time comes I'll probably look to get my first BEV and I have taken some for a test drive fairly recently and I thought the MG4 was excellent on first thoughts and with a range of 370+ on the long range model it met my needs, but I did worry that the build quality wasn't as good as it could be.

There are many more cheaper BEVs coming to market now, I also like the look of the Ford Explorer or the new Capri (apart from besmirching the name of an iconic car from my childhood!).

I did laugh at the joke I saw on Facebook the other day - bloke got his new Tesla Model SS but took it back the same day as it kept veering to the right On a serious note though, the recent actions of one man does appear to be adversely affecting Tesla which is a shame as from a technological perspective they are great cars.

[SirBob]

Lots and pros and cons to EVs. If you’re switching because of environmental worries your best just keeping your current car until it dies in 10 years, the emissions to build a new car EV or Petrol is astronomical. As well as the fact when you charge your car it’s likely being charged by a coal power station.

Infrastructure isn’t close to being ready to handle them either, I’d have one but my car is parked 300 yards away from my house and have no means to charge overnight.

Mining for the materials for the batteries is also a big issue, it can be very harmful to the environment and they struggle to keep up with demand as it is.

EV sales slowed down a fair bit last year. I personally think hybrid is the way until they get most of the issues ironed out.

[beddie]

I mentioned on an earlier post a family friend had recently taken delivery of an Audi etron Q6. This morning he drove to B&Q came out to the car and couldn’t get in, his fob, even his key or apple wallet wouldn’t let him in, AA called, whilst waiting he went back into B&Q and bought some batteries for his fob, hey presto he got back in. He apologised to the AA chap, who told him it’s fine and said had he not got in he would have had to order a low loader and tow it away. Sorted in the end but how disappointing for a car that only came off the production line a month ago. To be fair Audi have contacted him straight away to say they want both sets of keys from him and the car in order to see if there is a fault somewhere. Luckily he wasn’t working today so not a lot of inconvenience.

[MarkGreen]

i've lost count of how many times my glove-box button has moved.

It is one of the only fixed button's that physically cannot be moved, It is on the right hand side of your steering wheel!

[Veals]

I’ve had a BMW iX for 12m now and done 13k miles. Mainly regular 60m commute and pottering about with the family. Occasional long drives (250m+) for work or family hols. Range is up to 240 in summer and around 180 in winter.

If you can plug it in at home every night and charge it up with all the range you need then it’s hassle free motoring in a modern, comfortable and quick car. If you can’t do all of your charging at home then it’s an expensive, stressful liability and ICE is still by far the best option. The cost of electricity on the public network is more expensive than diesel (£/mile) and the infrastructure in the uk just isn’t good enough yet. Every occasion I’ve needed to use a charging point I’ve had to queue, then obviously you have to wait whilst it charges, which will be at least 20mins to get a decent amount of range added. You also need to find a decent superfast charger otherwise it will take ages. You can also only charge up to 80% on a fast charger, which might be the difference between stopping once or twice and I’ve also been surprised by how many chargers are out of service when you arrive.
If you really do have to take an electric car and are going to be reliant on the public charging network then Tesla is absolutely the ‘least’ stressful option as it has by far the best charging network.
The preheating function is great, being able to come out to a defrosted and warm car in winter is probably my favourite feature.

Depreciation is huge, so leasing/Company EV scheme is the least risk option. Defo wouldn’t buy new.

The Mrs has a diesel and there have been a handful of times where I’ve used that for long trips rather than take the iX. I defo wouldn’t want to be without an ICE car in the household yet. I’ve had a handful of instances where the car hasn’t charged. Largely this is fine because it still has enough range, but twice had to leave it behind and been fortunate I could take the wife’s. You need an app for your charging point, one for your car and one for the energy provider. They all need to be synced together and it works fine when they are. But occasionally one of the apps will update and break the sync. Trying to work this out can be frustratin and trial/erro. Generally if you’re competent with tech you can work around it.

I’ve always liked driving and had a couple of performance cars.The iX is actually pretty good to drive but you do feel it’s weight on roundabouts etc. Many EVs have incredible acceleration figures and this peaked my interest initially. I drove a few and immediately realised that the acceleration is practical, but you don’t get any of the noise, drama and excite of an ICE, which makes it a little soulless and forgettable. I don’t take any driving enjoyment from it.

Overall I feel my circumstances lend themselves reasonably well to owning an electric car but I’m indifferent about the experience. If I had to change my car tomorrow I’d probably start looking at ICE motors again but wouldn’t rule out another electric, as long as we still had an ICE car at home.

[Tall Paul]

I mentioned on an earlier post a family friend had recently taken delivery of an Audi etron Q6. This morning he drove to B&Q came out to the car and couldn’t get in, his fob, even his key or apple wallet wouldn’t let him in, AA called, whilst waiting he went back into B&Q and bought some batteries for his fob, hey presto he got back in. He apologised to the AA chap, who told him it’s fine and said had he not got in he would have had to order a low loader and tow it away. Sorted in the end but how disappointing for a car that only came off the production line a month ago. To be fair Audi have contacted him straight away to say they want both sets of keys from him and the car in order to see if there is a fault somewhere. Luckily he wasn’t working today so not a lot of inconvenience.

That's nothing to do with the car being an EV though. Just a faulty fob, can happen with any car that has keyless entry.

[dougcollins]

How many people have petrol pumps at their house?

That's the point- you don't need them.

Refuelling takes minutes.

[CoolClaret]

Lots and pros and cons to EVs. If you’re switching because of environmental worries your best just keeping your current car until it dies in 10 years, the emissions to build a new car EV or Petrol is astronomical. As well as the fact when you charge your car it’s likely being charged by a coal power station.

Infrastructure isn’t close to being ready to handle them either, I’d have one but my car is parked 300 yards away from my house and have no means to charge overnight.

Mining for the materials for the batteries is also a big issue, it can be very harmful to the environment and they struggle to keep up with demand as it is.

EV sales slowed down a fair bit last year. I personally think hybrid is the way until they get most of the issues ironed out.

Precisely this - especially the last part.

[Plissken]

The point is that people are "refuelling" at their home so there isn't the need for 16 chargers at each petrol station.

Anyway, there are 8,353 petrol stations in the UK - assuming 12 pumps per station, that would be 100,236 pumps.

There are 37,613 electric charging stations in the UK with a total of 74,611 devices (aka "pumps") with 109,737 charging points.

https://www.zap-map.com/ev-stats/how-ma ... ing-points

[karatekid]

Lots and pros and cons to EVs.

Mining for the materials for the batteries is also a big issue, it can be very harmful to the environment and they struggle to keep up with demand as it is.

Don’t worry about that. DT and EM are finding a new source for those minerals as we speak.

[Burnley1989]

Its amazing how many people have an opinion on them without ever owning one, so basically just hear say and they've formed a pretty strong opinion.

I have a love hate relationship with mine, I'm changing it next year though and will be going for a Model Y Tesla, my current car is an MG5 and absolutely pants. Worst car I've ever owned, tried to save costs to the business and paying heavily for it

[Rick_Muller]

Its amazing how many people have an opinion on them without ever owning one, so basically just hear say and they've formed a pretty strong opinion.

I have a love hate relationship with mine, I'm changing it next year though and will be going for a Model Y Tesla, my current car is an MG5 and absolutely pants. Worst car I've ever owned, tried to save costs to the business and paying heavily for it

My boss has one and loves the car and everything about it - apart from the really sh!tty infotainment screen that was meant to be fixed with a firmware update 12 months ago. Loves the car and the cost, hates the drive because of crap software.

[Herts Clarets]

For those who are "saving the planet" by driving an EV, just remember all you are doing is shifting any pollutants from the tail pipe to the mining facilities extracting the lithium and other minerals required for the batteries and the gas/coal being burned by the power stations to generate the electricity to charge your EV. And if the government(s) continue down the route of banning ICE vehicles in the short term, it will be very interesting to see firstly what happens with electricity costs, as they have to replace the lost fuel duty and VAT they reap in from petrol and diesel sales and secondly just how our inadequate network, where we were threatened with power outages over the winter due to lack of capacity copes with the huge demand of millions of EVs requiring charging.

[Stproc]

It hasn’t taken long for the anti-EV mob to join in has it. And again, they are just recycling untruths and myths. If you don’t want one then don’t get one but just let the rest us make our own decisions too.

[Lord_Bob]

Did you know 95% of all electric vehicles are still on the road? - the other 5% managed to make it home.

Just got a Ford Mustang Mach E, gave up my Jaguar XF 5.0, Supercharged. Got to say, I am loving it so far. Sacrilege right? Ford over Jag??!! Got a home charger and have yet to use any other. The infrastructure does need to improve as pointed out above, but I believe that will happen over time, not overnight. I'm sold, it's the future.

[Burnley1989]

My boss has one and loves the car and everything about it - apart from the really sh!tty infotainment screen that was meant to be fixed with a firmware update 12 months ago. Loves the car and the cost, hates the drive because of crap software.

Mines been garbage, the display screen often decides it doesn't want to power up after charging, which means no sat nav or radio, or temperature control....
It also doesn't connect half of the time when I try to connect to a charge point, then often wont disconnect so I'm literally stuck to the charge unit... Now try and disconnect when your display screen has died as well.
Try booking a service, took me 4 weeks with the MG garage in Burnley (Granted that's franchise)

Its just made very cheap, but then again its a 32k Korean car so its obviously made on a budget

It hasn't put me off electric as I had a Tesla Model 3 before and that was great

[HollandsPies]

Close family member is in charge of a SCIU.
Says she wouldn't touch an EV in any format whatsoever. Extremely dangerous for the occupants in the event of a crash/fire.

[Taffy on the wing]

It is one of the only fixed button's that physically cannot be moved, It is on the right hand side of your steering wheel!

No it isn't!......it's on the screen.
I have a 2018 model 3 Tesla........there are no buttons.

Strange post!

[Newcastleclaret93]

Mainly small journeys - 20 miles or so, with a regular trip to the Turf and back which is 100 mile round trip. Generally for a day out into the Peak District or North Wales, again, that would likely be 100 miles at most.

Longest trip has been up into the Lake District for a few days. We almost always visit Tebay, so that is our guaranteed charging point if necessary. But with the excellent Google Maps integration, with charger info and anticipated usage, I've got good at doing the EV equivalent of a "splash and dash".

I think in those circumstances a polestar 2 is a fantastic car.

I’ve been doing long journeys and it’s killing me the charging. I am moving back to diesel until the battery’s get better

[Plissken]

I think in those circumstances a polestar 2 is a fantastic car.

I’ve been doing long journeys and it’s killing me the charging. I am moving back to diesel until the battery’s get better

Yeah, the Polestar has been an absolute joy every time I get in it. It's also the lesser spotted dual motor one, so has more poke than even other EV drivers think.

I saw your thing about long journeys - I agree, most EVs (and definitely the PS2) simply aren't built for that kind of journey on a regular basis. But then, neither are most ICE cars. It's about picking the right tool for the job. (Though if it was me doing that trip on a regular basis, I'd be on a train...)

[Newcastleclaret93]

Yeah, the Polestar has been an absolute joy every time I get in it. It's also the lesser spotted dual motor one, so has more poke than even other EV drivers think.

I saw your thing about long journeys - I agree, most EVs (and definitely the PS2) simply aren't built for that kind of journey on a regular basis. But then, neither are most ICE cars. It's about picking the right tool for the job. (Though if it was me doing that trip on a regular basis, I'd be on a train...)

Honestly would love to train more often but it’s £230 minimum every single time.

[Burnley1989]

Close family member is in charge of a SCIU.
Says she wouldn't touch an EV in any format whatsoever. Extremely dangerous for the occupants in the event of a crash/fire.

They wouldn't be on the road if there was safety concerns, its the biggest myth of the lot is the fact they're dangerous

[bobinho]

How many people have petrol pumps at their house?

Probably none. But there’s one round the corner. And it’ll take five minutes to put 300+ miles in the tank.

You’re smarter than this… convince us it’s the way forward without resorting to this nonsense.

The country hasn’t even started to transition. Imagine the absolute cluster it’s going to be when come 2030, we all drive electric or we don’t drive. Oh. Hang on… someone worked it out didn’t they?

Motorway services will be like a battlefield. Plenty of homes with 2+ cars. Flats, terraced houses, new estates with barely enough room to walk round let alone park vehicles that need charging.

If electric works for you, great. It can’t work for everyone. It just can’t. If every vehicle running now suddenly swapped its engine to an electrical power generator, the country couldn't generate enough electricity to keep the everyone moving. Even generating half of what would be needed would have the greens screaming at us and blocking the roads because of the amount of fossil fuels being burnt to generate the “greener” electricity. Stop transportation and we are 72 hours from total anarchy. The economy would collapse. It would be suicide.

All that doesn’t mean it’s a bad idea - it just means on its own it isnt the future.

[Volvoclaret]

Imagine the future where everyone drives EVs then along comes Professor x who develops a very special car. This car weighs half as much as EVs therefore is better for road surfaces and multi storey car parks. It has far better mileage therefore refuelling is minimized. It uses much less steel and doesn't require vast quantities of rare earth materials and is far cheaper to purchase. People would be queuing up to buy.
Ladies and gentlemen I give you the internal combustion engine!

[bobinho]

They wouldn't be on the road if there was safety concerns, its the biggest myth of the lot is the fact they're dangerous

Well you’ve managed to convince us all they are safe with your fact filled reply.

You can’t seriously believe what you just typed surely?

You are aware that lithium battery fires give off extremely dangerous fumes and can in fact burn for days, putting fire fighters at even greater risk than having to deal with a half full diesel tank right?

Don’t take my word for it…

This from Paul Christensen:

Paul Christensen, Professor of Pure and Applied Electrochemistry at Newcastle University recently gave an interview to the International Fire and Safety Journal about Thermal Runaway. Christensen is currently involved in lithium-ion research projects, including the ongoing research of large lithium-ion battery modules in collaboration with a number of fires.

Thermal Runaway can occur in any kind of lithium battery, but according to Christensen ‘as you get the bigger and bigger lithium-ion batteries, the surface area to volume ratio gets worse and worse. The heat that should be escaping and dissipating stays inside the battery. This is why using lithium-ion batteries in vehicles can be very dangerous. ‘The time between an e-scooter showing the first signs of thermal runaway and fire or explosion can be 10 seconds or less’. Paul Christensen even believes Lithium-ion batteries shouldn’t exit. ‘They’re what is called ‘thermodynamically unstable”.

Fighting electric vehicle fires is not the same as fighting normal vehicles. When an electric car catches fire, you can’t just put it out with water. ‘Putting water on the car is rather like having a fire in your kitchen and putting the water onto the roof’ Christensen said.

https://www.tuvsud.com/en-us/resource-c ... vs-reality

Simply stating on a message board that there aren’t any safety concerns isnt true.

[Plissken]

That guy is going to do his fruit when he finds out that you can out electrical fires out with foam extinguishers.

[Burnley1989]

Well you’ve managed to convince us all they are safe with your fact filled reply.

You can’t seriously believe what you just typed surely?

You are aware that lithium battery fires give off extremely dangerous fumes and can in fact burn for days, putting fire fighters at even greater risk than having to deal with a half full diesel tank right?

Don’t take my word for it…

This from Paul Christensen:

Paul Christensen, Professor of Pure and Applied Electrochemistry at Newcastle University recently gave an interview to the International Fire and Safety Journal about Thermal Runaway. Christensen is currently involved in lithium-ion research projects, including the ongoing research of large lithium-ion battery modules in collaboration with a number of fires.

Thermal Runaway can occur in any kind of lithium battery, but according to Christensen ‘as you get the bigger and bigger lithium-ion batteries, the surface area to volume ratio gets worse and worse. The heat that should be escaping and dissipating stays inside the battery. This is why using lithium-ion batteries in vehicles can be very dangerous. ‘The time between an e-scooter showing the first signs of thermal runaway and fire or explosion can be 10 seconds or less’. Paul Christensen even believes Lithium-ion batteries shouldn’t exit. ‘They’re what is called ‘thermodynamically unstable”.

Fighting electric vehicle fires is not the same as fighting normal vehicles. When an electric car catches fire, you can’t just put it out with water. ‘Putting water on the car is rather like having a fire in your kitchen and putting the water onto the roof’ Christensen said.

https://www.tuvsud.com/en-us/resource-c ... vs-reality

Simply stating on a message board that there aren’t any safety concerns isnt true.

Yes I do stand by it.... I'm not saying there aren't any safety concerns but they're also no more dangerous than half the vehicles on the road. You're just picking out the battery argument.

There's risk with all cars but admittedly theres more risk when an electric vehicle catches fire, they are however arguable a safer car to drive, first responders are also trained in accidents involving EVs and their high-voltage systems.

They're also equipped with reinforced battery casings to prevent damage during collisions and because of their battery placement EVs have a lower center of gravity, which improves handling and reduces the risk of overturning in an accident.

[cblantfanclub]

"Says she wouldn't touch an EV in any format whatsoever. Extremely dangerous for the occupants in the event of a crash/fire."

Petrol would probably not be allowed as a fuel today - very dangerous in event of a crash/ fire. It's often overlooked how dangerous it is. Hope your relations consider this also Hollands.

[Stevie Morgan]

Yes I do stand by it.... I'm not saying there aren't any safety concerns but they're also no more dangerous than half the vehicles on the road. You're just picking out the battery argument.

There's risk with all cars but admittedly theres more risk when an electric vehicle catches fire, they are however arguable a safer car to drive, first responders are also trained in accidents involving EVs and their high-voltage systems.

They're also equipped with reinforced battery casings to prevent damage during collisions and because of their battery placement EVs have a lower center of gravity, which improves handling and reduces the risk of overturning in an accident.

How fortunate we literally have a whole Health and Safety Executive to worry about these things rather than relying on messageboard posters to find concerns of isolated academics, probably taken out of context.

[bobinho]

“Isolated academics”

Gotta love this board…

“EV’s are no more dangerous than any other vehicle” yeah!!! That’s a fact, I’ve got one and he said so on an internet message board…

“EV’s are considerably more dangerous to EVERYONE in the event of a fire (highly probable in the event of a collision) look, here’s the proof provided by a professor who has studied it for quite some time and produced documentary evidence to prove it” Boooo…burn the witch!!!!

I’m out….

[Bow]

Crashing isn’t recommended in any vehicle

[Plissken]

He’s literally saying putting water on an electrical fire is bad. I got taught that as a fifteen year old in my first job, I’m pretty sure that trained firefighters have the same knowledge.

[No Ney Never]

Battery degradation is a question on many a purchasers lips, but there is a solution. There are companies who can test and provide a battery condition report, a growing business as the used EV market expands.

As with any vehicle, there's some fantastic examples and some pretty poor quality builds. Like mobile phones are not just for calls but a computing technology in your hand, so too EV's are becoming not just a car.

In the grand scheme of things, EV's are still in their infancy, there's lots of research and development ongoing to make them better and more practical for more people. They're not perfect for everyone. For some they need to get to a point where they are not less convenient or little difference to what they currently are used to. I remember when mobile phones were new and having to plug your phone in every day to charge it was thought of as a bit of a chore.

2018 I took delivery of a Nissan Leaf, at the time Nissan offered free use of a ICE vehicle for up to 2 weeks free of charge, that offer was no longer there when I upgraded in 2021. I suppose that is a result of the progress in developing a public charging infrastructure. It would make EV ownership for many who mainly do short journeys, but occasionally want to travel a long journey without the range anxiety and charge point planning more acceptable if such a scheme is still available.

Vehicles with exhausts stink, there's nothing worse than going for a walk or cycle and all you get are a lung full of carcinogenic from the vehicles passing by. It's ironic that hospitals have no smoking on these premises policy, yet permit vehicles with exhausts. Same outside and around schools, I wouldn't allow them within a mile, but such legacy issues take longer to address.

I'm sure that our engineers, scientists, technologists and whoever else will come up with an environmental and economical way of traveling long distance by land, air or sea in the future, I just hope I'm still alive to appreciate it.

[Newcastleclaret93]

Battery degradation is a question on many a purchasers lips, but there is a solution. There are companies who can test and provide a battery condition report, a growing business as the used EV market expands.

As with any vehicle, there's some fantastic examples and some pretty poor quality builds. Like mobile phones are not just for calls but a computing technology in your hand, so too EV's are becoming not just a car.

In the grand scheme of things, EV's are still in their infancy, there's lots of research and development ongoing to make them better and more practical for more people. They're not perfect for everyone. For some they need to get to a point where they are not less convenient or little difference to what they currently are used to. I remember when mobile phones were new and having to plug your phone in every day to charge it was thought of as a bit of a chore.

2018 I took delivery of a Nissan Leaf, at the time Nissan offered free use of a ICE vehicle for up to 2 weeks free of charge, that offer was no longer there when I upgraded in 2021. I suppose that is a result of the progress in developing a public charging infrastructure. It would make EV ownership for many who mainly do short journeys, but occasionally want to travel a long journey without the range anxiety and charge point planning more acceptable if such a scheme is still available.

Vehicles with exhausts stink, there's nothing worse than going for a walk or cycle and all you get are a lung full of carcinogenic from the vehicles passing by. It's ironic that hospitals have no smoking on these premises policy, yet permit vehicles with exhausts. Same outside and around schools, I wouldn't allow them within a mile, but such legacy issues take longer to address.

I'm sure that our engineers, scientists, technologists and whoever else will come up with an environmental and economical way of traveling long distance by land, air or sea in the future, I just hope I'm still alive to appreciate it.

I appreciate a few of the points you have made about EV being in its infancy.

The main worry I have is around utilisation and the demand for EV cars.

On the main the up take in EV cars is massively behind programme and as a result the EV hub suppliers are seeing really poor return on utilisation targets.

The government need to be more aggressive in this area or big firms will start to do U turns on the net zero agenda (as we have seen this week with BP).

My gut feeling is that we will never see EV cars become the majority in the country.

[No Ney Never]

I appreciate a few of the points you have made about EV being in its infancy.

The main worry I have is around utilisation and the demand for EV cars.

On the main the up take in EV cars is massively behind programme and as a result the EV hub suppliers are seeing really poor return on utilisation targets.

The government need to be more aggressive in this area or big firms will start to do U turns on the net zero agenda (as we have seen this week with BP).

My gut feeling is that we will never see EV cars become the majority in the country.

It's my opinion that the government were premature in pulling the subsidies for the private buyer. In 2018 I got £4,500 off the car and a free home charger installation, in 2021 that reduced to £3,500, now it's zero. This year they're introducing road tax for EV's that have previously been nil.

[dsr]

Vehicles with exhausts stink, there's nothing worse than going for a walk or cycle and all you get are a lung full of carcinogenic from the vehicles passing by. It's ironic that hospitals have no smoking on these premises policy, yet permit vehicles with exhausts. Same outside and around schools, I wouldn't allow them within a mile, but such legacy issues take longer to address.

Virtually everybody who lives in a town is within a mile of a school. It used to be one of the great advantages of modern life that motoring ceased to be just for the rich and became accessible to most people. Now you want to reverse the trend and drive poorer people off the road?

[No Ney Never]

Virtually everybody who lives in a town is within a mile of a school. It used to be one of the great advantages of modern life that motoring ceased to be just for the rich and became accessible to most people. Now you want to reverse the trend and drive poorer people off the road?

That's a pss poor attempt dsr, at least quote something that makes an association with affordability.

[louieollie]

Had my MG now for 2 years and although the battery range isn't fantastic ( we rarely do long trips anyway) it's the best decision we made to ditch Diesel for EV on so many levels. Trickle charge over night and free charging from the wifes work I think we've only paid for a fast charge once in the 2 years. Saved so much money every month on fuel and needless to say it goes like s##t off a shovel when you so require. At £26k from new it's been a real money saver.

[karatekid]

They’ve come a long way from the MG Midget.