The joys of electric car ownership!

[Crazy Dave]

Post removed by author.

 

[Terry - Somerset]

Insurance costs will rise due to the high write-off rates for collision damaged EV's. This is because of the impossibility of repairing damaged batteries.

I thought most EVs (certainly Tesla) have their batteries low down between the front and rear axles.

I assume the reason is that it keeps the centre of gravity low, and the handling fairly neutral.

To damage the batteries would take a collision of an intensity that would likely write off most ICE cars with structural damage.

 

[Jameshow]

Don't assume everything in my world is all roses and rainbows because it isn't.
I've just had to borrow money that I can't afford to repay to clear my mortgage, yes I could sell my car but then what? I have limited mobility and need my car. I've also just had to pay £400 for a parking charge notice that I've been fighting for 2 years because I had/have a permit to park there but the parking company wouldn't check and then lied to the court to get a CCJ issued against me and also falsified photographic evidence against me.
And before anyone suggest that you needed a representative/solicitor I know but I can't afford one. I did try.
I was ripped to shreds in court and ordered to pay. I cannot believe how it all turned out, there's no justice any more and having early onset dementia doesn't help when the judge won't let me speak and seconds later I've completely forgot what I was going to say. I know we all get that and I wish I had a quid for every time someone tried to dismiss what I go through constantly.
But on the bright side I own my house now

I would go to a local law centre and ask for legal advice. If what you say is true it would be an interesting case for the students to look at?

 

[clogs]

it's all a con.....hahaha........

in days of old, London was poluted, full of poo from horses as well as politions.....
so nothing new really......except u dont trip over the piles of poo anymore....

Have said it before......
I'd love a new EV, we do less than 150km per month but a like for like EV would be great....
totally charged from solar all year round....*so u know, no bus services where I live*.....
but at over £60,000 no thank u......
So I'll keep my polluting 1999 VW t4 TD running with recon engine when I have to....it's only done 440,000 klms......
will u get that out of an EV....? the electronic faults will write it off first...thats if u can buy modern batteries that fit......

Never seen and EV charging point here......supose I must get out more......

when EV's are less than 1/2 the money and don't have so much toxic product's in them we'll all be happy to own one....

thats if the UK n the rest of europe dont have an electrical melt down first..........

when I lived in SW France I was less than 30k's from a NUC power plant....u won't believe how many power cuts there were.....
a "D" generator was always ready on stand by.....

for a laugh,
think about all the proposed EV cars connected to chargers plus everything else on a winters night......
remember no gas central heating or fires of any description............
then a black out hits.....
can u imagine the start up current placed on the system....even if it's staged by area's....
let alone the size of the switch gear......
it'll cost 100's of billions to up-grade the system u have now.......
it'll make the cascading 65 power cut in NE, USA seem like a joke.....Oh, that was human error....

anyway by then I'll be totally off-grid and good riddance I say......

 

[Stevekane]

First Im fully in favour of doing anything we can to fight climate change, if weve buggered this planet we don't I believe have anywhere else to go,,
I was told last week that a couple looking to buy a new VW was told by the salesman that he wouldnt advise an electric car, he said that over the past 2 yrs EVs were flying out the door, but suddenly they are all flooding back as Part exchanges, the reasons given are always the same, fed up with the planning needed to go anywhere and constant problems with public chargers, I cannot verify any of this but our ex daughter in law has a Tesla and wouldnt take it to London because on a prev nightime journey with three small children it was a nightmare of broken chargers to get home,,this time she was happy to take the Diesel Dicovery and pay the congestion charge.
I wonder if in say 10 yrs time we will be looking back at Electric cars in the same way as Betamax, a diversion until something more practical came along?
(Oh bugger Ive just realised what Ive done,,,all the “but Betamax was better” fans will be all over me!)
Steve

 

[eribaMotters]

I like the idea of an electric car, but not the reality of running one. We all know about the high vehicle costs, charging infrastructure not being fit for purpose, the higher rates you have to pay for electricity when you find one that works, higher car insurance etc, but what about sad caravan owners such as myself. There are several hundred thousand of us.
Ten days ago I left Devon at 6am on a solo drive to Hull to collect a new caravan. I arrived 320 miles later at lunchtime and later that afternoon towed the new van 120 miles to Merseyside. I stayed a couple of nights, visited relatives and friends in the surrounding area. I only filled up with petrol when I set off for the trip back to Devon which I did non stop on well under a tank.
I can only dream of being able to do this with an electric tow car. Oh and if you did manage to do the trip over several days and find public charging points you could not access them with a caravan on the back.

Colin

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Insurance costs will rise due to the high write-off rates for collision damaged EV's. This is because of the impossibility of repairing damaged batteries.
Brian

and heavier vehicles hitting heavier vehicles.

 

[XTiffy]

Building a house for Daughter & S-i-L on what was part of our garden. Planners insist that we provide two charging points to be maintained in future. These chargers have changed over recent years and no doubt will continue to do so as technology moves on. The new estates close to us seem to be devoid of chargers. Zurich Insurance Co. are insisting that any comercial building can't have chargers on an outside wall but must be well away. This is in case of a charger fire that may spread to the car. It is proving almost impossible to put out a fire in an electric car, with Lithium bateries.

 

[Spectric]

To damage the batteries would take a collision of an intensity that would likely write off most ICE cars with structural damage.

They are heavier than most ICE cars and it has already been said they will cause a higher rate of wear to the road surface but if energy = mass times velocity then collisions could be worse and you have all that battery hazzard to worry about. The firebrigade will need to have portable water tanks in which to submerge a burning electric car because as already said Lithium burns very well.

 

[Noel]

First Im fully in favour of doing anything we can to fight climate change, if weve buggered this planet we don't I believe have anywhere else to go,,
I was told last week that a couple looking to buy a new VW was told by the salesman that he wouldnt advise an electric car, he said that over the past 2 yrs EVs were flying out the door, but suddenly they are all flooding back as Part exchanges, the reasons given are always the same, fed up with the planning needed to go anywhere and constant problems with public chargers, I cannot verify any of this but our ex daughter in law has a Tesla and wouldnt take it to London because on a prev nightime journey with three small children it was a nightmare of broken chargers to get home,,this time she was happy to take the Diesel Dicovery and pay the congestion charge.
I wonder if in say 10 yrs time we will be looking back at Electric cars in the same way as Betamax, a diversion until something more practical came along?
(Oh pipper Ive just realised what Ive done,,,all the “but Betamax was better” fans will be all over me!)
Steve

Yep, seems to be a familiar story with EVs in the trade. Average retail values have fallen month on month for last year or so. Demand is up by a few percent but supply has shot up 180% so the used market is flooded with them and nobody wants them enough to stabilise the market. Some models are now worth less, by some margin, than their petrol/diesel equivalent which doesn't reflect well on the premium price paid when new. I've heard some used dealer networks have told their buyers not to source EVs, hard to profit from and some can sit in stock for twice as long as similar petrol/diesel model.

 

[Agent_zed]

What the supporters will not debate is the whole story of electric cars.

I'm happy to debate it. I have stated numerous times that I don't think EV in it's current form is the answer. That's why I posted a link to the aptera which seems a more sensible approach to the problem. It might not be the final solution or fit everyones needs but it is at least trying something different.

Having your own solar generation seems hugely sensible given the stress on our infrastructure if everyone tries to plug in at the same time, or can't find a suitable charging space.

I don't think buying a Tesla is going to save the world like they want you to believe as it is still carting around a load of needless weight.

Have a look at the surcharges that all pay on your electric bill for green energy projects. Ther is no such thing as FREE!

But once created the energy being gained is sustainable and clean. Also in the UK it allows us to be more energy independent. When Russia decided to turn off the taps there were very few people saying they would have preferred we didn't invest in renewable energy. Most people who previously grumbled about it strangely went a bit quiet.

Another point is that particulate levels are highest from Brake and tyre dust, not ffrom exhausts

it's about 50/50. But it will be complicated to work out as although EVs tend to be big and heavy they have re-gen braking with doesn't use friction to slow the car in a lot of cases

Agent z….. people in general seem to have become rather tunnel visioned it seems based upon the subliminal programming they are unaware they have received

Indeed! Which is why friendly debates are useful as sometimes I do change or modify my thinking from others input. It's also why I try and show my workings so that people can hopefully see where my thoughts came from and challenge them as necessary.

Ultimately for me I find it massively interesting what we might be able to achieve and how society could change for (what i would consider) the better. I like building and technology, which is why I'm on this forum to start with. I wonder if some people put aside their issues with the 'green agenda' and thought of it from an engineering/technology standpoint they might find it quite amazing what could be/ is being achieved.

Even if there was no climate change or air pollution, being reliant on fossil fuels that will only get more expensive as they run out and are controlled by a cartel of countries making rich people even richer doesn't seem like the better option to me. Instead we could be world leaders and sell 'green' technology to other countries rather than find ourselves scrabbling to catch up.

 

[Linus]

As I have been saying to anyone who may listen for the past twenty years, the only solution is hydrogen power generated by electrolysis from green power sources such as solar, wind, tidal, and possibly nuclear fission should it prove feasible.

 

[Terry - Somerset]

I am not convinced by H2 - inefficient compared to electric. Note that for some applications it could make sense using surplus energy generated by wind. solar etc for HGVs, site equipment.

Rather than charging battery directly, H2 processes include electrolyse water, compress, convert back to electricity for use by a fuel cell. This involves significant losses/inefficiency.

Hydrogen refuelling is all but non existent - distribution and storage needs major investment. The electrical distribution infrastructure (needs capacity upgrades) is proven. Even were hydrogen proven to be the better technology, electric is unlikely to be displaced.

Falling s/h EV values is no surprise. Most new cars are sold to fleets and companies - tax benefits making EV a rational choice. On the s/h market cars are normally privately funded.

There are understandable concerns over range and charging - were I changing today it would be petrol of plug in hybrid - in 2-3 years my views may be quite different.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Many people say hybrids are the worst option possible. (I have no dog in this fight.)

 

[Adam W.]

Meanwhile on the mainland......At the supermarket store thingy, 20 slots for charging your car and massive tax incentives to buy an EV.

Just saying.

 

[Mr Christopher]

I'm always so sceptical of these sorts of photos, but equally people really are that dumb so it's totally believable. The number of times there have been three people queuing at one petrol pump as their filler cap is on that side! Never had a car yet that a hose could not reach around the back to the other side.

I'm with you on this. Some people just don't seem able to fill up from the other side.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Or maybe they've just got used to filling stations where they can't?

 

[Jaco]

 

[Keith Cocker]

The DM are taking a stance against EV with multiple opinion articles constantly in their news.
That suggests the DM readership is anti EV. Can we poll the anti EV people here to see if they are DM readers?

It’s the sort of trash the DM loves. They know their mendacious stories will get their geriatric gammons twitching with faux rage.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

or people like you?