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I would love to go electric with our next motability car but as things stand with range etc I can’t see it happening for some time. Great for short journeys where charging points are plentiful but next to useless otherwise. Come on technology, catch up before people lose interest.
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Once electricity unit prices rise to a similar level as a litre of fossil fuel so there are massive profits to be made things will continue to progress slowly.
So enjoy the cheap energy while it lasts.Agree EVs leave much to be desired at present. Will be very interested to watch development of ID3 and to discover just when, and how heavily, government will start taxing us for motive-power electricity. Just changed Motability car and suspect that my present Mini will be last ICE vehicle on scheme. Next probably an EV; just hope the makers do something about dash/controls: look inside ID3, Honda E etc and all you see is touch screens to drag your attention off the road. Too many bleepy, flashy things is well dangerous. Give me a simple set of knobs and switches, thank you.
Last Thursday I done 440 miles in my Leaf. Went from Glasgow to Inverness, Roy Bridge, Mallaig, Fort William, Callander and home…. not exactly a short journey and I wouldn’t say the charging points are plentiful so there’s no reason why not to go electric.
I agree these touchscreens are dangerous as you have to take your eyes off the road, much easier to reach out and turn a knob or press a button when on the move.
I should also point out for Philjb (re comments on another post) that I didn’t spend hours at services waiting for a charge… my longest stops were for 22 minutes in Aviemore where I went to the toilet and to tescos to buy a sandwich, and also 22 minutes in Fort William where again I went to the toilet and into Morrisons to buy something for my dinner.
With such a drive on safety nowadays, I’m surprised that it’s not compulsory for touchscreens to be supplemented with a BMW iDrive style hand controller. I know some do but not all.
Mazda have both but for safety, once the car is moving, the touchscreen becomes inactive and you have to use the controller wheel. That’s much safer.
Common sense would tell me that surely this will become compulsory but, as my ole’ headmaster used to say many, many years ago, common sense is the least common of all the senses.
Isn’t it funny how these things stick with you. ?? I will be remembered for nothing but had great fun doing it ?
I’m sure some cars (leaf) are capable of good range but it leaves plenty of reasons to not go electric. 440 miles is not the norm. Golfs etc are sub 200 and of course a larger car would affect range further. Add to that 5/6 people, winter with heaters etc, charge times, chargers centred around large towns and cities etc etc and I. sure its going to be another diesel for me. Still very expensive and pretty much a novelty toy for those that can afford them or those covering less miles.
@RICHARD WAITES
You forgot to mention EV’s that are capable, at a reasonable AP price, that can carry a wheelchair or assembled scooter Richard along with passengers, but it’s the same for me in the next one will definably be a diesel or petrol but I do hold out hope that maybe, just maybe I’d be lucky and find a car that has some electric capability i.e. a PHEW but as we see government minsters who haven’t a clue with their heads up their backsides on everything and on insisting it’s electric only, it’s going to be diesel or petrol only for me next year for sure.?
Well evs work for me, I’m at 13000 miles since October so not low mileage. I’ve saved a fortune compared to combustion drivers.
Happy for the naysayers to moan most who have never been in an Ev…..
Once you have tried Ev there is no going back!
I think the technology is close or even there now, but there are problems with Ecotricity and its constantly broken chargers at motorway service stations, this is what has been slowing everything, not being able to rely on these “Electric Highway” chargers.
Finally we are starting to see other providers setting up very close to motorway junctions, e.g. 8 Instavolt 100kW chargers at M40 J11, but 35p kWh may be too steep for some….
Or how about M1 J14, 8x 50kW Polar chargers at 15p per kWh (with PolarPlus card), plus 4 Ionity Ultra Rapid chargers at 69p! per kWh….
A couple of people seem to think I am moaning about ev’s and that is simply not the case. I’m sure they work for a great many people but as things stand that is not the majority. I would love one but I think people are kidding themselves if they think everyone could make the change now.
A couple of people seem to think I am moaning about ev’s and that is simply not the case. I’m sure they work for a great many people but as things stand that is not the majority. I would love one but I think people are kidding themselves if they think everyone could make the change now.
I think you’re right, EVs aren’t suitable for the majority yet, the figure is currently about 30% and rising fast.
There are points along the way that will tip the balance, things like the 2023 parity between costs of making EVs & Fossils, that’s the batteries costing under $100 per kWh, they’re currently around $130. Then there’s the 1 million mile battery life, expect that September 2020. Sea level rise is already accelerating so electric boats may also make an appearance in our seaside towns.
Bath is introducing a £9 per day polluting fossil charge very soon, many other towns will follow, London already has a ULEZ.
End of this year sees a slightly larger PSA group car, the Citroen eC4, it will have the same running gear as my e2008, but should have more room inside.
MG are bringing in a larger EV with a larger battery pack soon.
So, yes, EVs are not for the 70% yet, but it’ll not be long before EVs are for the majority.
Now I am halfway there I have a PHEV because I tow a caravan, if in the future EV can tow a caravan or we decide to give up caravanning I would switch to an EV. Even with a PHEV the saving in cost compared to a diesel are outstanding. We are getting there.
Unfortunately I have suffered a brain injury and occasionally say the wrong thing.
I just hope when we have to change to EV’s that there will be some affordable ones from the premium manufacturers rather than the run of the mill ones.
Rhodgie, I’ve driven that same route fantastic roads and scenery, last weekend we did 640 miles with one service break on one tank of fuel and noted on the Thurrock M25 Services not a single charge point was free.
There were 6 for around 500 parking bays.
That was with my scooter my wife’s chair luggage on board with 4 adults and my grandson in his car seat.
This is the problem I have nothing available on the scheme comes close to what we need.Rhodgie, I’ve driven that same route fantastic roads and scenery, last weekend we did 640 miles with one service break on one tank of fuel and noted on the Thurrock M25 Services not a single charge point was free. There were 6 for around 500 parking bays. That was with my scooter my wife’s chair luggage on board with 4 adults and my grandson in his car seat. This is the problem I have nothing available on the scheme comes close to what we need.
The Harvester at North Stifford has a 50kW Polar charger (but be careful using the post code on Zap Map), there’s a couple of Instavolt chargers at the Ballantyne gym, plus there are chargers at Lakeside. Thurrock is one of the very few areas in Essex where you can find chargers in any numbers.
EV drivers know that the Electric Highway run by Ecotricty have a monopoly on motorway service areas & have learned that the Electric Highway is far too unreliable to be considered fit for purpose. MPs get lots of letters about this, and we’re seeing BP installing chargers in the BP petrol station areas at some motorway services. Ecotricity should be swept away for all their broken promises, they may be OK for charging a Leaf, but their CCS is usually absent or faulty.
Ecotricity have recently been submitting plans with mixed CCS & Tesla charger bays at some services, I think they’re piggybacking off Tesla as Ecotricity would take decades to get this done themselves.
As for a car large enough there’s the NV200, but the range is lacking. Perhaps something will come along in the next few years. We’re still early on in the EV revolution, but they’re coming.
Watch what happens in September, Tesla have an announcement to make, possibly about doubling the range with an identical sized battery pack.
I live in west London not in Essex I only visit Thurrock services on route to my children.
There are big enough EV’s out there just none that would ever make it only the scheme due to the price and bhp caps.If you mostly do short trips on your own or as a couple and don’t need to bring large scooters or have a large hoist fitted it may be fine.
Ev ownership isn’t for me yet, maybe in 10 or 20 years every model will have EV versions and charging them will be just as common as petrol stations are now.
The average car journey is only 8.5 miles, and the average annual mileage is under 10000 miles – I’d say EV’s ARE suitable for the vast majority now (Assuming charging at home is possible) – just that we’re creatures of habit and abhor change.
I’m an absolute petrol head, was born with petrol in my blood – last week I covered 540 miles in a single day, which was a unique day, I’ve never driven > 300 miles / day before – and we’re definitely considering a BEV at our next change.But… I estimate that as we’d save around £4000 / year in fuel costs over our present vehicle – it means I could get a 2nd hand RCZ R with 280bhp as a second car and be no worse off! ?
Twice in recent weeks (the latest yesterday evening) whilst out and about near our farm I have been flagged down and asked where the nearest charging point is (there is no mobile phone or 2/3/4/5G coverage around these parts).
The look of horror on the driver’s faces says it all when I tell them it is 18 miles away at Aysgarth Falls (there is one 14 miles away, but it is at an organic farm attraction that closes its gates at 5.00pm and hasn’t been working for months anyway).
Interestingly my sister in law who lives on the other side of the farm was thinking about ‘going electric’ however when she sent in a picture of the electric meter no one would fit a charging point (it is a ‘complex meter’ system with two mpans in the same meter due to the heating system fitted for the severe winter weather up here). We can’t even have smart meters fitted because of this.
Also, we cannot apparently have one fitted to the farm’s 3-phase system, used in the milking parlour and mechanical workshop as it is ‘off-grid’, powered by our own Pramac diesel generators (there is no mains 3-phase anywhere about here).
So, electric motoring round here literally is a non-starter.
Well those people who didn’t know where the charging points are must be newbies who do absolutely no research at all… normally I’d use stronger language but I’ll stick to calling them idiots for now because not only does the car show you where they are but there’s a load of apps (that you check before setting off)
Also if your farm has an electricity supply, just use the 3 pin plug
You can’t live too far from me BigDave.
Richmondshire here.
You can’t live too far from me BigDave. Richmondshire here.
We are north west of Reeth, past Whaw, in’t middle of nowhere (still in Richmondshire though).
My mum lives in Arkengarthdale
Well those people who didn’t know where the charging points are must be newbies who do absolutely no research at all… normally I’d use stronger language but I’ll stick to calling them idiots for now because not only does the car show you where they are but there’s a load of apps (that you check before setting off) Also if your farm has an electricity supply, just use the 3 pin plug
They seem to be ‘townies’ who think there is a charging point on every street corner!
They seem to forget that out here in the dales, things such as charging points are very few and far between and not every town they pass through has one. So, they press on hoping to reach the next town and so on. With no mobile or 2/3/4/5g signals they are totally stumped!
When they blithely follow sat-nav it sends them down unmade roads clearly signed ‘not suitable for motor vehicles’ which is how they often end up on foot at our farm houses and someone has to go out and tow their car out with one of the tractors or the snow-cat in winter.
I really cannot believe the stupidity of some of them!
One thing strikes me as odd, in the quest for greater EV range, is the size of cars being offered. Nearly all seem to be big(ish) SUVs and the like. Even the ID3 comes in on the chunky side. Why not make ’em normal or small saloon size? Less weight should mean more range? That said, the Mini EV and Honda E-thing ARE small in size but with small range too. Is it lack of space for batteries? Am I missing something?
Roads are being closed off to all cars in cities all over the country and the roads are made into cycle ways that no body is using. 2 lanes into preston is now one lane for cars. Plus the smart motorway project is about charging per mile. you will see nothing happens overnight it’s always a slow progession so we don’t notice and then it’s to late. Near me in nottighamshire farmers are now installing solar farms and is that good for the enviroment, soon enough more and more will pop up as demand for elec increases. The honda e is a city car and thus no huge range. but at some point alot of us will have no where to park a car as more and more cycle routes and lanes are put in. The emissons charge will be replaced by a congestion charge. one they are artifically creating after all they losing revenue and that needs to be found from somewhere..
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