EVs are not as kind to the environment as we might like and the infrastructure for wide spread use is simply not there.
I think if someone somewhere can crack hydrogen power at an affordable level the infrastructure creation problem goes away as you can adapt existing petrol stations?
I use a motorway every working day, usually about a 90 mile round trip and there are no facilities to charge an EV where I am obliged to park at work. I did have a car charging point fitted at home about four or five years ago but I have yet to be convinced an EV is what I need to commute in.
I presently use a small, petrol powered hatchback which was seven years old when I bought it earlier this year but in pristine condition and a very full service history with just 7,000 miles on the clock. It cost me less than ÂŁ5,000, has ÂŁ30 /year road tax and does an average of 50 mpg. I also got a partial refund on my insurance and on my breakdown cover when I changed from a larger car.
Last week I pulled into the northbound side Sedgemoor services, M5 and noticed that there was a total of just TWO charging points.
I do wonder where all the raw materials for the future billions of batteries are going to come from and how environmentally friendly (or not) the process will be.
At the moment we in the west seem to think we are being âgreenâ but in fact often just moving the filthy part of the stick and our poor working conditions to other less developed parts of the planet, where they are less likely to be noticed or be less politically critical.
At the moment EVâs only make sense as company cars ,6 k tax v 2.5 k is a major incentive.
As the technology matures,standardises,and becomes cheaper people will adopt it.
There is a Corsa EV coming soon,lots of people do the kind of commuting that this EV would make sense for them.
Donât forget the other less obvious benefits of having an EV, heating and cooling your car from your phone, no scraping in winter, and no passing out from the heat in summer.
Scaring pedestrians as you sneak up behind them,although the EU are putting an end to that simple pleasure.
If I am being honest the 80hp leccy motor in my car is more than enough for normal driving it does 75mph and acceleration is ok if it wasnât lugging an engine around it would be even better.
Negatives are the plugging in every day is annoying if itâs raining the coiling of cables and the dirt you pick up is gross.
Finding a 2002 Corsa in the charging space at your local cinema!
Pensioners in a diesel Mercedes blocking the same charging space thinking itâs really close to the door why is noone parked here?
Tracking down the charge points in a highland village to find they are full of EVâs.
Diesel Volvoâs blocking the only hotel charging point.
All of the above are annoying but minor ,whereas if you had a pure EV it would be critical and time consuming.
As ever folk will choose what works for them.
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Iâll never buy one, by the time the batteries and charging infrastructure is upto to 600 mile range and charging in 5 mins Iâll be in my wooden boxâŚ
The thing is though, that green, the environment, the effects of our daily actions on the climate are now very much in consciousness.
The less fossil fuels, and their associated carbon, that come out of the ground⌠the better.
Even the little things. I brush my teeth with a bamboo toothbrush. Iâve almost completely ditched using plastic disposable
razors. ( Returned to a safety razor )
Whatever varieties of motive power come to be accepted at scale, I just think that in a quite few short years, internal combustion
will be viewed as an anachronism, long before manufacture ends.
My thread has been ruined. But I will forgive you, I get the same uneducated comments and views whenever I try to talk about electric cars with anyone else who hasnât got one or hasnât looked into them.
They are here to stay. Anyone who turns their nose up at them is missing out on a whole load of benefits. That kind of closed mind attitude doesnât get people far in life.
Perhaps youâre a little too far up yourself. As if youâre the fount of all knowledge.
That is true, I know everything about everything. Do not question me, minion.
Uneducated⌠just because we donât share the same view point as yourself?
The electric bandwagon has no future as it stands. Hydrogen fuel cell is a far better idea; not a vehicle that doesnât suit everyone due to range, cost and future value of the vehicle.
On an environmental level (the main selling point) it doesnât stack up, where does the power come from? What about the batteries, not just in manufacturing but what happens to them at end of life?
They are a stop gap at best, the only good thing is battery and electric motor technology is advancing at a decent rate ready for when a proper solution comes along.
Donât get your knickers in a twist because we donât like your milk float.
I donât think your thread has been ruined because any topic will receive mixed views and this is what has happened here - free speech and all that. If you only want to receive positive comments then post on a site dedicated to electric cars. I think you have âshot yourself in the footâ though with your replies to comments you disagree with. It would have been much better to agree to disagree in my opinion.
How has your thread been ruined? People have a different opinion on EVs and how useful they are to their own circumstance. Personally speaking i think a lot of it is snake oil at the moment, i believe we are being sold old tech with new clothes on and being made to believe itâs the next best thing since diesel cars and we know how bad they are now.Â
Hybrid is the way forward, have some form of generator on board to run electric motors. Whether that comes from petrol, hydrogen or some other form of fuel it doesnât really matter but full electric is not the way forward for the masses.Â
Can you imagine if an entire city had to plug a car in at night? Cables everywhere for one thing.Â
Looks like leccy buggy sales are bombing according to the BeebâŚbut then car sales in general appear unhealthy.Â
Funny enough, talking to a neighbour with a year old appalling chunk of an overweight bloated hybrid âcross-overââŚwho admitted he only bought it for the leccy discountâŚbut has run it on fuel ever since and it appears this is very common. He could not give as tossâŚgot 7k off it or something The charging connectors are still in the sealed bag.Â
I blame Brek-skirt.
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That actually would make a great 1 hour comedy.
Entire towns lit only by headlamps as thatâs all thatâs left.
OVERLOAD! GRID FAILURE!! MASSIVE BLACKOUTS!!!
Thatâs not conjecture but the conclusion of an enquiry into the possibility of making Royal Mail use all electric vehicles using overnight charging at their main depots.
Does it matter what the car is powered by? If I was talking about vegetable oil cars would you all bang on about how that isnât sustainable?
I thought this was a driverâs forum. I bought an MX5 to enjoy on country roads. I bought a Nissan leaf to enjoy city driving. Letâs talk about driving.
Like many others, Iâm a convert. I wouldnât go back to a combustion engine for city driving unless I had to.
This thread has the appearances of starting to get a bit shouty, stick to the topic and avoid directing comments at people and it stands a good chance of not getting locked, otherwiseâŚ
I think there would be a questioning of the concept partly for the reasons set out in post #18, and also for the growing concern about the morality of turning badly needed foodplants into a fossil fuel alternative.
Shall we have a discussion about crude oil? About how much is left, how weâre having to burn more fuel to get it out of the ground. Theres lots to talk about on that subject.Â
Electricity will be here forever. Batteries will be as well, they can made from different materials.
Iâm not uneducated, Iâve looked into them and have mates who own themâŚ
They are just not ready for most peoples needs yet, and the decline in sales is also showing this. Its range and charging infrastructure which will always be an issue for most people.
Hydrogen fuel cells are the way forward from what I can see.
More than youâd think, out in the real world in the energy balance between fossil and other fuel types the fossil component remains pretty steady for the next 30 years plus.
What does change is the increase of renewables (to a point), the effective elimination of coal and a massive increase in carbon capture and storage, thatâs an area where Iâd suggest smart money will head.