Electric car

[Notty]

Nightmare journey back from Cornwall today around 6 hours - stop start all the way up from St Austell to Cardiff 190 miles? anyway at times we were either stationary or doing no more than 60 then stopping again and again  - noticed a  brand new golf was doing only 30 Mph in the inside lane as everyone else had now got up to 60 I thought then I noticed it was a Golf E so my guess he was crapping himself just how far he could go to a charging point after being stuck in all that traffic - VW site states around 142 miles in normal mode  my m8 has bought an electric motorbike - a Zero? That has a range of 104 so he does nothing but go back and for to work just in case! I have to say it's a good looker but £18k and just a short range ? Wer is the fun in that !

[Kiwifruit]

Our govt is busy making bus lanes, building cycleways and promoting electric vehicles.
But really they would like us to walk or cycle. Traffic jams around our bigger cities have become a real problem.
I don't think electric vehiles will fix it.....
As you mention Notty, very likely to cause more.

[Notty]

Bus lanes in Cardiff can be used by motorcycles, some 12 years after the council said they were looking it - BUT not all bus lanes so you have to look at the signs ! however, I will admit on the few times I have had to ride into town it does make a huge difference and I guess I could pick up some passengers from the bus stops and make a few quid ! 

[shanered6]

I just dont see how electric transport is cheaper    they dont travel far before you have to charge them ... so we would be using huge amounts of energy that has to be generated by power stations which in turn us huge amounts of energy ?
And lets face it renwebles are way off from producing enough energy !... its just kookoo land   

[Suzuki boi]

Wait for the government to tax electric vehicles to death as well!!
They gotta make as much money from the motorist!

[Bielie45]

I dont get it either Sanered, then they say but there is no emitions.....but you just put extra load on the power stations that emit more emitions and the battery needs to be disposed of at some stage in its life and they are not your standard lead acid or calcium batterys that cost more. Just baffles my 2 brain cells 😂😂😂

[Mister Fishfinger]

I just dont see how electric transport is cheaper    they dont travel far before you have to charge them ... so we would be using huge amounts of energy that has to be generated by power stations which in turn us huge amounts of energy ?
And lets face it renwebles are way off from producing enough energy !... its just kookoo land   

Electric vehicles are cheaper to run because petrol engines are incredibly inefficient. Internal combustion engines lose a lot of energy as waste heat, pumping losses, friction and so on. A power station can turn fossil fuel into electricity far more efficiently than an engine can - there's a good reason why we don't all have individual generators in our houses.

Renewable energy (wind, wave, solar) generated 29% of the UK's electricity last year - more than nuclear, which was just 21%.

A recent study in the US showed that electric vehicles are less polluting than the petrol/diesel equivalents, even if you charge them with electricity from coal-powered generators.

I agree with you that range is a problem, or more specifically the time it takes to recharge. But the technology is improving all the time.

I'm not ready to buy an electric bike yet but I am seriously thinking about going electric for my next car. Most of my car journeys are just cabbing about locally to and from work and I rarely drive more than 100 miles. That's within the range of most electric cars you can buy already. We have more than one car in the family so we'd still have an option for those odd long trips.

Some great advantages to electric drive as well. You get all the torque at 0 revs, so they take off very nicely in town. They are quieter, smoother and the maintenance costs are way lower because there's no gearbox and the motor never needs servicing.

[Speedy1959]

What annoys me with the promotion of electric vehicles is the BS about range..
Yes you may get 100 or even 200 miles in Sunny California but what happens in places like the UK in winter when your lights and windscreen wipers are on?
Then of course there is the little "skipped over" fact that in the UK and other cooler places you just might want some sort of heat !!!
As we all know anything thats heated electrically gobbles up the juice...
So in the UK when its winter its still dark at 8.30am and maybe 3 or 4C outside OR below freezing..
Lights and demisters on.. Heater on.. Wipers on.. Blower on..
I wonder what my 150 mile range now is?
Strangely we dont seem to be told this..

Then there is the little issue of every car owning home in the country having to have a charging point.. In the UK there are MANY terraced homes...
I cant see an electric extension lead running from every home to the vehicle outside..

One other point.. Have you ever been to a motorway service station for fuel (or any other fuel station) and got a tad impatient at having to wait 5 or 10 mins for a free pump?
To fill a petrol / Diesel takes maybe 5 mins...
How long does the fastest electric car take to charge?
I think its a fair bit longer that 5 minutes!
So the queues would be irksome to say the least..

Lastly even if the government introduced a £10,000 "scrappage" scheme (and they wont) I and many others could not afford a new electric vehicle..
I used to run a Citroen Xsara Picasso 1.6 Diesel which on my commute to work and back (10 miles each way) did 52mpg and 65mpg on a run !!
Then came along the recent anti Diesel scaremongering, so I bought a lowly Ford Fiesta 1.4 petrol.. This averages 37mpg to work and back and 41mpg on a run!
Biggest mistake I ever made was to get rid of the Citroen !

[KiwiCol]

Why would you buy a Ford 1.4 petrol when you already have a Suzuki 1.4 petrol?  Ya like Fords or sommit?   

What was the scaremongering on diesel over your way?  Surely 60odd mpg has gotta be good in anyones books?

[Kiwifruit]

This happened.......im on my bike and 55kms from home. Theres been an accident and now the road is closed. The detour now makes my journey home over 155kms.
In my electric car l would be stopped in the middle of nowhere.
Talking to a geologist, he reckons you have to mine for a mineral that is in the batteries.
We dont like mining in NZ. It is possible we may ruin the habitat of a rare and endangered snail.

[shanered6]

I get the point about power stations being more efficient ....but and its a big BUT ! ... how many of these efficient power stations will need to be built to power the millions of cars ,trucks, buses and lord only knows what else ! more power stations more emisions .The renewables have there part to play but they are way off the mark at the minute , as the cost of maintaining the current stock is  almost out waying the generation of electricity .
Sure it was great when they were being handed money by government hand over fist but now thats all stopping there not looking quite so attractive anymore !

[gsxbarmy]

What was the scaremongering on diesel over your way?  Surely 60odd mpg has gotta be good in anyones books?

mpg wasn't the issue. After the government promoting people to buy diesels a few years back, they now advise against it due to pollution and possible health risks from the fumes. Also there have been the issues with various companies like VW/Audi who lied about mileage, cleanliness of engines etc. So now the government is now looking to put people off diesels.

There is now much more promotion around the Eco petrol engines, for instance the 1.0 Ford Eco engined cars do similar mpg to a diesel and go like a rocket with their turbo charged 3-cylinder engines, really surprised how well they perform for a 1.0!

[KiwiCol]

I don't think they've hit the shores down under yet Dave, but that'd be interesting to see.  3 cyl 1L motor, 333cc / cyl, that's been a winning formula for a long time. 333cc for a cyl just seems to work great.

[Kiwifruit]

Surely you had a 3 cyl Diahatsu Charade Col. I think they made them with a sunroof.

[Mick_J]

I quite like the idea of an electric car as most of my trips are just o the shops and back.  However my mother lives 220 miles away an my outlaws 260 miles, the only electric car that can do those distances is the £85-90,000 tesla and that's not going to happen.  I will stick to my 60mpg diesel until it's made illegal by the powers that be.