Electric car or not?

[ABBAsnumberonefan]

I’m thinking of getting a bigger car and weighing up my options. What’s everyone’s opinion on electric cars? Is it worth investing in one now or do they still need a few more years to develop?

the prices of them are eye watering even on finance so I’m not sure if it’s worth it yet!!

I’ve had my electric car for six months.

I wouldn’t do it.

I can’t do more than a 45 mile trip (90 mile round trip) as motorways kill the battery. It’s meant to have a 210 mile range but you get nowhere near there even driving in economy with no heating/air con.

So I have to regularly borrow my DHs car.

Charging stations can be tricky. I’ve pulled into some that don’t work at all, and only have a 9-5 M to F helpline. Other times you can pull in and the stations are all occupied.

I’ve been to center parcs and airports and they still have no charging stations!

And if you don’t have a driveway and wall box you will really struggle. It would take 24 hours to charge mine on a regular walL socket.

IMO they’re only suitable for short inner city journeys and when you have a fast wall charger at home.

@Minfilia
sorry you've had bad experience. I do think it depends very much on your lifestyle. My DH works from home FT, I only go to the office once a week ish which is a 30 mile round trip so easy. Kids walk to school. Most of our journeys are very local (urban area) but I mange occasional trips to distant family. If your lifestyle involved a lot of driving around all the time and/or you live rurally I get it why it would be a lot harder to make it work.

With ours a steady 65 mph on the motorway and you still get the range advertised.

We don't own a car, but did a 180 mile trip in a friend's e-car, and it was brilliant - so quiet and unstressful to drive. We stopped for 20 mins mid-journey both ways, which was a good thing to do anyway (3.5 hour journey), and was needed because there was no charging available at the far end. While we were away we charged once, while we wandered around a town. So, we did need to think about charging, in a way that nobody has to with fossil fuel, but it was not difficult or burdensome.
Their's is one of the newer cars though, with something like a 250 mile range.

We have a second hand one (Zoe) and charge from a normal plug.. we love it for short journeys.. not done a long journey yet not quite brave enough. We are quite lucky that we have charging points at work so can charge up if needed. We both love it so much we are looking to change my petrol guzzler to a full electric in the next 6months or so.

Hmm I could possibly get the car in my back yard. I have a shutter down the back but at the moment a shed blocks it - wondering if it’s a solution to no driveway 🤔

Sorry I think I’m being a bit dense - but is the wall box something you can buy?

Yep

I’ve had my electric car for six months.

I wouldn’t do it.

Similar sentiments to this ex EV owner…

I'm Done with Electric Cars! Going back to Combustion Power - Here's Why!

I’m sorry too!! 😂😂

I even tried pootling with the HGVs at 60mph and still the range is crap!

It does 100% depend on lifestyle, for me I have to make lengthy trips a couple of times a month. I have a 300 mile trip this weekend which would mean me stopping 3 times each way to charge.

maybe I’m just unlucky!!

Cheers frazzled!

I don’t really do long journeys so it’s looking like I should try electric really

Motorway speeds aren’t great for economy in any car, but you’re right about in EV’s. I find i get the poorest economy in mine at motorway speeds too but it is a city model, not a cruiser. Mine also takes 24hrs to charge on a ‘granny’ charger (3 pin plug). However, It’s not advised to do this in the long term as it could overload your house circuit if you charge in a normal domestic socket (fire risk).

Mine is relatively true to the quoted ranges. I get less in winter and more in summer (same as ICE cars but you don’t notice it as much because a fill up takes minutes and you have more range to begin with, usually). Mine has a pessimistic ‘guessometer’ (the predicted range from the available battery). It’s always wrong, so I go by battery % rather than what the car is telling me, as I can start a journey with it telling me I’ve got 60 miles of range, end my journey having travelled 10 miles and still have 59 left. Like an ICE car, it recalculates the range based on weather conditions (wind resistance etc) and driving style (speed, driving mode, braking, use of regen etc) and the tech used (climate, etc). Some of the tech will use the 12v battery and so won’t affect economy (interior lights, sound system, nav system, locking, instrument panel, starting systems, driver assistance)

@TedEBearr
i’m really surprised - with most EVs with 300+ mile range I’d expect it to manage 300 miles on one charge.
Perhaps one charge on return so that you got home comfortably. 6 is insane. Which car do you have?

@TedEBearr
sorry realise you probably mean 300 each way rather than 300 round trip. That is harder. But very rare for most people i think.

Yes. It’s a personal electric charging point that goes on the side of your property (can be on your house, garage, shed, wall or on a post). It’s hooked up to your domestic electricity supply by an electrician. Sometimes you have to have your supply ‘beefed up’ if you’re running at the limit in terms of what’s already on it. Some supplies are also ‘looped’ (ie connected to neighbours) and so they need to be unlooped before the box can be connected too. Not impossible but can be more time consuming and cost more because of the extra labour and potential for digging up/making good.

I have an electric car.

I get around 200 miles on a full charge.
I charge at home or anywhere I see a free public charger.
It costs me around £1.20 for a 4 hour change. (Cheap 4 hour tariff at night, gives me around 180 miles)
No road tax.
Insurance is no different to my previous petrol car.
Servicing is cheaper.
I have done long journeys. Yorkshire to the Isle of Wight and Heathrow.
I have charged at big charging banks and I'm fully charged in the time it takes to walk to the building for a wee and a coffee.
It's not perfect. Some chargers/branches are crap. But the apps are getting better. I've not run out of charge at any time.
I've not struggled to find a working charger.

I was about to post something when my laptop ran out of power...🤦‍♀️

And that is why I wouldn't have an electric car. I'm waiting for either hydrogen powered or whatever the new synthetic fuel F1 has developed. Until then I'll drive my petrol car, and replace it before the ban comes in.

The batteries aren't "green" due to all their components, and who wants a 2nd hand EV? The cost of replacing the battery could be more than the vehicle is worth.

The 2nd hand EV market is booming

You think petrol is expensive now? Synthetic fuels like the F1 one require such long winded processes that they are prohibitively expensive for the forecourt user.

Extraction of hydrogen isn’t exactly green either (tends to use gas or electricity to divide the molecules).

As for no one wants a 2nd hand EV because of battery degradation issues. That may be the case for early models but modern models have sophisticated battery management systems which avoid overloading and overheating and prolong the life and health of the battery modules.

I don't disagree that there are concerns about the batteries but I bought a second hand EV, as did several people I know. If you did some research you will realise that other than with the first generation EVs, replacing the batteries is not really a 'thing', not at the moment anyway. Ours is 4 years old, 3 years with us and has not noticeably lost any battery capability at all.

Second hand EVs are going for more money than new ones at the moment because lead times for EVs are so long. So plenty of people want them!

Sure longer term people will want to replace batteries and right now the cost is prohibitive but having done a fair amount of reading up on the subject are likely to be economical options in 5-10 years.

I had an electric car (company car) - I drove it from the south west to Scotland with no issues. So it’s fine on longer journeys.

caveat is it was a Tesla, and Tesla super chargers are fantastic. Personally I wouldn’t get an electric car that wasn’t a Tesla because other charging points are very hit and miss. That said they are planning on opening the Tesla charging network up to other makes of ev in the future - but still I’d hold out until they did this, unless you plan on getting a Tesla.

I have an electric. Commute 140 miles a day Monday to Friday. Charge overnight on cheap rate at home.

What's not mentioned is how much easier and more fun to drive they are. DH has a petrol courtesy car at the moment and he's shocked at how hard to drive it is. All that clutch work and gear stick stuff. And having to move your foot from accelerator to brake if you want to slow down. Who needs it !!!

I'd rather have a horse.

The drivers of the electic cars seen about here are arrogant Tesla penis replacemet men.

Tesla supercharger network has started to open up to other manufacturers. I think 10 or 15 charger sites are now open to everyone.

Not all tesla drivers are men, nor am I arrogant or driving it as a penis replacement, quite happy with my vulva thanks!

I reckon we should all switch to pedal cars like the ones in Bugsy Malone! Heal the planet and solve the obesity situation all in one swoop!