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Original poster

Electric cars

124 replies

Choccolatebar · 29/11/2023 22:55

Who else has no desire to buy one?

I have been wanting a brand new car for some time, but Honda, my preferred make is now moving heavily to hybrids and EV.

I think I will probably get a low mileage, 2 or 3 year old petrol Honda instead.

OP posts:
TheFeistyFeminist · 01/12/2023 07:51

There's so much outright bullshit about EVs, it's so annoying.

Our insurance premium went down, servicing costs are tiny compared with petrol and diesel vehicles. If you have engine regen braking, you don't even get through brake pads as fast as traditional cars.

Husband's commute went from costing him £50 a week petrol to £15 a month electric. With recent price hikes it's still less than half what it did cost before we switched.

250 mile range is like driving from London to Manchester. If you would do that journey without stopping at least once I don't want to be on the road with you; you can't possibly be concentrating at your best for a journey of that duration.

Plus, how often do you do that journey vs the normal journeys you do? I bet they are all well within the range of the car.

If you can charge at home, you will only need the public charging network once or twice a year, probably.

People do insist on seeing problems that don't exist.

getsomehelp · 01/12/2023 07:58

Has anyone mentioned how catastrophic the lithium "mining" is? How much water is used? The pollution, the poisoned watershed, the conditions if the employees & their families?

Also that there is no serious forward planning fir recycling all these batteries...

mafsfan · 01/12/2023 08:32

The guardian is running an EV mythbusters series at the moment

amp.theguardian.com/business/2023/dec/01/do-electric-cars-have-problem-mining-for-minerals

Electric cars
Electric cars

Interested in this thread?

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3 year olds Cars & vehicles
mafsfan · 01/12/2023 08:40

For those who believe EVs will just burst into flames

www.theguardian.com/business/2023/nov/20/do-electric-cars-pose-a-greater-fire-risk-than-petrol-or-diesel-vehicles

Hurrydash · 01/12/2023 08:55

EVs have greatly increased the demand for cobalt in recent years.

The majority of this comes from the Congo, where use of child Labour is widespread.

These are facts. Plenty of data on google and elsewhere to look at.

Not suggesting anyone should not buy an EV if they want one but this may be something to consider.

blobby10 · 01/12/2023 08:58

I have a plug in hybrid Audi A3 and love it. It gets me to work (and back in the summer) on one charge (I can plug it in at work as I'm the boss) and whilst it doesn't have a massive electric range, if I'm only commuting or doing short distances it doesn't use petrol. I got 1200 miles out of one tank earlier this year! Due to the weight of the battery its not quite as economical on a long trip as pure petrol but I don't do many of those.

biter · 01/12/2023 09:22

TeenLifeMum · 29/11/2023 23:29

I’m concerned about the disposal of batteries but next car will be hybrid or fully electric. Seems like the way forward. About half the cars in my street are electric now.

Read recently about a UK based chap who has invented a machine and process that can completely recycle the batteries. So progress is being made on that front

A little bit about the pace of recycling (and the endlessly recyclable properties of lithium) is here.

www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/apr/08/shock-and-ore-uk-firms-race-to-get-in-on-electric-car-battery-recycling-act

Brumbies · 01/12/2023 09:23

The way forward for vehicles is hydrogen.

MrsSkylerWhite · 01/12/2023 09:25

Can’t wait to get an electric car. Currently have a hybrid but in terms of economy there’s no comparison.

gotomomo · 01/12/2023 09:27

I wouldn't due to how hard it is to charge them. Due to covenants we can't have an electric charging point at home plus with 4 cars it would be logistically a nightmare to ensure everyone got to charge even if we could have one(use of the tumble dryer is bad enough!) 5 adults in our house and poor public transport

Theunamedcat · 01/12/2023 09:28

How do you stop them being so damp? My family member has an electric corsa and if he runs the heating and demister it kills the electric so the dam thing is dripping in the winter it's lovely in the summer though

keye · 01/12/2023 09:28

MrsSkylerWhite · 01/12/2023 09:25

Can’t wait to get an electric car. Currently have a hybrid but in terms of economy there’s no comparison.

I don't understand how they are cheaper. They cost so much more to buy initially

Theunamedcat · 01/12/2023 09:29

Plus his insurance is about £800 a year he has full no claims private secure parking low crime area its ridiculous

PepsiMaxLime · 01/12/2023 09:30

OP they don’t have engines so there’s really very little to service…

Talipesmum · 01/12/2023 09:31

If we could have a charging point at home we’d get one. But we can’t, so I’m waiting for the infrastructure to build up a lot more - will have to be a late adopter.

And on long journeys, we are a 5-10 mins nip to the loo and swap keys family. While we don’t do that every week, it’s probably every month or so. It wouldn’t be the absolute decider for us, but the home charging is, until the infrastructure gets a hell of a lot better.

gotomomo · 01/12/2023 09:33

@mafsfan

We semi regularly go to Aberdeen, it's 540 miles with 2 refuelling stops of 15 mins (motorbike) as electric motorcycles have a max range of 120 miles, it would take a lot more time. I've driven by car a few times and refuel just the once (Perth) as I can get 450 miles to my tank easily. Perhaps I'm unusual but I find it easier to go long distances than keep stopping

mafsfan · 01/12/2023 09:33

Theunamedcat · 01/12/2023 09:28

How do you stop them being so damp? My family member has an electric corsa and if he runs the heating and demister it kills the electric so the dam thing is dripping in the winter it's lovely in the summer though

Neither of ours are damp and we run the heating/air con as needed. A car certainly shouldn't be dripping!

Air con does show a difference in range (one car loses about 7 miles, the other about 10 miles) but putting the air con on also affects fuel consumption in an ICE car. You use about 10% more fuel apparently. It's just not indicated to you as clearly as it is in an EV.

BarbaraofSeville · 01/12/2023 09:47

keye · 01/12/2023 09:28

I don't understand how they are cheaper. They cost so much more to buy initially

Show quote history

The £30/40/50k+ that they cost to buy is 'just' something that MN tosses aside without a thought or care.

A couple of years ago I bought a 2 YO small petrol car for £8k. The same car is now electric only and I could have bought a 1 YO electric one, except that it would have cost NINETEEN THOUSAND POUNDS.

I do about 7000 miles a year, and spend about £80 a month on petrol. I also drive for work, but that's in pool/hire cars.

Even if the electricity I used to charge it up was free (because MN always has solar panels, which are also something you just get, despite them costing ££££s and you need to have a suitably sized and orientated roof and of course, own your own home) it would take about a decade to see a return on the extra investment. And that's if I wanted to have close to £20k tied up in a vehicle, which I don't.

I'm not totally against electric cars, but they are currently too expensive for many people and there are limitations for people who are travelling long journeys with tight timescales.

NotFastButFurious · 01/12/2023 09:55

blimey @BarbaraofSeville you've prompted me to look at the price of them and I am gobsmacked!! I knew the price of cars had gone up in the last couple of years but I hadn't appreciated how much more expensive the electric ones are. Honda HRV hybrid is from £30k, or top of the range model £36k but the e:Ny1 which seems to be the same car on the exterior is from £45k! Are a lot of people driving them on the company car scheme with tax breaks?

AlaskaThunderfuckHiiiiiiiii · 01/12/2023 10:05

@Brumbies im holding off till something else comes along, I’m rural work in community nursing with no driveway and the car is parked far from the house so no way to charge as it’s a village with houses either side of a main road so unlikely to be easily charged. I think there’ll be synthetic fuel at some point rather than everyone going electric, those that can and want to should but it shouldn’t be forced on everyone

MrsSkylerWhite · 01/12/2023 10:19

keye · Today 09:28

MrsSkylerWhite · Today 09:25

Can’t wait to get an electric car. Currently have a hybrid but in terms of economy there’s no comparison.

I don't understand how they are cheaper. They cost so much more to buy initially

There are second hand options now, they’ve been around for quite some time.

keye · 01/12/2023 10:29

@MrsSkylerWhite

There are second hand options now, they’ve been around for quite some time.

Right, but they still cost more than the equivalent ICE, even second hand.

Shade17 · 01/12/2023 11:30

kitsuneghost · 30/11/2023 22:44

Going to the toilet only takes 3-4 mins. If you can charge a car in that time. I'll get one.

Show quote history

I did a 330 mile trip in an EV earlier this year, en route charging comprised two stops totalling 15min. Each stop was basically for a piss/leg stretch so it can be done, but I accept that you probably wouldn’t want to do it every day, at some point you’ll encounter queues/broken charges etc.

mafsfan · 01/12/2023 11:35

Lots of people don't buy their car outright - same as with ICE cars. They use PCP, lease, salary sacrifice, BIK etc etc. If you're happy paying a monthly amount for your car and especially if you can charge at home, they can be so much cheaper to run. Just looked at our charger app and it cost £3.08 to charge DH's car last night adding 60% charge to his car (range of 260-280 miles).

BarbaraofSeville · 01/12/2023 11:37

How much is the monthly payment and how much was the deposit please?