To think Electric cars just aren’t practical yet?

[Youngatheart00]

Car is due for replacement (4 year PCP cycle) this autumn.

I love the idea of getting an electric vehicle in theory, I’m trying to make clean choices and also worry about the future value / obsolescence of petrol cars as I’m hearing more and more about manufacturers going electric only well within the next decade.

But our home is a Victorian terrace with no parking. More often than not we are not even parked outside our own home. There isn’t charging infrastructure at most petrol stations. I see some at motorway service stations but clearly it’s not practical to go there each time you need a charge (and there is a greater cost I think?)

I’m drawing the conclusion I’m going to have to go for another petrol vehicle and revisit at the end of the next 4 year cycle, when I’m hoping the electric car infrastructure will be much better developed.

I’ve thought about a hybrid but models from my preferred manufacturers seem limited (and v expensive) and I’m concerned about power as I do like a bit of ‘oomph’ for confidence!

What do others think?

Hi - Disagree with most of the above as someone who lives in a Victorian terrace with off street resident parking (Eg no guaranteed space) and owns a Tesla.

It was the BEST decision we could have made for a car. Granted we live in London so not sure where you're based but not having to pay congestion charge or ULEZ gives us complete freedom to go wherever we want without costs.

Even our resident parking is cheaper because of electric. We only pay £30 per annum for our permit vs the standard £140 for a petrol car.

In terms of charging we only have to do so every 2 weeks. We have a fast charger 5 mins from our house (as someone said check Zap Map) which takes the car back from 0 to 90% in ~1 hour. We just park the car at the charger. Walk the 5 mins back home and come back when it's done. Again we only do this every 2-3 weeks. We never stay in the car when it charges.

We also have about 4 slow chargers on roads next to our house so once or twice we've done an overnight charge at one of those but tbh the 1hr fast chargers are much easier.

Lastly the comment about the cars not being suitable for long trips is just not true. This depends solely on the car you get and its range. We have a Long Range Tesla model 3 and drove to Stoke (from London) last bank holiday which is about a 140 mile journey and we didn't need to recharge at all throughout. Actually arrived with 25% battery left as the long range has a total drive of ~300 miles.

I'd 100% say having an electric car (in London) living in a place with no option for home charging is completely doable and the savings and efficiencies you gain owning electric more than make up for needing to take time out to charge it twice a month.

From an environmental point of view, an efficient petrol car is still the best option.
Modern Euro6 diesels are just as “clean” and use less energy so have lower co2 output per mile.

We have the space to charge one but cannot afford to change yet. We don’t have the budget for hundreds or even thousands a month on pcp or finance.

OP - Hybrids do charge themselves from the petrol engine, but also harness energy from braking by using the motor as a generator to put energy back, You can get some quite powerful models as some can use both the electric abs petrol power if you need some ommph. Also electric propulsion can have starling acceleration (eg Tesla) because electric motors have much higher torque at all speeds than petrol or diesels.

Thanks for the perspective @on12145

We are not London so don’t have quite the infrastructure I suspect London is ahead with.

Diesel is an interesting one, if so clean why are they so unpopular now? Is it a PR / trust issue as a legacy of the VW emissions scandal?

They don't suit everyone (yet) and in your position I definitely wouldn't as it would be a total pain in the neck.

I have a plug in hybrid, I wanted to go full electric but the only one that I really liked was the Jaguar iPace which was over €100K. As it's turned out I'm the ideal type to have a plug in hybrid as my journeys are generally short and local with the occasional long trip. I filled my petrol tank in mid December and I used a quarter tank between then and mid May, then I did a long trip and used another quarter tank in one day. I like the way that it handles, the electric motor is very quick off a standing start and there is lots of oomph if needed because if I accelerate hard then both engines work together. However, it wouldn't suit everyone, for instance someone who had a long commute every day as the mpg is not great because it's heavier with both electric and petrol motors. People who regularly do a high daily milage would be better off fully electric or with a petrol engine.

We have one as main car as its 100 %, fine but we have a drive and charging point. On longer journeys we use fast charge at service stations ( takes 45 mins cost 3-8 pounds) saves us £300 a month I drive a lot for my job. Wouldn't have one if had to take it else where to drive though. Had to for 3 days once due to a fuse problem - main house not charger- right pain. Had it 4vyears now

It's great that this scenario is working in London. Perhaps other cities will start getting the same on street charging infrastructure over the next few years. I imagine a parking permit also helps though. When I lived in a terrace in Bristol I was lucky to park in my road.

Re: the sound issue, personally I like the lack of noise pollution.
But surely there’s an equal danger of stepping out in front of a cyclist if you rely on hearing it coming? We have lots of big groups of cyclists who move at 20-30mph - stepping out in front of them would be horrible for all concerned.

We have one and it's a great car with plenty of power. However, in your circumstances it may not be practical yet.

I think we all need to be prepared to make changes that make our life less convenient though if we are to make an impact.

I have a small 2nd hand electric car, and its great for the endless ferrying kids around trips. I do have a drive and my own charging point. It has some noise below 20.mph but not very loud. I play the radio really loudly and assume every pedestrian is about to step in front of me.

Charging locations are brilliant in Westminster, and lots in Glasgow but not all that widespread yet.

@MargaretFraggle now THATS an idea. If councils started incentivising electric vehicles by allowing designated parking spots outside your own house that would almost be enough to persuade me right away!!!

I think you are correct about limited infrastructure. It will probably change within 3 or 4 years- should you consider not having a car on PCP but something second hand for the interim, maybe a smaller car?

I am assuming a one car family, but if not, could you go down to a one-car family and accept the occasional inconvenience and a few taxi fares?

By law, electric cars built after mid-2019 have to make a noise to alert other road users up to 12.4mph, both when going forwards and reversing. (Some older ones won't do this, although most do.)

The pandemic-driven trend of people blithely stepping into the road without checking to maintain distance is a separate issue.

@Twoforthree

They are bloody dangerous as you can’t hear them. They need some sound put in them. I saw someone nearly step out in front of one this weekend, as they moved right to the side of the pavement to let someone pass. Fortunately the car coming up behind them, was going slowly to avoid the parked cars, but they were mm from the arm of the person. Had they actually put a foot into the road, as many of us do to make room on the pavement, they’d have been hit.

Like a bike then?

Non plug in hybrids gain energy from braking and coasting downhill, also from the petrol engine. In my experience they’re a lot more economical in stop start journeys than petrol only. No real difference on motorways.

[quote Youngatheart00]@Twoforthree yes!! I totally agree about the danger of not hearing the car engine. I wonder what the solution is there.....[/quote]
It's already dealt with, new cars from later this year or next need to have a paedestrian warning speaker to make noise at low speeds.

Designed to warn people in car parks, around street side parking, cars coming around corners etc, where you may not anticipate there would be a flow of traffic.

In the example further up the thread, it may be a better idea to discourage people from stepping into the roads without looking.....

One of the best things about EVs from a driver's perspective is how quiet they are.

We looked at electrics when we had to get another car but there is nothing suitable for our needs - have a severely disabled child so have a lots of requirements.

YANBU

We've recently bought a new car and considered electric but couldn't work out how it's possible to do long journeys (to visit DD) without having to recharge for hours along the way. We considered a hybrid but these are heavier than petrol cars so use more gas and aren't therefore better environmentally.

We regularly drive hundreds of miles in our EV. It’s totally practical. You can charge it when you go shopping or in multi-storey carpark. Chargers are more common than you think now - check out zap map! Hell you can charge it in any plug socket!

People are obviously scared of what they don’t understand. There is a lot of misinformation out there. You’ll catch up eventually

@Shitfuckcommaetc

I'm sorry, but "making clean choices" and buying a new car every 4 years do not make sense

Yes, I thought this.

So many people looking to make 'clean choices' whilst also trading in a perfectly good working car, that took tonnes of energy to manufacture/transport/market for something else new that took tonnes of energy to manufacture/transport/market, simply because they are bored/want a change/want to keep up with everyone else.

Not directly answering your circumstances OP but the wider question:

On Thursday I am collecting DD2 from her student accommodation as she has finished for the year and will hopefully be abroad next year. En route, I am dropping some clothes off to DD1 who still has finals. DD1's uni is 90 minutes from DD2's. The round trip from home is c520 miles. I can do it on one tank of diesel easily. I drive from home to DD1's without stopping (230 miles) then after a coffee and wee go to DD2's. After loading the car and another wee, we drive straight home.

There is no electric car on the market that will do that trip without charging stops. Neither DD has a charging point, so that would be a complete waste of time whilst I waited for an electric vehicle to charge. Electric cars do not hold the volume of stuff that my MPV does. I live rurally - the nearest charging point is at Tesco, 6+ miles away. My daily commute is 32 miles - I can do a month of commuting between refuelling if I drive economically. They are totally impractical for me. Before anyone starts on about only dropping DDs off at the starts/ends of terms, I play a large instrument that only fits on its trolley into a very few cars. Pre-Covid, I had 2 rehearsals or concerts most weeks, hence needing this size of car.

London/Glasgow are not representative of the country and it pisses me off that decisions are taken there and imposed on the rest of the country as though life there was the norm. I have no public transport within 1.5 miles of my house; the bus there only goes to 2 towns and costs close to £10 for a return trip of 12 miles. It costs me around £70 to fill my car and I can get 600+ miles from it without needing to walk to a bus stop.

To answer your question: No, electric cars are not at all practical yet for lots of people.

@BIoodyStupidJohnson

By law, electric cars built after mid-2019 have to make a noise to alert other road users up to 12.4mph, both when going forwards and reversing. (Some older ones won't do this, although most do.)

The pandemic-driven trend of people blithely stepping into the road without checking to maintain distance is a separate issue.

Only for new cars, as in new models of car. I know Tesla model 3s didn't have the feature until very recently when there was a model refresh and the feature was added. My April 2020 car doesn't have this feature.

On the electric vehicle side of things, no way would I get one if I didn't have a driveway of my own with a designated power point.

There is no way that the 2030 target will be met at the rate we are going at the moment in terms of infrastructure.

We have a drive so could charge OK, but the run time wouldn't cover DHs commute so it's not an option much as we'd like to switch

In your shoes I would get a petrol car for 3 years. You give it back before the mot that way and in 3 years time their should be more models to review. I’m the same as you, I don’t think I’m ready to go electric yet due to my job taking me out and about many places but I’m considering it in a few years time.