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AIBU?

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Original poster

I know I am probably BU but

106 replies

beinglikedisoverrated · 03/09/2021 20:08

Cost at moment to charge an Electric car overnight for 1 year us in excess of 3k. News today says fuel prices are going to hike. And, what happens to all the used electric batteries. Landfill? Aibu to love and want to keep my 'dirty diesel'? Ironically, diesel was supposed to be the ' cleaner fuel'.

OP posts:
NerrSnerr · 03/09/2021 21:24

How much does it cost in petrol to do 150 miles a day (and is that 7 days or 5 days?)

I have googled that the car batteries last 10-20 years. It isn't great they'll end up in landfill, I hope that the benefit of using electric outweighs the downside but I haven't done any research into that.

PeonyTime · 03/09/2021 21:31

You have a high daily mileage. Have you worked out your desiel costs per year? I'd wager it's well over 3K.

Why cant the batteries be recycled after use? Pull out all the metals, purify and reuse - just like waste electrical stuff is recycled currently.

OldTinHat · 03/09/2021 21:53

And this is why second hand cars are so expensive! I bought my 12yr old car (at the time with 61k on the clock) for £700. Its now 18yrs old and my garage says it won't pass the MOT next year due to a computer fault. I'm looking to buy another old banger as it were (!) and I can't find one for less than £3k and they are all 15yrs old plus. And I'm talking about a run around, not a sports or classic car. Electric cars are expensive and not practical, I live in a terraced house with no parking. I have to park in a public car park 500 metres away and pay a stupid amount for the privilege. Electric or hybrid cars are not possible for me because of that and I am sure this is why the price of second hand cars has rocketed.

PlanDeRaccordement · 03/09/2021 21:59

YANBU OP

EV is not what we should be moving to. The carbon footprint of production of the EV plus the carbon footprint behind the generation of the electricity, mean it is only marginally better than a diesel with current emissions technology.

We should be moving to hydrogen cars. Much better for environment and much lower carbon footprint.

Auntycorruption · 03/09/2021 22:04

Do they lose charge if you don't drive for a few days?

Cheeserton · 03/09/2021 22:13

Total tosh. It's much cheaper than that. And yes, totally unreasonable to want to keep your diesel unless you want to give kids asthma and continue screwing the environment for all. Enough already, we are starting to have very viable alternatives and we need them.

Sparklfairy · 03/09/2021 22:16

£3k/£8.40 is 357 days a year - do you really drive 150miles every single day (except 8 days of the year)?!

at those calculations it's well over 8k a year in diesel...

LavendulaAngustifolia · 03/09/2021 22:18

The batteries don't get dismantled when they need upgrading. They are reconditioned and used for other things that's don't require as much draw as a car. They have already started to come onto the 2nd hand battery market.

DesdemonaDryEyes · 03/09/2021 22:19

I live in a terraced house on a busy main road.

Where can I charge my car overnight?

Chloemol · 03/09/2021 22:24

Even at 150 per day that’s only 5 days a week surely for work? So just over £2k and possibly less if you have holidays

If you do 750 miles a week then that’s probably minimum £50 per week so £2600

So it’s still cheaper

Batteries are designed to last up to 12 years so it’s not like shedloads will suddenly be dumped m and a quick google tells you how they will be recycled

TheVolturi · 03/09/2021 22:27

@Auntycorruption

Do they lose charge if you don't drive for a few days?
No they don't.
Halfaham · 03/09/2021 22:33

@DesdemonaDryEyes

I live in a terraced house on a busy main road.

Where can I charge my car overnight?

You can pay to borrow someone else's. We have a charge point but no electric car and have had letters asking if we'll rent it out.
ElvisPresleyHadABaby · 03/09/2021 22:35

I've got one, much, much cheaper than our old petrol. DP has a hybrid and that is still cheaper as only needs filling now and again.

ElvisPresleyHadABaby · 03/09/2021 22:37

www.transportenvironment.org/press/inquest-ella-kissi-debrah’s-tragic-death-shows-need-clean-air-act

What price would you put on the health and livelihood of children?

WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 03/09/2021 22:50

Electric cars must work out a load cheaper than petrol or diesel for the equivalent mileage, otherwise the government wouldn't have become so antsy about keeping their hands on the equivalent revenue to match all of the tax that they're currently getting - the tax that was always justified as being primarily a 'punishment' (or 'sin tax', if you will) on polluting the environment.

As for how they will charge up, if you don't have a suitable house and also how they will monitor each vehicle to levy the appropriate per-mile charge, one main answer to both is smart motorways - probably smart A/trunk roads too eventually.

I gather the ultimate plan is for you to be able to charge your car wirelessly as you drive and then, presumably, you'll receive a bill/automatic debit from your bank account for both the cost of the electricity that you've used and also the tax on top of that for having used it/the road.

I will be absolutely amazed if wireless charging of vehicles at home (let alone on the move) isn't the norm within a few years.

Cherrysoup · 03/09/2021 22:54

Do I hear that you have to swap out electric car batteries every 3-5 years and a new one is several thousand? Also, as a pp mentioned, landfill?? I’ve had my car a long time, I’d be about £12K down if it were electric!

ouchmyfeet · 03/09/2021 22:59

It's so much cheaper than that. If you get an EV tariff electricity is cheaper overnight. I'm on octopus go, it cost less than £2 to fully charged car (usually about £1.75) and will do 175 miles on that. Even if you fully charged it every single night you're still talking about £700 per year max

Dashel · 03/09/2021 23:02

I’m off grid and no where near another charging point, so if I get one of these cars I will be burning red diesel in a generator to power it in the week, unless it’s a windy night.

Hopefully it will be sunny enough on the weekends that I can charge it then, but DH will be screwed as he does lots more miles than I do. Maybe work will put in some charging points but I doubt it knowing the,

WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 03/09/2021 23:06

I'm also concerned about the decreasing in efficiency in the batteries, as happens to every type of rechargeable battery (AFAIA) in existence now. It's all very well quoting the mileage you get per charge when the battery is brand new, but what happens 2, 5, 10 years down the line, when an overnight charge gets you 25 miles?

And that's assuming they never glitch or let you down and/or start showing 'full charge' then suddenly power off after two minutes - as several phones that I've had have done?

Even if you buy one outright, with the expected lifespan of a battery, it's still going to be kind of like leasing it for its useful life, with an otherwise perfectly-working car after a few years but an expensive 'lease renewal' for the next few years with the new battery.

Paq · 03/09/2021 23:09

Do you really drive 150 miles a day? Every day? Why?

HalzTangz · 03/09/2021 23:11

@beinglikedisoverrated

Cost at moment to charge an Electric car overnight for 1 year us in excess of 3k. News today says fuel prices are going to hike. And, what happens to all the used electric batteries. Landfill? Aibu to love and want to keep my 'dirty diesel'? Ironically, diesel was supposed to be the ' cleaner fuel'.
Used batteries can be sent to Tesla (even if not Tesla cars), when batteries past their life for the car, they do still contain something like 20% charge. Tesla use the used batteries to power/light their depots
HalzTangz · 03/09/2021 23:13

@beinglikedisoverrated

Cost at moment to charge an Electric car overnight for 1 year us in excess of 3k. News today says fuel prices are going to hike. And, what happens to all the used electric batteries. Landfill? Aibu to love and want to keep my 'dirty diesel'? Ironically, diesel was supposed to be the ' cleaner fuel'.
Where do you get the 3k figure from? My friend has a Tesla, she charges it 1-2 times a week at most, costs her around £6 a week, £284 per year
TreeSmuggler · 03/09/2021 23:13

This could have been a useful discussion but OP you clearly aren't here for that with your totally wrong figures.

Well guess what I heard that diesel cars cost £689523899 per year to run! And I heard they run over 100x more puppies! No need to look up these figures, I assure you they are accurate.

HalzTangz · 03/09/2021 23:15

@beinglikedisoverrated

I got the information from ( MG website)

COST TO CHARGE AN ELECTRIC CAR AT HOME
Charging your vehicle at home is the easiest and most cost-effective way to power your vehicle. You can charge overnight at a reduced rate and wake up with a full battery, ready to go. Charging an electric vehicle at home costs around £8.40 for a 60kWh vehicle, according to data supplied by Pod Point. This will provide approximately 200 miles of range, depending on your vehicle.

So £8.40 for 200 miles, that's 1-2 weeks of driving. That doesn't total anywhere near 3k
Earlystartsmakemegrumpy · 03/09/2021 23:16

@Cherrysoup

Do I hear that you have to swap out electric car batteries every 3-5 years and a new one is several thousand? Also, as a pp mentioned, landfill?? I’ve had my car a long time, I’d be about £12K down if it were electric!
No where did you hear that from? EV batteries last around 200,000 miles, if you average 12,000 miles a year that would be over 16 years. Most car manufacturers will provide a warranty of 10 years or 100,000 miles for the battery. Electric cars aren't perfect by any means, there are issues with disposal etc, but let's get our facts right people.