(electric cars) aibu to think that this won't work?

[greenacrylicpaint]

currently stuck at a motorways service station.
there is a long queue for the chargers of which a few are not working.

imagine summer holidays. how is that going to work? train long distance and then cars/bikes locally?

@Newwardrobe - some random can’t just unplug your car. You need to unlock car to then unlock the power connection.

Port but we used to use the 3 pin plug in the garage and trail the cable underneath the garage door.

If you are off grid and power your home using a generator, assuming it's reasonable efficient, using it to charge an EV is probably going to give you better mpg then burning the fuel in an ICE car. Generators run at optimum efficiency.

Like a deconstructed hybrid.

Maybe they'll make something like a power bank or easily switchable battery. For when you cant charge at home.

So if one is empty you can switch to a full one, like people do with phones.

You would have to have a very large Solar or wind generator to charge an EV and then a diesel generator for back up in winter, it could be done but would not be cheap - an ICE would be much less and you wouldn’t be helping the planet much either

how many cars are able to fill up at a pump?

15 an hour?
versus 1 or 2 on a fast charger?

fwiw just returned from visiting relatives over christmas. we took the train.
a very pleasant and relaxing journey. (in forrin, no strikes).

an ICE would be much less and you wouldn’t be helping the planet much either

As long as ICE is still a viable option. We may eventually have to look at getting connected to the grid just to stay mobile. That’s at least 15k at today’s prices that I’d rather spend on something else.

Is there not a way to take a giant battery pack into the car boot for charge.

How though? I live in a town with very high unemployment so I had to get a job doing shifts 25 miles away. There is no direct public transport and nothing that would get me there for the start of an early shift or home after a late shift.

My MIL lives about 150 miles away and when we go and see her we usually take her out for lunch/dinner so we need to drive and take the car. We like to go for days out and lots of places (e.g. Lake District) aren’t accessible by bus/train.

Is there not a way to take a giant battery pack into the car boot for charge.

In order to fully charge an empty battery, the battery pack would have to be more or less the same same size as the car’s internal battery.

A Tesla Model 3 battery weighs nearly half a ton. Getting one in the boot might be a bit of a struggle. Even one half the size would need a crane.

We have on site holiday let. No problem with guests charging their car if they want to.

We charge our car at home 99% of the time. So working out how many cars can fill at petrol v public charger is pointless as majority of electric car chargers are only using public chargers on long distance routes.

In 2021 there were 12 cars to every 10 households in the UK. Over 30% of UK homes have no off-street parking. That will leave an awful lot of cars needing to use public chargers 100% of the time.

yep. move to ev will only work if personal car ownership and use is vastly reduced.

anything up to 5 miles is/can be cycled. 10 miles e-bike. cycling infrastructure dependent of course.

In 2021 there were 12 cars to every 10 households in the UK.

But how many of those cars will need charging every day, or even every week?

There are five cars registered at our address. There are only two of us and we rarely use more than one at at time. We haven’t driven anywhere for the last three days and have no plans to until at least Tuesday.

Yes, so all the poor people can get on their bikes or walk

Yes this, if you think there is wealth inequality now just wait to see what it’s like in 10/15/20 years. Young people think they have it bad now not being able to afford to buy a house, but soon they will never be able to afford a car either, driving and travel will be for the relatively wealthy only, no one will want terraced houses and will loose value as everyone will want a house with a private drive for car changing, society is going backwards at a rapid pace. I imagine in the not too distant future unless you are born into a relatively comfortable family that future generations won’t own houses, won’t drive or own cars, won’t be able to afford travel and will have stay in their designated climate zones working to keep the rich in the style to which they have become accustomed, sounds dystopian but it’s happening already.

anything up to 5 miles is/can be cycled. 10 miles e-bike. cycling infrastructure dependent of course.

Lucky that there aren't any elderly or disabled folk in society, isn't it....

We won’t be buying an ev anytime soon having researched it. The projected range of the ev seems very optimistic. Less range in cold weather when using heater etc. lack of charging stations when on a journey, the time it takes. Now multi storey car parks are reporting that they need to check the structure as ev are much heavier than usual cars. We will look at it again in a few years, but our next car will be petrol.

You can't.
To remove the charger you need to unlock your car, so they'd need to take your keys or somehow bypass them. And tbh it they were doing that I doubt they'd hang around to charge their own car - you'd know as your car's app would alert you.

Oh the privilege of not being older or having mobility or other health issues. Or living in a relatively flat area with safe roads. Or not needing to take passengers, or carry heavy loads to and from work/destinations.

I would only cycle anywhere if it was on traffic free lanes. Proper traffic free lanes, not just lines drawn on the road with cars parked in them and traffic rushing past

But surely all those journeys can easily be done by an electric car? If you can charge at home those are exactly the kind of journeys people use electric cars for. It’s the long distance journeys which are much more problematic.
Of course I see the reasons why it would still be better to cycle but I don’t think the impracticalities of an electric car would
necessarily make people swap to a bike for short distances. Maybe people who can’t access a charger easily.

Yes, so all the poor people can get on their bikes or walk

Not poor people, people with a social conscience. Lots of people with decent incomes cycle and walk when they can. The main stumbling block is infrastructure and the arrogant attitudes of many drivers, who think they own the road because they pay "road tax".

Exactly, this is the main issue. Anyone can cycle, you don't have to be "poor", you just need a bike! Or a trike, if you have no balance.

We have bikes and I have very bad balance, hence why i wont go on roads

I dont have the space for a trike, I wouldnt be able to get it in the house neither would we be able to get it on the bike rack