Electric cars are NOT the future, are they?

[Isometimeswonder]

I am genuinely torn. I need want a new car but really don't want electric.
But so few smaller petrol cars are made now.
I haven't got a place to charge a car at home.
AIBU I should accept electric is the future.
AINBU I should get petrol. (Please recommend a small city car)

@BishyBarnyBee that's fair if you consider buying an EV and solar panels are part of an inseparable package, but that isn't actually true. Plenty of people have one and not the other. If you didn't charge your EV, your panels would have more power remaining to put into the grid.

You generally have a range of flexibility about when you stop.

But also, adapting your behaviour to minimise environmental damage may involve some changes which are uncomfortable at first. I'd much rather drive and fly everywhere, it would be much more convenient, but I don't because the impact of my choices matters to me. And once you get your head round it, having to stop because of the car is not actually a huge drawback.

We're getting a new ev to replace our existing one.
The new one is

1. Cheaper than the old one.
2. Has better range
3. Faster charging

It apparently will do 375miles in one charge... I don't quite believe it and I wouldn't want to do than with out a break to stretch my legs anyway.

The tech is improving all the time.
The Chinese and Korean brands are forcing the traditional European manufacturers to up their game.

People will adapt and get used to the different way you have to plan a journey in an EV. Some things will be less convenient than ICE, some things will be more convenient, but as with all new technologies, the old way will be almost immediately forgotten. It's really no big deal.

The bummer about lithium is the amount of toxic chemicals (that don't degrade over time) involved in it's extraction.

Luckily this isn't a problem in the UK as it's all being done in China. Though I suspect if lithium deposits like the one in Cornwall were found in more places it'd be that awkward thing for environmentalists to try to balance the greater good of less carbon with the immediate threat to wildlife having toxic chemicals leeching into the soil and water table in the immediate area

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ckgzl0nwvd7o

Hydrogen will never be mainstream as a fuel, compared to EV's. Apart from the ability to refuel in a similar way to petrol or diesel, it's just fundamentally a worse solution.

Just had a hybrid battery fail on my 4 year old car - £12,500 to replace, luckily covered under warranty - but when the technician from that manufacturer tells you that they are failing all over the place and showed me a pallet of battery parts for another model awaiting replacement costing £35,000, it doesn’t fill you with great confidence.

Consequently, I made the decision to get rid of the car and trade it in for a new petrol one from another manufacturer who then informed me that I had made the move just in time as dealers are reluctant to take on any hybrid/electric cars for part exchange over 4 years old as they are notoriously unreliable - even prestige models, which mine was.

We are nowhere near efficiency nor have the infrastructure for these vehicles. Remember how around 10 years ago we were told diesel was the way to go, now it’s the devil incarnate fuel? I wouldn’t be surprised if in a similar time, we look back and say the same about electric cars.

I’ve come to the conclusion that they are just expensive virtue signalling machines.

But even so, I don't think this is a serious argument. The article I quoted above says;
Why overnight charging matters:
The UK grid is cleaner at night. During daylight hours, gas plants often run to meet demand peaks. Overnight, when demand drops, the grid runs on nuclear baseload, offshore wind (which blows more consistently at night), and minimal gas. Grid intensity overnight can drop to 80-100g CO2/kWh.
Properly installed smart chargers that automatically charge overnight when electricity is cheapest (and cleanest) maximize the environmental benefit.

So yes, daytime top ups in a motorway services are quite expensive and do probably use gas powered electricity. But if the vast majority of your driving is powered from home overnight, you are using much cleaner energy.

I'm not arguing that everyone should have one, but I think some people like to argue they are as bad or worse than traditional cars and that just isn't true.

I live on a terraced road and our local council has installed charging points in the pavement. Initially just the one car used it. I frequently see 3 or 4 of the points being used now. When the infrastructure is there, people feel more confident in making the change.

It's also ignoring that the grid itself will eventually be all renewables or nuclear.

An ev with home charging and solar panels is game changing. We get electricity at 7.5p overnight because of the car so while we don't always run it on solar it's still dirt cheap. We basically don't think about the cost of driving any more unless it's too far for one charge.

Bearing in mind that they are still building thousands of new homes without driveways and therefore a personal charging point, then no. There is no way they will even happen by 2035.

They won't convert old estates either.

People don't drive as far as they think they do.
Most people don't drive much more than 20miles a day.
Yes, some people commute 100 miles each way or traveling sales people etc etc. They're a special case and not included in this.

If your car has a range of 300+ miles you don't need to charge it every time you leave the house you charge once a week or less. People with the ability to charge at home won't clog up supermarket chargers because they have no need to.
Chargers will be everywhere, they already are...

Certainly hope so. I won't be forced into an EV only to have to spend twice as much as those with driveways, just to charge the bloody thing.

Not true. We don't have a charger at home and are an exclusively electric household. You can get subscriptions for cheaper charging e.g. Ionity

I live across the pond and they are certainly more popular here

But most people have a drive and space to charge them

There's also a great network of charge stations too

I love my EV but I wouldn't have bought it if I didn't have drive and pod point.

We drive a similar distance to relatives. We can get there on one charge and drive around a bit but then have to recharge on the way home. It is much cheaper than in our old petrol.

We had a courtesy car that was a cheaper electric and the range fear was real. Sudden rain hammered the battery, then a charging station wasn't working and we were panicking on the motorway at 2%.

So you’re going to spend £10 k on solar pancakes and £1k on a charger and ££££ on an electric car. The money you’d have off your electricity bill isn’t really saving £300 on fuel as you’re spending the saving on fuel as opposed to your electricity bill. Think you’re going to need to wait some time to see a return.

My self charging hybrid is so much cheaper, no need for huge amounts of money on car, solar panels or charging outlets and we really do save nearly £200 a month on fuel as it charges itself. If we get solar panels we’ll have no household electricity bills.

I loved driving my EV but had to give it up as I drive long distances for work and it didn’t have enough range.

They are great second cars if you can charge at home, but a lot less handy if you need to drive any distance.

Personally, I wouldn’t go for hybrid as the car has the weight of a battery and an engine, meaning they are usually less efficient than petrol.

The telling thing for me was a newspaper article earlier in the week about Stellantis, the manufacturer of Peugeot and Vauxhall cars who looking to reintroduce diesel cars to the UK.

Mine was 6 years old …£2000 of labour to get the battery out and the failed cell replaced…nearly £4k in total. And you can’t just go to your friendly local garage you have to go to a main dealer because local garages can’t touch the high voltage system.

Until batteries are effectively plug and play I’m not getting another! There’s no need for them to need £2k of labor to access…that’s just either bad design or planning to keep maintenance etc in-house.

This. My phone, watch, tablet and laptop all take longer to charge than my car takes to fill. No one dies.

Personally I hope that car clubs are the future. So many people only use their car for such a tiny amount of time, it doesn't make sense to own one, compared to just borrowing one from a car club from time to time.

This exactly.

The technician told me they have to have an electrician and at least 3 people working on the battery, plus a small crane to get the thing in and out. Not only that, I had to wait 7 weeks for the battery and availability of staff to get the repair done in the first place.

I’m keeping well away from these things until the reliability improves and far more research is done into the long term life and indeed, the true impact on the environment is fully revealed.

Electric cars are NOT the future, are they?
They will be but not yet for many people.
An EV cannot serve every family any more than an estate car can. Neither can you say that a Tesla is what you need. maybe it is.
Choose a car for your needs over the next 3 years is my advice.