strung out
💩 🤣 🍆 💦 🧐 👻 🐝 🐈⬛
Will depend on the car you get. My new EV as above costs about 8p per mile, compared with your 14/15p per mile for the diesel.
Electric cars
- Thread starter ch750536
- Start date
Bahnhof Strasse
Met up with Hannah Courtoy a week next Tuesday
My old A6 cost ~£100 to fill up and got me ~450 miles, so based on that they are a bit cheaper for home fill-ups, but not earth-shatteringly.
Bahnhof Strasse
Met up with Hannah Courtoy a week next Tuesday
Plug Share just shows you all chargers, so if you need to fill up on the move you can use that, most of them you can just tap a credit/debit card on the machine, so it doesn't have to be aligned to any one company. Some chargers you need tosign up and pay via an app.
But if you don't plan on doing long journeys you won't need it.
Careful with CarPlay using WhatsApp, it reads the message out loud, so if any young ears are in the car and someone's sent you a risqué message, could be an issue...
MickiQ
In My Defence I was left Unsupervised
Yours was a 3ltr wasn't it? mine's a 2ltr so competing against smaller diesels and petrols the running costs need to come down some more yet though of course electricity prices are at a ridiculous level at the moment for other reasons.
Bahnhof Strasse
Met up with Hannah Courtoy a week next Tuesday
Yeah, the mileage we got was pretty poor, but if you want 'safer overtaking' that's what you gotta do, the EV also offers safer overtaking, which probably affects the range somewhat...
Looby
Well-Known Member
We had a spoiled surprise visit because of CarPlay.
Other than that, it’s amazing.
T & P
|-o-| (-o-) |-o-|
That’s a very nice looking car you’ve got there
One thing I have never liked about the design of many EVs is that so many manufacturers have for some unfathomable reason decided to abandon their established house style and design bizarre contraptions that frankly look weird at best if not shit.
So full credit to Peugeot for releasing an aesthetically-pleasing electric car that is an elegant evolution of their existing portfolio, rather than a bizarre Robocop metal cube with wheels. Kia, I’m looking at you in particular.
strung out
💩 🤣 🍆 💦 🧐 👻 🐝 🐈⬛
MickiQ another data point to factor into your EV workings.
I'm just about to go on to an Octopus smart tariff that will allow me to charge overnight when electricity is cheaper. This brings the cost for charging down to about 2.2p per mile, way way cheaper than your 14-15p per mile. Should end up being a massive cost saving, probably well over £100 a month.
Leafster
.
I think Octopus still do their 'Agile' tariff which can be good for those with EVs or battery storage. There are times overnight when there is an excess of electricity production and they actually pay you to take it! So theoretically, they could be paying you to use your EV. It doesn't always work out that way but I'm aware of some people with EVs and battery storage with management systems which draw electricity from the Grid when it's at its cheapest (or even negatively priced) and then use the stored electricity when it's more expensive.
I've even heard stories of people drawing electricity, storing it and then selling it back to the grid and making a profit!
Ok, so I don't post much anymore of U75 because of job stuff (which is relevant to this thread) but its been over a year now since I've had my EV so its time for me to share my views on the subject. Earlier in this thread I was quite a vocal advocate for EV's so I want to share my experiences or the good, the bad and the ugly of being an EV driver.
Firstly a bit of disclosure because everyone's opinion of something will be coloured by their situation and the finances involved. My car is a company car so I didn't pay for it and won't pay for its upkeep. Ordinarily you pay a huge amount of tax to have a company car but currently there is a massive tax break for EV's, so this car is saving me in the region of £280 a month in tax. I'm not trying to be Billy Big Bollocks but merely showing my bias.
The car I have is a VW ID3 and in many ways its a shit car but as this thread is about EV's I want to talk about that element rather than where VW are as a company now because most of the shit things are not to do with it having batteries, though you could argue batteries are so expensive its extreme cost cutting everywhere else.
One last thing, these days I live on a narrow terrace street in SW London and have no driveway or ability to charge from my house.
The Good
I really bloody love driving an EV. Its so easy and so much fun. I liken it to the time when I was a child and watching my dad drive and thinking 'that looks so much fun'. Then I discovered things like clutches, biting points and stalling. I'm perfectly capable of driving a manual car but over the years have got so bored (driving a manual in London traffic doesn't help) but the workload on the driver is just bollocks. Prior to the EV I was already liking autos but this is on a different scale. I recently drove a hire car auto and realised how shit they are compared to the fun of an EV. Its just press 'n' play in an EV.
I've been quite open the financial incentive but to be honest I do like the no emissions side of things. There is no such thing as an idling engine. I remember shortly after getting it being stuck in a traffic jam on a motorway in the summer and the sight of all the cars sat there with their engines' idling kicking out fumes is something I really remember. I know it doesn't run on fairy dust and magic but the fact it's not poisoning the air in the immediate areas in something I guess.
The bad
Range anxiety is more of thing than I thought it would be. I only got the mid range battery *58kwh I think) because at the time of order I was doing low mileage pottering around London for work. I have now taken the king's shilling and commute down to West Sussex every day. Consequently I spend a lot of time charging and its always in the back of my mind. The range is theoretically OK at around 250-280 miles but the real kicker is VW tell me I should keep the charge between 20% and 80% to maintain battery health. This means generally only using 60% of the battery capacity.
Talking of range the winter is a real shit show for EV's. I did enough research to know this and had the optional extra heat pump (£1200) added. It does make a difference but in cold weather the heating drains the battery. Compared to the heating the ac in the summer is barely noticeable.
Another notable factor for range is motorway speed. Bimbling around town my car will last forever, stick it on a motorway and the range cascades like my bank balance. Combine that with winter and well, you're going to get used to recharging.
The ugly
The public charging infrastructure is a mess though it is getting better by the day. Living in London its OK enough because I have options for Source London and lamp post chargers but all of them come with their problems if you can't charge at home. Charging at home would make my life much easier.
The bigger problem though is on long journeys because there is just a lack of rapid chargers out there and there is a reliability problem with many that are out there. Many service stations still only have a couple of chargers and even the ones that have more can have queues so waiting around is a thing. As I say this is getting better by the day but it remains a pain unless of course you have a Tesla. Their supercharge network is incredible by comparison but I didn't have Tesla budget.
Conclusion
So, long story short. The future is looking good but there are some downsides to being an early adopter. I will be taking questions from the room now.
Firstly a bit of disclosure because everyone's opinion of something will be coloured by their situation and the finances involved. My car is a company car so I didn't pay for it and won't pay for its upkeep. Ordinarily you pay a huge amount of tax to have a company car but currently there is a massive tax break for EV's, so this car is saving me in the region of £280 a month in tax. I'm not trying to be Billy Big Bollocks but merely showing my bias.
The car I have is a VW ID3 and in many ways its a shit car but as this thread is about EV's I want to talk about that element rather than where VW are as a company now because most of the shit things are not to do with it having batteries, though you could argue batteries are so expensive its extreme cost cutting everywhere else.
One last thing, these days I live on a narrow terrace street in SW London and have no driveway or ability to charge from my house.
The Good
I really bloody love driving an EV. Its so easy and so much fun. I liken it to the time when I was a child and watching my dad drive and thinking 'that looks so much fun'. Then I discovered things like clutches, biting points and stalling. I'm perfectly capable of driving a manual car but over the years have got so bored (driving a manual in London traffic doesn't help) but the workload on the driver is just bollocks. Prior to the EV I was already liking autos but this is on a different scale. I recently drove a hire car auto and realised how shit they are compared to the fun of an EV. Its just press 'n' play in an EV.
I've been quite open the financial incentive but to be honest I do like the no emissions side of things. There is no such thing as an idling engine. I remember shortly after getting it being stuck in a traffic jam on a motorway in the summer and the sight of all the cars sat there with their engines' idling kicking out fumes is something I really remember. I know it doesn't run on fairy dust and magic but the fact it's not poisoning the air in the immediate areas in something I guess.
The bad
Range anxiety is more of thing than I thought it would be. I only got the mid range battery *58kwh I think) because at the time of order I was doing low mileage pottering around London for work. I have now taken the king's shilling and commute down to West Sussex every day. Consequently I spend a lot of time charging and its always in the back of my mind. The range is theoretically OK at around 250-280 miles but the real kicker is VW tell me I should keep the charge between 20% and 80% to maintain battery health. This means generally only using 60% of the battery capacity.
Talking of range the winter is a real shit show for EV's. I did enough research to know this and had the optional extra heat pump (£1200) added. It does make a difference but in cold weather the heating drains the battery. Compared to the heating the ac in the summer is barely noticeable.
Another notable factor for range is motorway speed. Bimbling around town my car will last forever, stick it on a motorway and the range cascades like my bank balance. Combine that with winter and well, you're going to get used to recharging.
The ugly
The public charging infrastructure is a mess though it is getting better by the day. Living in London its OK enough because I have options for Source London and lamp post chargers but all of them come with their problems if you can't charge at home. Charging at home would make my life much easier.
The bigger problem though is on long journeys because there is just a lack of rapid chargers out there and there is a reliability problem with many that are out there. Many service stations still only have a couple of chargers and even the ones that have more can have queues so waiting around is a thing. As I say this is getting better by the day but it remains a pain unless of course you have a Tesla. Their supercharge network is incredible by comparison but I didn't have Tesla budget.
Conclusion
So, long story short. The future is looking good but there are some downsides to being an early adopter. I will be taking questions from the room now.
Signal 11
also programmed for conversational english
It is best not to leave it standing around for a long time full or empty but other than that it's fine. If you're doing a long trip it's no problem filling it right up the day before, or getting close to empty as long as you get some charge back into it reasonably soon.
The only other issue with filling it right up is if you're using a rapid charger it gets slower as it gets closer to full, so on a long trip where you need to charge a few times you might save some time by only charging up to 80% even if that means you need an extra stop.
T & P
|-o-| (-o-) |-o-|
Given that the overwhelming majority of towns and cities have lampposts on pretty much every residential street, I struggle to understand why so few of them have been fitted with a charging socket.
I know the immediate obvious answer would be ‘money’. But sure as hell there always seems to be plenty available for other traffic environmental enforcement hardware. Such as new cameras policing the countless new LTN areas, not to mention the ULEZ expansion.
I’m not saying it should be one or the other, but I’d be interested to know the cost of fitting a EV socket to an existing lamppost, and of installing a new LTN or ULEZ camera where none had previously stood. Or the cost of creating brand new EV charging bays of course.
I know the immediate obvious answer would be ‘money’. But sure as hell there always seems to be plenty available for other traffic environmental enforcement hardware. Such as new cameras policing the countless new LTN areas, not to mention the ULEZ expansion.
I’m not saying it should be one or the other, but I’d be interested to know the cost of fitting a EV socket to an existing lamppost, and of installing a new LTN or ULEZ camera where none had previously stood. Or the cost of creating brand new EV charging bays of course.
Bahnhof Strasse
Met up with Hannah Courtoy a week next Tuesday
Please be aware that EV charging points that will be street based, lamp-posts etc. are basically exclusively for those like Teaboy (welcome back, you are missed!), who don't have the chance to charge at home. The real range anxiety comes for those on trips over >100 miles, as Teaboy correctly states, a 200 mile range is only 150, as you can't wait until nearly empty before you think about filling up again. With ICE that fill up is minutes, with EV it is at least 30 mins and that's just topping up. The range needs to go up massively. The thing I bought is so lovely for long drives, that you really don't need to stop every 2 to 3 hours, you can easily do 5-6 hours before breaks, the sodding car can't.
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gosub
~#
They were talking Chinese electric cars on radio 4 today and they had this chap raving about his BYD he'd bought....was really quite enthusiastic one of his best lines was that they.used to build nokias...googled it and they started in 2007. But got me thinking ..fellas who did the the 3310 get the band back together and do a car
DownwardDog
Riding a Brompton with a power meter.
ETA now November 2024! Unless we want a white one which Madame DD will not entertain.
These things must be selling like Greggs pasties in Hartlepool.
hash tag
Books, not bombs
Speaking of Chinese electric cars....
'I was kidnapped by my runaway electric car'
Brian Morrison's MG ZS EV had a malfunction near Glasgow and had to crash into a police van to stop.
www.bbc.co.uk
platinumsage
HaveMyPassword123
Do EVs have to be stationary to charge?
You could just put one of these on a bike rack and charge as you go:
Nivag
Well-Known Member
I'm pretty sure that's how the Dakar EVs ran
T & P
|-o-| (-o-) |-o-|
I was just reading that. Fuck me!Speaking of Chinese electric cars....
'I was kidnapped by my runaway electric car'
Brian Morrison's MG ZS EV had a malfunction near Glasgow and had to crash into a police van to stop.www.bbc.co.uk
DownwardDog
Riding a Brompton with a power meter.
I was just reading that. Fuck me!
Well, it was a fucking MG. I was behind one on the motorway recently and the alignment was so far out it was basically driving sideways.
Nivag
Well-Known Member
2.0L turbo engine in them to help charge the battery
RS Q e-tron¹ | audi.com
The Audi RS Q e-tron¹ is the second evolution of the vehicle developed by the brand with the four rings for the Dakar Rally, where Carlos Sainz and Lucas Cruz took it to victory in 2024.
www.audi.com
Bahnhof Strasse
Met up with Hannah Courtoy a week next Tuesday
2.0L turbo engine in them to help charge the battery
RS Q e-tron¹ | audi.com
The Audi RS Q e-tron¹ is the second evolution of the vehicle developed by the brand with the four rings for the Dakar Rally, where Carlos Sainz and Lucas Cruz took it to victory in 2024.
Could do with one of them in my etron.
hash tag
Books, not bombs
Stick one in the back.
platinumsage
HaveMyPassword123
Might be easier just to tow the etron with a diesel Q8, you'd get more seats and luggage space that way too.
Kid_Eternity
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
A couple we know just bought themselves a Tesla Model S each. They’ve not stopped raving about them, and they’ve come from owning high end petrol cars. Interesting to see how the switch is really playing out…
We’re going to wait another year but the next car will deffo be EV but unlikely to be a Tesla (not giving Empty Husk any of my money), liking the look of the Polestar range.
We’re going to wait another year but the next car will deffo be EV but unlikely to be a Tesla (not giving Empty Husk any of my money), liking the look of the Polestar range.
hash tag
Books, not bombs
As mentioned somewhere, Tesla's are almost uninsurable
www.theguardian.com
‘The quotes were £5,000 or more’: electric vehicle owners face soaring insurance costs
Drivers who ditched petrol and diesel to help save the planet face huge price rises in premiums
Kid_Eternity
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
Highly variable I’ve found but yeah not cheap.As mentioned somewhere, Tesla's are almost uninsurable
‘The quotes were £5,000 or more’: electric vehicle owners face soaring insurance costs
Drivers who ditched petrol and diesel to help save the planet face huge price rises in premiums
platinumsage
HaveMyPassword123
Apparently electric car drivers like to crash them, which partly explains the high insurance costs:
www.brusselstimes.com
Electric cars involved in more accidents than regular vehicles, study shows
The high number of accidents has actually nothing to do with the technology, but everything to do with the driving behaviour of the drivers.
www.brusselstimes.com
rubbershoes
not the only raver in the village
Speaking of Chinese electric cars....
'I was kidnapped by my runaway electric car'
Brian Morrison's MG ZS EV had a malfunction near Glasgow and had to crash into a police van to stop.www.bbc.co.uk
When you buy an EV on Wish
