Electric vehicles

[AlanY]

All these comments are fine as we wave the green flag. However like covid, unless the whole world moves in the same direction at the same time, it's all pointless.
What exactly are we trying to achieve alone here?
Let's Go metric they said? Get the whole world on a standard....no more of that whitworth rubbish either.
That was a good idea too until the US decided they were staying in feet and inches And we were already up to our necks in the brown stuff pushing forward.
And what of China? Taking away their coal fired industries. Stopping buying cast iron products?
Good lord!
And those rockets now being sent up by the thousand......
is it not more important just to leave this dying world behind, because there's more investment going into that than white elephant batteries?
Carbon footprint my a#####s.

Absolutely agree. Were the UK to become carbon neutral (leaving only the issues of poverty, mass unemployment and civil unrest to deal with), it would make not one iota of difference to the global climate change situation, unless the major polluters all do the same. We all know who they are and we all know they have no intention of following suit. All we will do is make the UK poor, non-competitive and much worse off socially. Mind you, it might solve the immigration problem, 'cos who on Earth would want to come here?

 

[AlanY]

I wouldn't be surprised if a diesel generator charging a battery car was still more efficient than a gasoline powered vehicle (in miles per gallon).

Yes, but diesel engines are heavy particulate polluterzzz...zzzz..zzzz...zzzz

 

[Crazy Dave]

IMO what needs to happen is fuel stations need to switch from selling fossil fuel to electric charge points. This would encourage folk to take up EV ownership and when the local petrol station stops selling petroleum and starts selling electric instead the message would become very clear.
The problem with this is if I owned a petrol station and was making my living from selling fossil fuels I would be reluctant to invest in electric.

Maybe the government should give incentives to the independent fuel station owners to switch over which would give the EV market a boost by taking away the range anxiety, once the switch starts the big companies would follow, some like Shell and BP have started already.

Motorway services are the only places where you can get a charge and have a break at the moment be it the most expensive option.

Charge points in my local area hardly ever get used and I won't use them either as they are run by profit hungry companies. This attitude has to change or we are screwed, what good is money when we are fighting over clean water in years to come.

So stop thinking about why you shouldn't switch to EV and start finding the reasons why you should, I did it and it was the best choice for me and it could be for you. It is a complete change of habit and there will no doubt be problems to overcome but once you get your head around it you'll wonder why you didn't do it sooner.

Remember the clock is ticking. . . . The worst thing you can do is nothing.

 

[clogs]

EV vans in particular.....I'd have one in a heart beat but gotta make em affordable.....
to replace my 1999 VW T4 with the latest generation....1/2 cab, 5 seater 1/2 van, the cost is nearly £60,000........
now totally rebuilt, new engine, g/box, brakes, steering alt n starter etc etc...total cost was under £7000.....
not on your nelly......it will see me out unless wrecked.....

 

[Rorschach]

IMO what needs to happen is fuel stations need to switch from selling fossil fuel to electric charge points. This would encourage folk to take up EV ownership and when the local petrol station stops selling petroleum and starts selling electric instead the message would become very clear.
The problem with this is if I owned a petrol station and was making my living from selling fossil fuels I would be reluctant to invest in electric.

Maybe the government should give incentives to the independent fuel station owners to switch over which would give the EV market a boost by taking away the range anxiety, once the switch starts the big companies would follow, some like Shell and BP have started already.

Motorway services are the only places where you can get a charge and have a break at the moment be it the most expensive option.

Charge points in my local area hardly ever get used and I won't use them either as they are run by profit hungry companies. This attitude has to change or we are screwed, what good is money when we are fighting over clean water in years to come.

So stop thinking about why you shouldn't switch to EV and start finding the reasons why you should, I did it and it was the best choice for me and it could be for you. It is a complete change of habit and there will no doubt be problems to overcome but once you get your head around it you'll wonder why you didn't do it sooner.

Remember the clock is ticking. . . . The worst thing you can do is nothing.

As has been pointed out many times in this thread, simply switching petrol to electric isn't going to work, petrol takes literally a few minutes to put 4-500 miles of range into your vehicle, electricity takes MUCH longer for less range.

 

[AlanY]

EV vans in particular.....I'd have one in a heart beat but gotta make em affordable.....
to replace my 1999 VW T4 with the latest generation....1/2 cab, 5 seater 1/2 van, the cost is nearly £60,000........
now totally rebuilt, new engine, g/box, brakes, steering alt n starter etc etc...total cost was under £7000.....
not on your nelly......it will see me out unless wrecked.....

The thought of replacing my E350 with something like a Nissan Leaf just makes me want to

 

[MikeJhn]

I wouldn't be surprised if a diesel generator charging a battery car was still more efficient than a gasoline powered vehicle (in miles per gallon).

That is a for-lone hope, but I thought the point was to be carbon neutral.

 

[D_W]

I thought the point was to be carbon neutral.

I only know a couple of people with evs. They're tech nerds and don't care about carbon neutral. I'd love an ev , and also don't care about carbon neutral.

 

[Droogs]

I thought the point was to be carbon neutral.

I've always thought that the point was about not having a not only on your doorstep but in your livingroom as well. Oh an making sure that you children are able to eat and breath. Perhaps the way to look at is this, unlike previous generations you are not being asked to risk life and limb on some muddy blood drenched field somewhere but to put up with being inconvenienced a bit by taking a little longer to get somewhere, just so future generations have a chance at being able to live a reasonable life. not much really.

 

[D_W]

As has been pointed out many times in this thread, simply switching petrol to electric isn't going to work, petrol takes literally a few minutes to put 4-500 miles of range into your vehicle, electricity takes MUCH longer for less range.

For most people, ev takes no remote charging, ever. Bil has 60k miles on a Tesla 3 now. He plugs it in at the end of the day and has never "stopped for gas" or charge remotely. Phev is more sensible for someone who does a lot of long trips, which is bils other car. He's far more comfortable spending money than I am.

 

[D_W]

Yes, but diesel engines are heavy particulate polluterzzz...zzzz..zzzz...zzzz

Yes, they are. So are jets that all of the eco people ride in after they drive a battery car to the airport.

 

[Rorschach]

For most people, ev takes no remote charging, ever. Bil has 60k miles on a Tesla 3 now. He plugs it in at the end of the day and has never "stopped for gas" or charge remotely. Phev is more sensible for someone who does a lot of long trips, which is bils other car. He's far more comfortable spending money than I am.

A lot more people in the UK do not have access to home charging like you might in the US.

 

[D_W]

A lot do.

 

[Rorschach]

A lot do.

And a lot don't. I have an off road parking space, but no way to charge a vehicle on it, on my street perhaps 10% have a private driveway that could be used to charge a car, pretty much every house seems to have at least one car though.

 

[D_W]

I have a garage that's my shop. I won't change it back at this point to charge a car, either, but could do that if needed. Ability to run high amp 220v varies here, but my panel is in my garage, so no problem there.

 

[AlanY]

A lot more people in the UK do not have access to home charging like you might in the US.

EV charging in cities will be a nightmare. And that is where the pollution is worst (at the moment).
When I was a kid I remember watching an article (on Tomorrow's World!) about hydrogen fuels cells and how they were going to take over the world. What happened to that technology and would it not be the true solution to this green nonsense? You would have an internal combustion engine and, when your tank is low, you pull into a service station and fill it back up again. Why has this been forgotten about in favour of the EV solution? Yes, hydrogen is very volatile, but so is litium and lithium is one of the most toxic substances there is. And we are putting shedloads of it into fast moving cars that, inexplicably, seem to burn out after heavy collisions.

 

[D_W]

Yes, but diesel engines are heavy particulate polluterzzz...zzzz..zzzz...zzzz

Not defending the diesel btw. We have valleys here that are problematic with particulates. Emissions standards have always been tighter here than in Europe and they get tighter every year. For practical purposes, car diesel has been phased out and emissions on pickups and trucks have taken away the fuel economy to a point that they're not cheaper to run for most. Only in the really heavy trucks.

 

[D_W]

EV charging in cities will be a nightmare. And that is where the pollution is worst (at the moment).
When I was a kid I remember watching an article (on Tomorrow's World!) about hydrogen fuels cells and how they were going to take over the world. What happened to that technology and would it not be the true solution to this green nonsense? You would have an internal combustion engine and, when your tank is low, you pull into a service station and fill it back up again. Why has this been forgotten about in favour of the EV solution? Yes, hydrogen is very volatile, but so is litium and lithium is one of the most toxic substances there is. And we are putting shedloads of it into fast moving cars that, inexplicably, seem to burn out after heavy collisions.

Fuel cells are still monstrously expensive and so is hydrogen, so there's little interest in it right now. Probably 20 years off. Imagine an 80k priced prius with fuel equivalent to 10 pounds a gallon gas. That's where we are now. The ag lobby in the US is angling to try to get ethanol fuel cells to the market. One unwanted fuel on top of an unwanted technology.

 

[Droogs]

@D_W you don't need to change your garage/wksp. You can buy a charging unit that is the same size a an electric shower unit and put it on the wall outside if you would rather not have it in the garage

 

[D_W]

I could just run a cord, but if the car is in the heat and cold here, it'll just waste a bunch of energy climate controlling the battery pack.