Electric Cars. Real aternative or ego boosters?

Started by Denn Forever, September 02, 2019, 02:01:35 PM

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Denn Forever

Just wondering if is it a feasible proposition?  Are chargers becoming more common at service stations?  What is a Self charging Hybrid?  A Prius by an other name?.  How many completely electric cars are there?  What range do they have?
I have more respect for a man
that says what he means and
means what he says...

thebigfella

Quote from: Denn Forever on September 02, 2019, 02:01:35 PM
Just wondering if is it a feasible proposition?  Are chargers becoming more common at service stations?  What is a Self charging Hybrid?  A Prius by an other name?.  How many completely electric cars are there?  What range do they have?

I've a model S with 600km range. In reality it is more around 450km but that could be more. depending on how you drive. No issues finding chargers when I need one but that is more down to where I live/work.

As for being an ego boost, I'm assuming you mean from a smug environmental point of view? In reality I bought it because it is an absolute weapon and a lots of fun to drive for a day to day car ;D

Ambrose

Definitely a real alternative, we have a Jaguar I-Pace. Jag are doing great lease deals in the UK at the minute and are also offering a free 24 hour test drive, where they will deliver it to your door fully charged and pick it up again the next day. They believe the cars sell themselves, which is true up to a point. The main selling point for us was that the wife has access to free charging at work, so practically zero running costs. Zero maintenance so far, though it does have 22" wheels so tyres will be expensive when they need replacing. Typical Jag build quality which means a few squeaks and rattles and a lot of the interior equipment is carried over from other models, which isn't necessarily a good thing, but you do have a full dealer network to rely on should things ever go wrong. Range wise you'll get just over 200 miles on a full charge.
It's not a Tesla, not as fast as a Model S with Ludicrous mode, though it is still a pretty fast car, you will be above the speed limit in the blink of an eye, but it is a big car and you need to remember this on a country road. Thankfully it's a lot cheaper than a Tesla, which are overpriced for what you get in my opinion and their build quality is questionable to say the least.
The first electric car I ever drove was a Nissan Leaf and it was an absolute hoot. Small, agile and again surprisingly quick. The Hyundai range of electric cars are supposed to be excellent value for money, though I haven't driven one, but they could be worth a look.

Now the down sides, firstly the cars may be zero emissions, but the 'fuel' has to be produced somewhere. A lot of European power stations are actually going back to using coal in the near future, which obviously will have an environmental impact. They take a lot longer to refuel than a regular car and you will need to have a charger fitted at home. Batteries have a life span and will need to be replaced at some point in the future and are very expensive. Its also quite new technology so when something goes wrong it will be expensive to fix. As they become more popular charging points are becoming more difficult to find and people can be quite selfish and park in a charging bay all day or even worse park a normal car in one and block it. You will in all likelihood have your lead removed or stolen while you charge if you aren't in or near the car.

Tesla won't last as a car manufacturer, the numbers don't add up and Musk is guilty of some very creative accounting to keep the whole thing afloat. When it does go belly up, one of the mainstream manufacturers will cherry pick whats left of the company and that's when I think EV's will become a lot more mainstream. And don't buy one of the more expensive models, rent it. You'll pay a lot less on a two year lease than you'll lose in depreciation.
You can't live off history and tradition forever

Tony Baloney

The biggest fear for me would be the repair costs when something goes tits up.

Main Street

Quote from: Tony Baloney on September 02, 2019, 05:49:46 PM
The biggest fear for me would be the repair costs when something goes tits up.
After 300k miles, a burst tyre perhaps?

TabClear

Quote from: Tony Baloney on September 02, 2019, 05:49:46 PM
The biggest fear for me would be the repair costs when something goes tits up.

There used to be a massive problem with spare parts for Tesla's. Not sure if thats been resolved.

https://www.driving.co.uk/news/features/tesla-owners-facing-extended-wait-repairs/.



I have drove a couple of them on test drive including the Tesla S and the jag. Both great cars to drive. The Tesla acceleration  has to be experienced to be believed.

Ultimately did not buy one as  the range is still a problem as I do big miles from Belfast to Dublin. The next few years will see some of the major European giants (BMW/VW/Audi) starting to launch more models and EV cars will become more mainstream.

There is a massive problem coming for the likes of Maxol, Texaco, Applegreen etc. People simply will not be stopping at their filling stations any more for refuelling purposes and the loss of footfall will be significant. I know the margin on fuel is low but its rare I walk into a petrol station after filling up without coming out with a bottle of water or bar of chocolate.

RadioGAAGAA

Quote from: Denn Forever on September 02, 2019, 02:01:35 PM
Just wondering if is it a feasible proposition?

Not really. Not yet. It doesn't add up in depreciation and running compared to conventional yet.


As an aside, in the future it's gonna be useful having a massive distributed battery network to deal with variable supply (windfarms, tidal, wave, solar). There may be incentives from the national grid to that end at some point down the line as it'd make sense from their POV.
i usse an speelchekor

TabClear

Quote from: RadioGAAGAA on September 03, 2019, 01:07:01 PM
Quote from: Denn Forever on September 02, 2019, 02:01:35 PM
Just wondering if is it a feasible proposition?

Not really. Not yet. It doesn't add up in depreciation and running compared to conventional yet.


As an aside, in the future it's gonna be useful having a massive distributed battery network to deal with variable supply (windfarms, tidal, wave, solar). There may be incentives from the national grid to that end at some point down the line as it'd make sense from their POV.

Grid operator held the first large scale battery auctions in Ireland this year, they have been going in the UK for a few years. Definitely the way forward as it gives much more flexibility to the operator however there are a few issues around things like security of supply and network reinforcement that need to be addressed before it can be deployed on a wider scale.

Eamonnca1

#8
VW e-Golf's are quite popular here (range 125 miles) but I see a lot more Teslas and Nissan Leafs (Leaves?). We considered getting an e-Golf a while ago but at the time we had nowhere to plug it in because of where we were living.

Home charging is the way of the future. I've been doing a bit of research on this and all the literature says that public charging stations are just going to be underutilized. People are fine with charging them overnight and topping up at work during the day.

Around here they have other incentives to buy them, like letting you use the carpool lane without a passenger if you're in an EV. The problem with that is that between EVs and carpool cheaters, the carpool lanes are now as slow as the other lanes.

markl121

Always wondered how it would work when everyone is using electric cars. seems to be that in the next 15-20 years it could be all electric. Hopefully the range will be huge and the recharge time way less. I just couldn't justify with my work, where i may drive 200-300 miles a day, and stay in hotels and bnbs regularly, how I could work with one. Like right now my car does 600 miles to a tank and I can refuel and do another 600 mile within 5 mins. If im forced to use an electric car in the future hopefully it can be almost equivalent to this.
How will it work for people in appartments and flats? will there be thousands of cables and extension leads hanging out the windows? How do you stop people unplugging you for a laugh? All well and good until you get up for work the next morning with no juice.

Tesla have an auto pilot thing, I dont think that would ever work in ireland outside of the motorways. How would it calculate who has to pull in and where when meeting someone on one of the hundreds of single track roads we have.

Eamonnca1

A lot depends on your parking situation at home. If you're in an apartment building that has designated parking for residents then it shouldn't be impossible to install charge points. For people that have to park on the street it's trickier, you'd need a parking meter type device. The problem with installing infrastructure like that is it's expensive and might be made obsolete by some new technology before you've even completed the network.

To answer your question about range, for people that need longer ranges I think plug-in hybrids should work for now. There's also a type of hybrid that's really an EV, but also has a small internal combustion engine to act as a generator when the battery gets too low.

For autopilot, I could see that being legal on motorways in Ireland where the road layout is fairly standard and predictable. But if you're on the back roads and a construction worker's waving you past an obstruction, I don't see self-driving cars being smart enough to figure that out any time soon.

Ambrose

Quote from: Tony Baloney on September 02, 2019, 05:49:46 PM
The biggest fear for me would be the repair costs when something goes tits up.

Warranty, then extended warranty if you plan to keep it.

The new Porsche Taycan looks interesting, definitely the best looking EV so far, though still unmistakably a Porsche. The new interiors on the current model range are a huge step forward also.

You can't live off history and tradition forever

Eamonnca1

Quote from: Tony Baloney on September 02, 2019, 05:49:46 PM
The biggest fear for me would be the repair costs when something goes tits up.

There's a lot less to go wrong with an electric car. There's nothing to them.

Ball Hopper

Porsche called it a Taycan?  Really?  Irish guy on staff having a bit of fun?

I see it runs $150,900 for the basic taycan, with the turbo S model at $185,000.

Some taycan for that money.

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/04/porsche-debuts-teslas-newest-competition-with-the-all-electric-taycan.html

Hardy

Quote from: Ball Hopper on September 04, 2019, 05:48:30 PM
Porsche called it a Taycan?  Really?  Irish guy on staff having a bit of fun?

I see it runs $150,900 for the basic taycan, with the turbo S model at $185,000.

Some taycan for that money.

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/04/porsche-debuts-teslas-newest-competition-with-the-all-electric-taycan.html

They're Taycan the piss.