Electric Vehicles

[Taffy7hfa]

I think it will be a long wait.

Probably... but JCB seem to be making good progress, they have just done a multi billion pound deal with the Aussies to distribute green hydrogen in the UK.

 

[daveenty]

The one certainty with a BEV is that they do divide opinion. A lot of "naysayers", usually with no experience of them but they've read a few reviews, or people who have tried them out and were surprised by their versatility, pleasantly or otherwise.

I'm firmly in the second camp, though appreciate that they won't suit everyone. Same as buying anything really, a little bit of homework before making a decision is required, substantially more so with the figures involved in buying these things.

My e-Golf was bought to replace a Lexus RX450h which, although a lovely comfy car and relatively cheap to run, was starting to suffer a few issues mainly due to it's lack of use. I had a long look around before committing to anything but as prices for second hand cars were going through the roof, finally decided on an offer for the Lexus (bit their hand off actually).

By this stage I'd decided that it was going to be replaced by a BEV so now it was just a case of which one. I'd been looking for around 12 months previously so knew roughly what I needed. The main priority was something which would blend in whist running around. I'd looked at a few which left a bit to be desired in the looks department whereas the Golf just looked like every other Golf. Range was not one of my requirements as all it gets used for is local pottering about stuff, currently the most it's done is a 25 mile round trip in one day, 8 mile the next. Nothing else for the rest of the week. It's normally <10 miles/week. I appreciate that this pattern of use is not for everyone and I'm lucky in that if I do have any distances to travel then I have the coupe to use.

Obviously, with this amount of use, the Golf's not exactly costing a fortune to run, in fact it's been on charge for a total of 9 hours in the 5 months I've owned it. Combine this with the free VED and low (~£200 p/a) insurance, then it was a simple decision to make and is actually cheaper to run than most other things.

As I mentioned earlier, an electric car is not for everyone, though the infrastructure for on the go charging is improving daily. Hydrogen, as mentioned by several people, would be my preferred choice though, even with Lord Bamford's R & D with his own company and machinery, it still seems a long way behind at the moment and will probably not be happening for a good few years.

 

[star]

Ev’s have their place but will not suit everyone. I had an eqc, stated 230 range, more like 180, so that’s 160 to allow miles finding a decent charge station.
Still not sure on how “green” they are in the manufacturing and life of car.
What will the secondhand market be like in year 7 onwards? Who’s going to buy a car that might cost £000’s to replace the battery.
I know going green costs but how much, I worked out it would cost me £24000 to commute to work over 3 years with no asset to sell at the end.

 

[Blobcat]

Ev’s have their place but will not suit everyone. I had an eqc, stated 230 range, more like 180, so that’s 160 to allow miles finding a decent charge station.
Still not sure on how “green” they are in the manufacturing and life of car.
What will the secondhand market be like in year 7 onwards? Who’s going to buy a car that might cost £000’s to replace the battery.
I know going green costs but how much, I worked out it would cost me £24000 to commute to work over 3 years with no asset to sell at the end.

The 3.5 year old i3 I was using was down to 65 mile range… it would go down to ~35 as soon as I drove away from the charger… range anxiety was the big concern

 

[coxyhog]

Tesla runs out of battery blocking Westfield shoppers in car park for 3 hours

Fuming trapped shoppers were venting their frustration online

www.mylondon.news

 

[oigle]

I honestly think most people don't care what powers their personal transport as long it does what they need it to do and represents value for money.
Apparently In 1916 a worker in Henry Fords factory (or anyone else) could buy a Ford Model T for around a months salary or about $345, that's about $8.200 in today's money.
For me EV's look very expensive for what they are and what they can do.
Think I'll wait for Hydrogen

In trucks, it will come. Maybe in ships too. Cars ......looong time if ever.

 

[Blobcat]

In trucks, it will come. Maybe in ships too. Cars ......looong time if ever.

Norway has some ships with inductive charging

 

[LostKiwi]

Tesla runs out of battery blocking Westfield shoppers in car park for 3 hours

Fuming trapped shoppers were venting their frustration online

www.mylondon.news

And yet you would never see a headline "Car runs out of diesel/petrol" on car park ramp".
Why does it make the headlines? Ask yourself what agenda the reporter has.

It's just another PICNIC event.

Problem in chair, not in car.

 

[Blobcat]

And yet you would never see a headline "Car runs out of diesel/petrol" on car park ramp".
Why does it make the headlines? Ask yourself what agenda the reporter has.

It's just another PICNIC event.

Problem in chair, not in car.

Because it’s new and different. If it was ICE the driver could walk and buy 5ltr of fuel, can’t do that with an electric (yet)

 

[LostKiwi]

Because it’s new and different. If it was ICE the driver could walk and buy 5ltr of fuel, can’t do that with an electric (yet)

All they needed was an extension cable. Even at 13A it wouldn't have taken long to get enough in to move it.

 

[Blobcat]

All they needed was an extension cable. Even at 13A it wouldn't have taken long to get enough in to move it.

Extension cable from where?

 

[daveenty]

Tesla runs out of battery blocking Westfield shoppers in car park for 3 hours

Fuming trapped shoppers were venting their frustration online

www.mylondon.news

Has anyone actually seen the amount of warnings which are sent out before a battery runs completely flat? They start at around 50% and carry on relentlessly unless switched off, more so around the 20% mark.

It would take a complete moron to just carry on and ignore them till the car was completely flat.

Ask yourself what agenda the reporter has.

Or someone like this who may have something to try and prove...

 

[M80]

It's a bit surprising that there isn't a free wheel mode when flat.
At least it could be pushed or towed out of the way.

 

[peterws1957]

I think it will be a long wait.

Honda trialled Hydrogen in the States and Japan(?) 20 plus years ago, but on a very small scale with their Honda Clarity. Owners filled up at designated petrol stations in the (relatively) normal way. Shame really that they didn't continue to develop it.

 

[Blobcat]

Honda trialled Hydrogen in the States and Japan(?) 20 plus years ago, but on a very small scale with their Honda Clarity. Owners filled up at designated petrol stations in the (relatively) normal way. Shame really that they didn't continue to develop it.

There's Hydrogen buses driving around Aberdeen and I see a Hydrogen car driving around my estate at work (there is a Hydrogen refueling point in one of the units on the park)

 

[daveenty]

It's a bit surprising that there isn't a free wheel mode when flat.
At least it could be pushed or towed out of the way.

They can be moved. The computer which keeps all the systems alive runs off a standard 12v car battery . Hence you can put the car into neutral and manouevre it out of the way, though this wouldn't really make for a good story...

 

[LostKiwi]

Honda trialled Hydrogen in the States and Japan(?) 20 plus years ago, but on a very small scale with their Honda Clarity. Owners filled up at designated petrol stations in the (relatively) normal way. Shame really that they didn't continue to develop it.

There are significant issues with hydrogen that make it unsuitable for private vehicles.

1. Production of it is energy intensive (hydrolysis) or results in high CO2 emissions (reforming hydrocarbons).
2. Each time energy is converted from one form to another energy is lost. For example hydrolysis to form hydrogen from water is 80% efficient at best. Fuel cells to convert hydrogen to electricity are 70% efficient at best. Total efficiency is therefore 56% at best. Storing electricity in a battery is 90% efficiency or more. To use hydrogen as a fuel instead of batteries would therefore require 1/3 more electricity to be produced than pure battery EVs alone, and that's before transportation is taken into account.
3. Transportation is difficult. Hydrogen can leach through steel so existing infrastructure for shipping or piping hydrogen would need to be updated.
4. Hydrogen has a very low energy density per cubic metre so requires massively high pressures or needs to be stored as a liquid. There are serious safety issues to deal with as a result. To compare if diesel has an energy density of 10 units per litre, petrol is around 9 and hydrogen around 2 in liquid form or 1 at 700bar pressure. You'd need huge tanks if it to get the same range as a modern ICE vehicle.

Hydrogen has a lot of promise but only in niche areas such as earth moving equipment where recharge times are a major issue for 24 hour operations. Even then the regular refuel stops for hydrogen become an issue as they need refuelling at least 4 times as often.

 

[flying haggis]

For those who are anti EV how long ago was it that battery drills were a toy and you had to have a mains one to do any work.
I doubt there is anyone on here who doesn't do 90% of their DIY with battery power tools these days.
Likewise rattle guns. There are more than a few of us with battery rattle guns who use them for undoing wheel nuts and only 5 years ago that would have been unthinkable.

But its easy to have a spare battery for a cordless drill, but somewhat harder to carry a spare battery for your tesla. Or do you have only one drill battery and when it dies you stop what you are doing and put it on charge till its ready again. No neither do I so I think I will stick to diesel powered cars for as long as possible thanks.

 

[A.J.]

But its easy to have a spare battery for a cordless drill, but somewhat harder to carry a spare battery for your tesla. Or do you have only one drill battery and when it dies you stop what you are doing and put it on charge till its ready again. No neither do I so I think I will stick to diesel powered cars for as long as possible thanks.

I would agree with you on that. I don’t think you can compare a power tool with a car really like you I will stick with the internal combustion engine for as long as I am able however it will be Petrol

 

[LostKiwi]

But its easy to have a spare battery for a cordless drill, but somewhat harder to carry a spare battery for your tesla. Or do you have only one drill battery and when it dies you stop what you are doing and put it on charge till its ready again. No neither do I so I think I will stick to diesel powered cars for as long as possible thanks.

The point I was making is that battery technology has evolved to make battery tools possible. Previously they were lacking the power to be more than a curious paperweight. Especially true of electric rattle guns.