Electric cars
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A bit hyperbolic, isn't it?Martyn1981 wrote: »As well as buses and taxi's, China is also making big moves on light freight.
EV Revolution In China — Next Stop: Delivery & Freight Vehicles
Electric vans have been available out-of-the-showroom in the UK for twenty years, at least.0 -
How long were the stops to recharge?
286 miles in not that far, so how would you fare on a trip to the South of France say on holiday.
Twice a year we travel 2500 miles (one way) to visit the in-laws in a 3 litre diesel. With 4 up it's much cheaper and 'greener' than flying and then having to use a hire car when we get there. As for the journey time, and planning for re-charging stops - the mind boggles.
I have no idea of how long it would be before an EV could tackle a journey like that.
We are planning on a trip to Bordeaux this summer in the Tesla.
There is a website called https://abetterrouteplanner.com which calculates all the charging stops times. For us 2hr stints work well, our 20 months old daughter can only tolerate that long in the car before needing a break.
Clearly if you can drive for longer stints the trip will take longer in an EV but for us it work out fine, and the 'fuel' is all free
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About 70 miles less than I did yesterday, with zero charging available at my destination - so any charge time would simply be adding to an already long day.
Am pretty sure the last time you moaned about range of EVs it was a case of driving 500 miles non stop
If you really want a 600 mile range EV it's coming, but you better start saving. I suspect production will be limited and in the UK I know quite a few people on the UK Tesla Facebook group have put done the £50K deposit.
https://www.tesla.com/en_GB/roadster
But I really cannot be bothered with the endless circular 'debate' these threads always end in.
I'll report back in another 6 months or so, probably after our trip to France. For some people EVs are not viable due to true need for 500 miles of non stop range, but for the majority of people a 200 mile range EV is more than good enough. It certainly is for us. 0 -
HiGloomendoom wrote: »Thanks. I did a search but got conflicting results. We have considered an EV as a second car but want the ability to tow. Unfortunately, very few of the EVs available seem to have the capability and a Model X is way over our budget for a car that would be used primarily for commuting.
Just for fun (so don't try it!) ... as if by magic, a towing Tesla appears .. :cool:;) ..... https://electrek.co/2018/01/04/tesla-model-x-all-electric-tow-semi-truck-snow/
HTH
Z"We are what we repeatedly do, excellence then is not an act, but a habit. " ...... Aristotle
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Am pretty sure the last time you moaned about range of EVs it was a case of driving 500 miles non stop
Feel free to find me saying that...
350 miles has been a semi-regular day trip for a while now - to see my father in his care home in Sheffield, from home in the Welsh borders. The last six months have had a lot of pretty non-stop local use when I'm up there, because I've been sorting his flat, so a lot of trips to the tip/charity shops etc, as well as back-and-forth between the flat and the care home. Neither of which have any charging available...If you really want a 600 mile range EV it's coming
It's not so much the absolute range, but the dwell time on recharging. The car I used has a c.400 mile range, so I filled twice yesterday - I left home with a near-empty tank, so filled 20 miles from here, then filled at the same place on the way back to be full. A genuine 400 mile range in an electric would have saved both those stops, because starting and finishing empty would be fine, with charging at home.I'll report back in another 6 months or so, probably after our trip to France.
A friend took a model S to Portugal this summer via France. Well, that was the plan. He turned back at the Spanish border, when he realised that the charging was going to utterly dictate the route, if it was even possible.0 -
We are planning on a trip to Bordeaux this summer in the Tesla.
There is a website called https://abetterrouteplanner.com which calculates all the charging stops times. For us 2hr stints work well, our 20 months old daughter can only tolerate that long in the car before needing a break.
Clearly if you can drive for longer stints the trip will take longer in an EV but for us it work out fine, and the 'fuel' is all free
I look forward to hearing how you get on.
2hr stints with enforced regular stops on motorways (even for 30mins or so) would make our journey painfully long rather than the enjoyable trans-European tour that it is at the moment.
As for free fuel - there is nothing free in this world so if you don't pay, others must be subsidising the cost.
Edit:
I had a quick search and AFAIK the recharge cost for Ecotricity is £3 for a 30min charge plus 17p/kWh
In France it appears you need to have a monthly subscription to get cheap re-charges or it could be a flat rate of €3.50 per 15 minutes.
The whole system is still in it's infancy for folks who make longer journeys.
It would be good to hear how others get on abroad.0 -
Hi... A friend took a model S to Portugal this summer via France. Well, that was the plan. He turned back at the Spanish border, when he realised that the charging was going to utterly dictate the route, if it was even possible.
You're saying that someone knowingly started a long-distance route in an EV without even looking to plan the route beforehand? ... :wall::doh::whistle:
If we were looking to drive that far into Europe from the UK in a vehicle with any kind of engine, the first thing we'd do would be to plan the route, identifying potential stop-off (/over) points on the way to make an otherwise boring journey more interesting!
What needs to be remembered when discussing range anxiety is that the UK is a compact area with a relatively high population density, therefore range and fuel-stop planning isn't really part of what we normally consider ... I've spent quite some time in areas of the world where this isn't the case & planning fuel availability isn't only preferable - it's essential ....
Range anxiety & planning isn't new, it's just something we in the UK just don't normally consider necessary, where others do! .... a 200 mile full-charge range would suit the vast majority of people/journeys with little need to charge a vehicle more than once/week, so I don't really see what the issue is.
If you're part of the group which don't currently consider an EV to suit your own needs for some reason or other, then get to the back of the queue for delivery & accept that others may have different requirements & alternative views - it's as simple as that!
HTH
Z"We are what we repeatedly do, excellence then is not an act, but a habit. " ...... Aristotle0 -
As for free fuel - there is nothing free in this world so if you don't pay, others must be subsidising the cost.
It's a good thing that smart meters are coming soon for houses.
The faster that fast charge gets for Tesla owners on the motorway, the greater proportion of a neighbouring town that will have to have all of the fridges turned off.0 -
I look forward to hearing how you get on.
2hr stints with enforced regular stops on motorways (even for 30mins or so) would make our journey painfully long rather than the enjoyable trans-European tour that it is at the moment.
As for free fuel - there is nothing free in this world so if you don't pay, others must be subsidising the cost.
Edit:
I had a quick search and AFAIK the recharge cost for Ecotricity is £3 for a 30min charge plus 17p/kWh
In France it appears you need to have a monthly subscription to get cheap re-charges or it could be a flat rate of €3.50 per 15 minutes.
The whole system is still in it's infancy for folks who make longer journeys.
It would be good to hear how others get on abroad.
Tesla Superchargers are free to use for all current Tesla owners, and currently twice as quick as Ecotricity chargers. The car knows where all the Tesla chargers are including how busy they are, so personally I don't bother using any other kind of EV chargers.
I do agree if you can drive 3-4hrs non stop a 2hr stint would seem like a pain but those kind of trips simply don't apply for the majority of UK car owners.
For us our daughter has only got the stage when she can even tolerate 2hr in the car awake, am sure your remeber that for when your kids were that age!! If we do plan on adding to the horde it'll be another few years before we can think about really long non stop stints. By than I'll be looking to upgrade the battery pack to 120kWh+ which will be nearly double the current battery range.
Looking fowards to the trip in Europe to really test the car as roads are usually alot less congested in the UK. My work trip from Leicester to Southampton took 7hrs on the road due to traffic, the UK Mway system really is awful in rush hour conditions:(.0 -
That's precisely why we DON'T plan too much ahead on those kind of journeys... Play it by ear, get off the beaten track, and explore the places that you like.If we were looking to drive that far into Europe from the UK in a vehicle with any kind of engine, the first thing we'd do would be to plan the route, identifying potential stop-off (/over) points on the way to make an otherwise boring journey more interesting!0
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