Battery Electric Vehicle News / Enjoying the Transportation Revolution

CKhalvashi

thevilla said:

https://pod-point.com/rollout/tesco-ev-charging

For those who want to know this is the list of Tesco chargers. Other supermarkets and charge networks are available.

Ours sadly isn't up yet, which surprises me as a smaller store does have it from the list. I'm definitely not driving further for a store with chargers (my shopping is done at Tesco normally with a quick Waitrose visit for anything needed in the middle and use of their free parking in town, where I can also top up in a public car park by paying for parking although never have).

Our 11p overnight electricity rate comes to an end in (I think) April, so hopefully tariffs will have come down by then. We're in a lucky position financially and it won't affect us, but I do feel for those who have invested in a used EV and don't have the money to pay the additional electricity bill.

We've budgeted for our electricity bill to go from £150 to £250+ from April, so for us it's still cheaper than petrol/diesel, with a second EV still to be decided on.

EVandPV

No turning back for electric vehicle owners: Nine in ten say they will never buy a petrol or diesel car again thanks to longer driving ranges

With longer ranges from the latest models and improving charging infrastructure, EV drivers say they are able to complete journeys over bigger distances, with a quarter saying they've used their battery cars for a single drive in excess of 300 miles.

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/cars/article-10367579/amp/91-EV-owners-say-never-buy-petrol-diesel-car-again.html

Swan_Valley

Octopus have increased the kWh rates on Go & Go Faster variants today.

4 hours @ 7.5p/kWh & 5 hours @ 8.25p/kWh, peak rates have increased again too.

Glad we are locked in at the September 2021 rates for the rest of the year!

EVandPV

Swan_Valley said:

Octopus have increased the kWh rates on Go & Go Faster variants today.

4 hours @ 7.5p/kWh & 5 hours @ 8.25p/kWh, peak rates have increased again too.

Glad we are locked in at the September 2021 rates for the rest of the year!

30.83p peak now. 

We're still on the old rate too until September but with gas going up soon too, bills next autumn/winter are going to be painful.

Solarchaser

JKenH said:

thevilla said:

JKenH said:

thevilla said:

JKenH said:

Superscrooge said:

Typical clickbait article in The Sun describing how their reporter drove a Tesla for a week, didn't bother charging it and nearly ran out of charge on the motorway!
  
https://www.thesun.co.uk/motors/17107726/electric-car-tesla-week-review/

An article describing how someone drove a petrol car for a week, didn't bother putting any fuel in it and nearly ran out of petrol on the motorway probably wouldn't generate as much interest  

Yes it’s a click bait headline but the article is more balanced.

“I'd always been pretty sceptical on electric cars - mostly because I have the same concerns about costs and charging as everyone else.

A week with this Tesla very nearly converted me though.

Out for a drive with my husband, I started speculating about whether an EV could be in our future, with their smooth driving and no gear changes to worry about.

And then it was time to charge up.

Even if I hadn't left it until the battery was near empty, I would still have had to tour around three different charging stations to find a working one or make a major diversion to the nearest Tesla supercharge point.”

That pretty much sums up my experience of 2 years of electric car ownership. So much better to drive and perfect if you only charge up at home (so much more relaxing than standing in the cold at a petrol pump) but you just can’t rely on turning up at a charger and finding it unoccupied and working (unless you have a Tesla).

I was coming back from Manchester Airport the weekend before Christmas and was unable to get a charge at either of the two motorway service stations I tried and had to leave the motorway to get a top up to get home. Fortunately I had a passenger who could work ZapMap while I drove.

In the survey I referenced a couple of posts earlier, 46% of EV owners haven’t made a journey of over 200 miles and so a significant number of EV owners have probably never needed to charge at a public charger. I don’t doubt that the majority of EV drivers are overall happy with the experience but it isn’t perfect yet. When chatting at a charging point someone asked me if I would ever go back to a non electric car. I answered that a year ago, if someone had asked me, it would have been a definite no but now I’m not quite so sure. As EV penetration reaches past the first adopters and enthusiasts to those who are obliged to move to EVs (because of either national or local sanctions - tax, prohibitions and penalties) satisfaction levels are likely to fall. I am all in favour of EVs but more needs to be done to make using them more convenient. It’s easy to sell any new policy to those who support it (most of us on this forum) but less so to those who are negatively impacted by it and they can’t be ignored.  

JKenH said:

Superscrooge said:

Typical clickbait article in The Sun describing how their reporter drove a Tesla for a week, didn't bother charging it and nearly ran out of charge on the motorway!
  
https://www.thesun.co.uk/motors/17107726/electric-car-tesla-week-review/

An article describing how someone drove a petrol car for a week, didn't bother putting any fuel in it and nearly ran out of petrol on the motorway probably wouldn't generate as much interest  

Yes it’s a click bait headline but the article is more balanced.

“I'd always been pretty sceptical on electric cars - mostly because I have the same concerns about costs and charging as everyone else.

A week with this Tesla very nearly converted me though.

Out for a drive with my husband, I started speculating about whether an EV could be in our future, with their smooth driving and no gear changes to worry about.

And then it was time to charge up.

Even if I hadn't left it until the battery was near empty, I would still have had to tour around three different charging stations to find a working one or make a major diversion to the nearest Tesla supercharge point.”

That pretty much sums up my experience of 2 years of electric car ownership. So much better to drive and perfect if you only charge up at home (so much more relaxing than standing in the cold at a petrol pump) but you just can’t rely on turning up at a charger and finding it unoccupied and working (unless you have a Tesla).

I was coming back from Manchester Airport the weekend before Christmas and was unable to get a charge at either of the two motorway service stations I tried and had to leave the motorway to get a top up to get home. Fortunately I had a passenger who could work ZapMap while I drove.

In the survey I referenced a couple of posts earlier, 46% of EV owners haven’t made a journey of over 200 miles and so a significant number of EV owners have probably never needed to charge at a public charger. I don’t doubt that the majority of EV drivers are overall happy with the experience but it isn’t perfect yet. When chatting at a charging point someone asked me if I would ever go back to a non electric car. I answered that a year ago, if someone had asked me, it would have been a definite no but now I’m not quite so sure. As EV penetration reaches past the first adopters and enthusiasts to those who are obliged to move to EVs (because of either national or local sanctions - tax, prohibitions and penalties) satisfaction levels are likely to fall. I am all in favour of EVs but more needs to be done to make using them more convenient. It’s easy to sell any new policy to those who support it (most of us on this forum) but less so to those who are negatively impacted by it and they can’t be ignored.  

The writer in the Sun drove a Tesla and apparently only used GeniePoint Mobile.  Not much research there then!

In our experience it is rare to allow the EV below 30 - 40% and regular top ups are most likely.  Not common when we had an ICE.  Tescos  don't give away a free litre of unleaded when you visit.

Yes the infrastructure needs investment but proper research is needed and one week out of  an ICE mindset doesn't count.

Not everywhere has Tesla Superchargers. I think there is only one Tesla Supercharger in Lincolnshire, that’s in Grantham so about 90 minutes drive from, say, Grimsby.

I don’t know which EV you have but if you aren’t going below 30-40% you could probably manage with a car with less range.

Tesco don’t give away petrol but frequently gave 5p a litre off vouchers which for my motorhome is worth about £3.50 compared to around 35p of electricity if you spend an hour shopping there. I usually top up at Tesco if there is a space and it just about covers the round trip. 

I have a 2021 Leaf and like, I suspect, most drivers I don't drive the full range of the car all the time. 

I do not behave as I did with an ICE by driving 90% of the range then filling up to the top. I now drive as necessary and fill to 80% unless planning a long journey.  Four hours Octopus Go at 5p/kwh gives me around 40% refill so refilling from 40% suits me and any opportunities for free charging can also be taken e.g. Tesco.  TBH the novelty of a free charge loses its charm compared to 5p while asleep 😀

Since April I've probably used near the full range 4 or 5 times and been grateful for it.  Would you suggest someone with a 800 mile diesel replace the fuel tank with a milk bottle?  😉

When I had a diesel, I would usually run it down until the light came on and then brim it, like I suspect many others do, making effective use of the full tank capacity with a stress free range 4x my EV.

Yeah I'd run the diesel till the light came on a run it to the brim also, but its quite a different thing.
If I'd known that 30-50% of the places I drove to would have a diesel pump that would dribble in diesel when I parked there, id likely have filled less than to the brim, include the fact that quite a few of those dribble pumps would be free, I'd definitely fill to less than the brim.

Would it be great if the ev did 800 miles to a tank, definitely,  but as I've said many times before, that range being over 300 miles to a tank is still a pretty new thing, 20-25 years ago 350miles to a tank was good mileage, a lot of petrol cars still do that to a tank.

However even if my ev did do 800 miles to a tank, I'd still thoroughly enjoy the fact I could dribble some miles in at my destination rather than having to divert to a fuel station and feeling like I could smell diesel on my hands all day... even wearing the stupid gloves.
I doubt very much I'd go back to running it till empty and then filling fully.... though obviously there is a time penalty there of an hour or two at a charger on a 200kwh battery

Martyn1981

Ok, I may be jumping the gun, but I'm going to risk saying that Ford 'gets it'. They've doubled their BEV F-150 production target yet again, which I think (just my opinion) is big enough and soon enough to mean they will transition fast enough to BEV's. But I openly admit I'm reading a lot into this (and other comments Jim Farley has made).

[Comments clarify that this is a production rate that they aim to reach by mid 2023].

Well done Ford.

Ford Increases F-150 Lightning Production Target From 80,000 To 150,000/Year!

Ford seems to be more and more aware that the future is electric, and much of that seems to be coming from consumer demand. This has got to be one of the most uplifting cleantech stories of recent months here in the USA.

A few short months ago, Ford increased its annual production target for the F-150 Lightning electric pickup from 40,000 to 80,000. That still seemed a bit meager for what should be one of the best electric pickup trucks on the market, and it was. Ford CEO Jim Farley tweeted today that the strong customer demand for the F-150 Lightning had inspired them to up the target significantly yet again, this time to 150,000 sales a year!

Martyn1981

I keep forgetting how much Volvo are involved with BEV trucks, and this article seems to suggest that they are doing a very good job. [Quick conversion of the 1.1kWh/km is approx 1.8kWh/mile or 0.56miles/kWh, which all seem excellent to me.]

Volvo FH Electric Heavy Duty Truck Exceeds Expectations On Test Run

The Volvo FH Electric kept an average speed of 80 km/h over the whole route — on par with the Volvo FH equipped with a diesel engine and the fuel efficiency package I-Save. Energy consumption for the fully loaded truck was 1.1 kWh per kilometer — about half that of an equivalent diesel-powered FH tractor and giving the truck a total projected range on that route of 345 kilometers.

“These test results show that it is possible to drive up to 500 km during a regular work-day, with a short stop for charging, for example during lunch time,” explains Bergman. “The electric driveline is very efficient, making the all-electric truck a very powerful tool for reducing CO2 emissions.” Volvo Trucks anticipates 50% of its sales will be electric vehicles by 2030. In 2040, it expects all its products to be carbon neutral based on a comprehensive “well to wheel” analysis.

Coastalwatch

Is it this type of practice from which the term Stealerships was derived from.

Ford dealers are taking advantage of strong demand for F-150 Lightning, marking it up by $30,000

https://electrek.co/2021/12/30/ford-dealers-taking-advantage-strong-demand-f150-lightning-marking-up/

JKenH

It’s basically the same in the UK where we have inflated MRPs so huge discounts of 30% or so are available from dealers on vehicles that are in oversupply but there is no discount on popular new models that are hard to get. It’s just in the States the dealers are more open about it. Even Tesla has been bumping up its prices. 

Tesla's Market Adjustment Of Model Y Raises Starting Price 44% In One Year

https://www.torquenews.com/1083/teslas-market-adjustment-model-y-raises-starting-price-44-one-year

Grumpy_chap

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-59887024

More electric cars were registered in 2021 than in the previous five years combined, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).