Road Tax on EV's

Ebe_Scrooge

Sorry to wade in here, but I just wanted to relay a story a friend told me recently.  He works for an engineering company, and in the wake of the storms of a few weeks ago, they were asking for volunteers to go and help repair the power lines in various areas.  "I'd love to boss - but you made us all have electric cars.  We can get up there, but how are we supposed to recharge our cars so we can move around when we're there?"

S'pose they could take a load of diesel generators up with them ... but that kinda defeats the object.

Sorry, somewhat tongue-in-cheek - but a true story which did make me chuckle.

Herzlos

I don't think petrol stations work without electricity, either. But yeah, the range can be a problem in some cases. For most people, that just means renting something every now and then using some of the money they've saved on fuel.

MouldyOldDough

Herzlos said:

MouldyOldDough said:

Herzlos said:

I guess that's the way of everything when it comes to councils. I can't see how that makes owning an EV any more risky; they aren't going to remove any infrastructure in enough volume to be a problem unless you buy it relying on a very specific and isolate council charging station that is likely to fall into disrepair and not get fixed.
But realistically, EV charging points are popping up everywhere.

Maybe in the cities but not where I live 

Have you looked? Because I'm nowhere near a city, I'm pretty much in a town in the middle of nowhere. We've got a supermarket, a library and a train station and that's about it. Yet we've still got 4 banks of EV chargers: One at the supermarket, one at the train station, one at a library and one at the bottom of the high street.

I live in a small village/hamlet  (in the SW) with no charging points
My nearest town of (45,000 inhabitants) is 10 miles away and according to the app has 5 locations of points - unknown number of actual points for around 10,000 + vehicles 

Does not work out does it?

I realise that most people charge at home - but with so little infrastucture around here - there's no reason to regrade cars - and then there's the extra cost (who can justify (or even find the money) spending £30k + on a new car ?)

Range is another issue - we drive locally except for perhaps 4 times a year - when we drive 200 mile each way to my parents in law - we stay overnight and return home

No affordable EV can do this on one charge and I am not going to sit ina  queue for several hours to charge my car - when at present, I can refuel wirh petrol in less than 5 minutes

Herzlos

MouldyOldDough said:

I live in a village (in the SW) with no charging points
My nearest town of (45,000 inhabitants) is 10 miles away and according to the app has 5 locations of points - unknown number of actual points for around 10,000 + vehicles 
Does not work out does it? 

The App should tell you exactly how many points and at what speed. 5 points could easily be 40 charging plugs but more likely to be about 20 since most locations have 4-8 bays.

There's also no indication about how many of them are actually needed, vs how many charge at home/work/etc.

For reference, my town has 15,000 people in it and I think 18 chargers. I'm in the socialist hellhole of Scotland, though.

So the problem isn't necessarily with EV's, but in your local regions unwillingness to invest in infrastructure.
It's also a bit chicken and egg. How many petrol stations do you think existed before people bought petrol cars?

MouldyOldDough

Herzlos said:

MouldyOldDough said:

I live in a village (in the SW) with no charging points
My nearest town of (45,000 inhabitants) is 10 miles away and according to the app has 5 locations of points - unknown number of actual points for around 10,000 + vehicles 
Does not work out does it? 

The App should tell you exactly how many points and at what speed. 5 points could easily be 40 charging plugs but more likely to be about 20 since most locations have 4-8 bays.

There's also no indication about how many of them are actually needed, vs how many charge at home/work/etc.

For reference, my town has 15,000 people in it and I think 18 chargers. I'm in the socialist hellhole of Scotland, though.

So the problem isn't necessarily with EV's, but in your local regions unwillingness to invest in infrastructure.
It's also a bit chicken and egg. How many petrol stations do you think existed before people bought petrol cars?

Sorry - I edited my post before you replied

Herzlos

No problem. It's still more FUD, though.

You don't pay £30k more for an electric car. Most of the electric variants of cars cost no more than £10k more than the equivalent diesel car. For example, the one I've got now was £26k for diesel or £32k for electric. It wouldn't take that long to recoup the £6k difference, given that the diesel one seems to only do about 40mpg.

You'd reject an electric car because it doesn't have the range for 4 trips a year, despite the fact you'll almost certainly stop at least once on your 200 mile legs? I understand the reluctance to use a motorway service station charging point on a bank holiday weekend, but you should otherwise be fine. And even if you aren't, what you'd save in running costs over the year would comfortably pay for a rental car for those 4 trips, or even the train or something.

DrEskimo

MouldyOldDough said:

Herzlos said:

MouldyOldDough said:

Herzlos said:

I guess that's the way of everything when it comes to councils. I can't see how that makes owning an EV any more risky; they aren't going to remove any infrastructure in enough volume to be a problem unless you buy it relying on a very specific and isolate council charging station that is likely to fall into disrepair and not get fixed.
But realistically, EV charging points are popping up everywhere.

Maybe in the cities but not where I live 

Have you looked? Because I'm nowhere near a city, I'm pretty much in a town in the middle of nowhere. We've got a supermarket, a library and a train station and that's about it. Yet we've still got 4 banks of EV chargers: One at the supermarket, one at the train station, one at a library and one at the bottom of the high street.

I live in a small village/hamlet  (in the SW) with no charging points
My nearest town of (45,000 inhabitants) is 10 miles away and according to the app has 5 locations of points - unknown number of actual points for around 10,000 + vehicles 

Does not work out does it?

I realise that most people charge at home - but with so little infrastucture around here - there's no reason to regrade cars - and then there's the extra cost (who can justify (or even find the money) spending £30k + on a new car ?)

Range is another issue - we drive locally except for perhaps 4 times a year - when we drive 200 mile each way to my parents in law - we stay overnight and return home

No affordable EV can do this on one charge and I am not going to sit ina  queue for several hours to charge my car - when at present, I can refuel wirh petrol in less than 5 minutes

Yet I have a used EV I bought from a main dealer for £14,500 that I've now been using for over 3yrs, which I have done 200mi+ journeys in and never spent hours waiting for a charger to do the single ~30mins charge I need to get to my destination.

MouldyOldDough

Herzlos said:

No problem. It's still more FUD, though.

You don't pay £30k more for an electric car. Most of the electric variants of cars cost no more than £10k more than the equivalent diesel car. For example, the one I've got now was £26k for diesel or £32k for electric. It wouldn't take that long to recoup the £6k difference, given that the diesel one seems to only do about 40mpg.

You'd reject an electric car because it doesn't have the range for 4 trips a year, despite the fact you'll almost certainly stop at least once on your 200 mile legs? I understand the reluctance to use a motorway service station charging point on a bank holiday weekend, but you should otherwise be fine. And even if you aren't, what you'd save in running costs over the year would comfortably pay for a rental car for those 4 trips, or even the train or something.

OK I would struggle to find £26k for a new car.... 
I have never spent more than £14k on a new car 

Herzlos

MouldyOldDough said:

OK I would struggle to find £26k for a new car.... 
I have never spent more than £14k on a new car 

What's that got to do with anything? You were claiming that you'd need to spend £30k to go electric, and I'm pointing out that like for like electric cars aren't really that much more expensive.

There are also plenty of electric cars for under £14k. I was looking at a Zoe the other day for about £6k.

I couldn't afford a Bentley, but I wouldn't complain about them being a waste of time.

Herzlos

MouldyOldDough said:

OK I would struggle to find £26k for a new car.... 
I have never spent more than £14k on a new car 

What's that got to do with anything? You were claiming that you'd need to spend £30k to go electric, and I'm pointing out that like for like electric cars aren't really that much more expensive.

There are also plenty of electric cars for under £14k. There are Nissan Leafs on Autotrader for £4.5k.

I couldn't afford a Bentley, but I wouldn't complain about them being a waste of time on the internet.