Road Tax on EV's

ComicGeek

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

But you're completely missing the point on existing charge points - they're not designed to enable every single person in the area to charge on a daily basis, they are for those people traveling to/through the area that need to charge. It's the equivalent of only using motorway petrol stations to fill up your car, it's not going to be the most economic solution, you only use it when you have to.

It's widely accepted that there needs to be a increasing rollout of charge points to cover those people who can't get home chargers for what ever reason. It's going to be compulsory for all new houses/flats after June 2022 as a starting point. 

Most petrol stations around here are closed after running out of petrol - even the petrol infrastructure can't cope if everyone panic buys at the same time!

I've just done 300 miles in 2 days in my EV - only had to charge for 20 mins yesterday while I had a relaxing lunch away from busy roads. My car has a range of around 310 miles. You don't sit and wait until it is 100% recharged, you just plan in top-ups when you stop for food etc - my 20 mins charge gave me 75miles, which was enough to complete my journey back today without needing any additional charging stops. It's really not as bad as you think, my battery can outlast my bladder!

grumiofoundation

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

Has anyone actually ever sat in a queue for hours to charge an electric car? 

Thousands of people queued to fill up when there was a petrol shortage - does that mean I shouldn't buy a petrol car because of that? (That seems to be your logic?)

We save over £1000+ pounds by using leccy not petrol driving locally. On occasions we drive 200+ miles and charge at pretty much every service station (since we have a 2013 leaf, range <100 miles, cost <7k) and we have queued for longer than ~30 mins*. Personally I sit in the car checking my increased bank balance looking at the price of petrol but each to their own!!
Yes it takes longer to get there but for £1000+ per year and doing less damage to the environment I am happy to take that. If you aren't willing to do that - Ok fine, but please stop making silly arguments, it's quite boring (and presumably is just a way to justify to yourself why you 'can't' do something that you know is the best thing to do both environmentally and financially).


*Edit: In fact the longest delay we have ever had at a charge was caused by some petrol car driving idiot who apparently has no thought for others and can't use car parks. 

[Deleted User]

I’m glad people are reluctant to go electric and quite ignorant to the benefits as it means that those of us who have seen the light can enjoy less queuing at public charging and can enjoy leaving everyone else behind at the lights! 

dipsomaniac

Reluctant or can't afford? Where can I buy a ev for <£1k

Grumpy_chap

Herzlos said:

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.

One place that came to light in a recent thread as having woefully inadequate provision of public EV charging structure is Caterham.

Herzlos

Grumpy_chap said:

Herzlos said:

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.

One place that came to light in a recent thread as having woefully inadequate provision of public EV charging structure is Caterham.

Have you got a link? The only search hits I'm finding on the theme of Caterham electric charging is this post. It's vaguely familiar though but I didn't think it was a reason not to have an EV?

Grumpy_chap

Herzlos said:

Grumpy_chap said:

Herzlos said:

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.

One place that came to light in a recent thread as having woefully inadequate provision of public EV charging structure is Caterham.

Have you got a link? The only search hits I'm finding on the theme of Caterham electric charging is this post. It's vaguely familiar though but I didn't think it was a reason not to have an EV?

Certainly.
It's within this thread here:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6327154/evs-are-we-going-to-be-forced-into-this-before-time/p3

Not easy to find, I grant you, because the poster making the references, @Penelopa.Pitstop was reluctant to actually name Caterham but, instead, preferred to describe  according to Wiki: "The town is administratively divided into two: Town1, and Town2"

MouldyOldDough

Herzlos said:

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.

You have totally missed the point

I have never spent more than £14k on a NEW car and you keep on about buying a second hand EV for the same money

As for spending just £4.5k on a ropey old Leaf - do you honestly think that that would be wise ?

Herzlos

Ah yes, that one. Pretty much the same debunked arguments as in here and every other EV bashing thread.

There are definitely going to be examples where EV's aren't practical, no-one has ever tried to deny that. What I don't understand though, is the folk who are going out of their way to try and claim that they aren't practical for anyone, despite there already being 461,000 of them happily rolling around the country.

Edit: I've gone back and looked at zap-map for Caterham, and whilst I *think* you can argue that there's only the charging site at the Tesco in town, I count about 15 charging sites within a few miles and there's some on every approach in/out of the town. So there may not be one within a casual walk from any house, but you'd be hard pressed to actually go anywhere and not pass somewhere to charge.

Herzlos

MouldyOldDough said:

You have totally missed the point

I have never spent more than £14k on a NEW car and you keep on about buying a second hand EV for the same money

As for spending just £4.5k on a ropey old Leaf - do you honestly think that that would be wise ?

You can't get many NEW cars for £14k these days. A Ford Fiesta starts at £16,385.

I'd be more inclined to spent £4.5k on an old Leaf than an equivalent age/cost Focus. Sure it may not have the full range it started with but it'll do fine given the price.

Edit: There are only 9 cars you can buy in the UK for under £14k, and that's for the base model with no optional extras (like coloured paint).

1. Dacia Sandero: £10,145
2. Kia Picanto: £11,450
3. Citroen C1: £12,245
4. Dacia Sandero Stepway: £12,245
5. MG3: £12,845
6. Hyundai i10: £13,420
7. Volkswagen up!: £13,545
8. Fiat Panda: £13,655
9. Suzuki Ignis: £13,749
10. Fiat 500 hybrid - £14,005  (I've left this in because you can probably haggle the £5 off).
    

Source: https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/best-cars-vans/351901/top-10-cheapest-cars-sale-2022

I might have something like the C1 for a 2nd runabout car (even then I'd rather spend the £13k on a used Renault Zoe), but I don't think I'd want any of them as an only car.