EV Discussion thread

thevilla

More chargers near doughnut shops. Sorted.

"I wouldn't want them to run out".  Have they or not?  The RAC reckon (citation needed) most people call them out because they anticipate running out of charge rather than actually running out.

thevilla

JKenH said:

GRIDSERVE Electric Highway charging sessions triple since June 2021

I think this report confirms charging stations have got busier over the last year. Chargers have been built at new locations but at the Gridserve locations I have visited the number of chargers remains the same (but the contactless payment is most welcome.)

The GRIDSERVE Electric Highway is now one of the most highly utilised charging networks in the UK seems to say it all.

I am also sceptical about the 99% uptime claim. I must just have been very unlucky last week to find both the chargers at Leicester Forest West out of order.

https://www.zap-map.com/gridserve-electric-highway-birthday/

I know you're not keen but this was interesting I thought:

https://youtu.be/oanNIpChAiA

1961Nick

gefnew said:

The police seem to dislike bev cars when on patrol.
Electric vehicles not suitable for police response says PCC - BBC News

The Cybertruck will solve all their problems. 

shinytop

gefnew said:

The police seem to dislike bev cars when on patrol.
Electric vehicles not suitable for police response says PCC - BBC News

It'll be fine when all the crims are in EVs too. Just arrest them when they run out or are driving around really slowly trying to find a working charger.

JKenH

Did BYD Overtake Tesla as World's Biggest EV Seller? That Depends on How You Count

https://www.autoevolution.com/news/did-byd-overtake-tesla-as-world-s-biggest-ev-seller-that-depends-on-how-you-count-192844.html

1961Nick

shinytop said:

gefnew said:

The police seem to dislike bev cars when on patrol.
Electric vehicles not suitable for police response says PCC - BBC News

It'll be fine when all the crims are in EVs too. Just arrest them when they run out or are driving around really slowly trying to find a working charger.

The crims have still got to figure out how to steal an EV ... none so far this year.

Martyn1981

1961Nick said:

gefnew said:

The police seem to dislike bev cars when on patrol.
Electric vehicles not suitable for police response says PCC - BBC News

The Cybertruck will solve all their problems. 

I appreciate this may have been tongue-in-cheek, but I have to say when I first saw the CT, I thought it would make a great police vehicle. Even in the UK it work well for motorway patrols where they need large vehicles to carry all the emergency kit, cones, etc etc..

So a CT with upto 6 seating, plus huge storage in the frunk, under seats, under the bed, and the closed bed itself, would work brilliantly. Lots of speed too if needed. Also power take off for tools and emergency kit if needed.

Also insanely cheap, given the tough skin and lack of repairs, though I heavily doubt the original estimated prices can still be met - single motor $40k, dual motor $50k, tri motor $70k. Plus they've since announced a quad motor.

But saying all that, doubt it would meet UK/European crash safety ratings, especially unsafe for pedestrians / medium sized rhino's.

JKenH

I had a look at this Twitter page after a comment in the BYD vs Tesla sales article about how Tesla counts deliveries. All sort of allegations have been made against Tesla in the past, most of which don’t stand up but this one seems to have ended up in a California court.

https://twitter.com/plainsite/status/1537073998642544640

i found this summary (link below) of what the case is about. It seems to involve a long running twitter spat that makes us all look like perfect gentlemen/ladies.

Musk has said this (among other things) about the complainant

“Greenspan is crackers, bananas, barky & ten cards short of a full deck.” 

https://casetext.com/case/greenspan-v-qazi-2

The conclusion: All of the federal claims in the TAC are dismissed, as are the state law claims against Musk and Tesla. (It’s actually a bit more than that but Greenspan doesn’t come out of it well.

JKenH

1961Nick said:

shinytop said:

gefnew said:

The police seem to dislike bev cars when on patrol.
Electric vehicles not suitable for police response says PCC - BBC News

It'll be fine when all the crims are in EVs too. Just arrest them when they run out or are driving around really slowly trying to find a working charger.

The crims have still got to figure out how to steal an EV ... none so far this year.

You would think a TM3P would be the dream car for TWOCkers to go for.

Grumpy_chap

thevilla said:

The Focus (in 2011) cost half the price of the Leaf (about £30k).  

If you don't think an EV would work for you fine but new models appear every day.  

This is quite interesting.  
I don't have new car price data from 10 years ago, but £15k for a new Focus versus £30k for a new Leaf then seems plausible.

Ford don't seem to be quoting a price or taking order for new Focus cars right now because of supply chain disruption, but Puma is listed "from £24k" and Mondeo "from £27K" so "from £25k" for the Focus would seem to be in the ball-park.

Nissan website is listing the Leaf as "from £29k".

There's all quite a bit of guess-work in the above, but that would suggest a significant narrowing of capital difference between ICE and EV over the period.  One comparison as an example is prone to certain limitations in interpretation and generalisation, but this might show the direction of travel.

I do think an EV would work for me.  Financially it may not work out unless my mileage increased. 
The TM3 was offered above as a comparison alternative to Mondeo / A4 type car.  TM3 is around £50k while the Mondeo / A4 is around £30k, or £20k used (couple of years / 25k miles).
Fuel / energy saving  10 pence per mile for an EV - the pay-back for the EV is quite long even if only considering new car versus new car.  If used ICE is also considered, the challenge gets bigger still.

If the Leaf / Focus example above proves to be the norm, then the capital delta will reduce.  In the mean-time, a prospective 10k miles per year buyer of a car like below might struggle to make the financial case for EV:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202206307307605
It's almost two-for-the-price-of-one against a comparable TM3:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202206146792503