EV Discussion thread

Magnitio

silvercar said:

Totally EV household. Not once in 2 years of ownership have we had to wait to charge. We have a home charger, so only need to use chargers when we travel long distance.

We have both petrol and EV. Often queue for petrol and it can be very frustrating when the person in front does their shopping at the same time, or some of the pumps aren't working, or the pay at pump isn't working and you have to pay at the till or your hands smell after using the pump. Never have these issues with the EV.

JKenH

silvercar said:

Totally EV household. Not once in 2 years of ownership have we had to wait to charge. We have a home charger, so only need to use chargers when we travel long distance.

I can quite believe that. Tesla solve several (not all) of the problems I encountered during my 3 years trying to make an EV work for me but my usage pattern was probably different to yours. Around home no problem, but I would have early morning starts driving to race circuits around the country and at the speed I wished to travel I would struggle to do the round trip without a stop. With a 3 hour trip back I wouldn’t want the hassle of having to stop and take my chances on the charging network. (Despite my age I can manage a 3 hour drive without a comfort break.)

I have given much thought to getting a Tesla but I don’t want to spend £40k on a car to do a job that a £25k petrol car (or in my case £16k used) will do more quickly and in more comfort. And I don’t fancy the idea of an out of warranty Tesla so secondhand doesn’t appeal either. (Perhaps I follow too many Tesla Owners forums). 

Out of interest did you/would you buy a Tesla with your own (personal not business) money?

Reed_Richards

Netexporter said:

...Tesla chargers are only 35p, off-peak.

So that's only a few pence more per kWh than if you were charging at home at full rate; I don't know why we think this is good!  The closest analogy I can think of is washing your clothes.  You can buy a device that allows you to do this at home whilst you are occupied doing other tasks as normal.  Or you can wash your clothes at a launderette for more money and you have to wait around whilst it's happening.    

JKenH

I came across this statistic from ZapMap that less than 3% of EV drivers would go back to petrol/diesel and looked for information to back this up. All I could find was a report suggesting the figure was 9%. I wonder where ZapMap got their 3% from. 

Number of UK electric vehicle charging hubs more than doubles

Melanie Shufflebotham, co-founder and chief operating officer at Zapmap, said: 

“Whilst less than 3% of EV drivers would go back to petrol/diesel, we know that EV drivers want more chargers and a better charger experience.”

https://www.fleetnews.co.uk/news/number-of-uk-electric-vehicle-charging-hubs-more-than-doubles

EVA England survey: 91% of EV drivers won’t return to petrol or diesel

The Electric Vehicle Association England has published the 2023 edition of its Electric Vehicle (EV) driver survey, the largest of its kind, revealing that an overwhelming 91% of EV drivers have no intention of returning to a petrol or diesel car.

https://transportandenergy.com/2023/12/18/eva-england-survey-91-of-ev-drivers-wont-return-to-petrol-or-diesel/

And here is the source of the statistics.

https://www.evaengland.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/EVAE-the-great-ev-charging-report.pdf

Edit: the chart suggests 4% would go back to petrol/diesel and 91% won’t. I don’t know about the others - presumably they might or might not?

1961Nick

The Tesla has won me over & I'm one that wouldn't go back to an ICEV as my main car. For us ownership is 100% plusses with absolutely no downside whatsoever.

michaels

JKenH said:

paul991 said:

I want one when the price is right

I want another one when it is as convenient to use as an ICE car: when I can reliably roll up to any charging station and immediately get a charge - no queueing in a disorganised queue not being able to leave my car to go to the toilets in case someone steals my slot, no wondering if the charger is working or whether it will connect to my car. I want it to be like turning up at a petrol station. No faffing around in the pouring rain and dark with a heavy charging cable that has been left on the floor, no finding I need an app I don’t have to start a charge. No finding the charging cable won’t reach the car because the car next to it is badly parked. No finding the charger I want to use blocked by a car that isn’t plugged in or has finished charging. No finding that after taking a vacant slot next to a charging car that when it comes to my turn it doesn’t work. No stopping because I have to charge when I wouldn’t otherwise need to stop for a break. No wasting time planning charging stops with a plan B,C and D as well.  I want to be in charge of my journey myself, not a slave to my car. 

I have often rolled up to petrol stations where there are multiple cars waiting in several lines so you don't know which one to join and then the one you choose seems to all have people going into the shop to browse for hours before finally coming to move their cars.

Dropping DW off at LGW tomorrow, notice the gridserve with its 30 chargers is 10 mins walk to south terminal so will save the drop off fee whilst getting a fill up. Don't expect to have to wait.

JKenH

Magnitio said:

silvercar said:

Totally EV household. Not once in 2 years of ownership have we had to wait to charge. We have a home charger, so only need to use chargers when we travel long distance.

We have both petrol and EV. Often queue for petrol and it can be very frustrating when the person in front does their shopping at the same time, or some of the pumps aren't working, or the pay at pump isn't working and you have to pay at the till or your hands smell after using the pump. Never have these issues with the EV.

michaels said:

JKenH said:

paul991 said:

I want one when the price is right

I want another one when it is as convenient to use as an ICE car: when I can reliably roll up to any charging station and immediately get a charge - no queueing in a disorganised queue not being able to leave my car to go to the toilets in case someone steals my slot, no wondering if the charger is working or whether it will connect to my car. I want it to be like turning up at a petrol station. No faffing around in the pouring rain and dark with a heavy charging cable that has been left on the floor, no finding I need an app I don’t have to start a charge. No finding the charging cable won’t reach the car because the car next to it is badly parked. No finding the charger I want to use blocked by a car that isn’t plugged in or has finished charging. No finding that after taking a vacant slot next to a charging car that when it comes to my turn it doesn’t work. No stopping because I have to charge when I wouldn’t otherwise need to stop for a break. No wasting time planning charging stops with a plan B,C and D as well.  I want to be in charge of my journey myself, not a slave to my car. 

I have often rolled up to petrol stations where there are multiple cars waiting in several lines so you don't know which one to join and then the one you choose seems to all have people going into the shop to browse for hours before finally coming to move their cars.

That can happen; in fact it did happen to me once at a filling station/Londis (I think) in a Dorset village many years ago around 5pm. Lesson learnt. I avoid those and use supermarket petrol stations. My local Asda is pay at pump only and the Tesco, has 16 pumps so any queueing is 5 minutes max. However, as my car has a 500 mile range (that’s a month’s driving on average) if I see a queue I will drive on and fill up the next week or if desperate will move on to the next petrol station I am passing. 

I understand, for many people the benefits of a EV outweigh the disadvantages. Advantages and disadvantages are not absolute. It is how we perceive them and how much weight we personally attribute to the various pros and cons of EV or ICE ownership. 

Each to their own, or at least that’s how it should be. I can understand why people love their EVs and if one worked for me I would have one but at the moment they don’t. I’ve tried them for 3 years, loved them initially and then slowly came to the conclusion that EVs, at the moment, are simply not the best solution for me. My post explained why. Just occasionally it would be nice if EV drivers would acknowledge that my choice, perhaps, is the right one for me just as I am happy to acknowledge an EV is the right choice for you. 

JKenH

Magnitio said:

silvercar said:

Totally EV household. Not once in 2 years of ownership have we had to wait to charge. We have a home charger, so only need to use chargers when we travel long distance.

We have both petrol and EV. Often queue for petrol and it can be very frustrating when the person in front does their shopping at the same time, or some of the pumps aren't working, or the pay at pump isn't working and you have to pay at the till or your hands smell after using the pump. Never have these issues with the EV.

Really? Obviously EVs don’t use pumps but I and many others found their equivalent - chargers - are frequently not working and getting the charger to communicate with your car/phone app/RFID card is a frequent cause of frustration. Perhaps that is why chargers have a telephone helpline and petrol pumps don’t. 

I can only imagine that you drive a Tesla, rarely use public charging or have been very lucky. 

Edit:  Apparently 60% of the drivers surveyed have had an issue with a charger causing them to drive away and look for another option at least once in the last 3 months. 



https://www.evaengland.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/EVAE-the-great-ev-charging-report.pdf

MeteredOut

Happy EV driver here. Would I get one if i could not charge at home? Definitely not, from both a cost and a convenience perspective.

silvercar

JKenH said:

silvercar said:

Totally EV household. Not once in 2 years of ownership have we had to wait to charge. We have a home charger, so only need to use chargers when we travel long distance.

I can quite believe that. Tesla solve several (not all) of the problems I encountered during my 3 years trying to make an EV work for me but my usage pattern was probably different to yours. Around home no problem, but I would have early morning starts driving to race circuits around the country and at the speed I wished to travel I would struggle to do the round trip without a stop. With a 3 hour trip back I wouldn’t want the hassle of having to stop and take my chances on the charging network. (Despite my age I can manage a 3 hour drive without a comfort break.)

I have given much thought to getting a Tesla but I don’t want to spend £40k on a car to do a job that a £25k petrol car (or in my case £16k used) will do more quickly and in more comfort. And I don’t fancy the idea of an out of warranty Tesla so secondhand doesn’t appeal either. (Perhaps I follow too many Tesla Owners forums). 

Out of interest did you/would you buy a Tesla with your own (personal not business) money?

I would buy a year old Tesla. In fact, if OH changes jobs the cars will go and we may buy back the cars. Tesla new prices are inflated IMHO. Then again, I've often bought ex-demos and the like over the years, so I'm used to doing that.