EV Discussion thread

ABrass

JKenH said:

A somewhat unambitious prediction has been made by New AutoMotive, “whose raison d’etre is to encourage clean energy transition within road transport” regarding EV growth in 2024. Bearing in mind that there were 993k EVs in the road at the end of 2023, a target of 1.24m by 2025 is hardly a vote of confidence for EV sales this year. That’s only around an additional 250k BEVs compared to last year when 315k were added and EVs enjoyed 18% growth. 

New AutoMotive publish third annual State of the Switch report

Looking ahead, State of the Switch predicts that by 2025 the number of EVs on the road will have risen from around one million now to around 1.24m, aided by cheaper new cars that should be a consequence of the ZEV mandate kicking in.

https://airqualitynews.com/cars-freight-transport/new-automotive-publish-third-annual-state-of-the-switch-report/

That's because they're mangling the quote from the report.

The number of EVs on the road will increase by 20-30% from less than 1 million at the beginning of 2024 to 1.2-1.3 million by the end of 2024.

ABrass

Battery powered trains being tested in London.

https://www.ianvisits.co.uk/articles/gwr-starts-west-london-trials-of-a-battery-powered-train-to-replace-diesels-71075/

These would be used on minor branch lines where electrification is too expensive. They use a battery bank at a station to trickle charge from the grid, then fast charge the train.

JKenH

It is easy to dismiss the public’s obsession with EVs catching fire as FUD and misinformation on the basis of statistics - this report identifies that there have only been six EV fires in Australia since 2010 and all of these as a result of external causes. The risk of EVs catching fire, inevitably though, will remain ever present in the public’s minds while manufacturers themselves are warning their cars might catch fire. 

Audi issues second electric car recall due to fire risk

https://thedriven.io/2024/03/23/audi-issues-second-electric-car-recall-due-to-fire-risk/

JKenH

A bit of related non EV news.

Investigation finds Luton airport car park blaze was started accidentally by a diesel vehicle

A new report has found last October’s huge blaze inside a multi-storey car park at Luton Airport started by accident.

It was thought at the time that an electric or hybrid vehicle had been the cause of the fire, which destroyed more than 1,400 cars and much of the building structure, but the report has now confirmed a diesel vehicle was the source.

An investigation by Bedfordshire Police and Bedfordshire Fire & Rescue Service into the fire discovered that ‘all evidence’ pointed towards the cause most probably ‘being an electrical fault or component failure’ in the engine bay while the vehicle was moving.

The report concluded that the car had a diesel engine, and stated that ‘it was not a mild hybrid, plug-in hybrid or electric vehicle’, quashing widespread internet claims that the blaze was started by a battery-powered model.

https://cardealermagazine.co.uk/publish/investigation-finds-luton-airport-car-park-blaze-was-started-accidentally-by-a-diesel-vehicle/299672

noitsnotme

JKenH said:

A bit of related non EV news.

Investigation finds Luton airport car park blaze was started accidentally by a diesel vehicle

A new report has found last October’s huge blaze inside a multi-storey car park at Luton Airport started by accident.

It was thought at the time that an electric or hybrid vehicle had been the cause of the fire, which destroyed more than 1,400 cars and much of the building structure, but the report has now confirmed a diesel vehicle was the source.

An investigation by Bedfordshire Police and Bedfordshire Fire & Rescue Service into the fire discovered that ‘all evidence’ pointed towards the cause most probably ‘being an electrical fault or component failure’ in the engine bay while the vehicle was moving.

The report concluded that the car had a diesel engine, and stated that ‘it was not a mild hybrid, plug-in hybrid or electric vehicle’, quashing widespread internet claims that the blaze was started by a battery-powered model.

https://cardealermagazine.co.uk/publish/investigation-finds-luton-airport-car-park-blaze-was-started-accidentally-by-a-diesel-vehicle/299672

It was pointed at the time of the incident that it was a diesel but the sheeple dismissed that as they needed to believe it was an EV.  I’m sure they will still dismiss this report saying it’s a cover up.

JKenH

First non-Tesla branded V4 Superchargers are being deployed

Sure enough, Tesla announced another similar deal with the EG Group to build the EV Point charging network in the UK with Tesla Superchargers.

Now, the very first of those Supercharger stations are starting to be deployed in the UK.

EV Point announced today that its first chargers at Asda Express in Uttoxeter are now online:

https://electrek.co/2024/03/21/first-non-tesla-branded-v4-superchargers-are-being-deployed/

michaels

Sadly what we suspected about PHEVs all along turns out to be true:

Yet another study shows plug-in hybrids aren’t as clean as we thought (electrek.co)

They are often purchased due to the tax breaks resulting from their 'green credentials' but then run entirely on dino juice

Spies

I'd bet most Outlanders don't get plugged in

michaels

Spies said:

I'd bet most Outlanders don't get plugged in

I wonder if second hand private owners might actually seek them out to plug them in as otherwise why choose one over the many other options, they are pretty thirsty on petrol and probably need more servicing.

JKenH

Look beyond the headline of this article and there is some very encouraging news for used EV sales. Looking at cars less than 3 years old, EVs account for 12% of sales which is not that far off the 16% figure for new EVs which is largely driven by fleets. Also, to date this year, EVs have increased to 4% of the overall used market compared to just 1.6% (IIRC) for the whole of last year. Falling prices are obviously helping, but at least there are now buyers out there. 

Fleet remarketing: Stable used car market but EV values fall

Jeremy Yea, senior valuations editor at Cap HPI, said: “The availability of electric vehicles in the used wholesale market continues to expand, offering buyers a greater selection than ever before.

“In terms of sold data, we have already received nearly 40% of last year's total sold volume in the first three months of the year.

“However, BEVs still only make up around 4% of all the sold data we have received this year, across all vehicles of all ages and mileages, although that does increase to circa 12% for cars up to three years old.”

https://www.fleetnews.co.uk/news/fleet-remarketing-stable-used-car-market-but-ev-values-fall