Advisability of buying electric car at this point in time

Geoffers0_0

WellKnownSid said:

terry2 said:

1. I didn't see a single EV charging point with a roof.  Come on - every petrol station in the known universe has a roof - what gives?  Are EV drivers expected to only come out for a drive in nice weather?  This is the United Kingdom - our green and pleasant land is formed thanks to guaranteed rainfall!  This is the sort of design that comes about when you hand a project over to someone who has never driven a car before, let alone driven an EV. 

You forgot to mention the Tesla charging points for their EBs (electric boats) 

Martyn1981

terry2 said:

 I too have been thinking about moving to an electric car, but so far I haven’t seen anything I consider really sensible.

Mainly I do short journeys but once a month I drive 250 miles and then back 2 days later, so until there are lots of fast charge outlets there is a problem, and that isn’t going to be fixed in any decent timescale.

Now as far as I can see most of the hybrid cars are just normal IC cars with the (powerful) engine driving the wheels, albeit with a bit of battery assist.

What I would like is something where the battery drives the motor and you have a small IC engine whose sole purpose is to top up the battery as needed.  Naturally one where I can also top up the battery from the mains at home.  

 You would have thought planning for an interim solution something like this and then gradually reducing the size of the IC engine as the number of charging points increase would have been a sensible precaution rather than assuming we can move to electric in the government’s timescale..

Hiya. The BMW i3Rx (range extender) came out in 2017. Good idea, but as Sid mentions, RX's weren't that popular, and as batteries got cheaper, smaller and larger (kWh's), the idea has slipped. The new London taxi's are also Rx's.

But you are spot on with the idea, as using a small ICE, purely as a generator, means it can run at the ideal rpm's all the time (it's on), so more efficient.

There was a lady on here who has given lots of advice on BEV's. She drives about 40k or 50k miles pa, and gets a new company car every 2yrs (I think). I remember her saying that she had an i3Rx, but after 2yrs, when it was replaced, she just went with a normal i3 (no Rx), as she'd used the ICE so little, and was able to do paperwork at the charging locations, so no loss of time.

Totally appreciate that Tesla's are not cheap, but the model 3 long range could manage 250 miles without charging, but in extreme conditions, perhaps very cold, or headwinds, and very wet road, you'll struggle to get 250 miles. However, I assume (sorry) that the longer trip involves motorways, so you should have no problem finding several Tesla supercharger (SC) stations along the way.

If the route you use has SC's, and one of them has already been 'unlocked' by Tesla, so other makes can use them, then that would open up your options to lots of BEV's with about 200 miles of range.

Another idea, if you want to test the waters first, might be a SH PHEV. I agree with your criticisms, but if you can get one with say 30 miles of electric only range, then that might work well for you, if you are willing to keep it charged. For longer trips, you will still get a better mpg. I mention this, as getting a secondhand PHEV, will give you a 'fun' insight into electric driving, and convince you one way or the other, whether to go full BEV.

PHEV's, as they work their way down the food chain, as they age, could be a good 'gateway drug' and educator, for those who want to go BEV, but need to dip their toes in the water first.

Goudy

There are now also a few different hybrids on the market like the new Honda Civic.

The Civic is "nearly" an EV with an onboard petrol generator but you don't plug in.

The petrol engine runs to supply electricity to power the electric motor which handles most of it's low to mid speed running.
So the ICE kicks in and out when needed to top the battery up and as it hasn't got to produce loads of torque, runs a more efficient Atkinson cycle. 

Only when it's up to speed does the ICE kick drive the wheels.
This means is does away with what we know as a normal set of gear ratios which normally sap power.

It's a comprise but as comprises go, it's not a bad one.
Yes, it's not a true EV with an onboard range extender, it's a little different. 

When the ICE is inefficient as a power source to drive the wheels, like stop start driving and accelerating, it powers the battery along with regenerative braking that then powers the wheels.

When the electric motor isn't as effective, like on the motorway, the ICE now powers the wheels.

It doesn't need a set of gear ratios to run in electric and it also doesn't need a set gear ratios when the ICE starts to drive as it's up to speed already on the electric motor.

terry2

Thank you for all your suggestions.  Much to think about