Electric cars

Martyn1981 · 23 October 2019 at 8:23AM

Full electric Taxi for London, and some impressive numbers for Tesla in the US (side issue, apparently waiting times for the TM3 have now been increased significantly in the US due to export demands.)

First 100% electric black cab for 120 years launches in London

Tesla = 75–85% of US Electric Vehicle Sales

Always sad to see the Chevy Bolt ticking along at about 1,500pm, as it has done for years now. I really, really hoped it wasn't going to be just a compliance car, but I guess I was wrong, wrong, wrong.

shinytop · 23 October 2019 at 10:42AM

gfplux wrote: »

Now that is clever. I come from a marketing background and anything that can make the user feel superior is a win.
Witness Apple AirPods.
I have always been surprised that the car makers have not written ELECTRIC large on their cars.

Airpod wearers might feel superior but they look like kn*bs. Just like people with ELECTRIC written in large letters on their cars.

AdrianC · 23 October 2019 at 10:47AM

Martyn1981 wrote: »

Great marketing in Beijing too, where there is no waiting list for an EV number plate, but ICE plates have a roughly 8yr waiting list.

No - the 8yr wait is for the "new energy" plates.

All cars are subject to quotas - 60k max "new energy", with 400k people waiting; 40k IC with 100k waiting. Yep, that's a total of 100k new cars this year for a city of 21.5m people...

https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201901/31/WS5c52a306a3106c65c34e7930.html

Martyn1981 · 23 October 2019 at 5:11PM

AdrianC wrote: »

No - the 8yr wait is for the "new energy" plates.

All cars are subject to quotas - 60k max "new energy", with 400k people waiting; 40k IC with 100k waiting. Yep, that's a total of 100k new cars this year for a city of 21.5m people...

https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201901/31/WS5c52a306a3106c65c34e7930.html

I thought a policy decision came out in June that restrictions on BEV plates for all Chinese cities, were to be removed?

Eddy9635 · 1 July 2020 at 2:05PM

So all of these issues have swings and roundabouts. Plus wind (on or offshore) is essential as the greater the mix of renewables we have, the more the package works as a whole since they support each other via their differing generation profiles. It is still confusing for us...

buglawton · 7 July 2020 at 9:51AM

AdrianC said:

BTW, if work are paying for your private-use electricity (and, yes, that includes commuting), I do hope you're declaring it as a benefit in kind?

Point 5.5 on here...
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/519209/factsheet-tax-implications-refresh.pdf

If an employer provides electricity to an employee to charge their own car, a benefit in kind arises representing the cost of the electricity used, which must be reported to HMRC.

Which reveals nicely how really electric-car friendly and green government policy is.

NBLondon · 7 July 2020 at 10:46AM

Just think how much BIK there would be from people charging their phones at work. OK, maybe only a few pence a time but multiply by millions of people every day...

Herzlos · 7 July 2020 at 11:28AM

buglawton said:

AdrianC said:

BTW, if work are paying for your private-use electricity (and, yes, that includes commuting), I do hope you're declaring it as a benefit in kind?

Point 5.5 on here...
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/519209/factsheet-tax-implications-refresh.pdf

If an employer provides electricity to an employee to charge their own car, a benefit in kind arises representing the cost of the electricity used, which must be reported to HMRC.

Which reveals nicely how really electric-car friendly and green government policy is.

Why? It's exactly the same if your work is paying for petrol/diesel that you're using for personal journeys.

gzoom · 8 July 2020 at 6:31AM

Our current EV is over 3 years old now - 3 years and 3 months to be precise, with 35k miles on the clock.

It looks as crazy today as it did back in 2016 when we first ordered it and performs role of a family wagon perfectly.

I can now report back some real ownership costs.

Purchase cost was £71k as invoiced in March 2017, the cheapest X on Autotrader at present is £50k, so deprecation works out at £540/month which is OK for a brand new car in the £70k region.

But we bought it as a longterm keeper so depreciation figures don't bother me as I consider the money spent/gone.

Running costs have been utterly nuts:

Fuel - 3p per mile with home charging.
Tyres - 2.5p per mile with oneset changed at 27k.
Service- £0, really I've not 'serviced' it since new.
MOT - £40
VED -£0

So under £2k in upkeep/fulecosts over 3 years and 35k miles.

Next 12 months will see the car out of warranty and I will get the battery coolant changed at 50k miles, so will report back what running costs are like as the car gets older. So far though under 6p per mile all-in running costs is bonkers cheap.

*I haven't included insurance as we all know how variable that is based on location/person, but I paid £530 this year on the Tesla.

Highland76 · 8 July 2020 at 10:50AM

gzoom said:

So far though under 6p per mile all-in running costs is bonkers cheap.

But it cost you £71k, so the overall cost is hardly "bonkers cheap". Its a bit like a car dealer offering you a brand new petrol/diesel car with free fuel for life....provided you pay £200k up front. At present, it costs silly money (>£50k) to buy a electric car with decent range (>400 miles). Perhaps in 20+ years time that will totally change but as things stand, EVs are a novelty. I will stick with my Audi A6 diesel for a good few years yet, considering it can do up to 700 miles on a full tank and cost about half the price of your Tesla X (bought brand new)

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