[Misc] Anyone got a fully electric car ?

[zefarelly]

removing the sounds and smells of a scooter engine immediately devalues a classic.

With 60 years of ingrained 2 stroke it'll always smell . . . . And it'd live in a garage with 4 other proper smelly ones, the noise is easy to replicate. . And I think will become law soon enough, people will start getting run over regularly.

TBH, going forward we quite possibly face the reality of go electric or museum piece. A tuned 2 stroke isn't exactly an eco warrior.

 

[GOM]

This is the problem with electric cars - they are expensive and you need to be getting the use to justify the expenditure. They are ideally suited to someone who commutes a significant distance every day to work and can re-charge overnight or at work. After that a second-hand EV that is used for urban driving is ideal. The range anxiety is a bit of a false flag - the vast majority of EV drivers will say that it is never an issue and the charging network continues to expand (and will have to accelerate because of climate policies).

I long pondered buying an EV - but decided that I couldn't justify the expense - although will probably get a second-hand one when I retire for urban commuting and will use public transport when I have to travel longer distances.

Agree with your sentiments but ironically I will probably drive more after I retire. I use public transport to work in the city centre, cheaper than finding parking all day, so my car sits in the drive all week and only gets to come out to play at the weekends. Hopefully after retirement I will be gallivanting all over every day of the week.

 

[GOM]

Same issue with EVs - you really need to do your homework - ideally take it on a test run for 24 hours and do a full range run.

You are right about hills etc - like a petrol car, it takes more energy to climb - although most EVs now have regen braking. One of the big issues with range is the cold weather - EV batteries perform poorly in the cold and can drop a significant amount of range as a result (and that doesn't include the heater). Some EVs can lose up to half the range in cold weather - and it takes longer to rapid charge in cold weather as well.

Interesting points made in this video regarding range and the cost of EVs. Robert Llewelyn is a car reviewer for the ordinary man and not the petrol head, he knows nothing about cars but knows a lot about EVs.

It's a review of the new Vauxhall Corsa-e, not a car for everyone but......see for yourself

https://youtu.be/PF6aatgole8

 

[Audax]

You are right about hills etc - like a petrol car, it takes more energy to climb - although most EVs now have regen braking. One of the big issues with range is the cold weather - EV batteries perform poorly in the cold and can drop a significant amount of range as a result (and that doesn't include the heater). Some EVs can lose up to half the range in cold weather - and it takes longer to rapid charge in cold weather as well.

Yeah, cold weather affects hybrids as well. My Prius (not even a plug in) hybrid, in summer I can (driving like my granny) easily get over 80mpg doing my usual weekday commute (Uckfield to Uxbridge and back, so mostly M25). Driving normally it's usually in the 75-80 range during summer. Mid-winter, that drops to 65-70mpg driving exactly the same. That'll be related to the poorer battery performance in cold weather, combined with increased use of the air con (for example, it turns the engine on more frequently even with a full battery, I can only assume to generate heat for the heater... lazy approach from Toyota there I believe).