EVs... no one wants them!

I see some people mention that EV isn't as fun as ICE. Surely that depends on what you're comparing it against?

I can only go by my own examples/experience, but I swapped a 330i for a Model 3 Performance, and the Model 3 is no less fun relative to the 330i. I've lost some engagement (noise, paddle shift etc), but I've gained power/acceleration. I drive my wife's Mini Cooper S, I used to love nailing it down a country road, now I don't like it. The steering wheel is too big, the steering isn't sharp enough, and it has little frontend grip. It gets my wife to work and back and she likes it.

For many of us, we're buying cars that have to strike a reasonable balance between performance, handling, fun, functionality, efficiency and cost.

I'm sure that when you compare EV's to their ICE equivalents, surely there's very little difference in how 'fun' they are? Most people don't even care.

I've said this before, but if you're driving something like a BMW M3 or a GR Yaris, there's a reason you've specifically bought those models, and you're probably right. I don't think think there's an EV out there that really encapsulates the experience you get from those. Sadly, many of us can't afford to run an M3, or shoe-horn a GR Yaris into our family lifestyles, even though we want to.

Storage is hugely inefficient which is why the best way to store nat gas is to leave it in the ground.

We are very unlikely to fill the U.K. with tonnes of battery packs in fields but rather utilise a blended solution based on trade. Excess generation just gets sold, firstly to domestic consumers who have batteries they're paying a monthly fee to just have on the driveway doing nothing. Then it's down a pipe to the mainland where it will ultimately be bought by someone down the far end who has a shortfall. The key is how to then deal with when we have a domestic shortfall due to periods of low to no wind. First is that you build over capacity of generation. It's better to have too much and have to export it for foreign currency than it is to have just the right amount but regularly needing to import. Secondly, you haul back from the continent what you sent over the previous month as part of your international grid solution.

The concept of taking temporarily excess electricity and losing half of it splitting desalinated water into hydrogen, then losing more during storage and then a big slug lost when converting it back to electricity just doesn't make sense economically which is why Britain hasn't rushed down that rabbit hole. We also have nat gas offshore where it can be militarily defended and also blocked which makes it the smarter fallback solution. Only the truly desperate nations will have to head down crazy paths like having to try and store GH or worse, needing to synthesise long chain hydrocarbon blends using laundered carbon credits (and of course, we'll be happy to sell them the carbon that they need as we will have an excess from the scrubbing of the gas power stations).

It'll go some of the way. Private owners of batteries will be very easy to dupe into being under paid for letting a utility company use their infrastructure to maximise profit while avoiding capex.

The real key is whether it goes into someone's car battery or house battery or sent overseas the efficiency comes from just selling it asap for whatever price a buyer at the time will offer rather than spending £billions building mega batteries or fairy gas tanks to try and store it.

A domestic House will probably be able to disconnect from the Grid and live of their cars quite easily once the slight issue of the householder not being the owner of the battery in the car gets resolved. I suspect the greater burden lies in delivering a constant supply to heavy industry, something that fossil fuels do seamlessly but is harder with renewables.

Not in the circumstances described. Not a chance. Traffic lights and straight lines my money would be on the EV but that isn't why you buy a GRY.

It's possible to really hussle a Model 3 along. It's quite grippy. I've had the back end squirm slightly on corner exit when really pushing on and it was quite progressive.

Something properly agile like a Clio 200 or Yaris GR would definitely be quicker round some tight and twisty corners.

In the same way as a Clio 200 or Yaris GR would do the same to most road cars like 335i BMWs or Merc E350s.

I tried other EVs, namely the Kona and Niro (older models) and they felt like pretty ordinary SUVs to drive, albeit with 7 secs to 60mph.

But the Model 3 felt closest to a fast BMW to me with the low driving position with legs nearly out straight. Not dissimilar to the M2 that i had a couple of years ago.

But it's no hot hatch that's for sure.

Of course it is, But the paragraph I was replying to said

" No one can now not understand why replacing both oil and gas as the primary energy fuels is simply not even up for debate as there is no defence to leaving the U.K. economy and the financial security of its people unnecessarily exposed to the global pricing of oil and gas. "

IE Energy not electricity. Even with 100% non fossil electricity we would still be exposed tp global oil and gas prices.

Talking of EV's, can anyone explain to me why it appears that half of the model 3s listed on eBay have been write offs in the past?

Have to say, if I was looking for a car and had somewhere to charge it a £20K non crashed Tesla Model 3 would be high on the list.

I think there’s definitely been an issue with insurance companies writing them off for far less damage than you’d expect, along with a shortage of parts which meant huge delays in repairs and hire car costs. This has fed into high insurance costs.

Whether this remains an ongoing issue I don’t know.

Deluded EV owners chasing Toyotas and Caterhams through bends and understeering off the road. Happens all the time. Give 'em five seconds 0-60 and they think they're driving a Red Bull.