What they don't tell you about electric cars

[OutInTheShed]

Tam_Mullen said:

M4cruiser said:

Megaflow said:

How the hell can the sales force predict what repairs are going to be required? Do you ask how much it cost to replace the engine when you buy an ICE?

Yes. Or something similar.

Can't believe no-one else picked up on this.

No you fking don't.

No you don't directly ask what an engine costs, but with petrol and diesel engines, Mr Joe Public has got a lot of miles on the clock and we have an understanding of what to expect.
On a 'folk knowledge' level we have an understanding of the life expectancies of cars and engines and parts, so we have an expectation of what the average bills will be. So that's priced into what the market understands used cars to be worth.
It's embedded in out culture that cars go from new to used to banger to shed on a certain curve.

Some of that 'knowledge' may be wrong, becuase the ten year old cars of today are not like 2000AD cars in 2010, and todays new cars in 2034 may be different again.
People are starting to realise that today's cars are a different game as well as EVs being a slightly different game from IC.

[TheDeuce]

OutInTheShed said:

This just says to me that many cars are designed by idiots and built by baboons.
The 'body electrics' and similar issues that drive the owners of old cars around the bend will be much the same with EVs.
There's a hundred things wrong with my shed. 98 of them are not IC specific.

It's just a given these days, cars are designed tlo last about 12 years then get recycled.
All cars. Petrol, diesel, EV, hybrid.

The problem is the UK motoring public is dependent on lots of cars lasting more like 15 to 20 years.

Far simpler to swap out electrical components/modules on modern cars though, and modern canbus architecture has gotten rid of most of the mile long electrical looms that used to wear/short/rot resulting in all sorts of comedic gremlins.

True that there is little point or incentive for anyone to design a car to have a longer service life that anticipated - but with a little care and attention a car sold today could easily enough do 20-30 years provided there are no baked in issues with the monocoque/bodywork.

[The OG Jester]

OutInTheShed said:

This just says to me that many cars are designed by idiots and built by baboons.
The 'body electrics' and similar issues that drive the owners of old cars around the bend will be much the same with EVs.
There's a hundred things wrong with my shed. 98 of them are not IC specific.

It's just a given these days, cars are designed tlo last about 12 years then get recycled.
All cars. Petrol, diesel, EV, hybrid.

The problem is the UK motoring public is dependent on lots of cars lasting more like 15 to 20 years.

Same with any consumer product, washing machines, dryers, phones etc. They have a shelve life so you go back and buy more 3 or 4 years down the line.

[G-wiz]

Interesting article in Auto Express this week, that half of EV owners have a diesel or electric car as back-up.

Nice.

[Maracus]

G-wiz said:

Interesting article in Auto Express this week, that half of EV owners have a diesel or electric car as back-up.

Nice.

Half of EV owners also have an EV as a back up? Shows how popular they are

The 10 or so EV owners I know, all use their EV as their main car. Most got shot of a diesel to replace it with an EV, me included 4 years ago.

[Murph7355]

G-wiz said:

Interesting article in Auto Express this week, that half of EV owners have a diesel or electric car as back-up.

Nice.

Half of EV owners have an electric car (or diesel) as a back up?

[tamore]

so some people have an EV, and have another car which is powered by fossil fuel. not sure 'backup' is the right term at all.

we have to make an effort to use my wife's diesel giulietta as we always us the EV, despite it being about as stylish as michael gove.

[Maracus]

tamore said:

so some people have an EV, and have another car which is powered by fossil fuel. not sure 'backup' is the right term at all.

we have to make an effort to use my wife's diesel giulietta as we always us the EV, despite it being about as stylish as michael gove.

I've got a 21 year old 3.0 Z4 as my back up family/holiday car

[98elise]

tamore said:

so some people have an EV, and have another car which is powered by fossil fuel. not sure 'backup' is the right term at all.

we have to make an effort to use my wife's diesel giulietta as we always us the EV, despite it being about as stylish as michael gove.

Agreed. I have 2 ICE's. Is one a back up? If I change one for an EV which one is the back up?

[Slow.Patrol]

Drive past a fender bender on Wednesday. Police were in attendance, but cars were still half blocking the road. No attempt had been made to get the cars off road, on the verge.

One of the cars was an EV and I seem to remember a fireman friend telling me that some police refuse to move an EV that has been crashed due to possible electrocution.

Any truth in that?

[Scrimpton]

G-wiz said:

Interesting article in Auto Express this week, that half of EV owners have a diesel or electric car as back-up.

Nice.

I'm one of the 50% that doesn't. I've got some old petrol thing as a backup.

[theboss]

Different cars for different jobs

Personally I maintain a petrol car for long distance but it hardly ever gets used out of preference for the EVs for all our running around. When it does its for trips down to SE Europe 1600 miles away.

If I had to do away with all but one car for some reason I would keep the greater of the two EVs (iX M60) and rent something for the long distances several times per year.

[G-wiz]

G-wiz said:

Interesting article in Auto Express this week, that half of EV owners have a diesel or electric car as back-up.

Nice.

I fessed up. It should be written as: interesting article in Auto Express this week, that half of EV owners have a diesel or petrol car as back-up.

[Scrimpton]

theboss said:

Different cars for different jobs

Personally I maintain a petrol car for long distance but it hardly ever gets used out of preference for the EVs for all our running around. When it does its for trips down to SE Europe 1600 miles away.

If I had to do away with all but one car for some reason I would keep the greater of the two EVs (iX M60) and rent something for the long distances several times per year.

Same. When I had my Ioniq I used the 911 for any drive over 100 miles on the motorway as it would only do about 140 miles and charged slowly. Now I have the ipace with over 200 miles of range and not too tragic charging the Porsche is exclusively for fun, which is why I bought it in the first place.

Edited by Scrimpton on Saturday 24th February 21:57

[ajap1979]

G-wiz said:

G-wiz said:

Interesting article in Auto Express this week, that half of EV owners have a diesel or electric car as back-up.

Nice.

I fessed up. It should be written as: interesting article in Auto Express this week, that half of EV owners have a diesel or petrol car as back-up.

I wonder how they’ve arrived at the “back up” claim? I have an EV and two petrol cars. Are the petrol cars there as a back up? No, not in any way whatsoever.

[tamore]

ajap1979 said:

I wonder how they’ve arrived at the “back up” claim? I have an EV and two petrol cars. Are the petrol cars there as a back up? No, not in any way whatsoever.

because it appeals to their readership? like wizzybaby?

[TheDeuce]

ajap1979 said:

I wonder how they’ve arrived at the “back up” claim? I have an EV and two petrol cars. Are the petrol cars there as a back up? No, not in any way whatsoever.

Judging by most posters in these forums, the EV is the daily and the ICE is the fun car they're holding on to - a perk, not a backup.

In fairness some do say they have an ICE for longer journeys.. but I'm willing to bet that over time and familiarity with public charging, the EV will probably take that job too - assuming it's the more pleasant car to drive/travel in.

This whole 'range anxiety' state of fear seems to be something that affects the minds of people that don't yet actually have an EV but are pondering getting one. Those that are used to it.. it's not exactly something that keeps us awake at night. Just plug it in for 15 minutes when it's time for a piss and a sandwich

[flatlandsman]

I am not an EV driver I cannot live or afford my life with two cars I have to have one and it will never suit the journeys I make or the hobbies I have.

I am not the target market, the target is a more affluent family person who NEEDS two cars, not desires them, who uses this thing to zip around in and does anything longer in a normal car, they have a drive can charge at home and probably work from home.

This a percentage of the population but the lower end is being totally ignored right now in the pursuit of profit, fair enough, make your money from those that have too much, but I can see the writing on the wall, manufacturers have started extending their production of ICE vehicles and in some ways EV will NEVER be a part of some areas of transport

[Megaflow]

Slow.Patrol said:

Drive past a fender bender on Wednesday. Police were in attendance, but cars were still half blocking the road. No attempt had been made to get the cars off road, on the verge.

One of the cars was an EV and I seem to remember a fireman friend telling me that some police refuse to move an EV that has been crashed due to possible electrocution.

Any truth in that?

No idea if it is true or not, but it would make a lot of sense. I am not sure if there is any kind if alert system, like F1 cars have on top of the roll bar, to confirm if the accident has breached the insulation of the HV system, so until that is confirmed or isolated, it would make sense to stand well clear.

[Nomme de Plum]

flatlandsman said:

I am not an EV driver I cannot live or afford my life with two cars I have to have one and it will never suit the journeys I make or the hobbies I have.

I am not the target market, the target is a more affluent family person who NEEDS two cars, not desires them, who uses this thing to zip around in and does anything longer in a normal car, they have a drive can charge at home and probably work from home.

This a percentage of the population but the lower end is being totally ignored right now in the pursuit of profit, fair enough, make your money from those that have too much, but I can see the writing on the wall, manufacturers have started extending their production of ICE vehicles and in some ways EV will NEVER be a part of some areas of transport

You are not being ignored in just the same way as you were not ignored when mobile phones came out but were afforded by the very few or the personal computer where unless you were prepared to build something like the ZX80 would have been out of the reach of many. It's the harsh reality oof life.


There are just 1M EVs on our roads and 32M ICE. We buy 1.9M new cars per annum of which 54% are business purchases A further 5.3M cars change hands annually.

A person doesn't ned to be a genius to work out that there is not a sufficient supply of used EVs at the average price that used car buyers pay. It's about 8K btw.

In 2030 there will be about 7M Evs on our roads so still only representing just over 20% of cars.

Even in 2035 there will only be 15M EVs so still less than 50% of all cars.

We are in recession and EVs are still expensive. It's hardly surprising sales are not surging ahead.

Edited by Nomme de Plum on Sunday 25th February 10:05