Are Elecrtric Cars Taking The Fun Out Of Driving?

Are Elecrtric Cars Taking The Fun Out Of Driving?

Author
Discussion

Don

28,377 posts

284 months

Saturday 22nd November 2014
quotequote all
I've got a Nissan Leaf and it's a hoot to drive.

I can only imagine what the Tesla Model S Performance 85kw is like. 4WD and about 700bhp? In the words of the great Petrolted: That should be compulsory. I'll be looking for a pre-depreciated one in about three years time, I think.

DonkeyApple

55,239 posts

169 months

Saturday 22nd November 2014
quotequote all
Baryonyx said:
I'd happily have a full EV too, but the range is more of an issue for me, as would be charging it in the Lake District or wherever.
Same for most of us. It's not so much the range itself but the battery cost. By the time you have the range that you want you have a very expensive and heavy pack of batteries.

But certainly EVs are a hoot to sling around. One of the most exciting new driving experiences as it uses your senses in completely different ways. There is currently a kind of toy element to many of them.

J4CKO

41,526 posts

200 months

Saturday 22nd November 2014
quotequote all
Dont think so, I am really quite intrigued by them the battery tech is improving, the engineers will find a way round their limitations, I man, come on, look what they have done with piston engines over the last 100 years, electric motors are much simpler, its all about the batteries, its already here but this is still early days.

andy_s

19,400 posts

259 months

Saturday 22nd November 2014
quotequote all
I would suspend all judgement until you've had a punt about in a Tesla.

Terminator X

15,054 posts

204 months

Saturday 22nd November 2014
quotequote all
Look you can even drift them!



TX.

scorcher

3,986 posts

234 months

Saturday 22nd November 2014
quotequote all
FreeLitres said:
How many EVs have you driven OP?

What a strange post.


He might still have one of these in his dads garage?

ZNSsupercars

Original Poster:

976 posts

114 months

Saturday 22nd November 2014
quotequote all
That YouTube channel is my sons!
Stop making fun of him. He wants me to make his YouTube channel popular!

xRIEx

8,180 posts

148 months

Saturday 22nd November 2014
quotequote all
ZNSsupercars said:
That YouTube channel is my sons!
Stop making fun of him. He wants me to make his YouTube channel popular!
What youtube channel?

DonkeyApple

55,239 posts

169 months

Saturday 22nd November 2014
quotequote all
ZNSsupercars said:
That YouTube channel is my sons!
Stop making fun of him. He wants me to make his YouTube channel popular!
He's clearly hired the wrong man for the job then. wink

budfox

1,510 posts

129 months

Saturday 22nd November 2014
quotequote all
Terminator X said:
They'll catch up with you eventually though. Will only be cheap until the majority switch across.

TX.
Which is why I got mine now rather than waiting a few years.

I won't go into the maths, suffice to say that it's costing me only around £70/£80 per month to drive a brand new Leaf for four years. A car which I might add is very well equipped and as I've mentioned, good to drive.

Also, I don't see how the 'catching up' scenario would play out, because my house doesn't know if it's got a car or a toaster plugged in. (Actually it does right now as I'm using the charger installed by British Gas, but equally I could just plug it into a normal socket).

Terminator X

15,054 posts

204 months

Saturday 22nd November 2014
quotequote all
But they have to catch up as if the average person is paying a few hundred quid in fuel p/m vs you paying pennies, the lost revenue has to come from somewhere.

TX.


budfox

1,510 posts

129 months

Saturday 22nd November 2014
quotequote all
Terminator X said:
But they have to catch up as if the average person is paying a few hundred quid in fuel p/m vs you paying pennies, the lost revenue has to come from somewhere.

TX.
Agreed, the lost revenue from petrol sales will have to come from somewhere, but I don't agree that it will have to come from directly taxing the charging of EVs.

I think we've got a good 20 years of ICE cars to go, so I don't see it as an issue right now.


FreeLitres

6,043 posts

177 months

Sunday 23rd November 2014
quotequote all
I ran an Peugeot iOn EV as my daily for 5 months.

This EV was pretty much the lowest spec, entry model at the time outside of a G-Whiz (or what ever they are called). Sure, it didn't go like a hot hatch, but the "as much as I want" electricity deal I had meant that I could use as much "fuel" as I want in my commute, so I usually drove it at 10/10ths.

Great fun!

Bill

52,721 posts

255 months

Sunday 23rd November 2014
quotequote all
Lowtimer said:
EVs can be lots of fun. Of course within the category there are, and will continue to be, exciting ones as well as boring ones. 90& of petrol engined cars are boring grey porridge too.
This. The OP is daft, although there is less scope for fun due to range limitations and increased weight. OTOH that weight is at least low down and central.

danp

1,603 posts

262 months

Sunday 23rd November 2014
quotequote all
FreeLitres said:
I ran an Peugeot iOn EV as my daily for 5 months.

This EV was pretty much the lowest spec, entry model at the time outside of a G-Whiz (or what ever they are called). Sure, it didn't go like a hot hatch, but the "as much as I want" electricity deal I had meant that I could use as much "fuel" as I want in my commute, so I usually drove it at 10/10ths.

Great fun!
What range did you get out of it? Was it reliable? (Guess they are a Mitsubishi imiev under the skin)

FreeLitres

6,043 posts

177 months

Sunday 23rd November 2014
quotequote all
danp said:
FreeLitres said:
I ran an Peugeot iOn EV as my daily for 5 months.

This EV was pretty much the lowest spec, entry model at the time outside of a G-Whiz (or what ever they are called). Sure, it didn't go like a hot hatch, but the "as much as I want" electricity deal I had meant that I could use as much "fuel" as I want in my commute, so I usually drove it at 10/10ths.

Great fun!
What range did you get out of it? Was it reliable? (Guess they are a Mitsubishi imiev under the skin)
Yes it's basically a imiev. My thread from 2011 describes my experience;

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

kambites

67,554 posts

221 months

Sunday 23rd November 2014
quotequote all
The EVs I've driven have generally been more entertaining to drive than their petrol and diesel competition, simply because their competition are so utterly dull. Obviously a Nissan Leaf isn't going to entertain in the way my Elise can, but that's hardly a fair comparison.

danp

1,603 posts

262 months

Sunday 23rd November 2014
quotequote all
FreeLitres said:
Yes it's basically a imiev. My thread from 2011 describes my experience;

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Great thanks, will have a read.

budfox

1,510 posts

129 months

Sunday 23rd November 2014
quotequote all
The other big plus for the Leaf is that they're the motoring equivalent of owning a dog. When I charge up at the local motorway services, some ALWAYS comes over to chat about the thing. Sometimes they're blokes, but more than one or two rather attractive ladies have seen the car plugged in and wandered over to ask about it.

Mrs Budfox has experienced exactly the same, though in her case it's the attention of handsome men that she's rather enjoyed.

Of course this is very lighthearted, but it's also very true. People are genuinely interested in asking about electric cars.

The Vambo

6,643 posts

141 months

Sunday 23rd November 2014
quotequote all
scorcher said:
FreeLitres said:
How many EVs have you driven OP?

What a strange post.


He might still have one of these in his dads garage?
Check his post history, its like every car question a seven year-old has ever asked.