Will you be an EV enthusiast?
Discussion
f1nn said:
There are already regular car meets for EV’s?
I often see groups of them parked up chatting, often in some dirty corner of a motorway services, or the far corner of some hotel car park.
Yeah usually the places where the Tesla Superchargers are situated...I often see groups of them parked up chatting, often in some dirty corner of a motorway services, or the far corner of some hotel car park.
But yes, there are several active and semi-regular regional car meets that have grown over the last 12-18 months.
No, the die is cast for me.
I’ll buy an EV soon, but I’ll buy it much like my smart phone. What features do I want, what’s the monthlies, is there a dealer nearby etc.
I’ll marvel at the technology, use it regularly, look after it etc. so I’ll be enthusiastic about it being a useful additional to my everyday life, but I’ll not be an enthusiast as such.
I don’t read what phone magazine, I’ll not be itching for the latest model or keeping abreast of tomorrows innovations. I’ll not wander over to people and say ‘wow, is that the new FXD2078?!? I’ve been reading about them!’
My phone already can do more things than I ask if it, I’m not that bothered what camera lens or processing power the next one has. When it reaches the end of its lifespan, I’ll invest an evening researching what’s on the market, make a decision, click a button and it’ll turn up that week. (I’ll then probably need to allocate a day to pissing around with settings and preferences etc!)
My love of cars will always be with smallish manual RWD petrol cars with an interesting ICE. So long as I can use one in my daily life and have the other as my hobby, I’ll be very content and I’ll not begrudge anyone else their preferences either.
I’ll buy an EV soon, but I’ll buy it much like my smart phone. What features do I want, what’s the monthlies, is there a dealer nearby etc.
I’ll marvel at the technology, use it regularly, look after it etc. so I’ll be enthusiastic about it being a useful additional to my everyday life, but I’ll not be an enthusiast as such.
I don’t read what phone magazine, I’ll not be itching for the latest model or keeping abreast of tomorrows innovations. I’ll not wander over to people and say ‘wow, is that the new FXD2078?!? I’ve been reading about them!’
My phone already can do more things than I ask if it, I’m not that bothered what camera lens or processing power the next one has. When it reaches the end of its lifespan, I’ll invest an evening researching what’s on the market, make a decision, click a button and it’ll turn up that week. (I’ll then probably need to allocate a day to pissing around with settings and preferences etc!)
My love of cars will always be with smallish manual RWD petrol cars with an interesting ICE. So long as I can use one in my daily life and have the other as my hobby, I’ll be very content and I’ll not begrudge anyone else their preferences either.
Edited by The spinner of plates on Sunday 18th September 08:41
T1berious said:
I think the need to use silos is unnecessary. A car enthusiast is a car enthusiast regardless of how that car is powered. My neighbour has a very nice Alpina, I don't dismiss it because it runs on diesel.
Yesterday I was at Screwfix and a gentlemen saw me park up, waited for me and asked if the Kia EV6 is as funky to drive as it looks! I had a brief chat with him told him it's funkier, goes like stink and is the best tip car I've ever had and was as quick to 60 as my Z4MR!
It charges at a rate of knots, which is more important than a lot of people realise.
I get stopped and asked about the EV6 more than I did in my M2C (once someone asked what it was!).
Automation is a long way off but when that day comes it will be the start of the end. If you're being driven around in an automated pod who cares what your pod is? "Ooh.... the Mercedes Pod! Lovely"....
I don't think so!
Our first EV is our Kona…over 38k miles in now, & absolutely love it…..& we have had a few people notice it in car parks and ask about it. We love it!Yesterday I was at Screwfix and a gentlemen saw me park up, waited for me and asked if the Kia EV6 is as funky to drive as it looks! I had a brief chat with him told him it's funkier, goes like stink and is the best tip car I've ever had and was as quick to 60 as my Z4MR!
It charges at a rate of knots, which is more important than a lot of people realise.
I get stopped and asked about the EV6 more than I did in my M2C (once someone asked what it was!).
Automation is a long way off but when that day comes it will be the start of the end. If you're being driven around in an automated pod who cares what your pod is? "Ooh.... the Mercedes Pod! Lovely"....
I don't think so!
Does it have a throaty roar or nice burble? No, it is pretty silent…but boy, it can shift - puts me in mind of my ‘boy racer days’ but better in every way than any of the XR2, XR3, Colt Turbo, MG Metro I owned!
Clearly isn’t going to stand up to scrutiny for those in Porsche/AM, etc….but I recall James May, when he got his Mirai, suggesting that in the future, the fossil fuel burners will become weekend pleasure cars for those who can afford it, & I feel he is right. Still very much a multi-year transition.
We are still on the 5p Octopus Energy Go tariff, so just over a penny a mile for the vast majority of our journeys.
I appreciate we are lucky to have the space to charge at home: public charging is now only around half the price of ICE fuel…
As to whether people go to meets: there are plenty already, although we haven’t bothered yet. Do partake in the SpeakEV forum, which is the modern way…..
Fastlane said:
As a car enthusiast, I already am. This is a very exciting time for automotive development.
Have you considered seeing a doctor? How can you be enthusiastic about EVs when they don't make a noise and enable you to waft around in silence? Don't you want to go back to an era where cars have so many moving parts and mechanics charge you extortionate prices simply to change the oil? Aren't you concerned that the battery on your new EV will start to degrade and lose 20% of its capacity the moment you drive it out of the showroom?swisstoni said:
EVs are in their infancy
The last kids birthday party we went to pre COVID that statement I would fully agree with, this was the 'after party' driveway yesterday. All of a sudden the few diesel Mercs left seem very very very outdated and from a different era. Our EV just passed its 3rd MOT, best car I have ever owned, but overall cars interest me less and less these days.
MF35 said:
I'm trying to be objective here, but I can't see myself going to EV car meets, buying specialist EV magazines, being on EV forums like this one, etc.
Me neither.I have a Tesla, as it happens. It is the supreme commuting appliance - it's a brilliant thing. I also have a Morgan, which would be be rubbish for commuting. I've also owned a lot of exotic stuff over the years.
The Tesla has zero personality, but it does what it does with consummate ease and it's as cheap as chips to run. But take it to a display of other Teslas?
kambites said:
I dont think the driving enthusiast part of me is ever going to be as into EVs as it is into light weight naturally aspired manual gearbox sports cars but the cat enthusiast bit will certainly continue to be facinated by cars, whatever is powering them.
I wonder if EVs might actually end up appealing more to 'driving enthusiasts' than 'car enthusiasts'?I can nice quiet EVs creating more possibilities for actual motorsport than noisy IC cars.
Also, even on the public roads, enjoyable driving is sometimes about the road and the destination rather than your vehicle.
Sadly while I swore this would never be the case I have really got into the Taycan since I bought a turbo.
Excited when the new versions come out ie faster ones.
It maybe by default thought as I have two young kids it meets all the needs, super car fast, 4 seats, fun to drive and good to look at.
I do love petrol too but can see me being an enthusiast of both.
Phil
Excited when the new versions come out ie faster ones.
It maybe by default thought as I have two young kids it meets all the needs, super car fast, 4 seats, fun to drive and good to look at.
I do love petrol too but can see me being an enthusiast of both.
Phil
I don’t even go to ICE car meets often because I just don’t have time and cannot see myself going to electric ones in the future. However, as a daily car my EV is brilliant. It makes the commute comfortable and effortless and for a daily that’s what I want. Granted I’m in a fortunate position and don’t have to make this my only car, I’d struggle much more to make a case for an EV if that was the case. I’ve still got the fun stuff for the weekend and the EV during the week makes the ICE even more visceral at the weekend.
In short EV’s are more of a tool than for enjoyment but I do really enjoy mine for what I use it for, I’d never take it for a spin in the peaks just because though.
In short EV’s are more of a tool than for enjoyment but I do really enjoy mine for what I use it for, I’d never take it for a spin in the peaks just because though.
chickenbarns said:
Klippie said:
EV cars are for the favoured few that afford them, Joe Bloggs on a low income will require cheap ice cars to get to work, are there any sub £2000 EV’s for sale just now...no and never will be as the huge cost of a replacement battery pack will create piles of scrapped cars.
This push to EV is nothing more than green virtue signalling the infrastructure is no where good enough for a mass roll out of this technology never mind the affordability of the cars...it’s all bulls
t and people need to wake-up to see this.
no one is stopping bloggs from taking a bus to work.This push to EV is nothing more than green virtue signalling the infrastructure is no where good enough for a mass roll out of this technology never mind the affordability of the cars...it’s all bulls
t and people need to wake-up to see this.-CB
3.5 years, 3 different models and almost 50k into our EV journey now.
My plan as a car enthusiast for the future will be a small EV city car like an i3 or Honda E for daily duties and something ICE with 8+ cylinders for weekends and long trips where charging could become a bit of a pain.
For the vast majority EV will be a far better companion than their exsiting ICE car, so every reason to be enthusiastic about the change. For actual car/driving enthusiasts, I think the only option is to have a dedicated ICE car in the garage to scratch that itch.
My plan as a car enthusiast for the future will be a small EV city car like an i3 or Honda E for daily duties and something ICE with 8+ cylinders for weekends and long trips where charging could become a bit of a pain.
For the vast majority EV will be a far better companion than their exsiting ICE car, so every reason to be enthusiastic about the change. For actual car/driving enthusiasts, I think the only option is to have a dedicated ICE car in the garage to scratch that itch.
My friend goes to mustang car days and sit in the car park with the bonnet open all day. Not sure how that going to work with ev?
I was at an event where there was a Vauxhall vectra owners club meet Even the guy on pa was saying ,and here we have another…
So not my cup of tea, now a good track day ev would fun thu.
I was at an event where there was a Vauxhall vectra owners club meet Even the guy on pa was saying ,and here we have another…
So not my cup of tea, now a good track day ev would fun thu.
Car fans love all sorts of stuff, from old vintage things, to 70s classics, muscle cars, super cars, hot hatches, off-roaders, EVs, many many others. Future EVs will be no different. A lot of what we like in cars comes from what is around us as we grow up. Kids now could quite easily become EV fans. To say there are no interesting EVs around now would be daft. They are just different to what we have grown to like.
OutInTheShed said:
I wonder if EVs might actually end up appealing more to 'driving enthusiasts' than 'car enthusiasts'?
Certainly not for me, but then I don't much like most ICE cars produced over the last 20 years or so from that point of view either. I simply don't find modern cars as enjoyable to drive as older ones. Yes I think I will. I’ve been impressed by those I’ve driven and thought I’d hate them. As a daily drive or as a wafty conversion (I’m thinking of an old merc) they hit the spot.
I think the main issue at the moment is cost of entry and that the tinkering aspect is shrouded in a smoke of complexity by those aiming to build businesses out of keeping it that way.
I think the main issue at the moment is cost of entry and that the tinkering aspect is shrouded in a smoke of complexity by those aiming to build businesses out of keeping it that way.
The future could be exciting. I'm thinking like when the technology can give you cars like a lightweight electric RWD mx5, or 4WD GR Yaris. Sure, the sound won't be the same, but alot of petrol cars sound a bit crap these days anyway. There could be some really interesting things to be enthusiastic about in the future, but for now not much electric interests me.
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