Debunking some expected 'smart' comments

[Greg_D]

Hi Guys,

Like you, i'm expecting some snidey comments from people when i pick the car up. Let's start putting together a list of the usual questions and the answers so we aren't all caught on the hop by smart alec questions.

Q1)but you are just moving the pollution further away, you still need to plug it into the wall, it is no different to a normal car when you take into account the emmissions from the power station.

A1)The national grid as a whole produces 190g of Co2/KWH. an i3 battery is 22kwh so 'produces' 4180g of Co2/charge, @100 miles range (161km) that equates to 25.9g/km of Co2 - so whichever way you cut it, that is effing low... That is without taking into account the transport/infrastructure necessary to move traditional fuels around!!!

Source: http://www.rensmart.com/Information/KWHToCO2Conver...

Let's put together a fact sheet

[Greg_D]

JonnyVTEC said:

Your CO2 figure is wrong.

Currently its ~450g / kWh.
http://www.ukenergywatch.org/Electricity/Realtime

Dont forget a gallon of petrol needs around 8kWh to refine/distill. Thats the same energy to take a Leaf 30 miles, yet you need to do before you can even burn it to take a typical car the same distance.

fair cop, i just went with what i found, your would appear more official, so we'll go with your figures (if they are truly real time, i will be interested to see how it alters at different time of the day

Anyway, my amended figure is 64g of CO2/km

I'd be interested to see a spreadsheet of 'well-wheel' for a typical 100g co2 city car taking into account all the transport, distillation, transport, storage, electricity used etc and compare it to a mine-wheel co2 figure including all transmission losses/battery charging losses etc for an EV

i'm no eco warrior, i'm genuinely curious

[Greg_D]

ORD said:

Who gives a flying fk about CO2?

Some random bellend down the pub who is bound to use it as a club to attach you with - like i said, smartass comments

[Greg_D]

Snowboy said:

Isn't the battery quite expensive to lease compared to the fuel of a small car?
£0 on an i3 to lease the battery, i believe it is different on a leaf
Is the range limited, could you drive from Birmingham to Cornwall?
the range is C.100m in normal driving, if there was a DC charger on the way, you could charge it up in half an hour on the way while you have a pee and a coffee, so yes, in that instance, you'd make it
What about with lots of luggage?
identical to any other car of the same size
How do you charge it if you have to park on the street, possibly not outside you house?
not easily at the moment, you may be able to run a lead but that has H+S repercussions if anyone trips
How much does it cost to charge?
at the average cost of 15p/kwh and assuming a total charge from flat, £3
What's the rough miles per £?
about 30 miles/£, three times betterthan even a small diesel supermini (60mpg, £6.27/gallon = 9.5 miles/£)

[Greg_D]

i know what snowboy is saying about defensive answers. I'll try not to be defensive.

EVs at the moment are still very 'niche' in the true sense of the word. ie they have a set of strengths and weaknesses.

If you regularly do any of the following, at the moment an electric car will not be a practical proposition for you.
1) journeys over 100 miles
2) do not have designated parking adjacent to your property
3) have no financial mitigation strategy, ie. not co. car driver or business owner, (ie if you are a joe public buying the car with your own money)

but that said if the vehicle fits in with your needs, patterns and lifestyle it may very well be an excellent choice. That is the case with me. I have a 7 mile commute, rarely drive further than that and when i do i have the 'standard issue' middle englander derv 4x4 to take the strain. i have a garage and as a business owner the tax perks are numerous and compelling. It all adds up to a complete no brainer FOR ME YMMV
To directly compare an i3 to a diesel corsa or something is as facile as comparing a McLaren P1 with the likes of an MR2 (roughly similar size, but that's about it) so direct value comparisons are impossible,

For me, the executive Summary was that to get a brand new i3 worked out the same as putting £5k to my existing car - whilst still having the disposal value of my existing car to be realised (ie a nett free car)
and when you add in the mpg equivalent of something daft like 200mpg it would actually work out significantly cheaper than a corsa, for me...

HTH

[Greg_D]

McWigglebum4th said:

Greg_D said:

i know what snowboy is saying about defensive answers. I'll try not to be defensive.

EVs at the moment are still very 'niche' in the true sense of the word. ie they have a set of strengths and weaknesses.

If you regularly do any of the following, at the moment an electric car will not be a practical proposition for you.
1) journeys over 100 miles
2) do not have designated parking adjacent to your property
3) have no financial mitigation strategy, ie. not co. car driver or business owner, (ie if you are a joe public buying the car with your own money)

but that said if the vehicle fits in with your needs, patterns and lifestyle it may very well be an excellent choice. That is the case with me. I have a 7 mile commute, rarely drive further than that and when i do i have the 'standard issue' middle englander derv 4x4 to take the strain. i have a garage and as a business owner the tax perks are numerous and compelling. It all adds up to a complete no brainer FOR ME YMMV
To directly compare an i3 to a diesel corsa or something is as facile as comparing a McLaren P1 with the likes of an MR2 (roughly similar size, but that's about it) so direct value comparisons are impossible,

For me, the executive Summary was that to get a brand new i3 worked out the same as putting £5k to my existing car - whilst still having the disposal value of my existing car to be realised (ie a nett free car)
and when you add in the mpg equivalent of something daft like 200mpg it would actually work out significantly cheaper than a corsa, for me...

HTH

Would you want a diesel corsa if it was free compared to your i3?

a diesel corsa is only slightly preferable to the bus.

The point i'm making is that i like the car, and the fact that man maths declares it a win is a bonus

[Greg_D]

Hackney,

I'm not sure what your point is now? you are making some very passive aggressive comments on here regarding why EVs are not a good idea.

you have had a wide range of answers as to why it suits different people and why the 'basic market' is there regarding parking arrangements, charging infrastructure etc and why the government is supporting early adopters yet still you bang on!

No one has said that EVs are going to replace ICEs overnight, but there are a sufficient number of people who it could work seamlessly for to encourage major manufacturers to plough millions if not billions into EV development. What more do you want from us?

I am quite confident that if we revisit this thread in 20 years that you will eat humble pie and consider 2014 'you' to be pretty narrow minded, that said, noone can be certain so i think we will just have to agree to disagree on this one.