"Electric cars can't do 300miles !!!!!"

[thinfourth2]

"Electric cars can't do 300miles !!!!!"

"They can't do 140Mph down the autobahn"



Well thats what you all scream about being the worst thing about electric cars.

However the reality is we don't do 300 miles a day and neither do we do 140mph down the autobahn every day. The reality is we commute about 30 miles a day in slow dull traffic.

An electric car can do this.

A electric car can't do a 300 mile range and it can't do 140mph.

So you have a choice

Choice 1 is a slightly dull and very new BMW diesel estate it can do everything you need at a steady 50mpg but god it is dull and you take it home everynight and leave it on your drive for 8 hours while you sleep and your garage is full of the kids bikes and that old washing machine you kept but you can't remember why.

Choice 2 is a very boring electric car which takes you to work and back everyday and you recharge it in your driveway everynight for 8 hours while you sleep. But in the garage is a slightly old M5 touring which is fun and huge and can do everything you need at 10Mpg

Lets assume the running cost for both options are the same and the first person to mention plantfood gas gets a free membership of greenpeace


What would you choose?

[Scuffers]

Apart from the simple fact that not everybody does a 30 mile commute, your also assuming that the electric car is actually usable and not going to cost you 3-4X the equivalent dismal/petrol car

looking at my own car usage, yes I do a lot of 'local' running about, but I also do several 300+ mile round trips a month, so your suggestion is we all have two cars to do the job then?

even if all that was workable, how much do you think it will cost to fit your house up with a high current outlet to charge said car and to then beef up the national grid and build the power stations to deal with the increased demand?

[GravelBen]

thinfourth2 said:

However the reality is we don't do 300 miles a day and neither do we do 140mph down the autobahn every day. The reality is we commute about 30 miles a day in slow dull traffic.

It might be an unfortunate reality for you, but please don't tar us all with the same brush.



PS what will happen to the price of electricity once electric cars become more common and push demand up?

[dtmpower]

Since when was a 530d dull and boring ? Once 'chipped' the current engine is quite potent

[flakeypaul]

I'd have one (eventually!). Take the new Vauxhall Ampera (or whatever it's called!) - it's claimed to be able to do 100 miles on an 8 hour charge from a standard electrical socket. You could do this overnight when electricity is cheaper and under much less demand (and therefore even if lots of people were doing this there would be much less chance of overloading the 'system').

Even if the 100 mile range is rubbish, and it's only capable in the 'real' world of half of that, that means that the car is suitable for anyone who works within 25 miles of their home, which is a lot of people!

For the longer journeys you can fill it up with petrol and use its onboard generator to charge the batteries.

Right now they probably won't make much sense to anyone that's not an environmentalist or who drives it for tax reasons. Give it another 10 years however when the tech has moved on (look how the utterly hateful pious has moved on to become only moderately hateful these days) and the cost of fuel has rocketed yet further and these cars will make total sense.

Whilst I'm daring to not totally bash hybrids on PH (dangerous I know - i really hope I've spetl everything correctly or i'll get double flamed) my FIL has a Lexus GS 450h - real world 35mpg round town and 0-60 in 5.7 seconds. Yes please.

[Scuffers]

don't dissagree that Hybrids are getting ever better (having had a RX400h), however, the all-electric plug-in is still too far away.

also, if it takes 8 hours to charger, cheap rate is only a 7 hour window....

(and doing the calcs', even if it was 100% efficient, that's only 24Kw/h, ie. sod all.

thinking forward, how long do you think 7 hour cheap rate will last if we all go electric too?

Edited by Scuffers on Sunday 20th June 07:50

[900T-R]

The OP is 'nicely' avoiding the main problem - the current (sorry ) cost of electric cars is 3-5x most of us will pay for transport (read: be able to afford), and doesn't do everything we want it to do. It'll be a cold day in hell before people will agree to a £500 pcm loan for something in which they can get to work and back but not much more. For most of us, it just about defeats the object of going into work in the first place.
Imagine getting back from work, and plugging the car into the mains, then getting a text from a rather lovely lady asking you to drop by for a romantic dinner this evening. "Sorry dear, I've run out of battery charge. maybe tomorrow?" You can bet what your social life would look like after say, a couple of weeks being dependent on electric transport...

If you are fortunate enough to be able to afford a 'boring' new 530d or an oldish M5 + electric car, you can also afford an M5 an an Exige. So why would I choose to run a rolling Portaloo that's only useful for situations which don't require a car in the first place, instead?

Edited by 900T-R on Sunday 20th June 08:07

[GravelBen]

flakeypaul said:

...i really hope I've spetl everything correctly or i'll get double flamed...

[Dave^]

http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/News/Search-Results/I...


You can buy a lot of petrol for £39k...

The OH does 7mile each way to work, in a 3.5litre V6, if we could find a Tesla for £20k, we'd have one on the drive in a jiffy!! ( http://www.teslamotors.com/buy/buyshowroom.php )

Elec/Hybrid cars are fk ugly... make them good looking, and reasonably priced in comparison to an equivalent petrol/diesel + 15k miles a year, and they'd be onto a winner....

If Honda had put the CRZ tech into the current Civic, I could have been tempted into one, (I'm not keen on the looks of the CRZ) if the price was less than the TypeR...

No way am I going to spend four times as much as I need to. just to save £400 rfl and a few quid in petrol...


ETA Tesla link...

Edited by Dave^ on Sunday 20th June 08:10

[thinfourth2]

900T-R said:

The OP is 'nicely' avoiding the main problem - the current (sorry ) cost of electric cars is 3-5x most of us will pay for transport

I'm also ignoring the fact that there is no useable electric car currently available

The choice is the Tesla which is a rich mans toy

Or the g-wiz which is a rich mans wheely bin

So ignore the fact that it doesn't exist would you have one

[flakeypaul]

Okay I got my figures a bit pete tong for the Ampera - it's still pretty impressive tho (if it does what they say it does!)

http://www.vauxhallampera.co.uk/vauxhall/#/technol...

[Jasandjules]

Given the price of leccie - and the small question of how to you leave the car charging overnight for those who park on their driveways or public roads (with their garage full of kids' bikes and washing machines as you say) without someone either stealing your leccie or your car....

I think it's a 530D every time (though I don't think a 530d is all that boring meself).

[109 Bob]

You left out the neither option.

One of the problems with electric cars is that although they may be sufficient for the hideous commute you describe, they are no good for going to see the family at Christmas, or a trip to the coast with the kids in summer. I don't think that owning just an electric car is a viable option for most people & many people don't want or can't have two or more vehicles.

I'm lucky in some respects because I don't have a boring commute, or live in a 9-5 world, & I don't need or want an electric car.

[eldar]

thinfourth2 said:

So ignore the fact that it doesn't exist would you have one

I'd have the one that has 2,000 mile range, does 0-60 in 2,1 seconds and runs on 4 AA cells and costs £2. If we're talking about non existent

More likely, an electric car with 20 mile battery range and a 15KW petrol or diesel generator built in.

[thinfourth2]

109 Bob the treehugger said:

You left out the neither option.

So you would walk everywhere or take the bus

109 Bod said:

One of the problems with electric cars is that although they may be sufficient for the hideous commute you describe, they are no good for going to see the family at Christmas, or a trip to the coast with the kids in summer. I don't think that owning just an electric car is a viable option for most people & many people don't want or can't have two or more vehicles.

Owning just an electric car isn't viable for most people but neither is owning just a caterham 7

And very few people own just a caterham 7

[Scuffers]

flakeypaul said:

Okay I got my figures a bit pete tong for the Ampera - it's still pretty impressive tho (if it does what they say it does!)

http://www.vauxhallampera.co.uk/vauxhall/#/technol...

WOW! 16Kw/h of awesome power!

problem here is your looking at petrol with a energy potential of some 9.9Kw/h per litre, so your average 60L tank of fuel has some ~600Kw/h of energy, and even if the engine is only 25% efficient (and these days engines are a lot better than this), that's still 150Kw/h usable power

combine that with 1-2 mins to re-fill, vs. many hours to charge....

[flakeypaul]

Scuffers said:

flakeypaul said:

Okay I got my figures a bit pete tong for the Ampera - it's still pretty impressive tho (if it does what they say it does!)

http://www.vauxhallampera.co.uk/vauxhall/#/technol...

WOW! 16Kw/h of awesome power!

problem here is your looking at petrol with a energy potential of some 9.9Kw/h per litre, so your average 60L tank of fuel has some ~600Kw/h of energy, and even if the engine is only 25% efficient (and these days engines are a lot better than this), that's still 150Kw/h usable power

combine that with 1-2 mins to re-fill, vs. many hours to charge....

The Vauxhall only takes 1-2 minutes to re-fill at any normal unmodified petrol station. When time allows you can charge it up at home overnight. A good step formward for electric vehicles if you ask me. It allows the use of the current setup of fuel stations and the current setup of electrical supply! No need for charging points or hydrogen points anywhere at all.

[RB26DETT]

If you can afford the M and an electric car, then surely you can afford something else ??

I'll take an E30 M3 and a Puma 1.7 for commuting.

Edited by RB26DETT on Sunday 20th June 08:55

[RB26DETT]

If you can afford the M and an electric car, then surely you can afford something else ??

I'll take an E30 M3 and a Puma 1.7 for commuting.

Edited by RB26DETT on Sunday 20th June 08:55

[RB26DETT]

If you can afford the M and an electric car, then surely you can afford something else ??

I'll take an E30 M3 and a Puma 1.7 for commuting.

Edited by RB26DETT on Sunday 20th June 08:55