'Everyone I know who bought an electric car has gone back…’
Discussion
Plenty of us on here like to disagree about a certain EV brand, but ultimately most I suspect agree on easy EVs are to live with.
Just read this piece in the Times, its got a bit of EV bashing from all angles, even taking about the grid melting.......Its pretty hard to see how mass EV adoption can occur when national newspapers are printing this type of tosh.
Just read this piece in the Times, its got a bit of EV bashing from all angles, even taking about the grid melting.......Its pretty hard to see how mass EV adoption can occur when national newspapers are printing this type of tosh.
jsf said:
With ever depleting battery condition. Buy a used ICE and you will not lose on it's original range, you cant say that for an EV.
Could we see second hand cars being scrapped 10 years earlier than the current fleet because of the costs of keeping them serviceable?
Tesla are already selling a 'new' 90kWh battery (80kWh usable) packs for cars made since 2013. The cost is quite high at $20k fitted, but gives the cars a new range not far what you get from a Taycan. Could we see second hand cars being scrapped 10 years earlier than the current fleet because of the costs of keeping them serviceable?
There is no reason to scrap these cars, the batteries are designed to be replaced.
Smiljan said:
Anyone who thinks EV's will become some sort of long lasting, maintenance free utopia are in for a shock - no pun intended.
I fully intend to keep our EV longterm, at somepoint I plan on replacing the battery, but aside from that am not sure what else there is to do?Air supension/CV joints at some point? But nothing like the constant hunt for oil/coolant leaks, misfires, turbo worries on my last combustion car.
jsf said:
Totally unafordable for those who buy old cars.
So is a brand new EV. Batteries don't fail completely and don't need to be replaced, but for me I would do it anyways, as $20k on a new battery every 8-10 years is much cheaper than a new car every few years.You are right though the biggest barrier to EV mass adoption is cost, and potential for increased social inequality interms of personal transportation.
So if you cannot/access a home charging you already start at an disadvantage, than you cannot afford a new EV with good range or have to buy an old with degraded range, its a double whammy.
Ofcourse you can use legislation to 'solve' these issues, tax more affluent users who can afford new EVs more and reduce tax on battery replacements, and tax for home charging to subsidise public charging. But am not sure how many people here would vote for any party that suggests these kind of policies - I wouldn't.
jsf said:
The cars are also having the battery packs made more structural by design, so swapping them will be a major job.
It really isn't a big job, about 90 seconds if you have all the gear 
.https://youtu.be/H5V0vL3nnHY
TTmonkey said:
When your sat in an M5 slow moving traffic jam, with the aircon on, does the battery get a hammering?
Couple of years ago ended up spending 4hrs sat in the car in 30 degree, barely any difference in range. Used about 3% battery an hour to keep the aircon running in crawling traffic.
Newer EVs with a bigger battery and not a massive cabin to cool will be down to 1-2% I suspect.
Zoobeef said:
Really going to blow your mind now.
Getting 6 people from a mundane suburban housing estate to a corner of Devon with no phone reception via a beach. All during a busy half term holiday period, powered by the same stuff as found in your phone/latop, with zero additional inconvenience compared to burnings dead dinosaurs as fuel.....
The passenger + driver allowed loo breaks and stopping for lunch at the beach though. Not eveyone wanting to drive 8hrs non stop, mind.....blown, UK bank holiday weather been perfect......Double minds blown
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SWoll said:
Big fan of EVs as a daily but with the rising lease prices for anything interesting and us only covering 5-600 miles a month I'm struggling to justify another.
Cost is the biggest barrier to EV adoption, even though we would love x2 Tesla's on the driveway I simply cannot make the figures work to have spend £40k+ on a Model 3 to replace my wifes ultra reliable soon to be 7 year old Lexus IS that did not even 3000 miles last year. When the time comes it will be replaced by an EV, but am not sure anyone has had to replace Lexus for actual reasons related to the car! However to the vast majority of people, even without cost consider EVs are still novelty items, and the Times printing rubbish doesn't help.
We are currently 500 miles into a 800 mile family holiday in Devon. 6 of us in the car, my in-laws lease an Mini electric, but even they still have doubts about replacing their main car with an EV.
Personally am amazed at how easy family holidays are with an EV. Especially when you consider our one is 4 years old, and has a small battery/range compared to what is been sold now, yet it does what you expect/need from a family car.......
......there are some lovely roads around Dartmoor, even had a chance to enjoy them at a decent speed when everyone else fell asleep on the drive back to the B&B.
Great scenery, great car, family content, who needs to get on a plane for a holiday
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Edited by gangzoom on Thursday 3rd June 06:01
WestyCarl said:
Was just after how you manage or how easy is it when in Wales / Cornwall / Norfolk / Scotland on holiday?
We've just got home from a week away in Devon/Cornwall, covered nearly 830miles in total. Am still amazed how easy doing these kind of trips are in a what is now a 4 year old car with 40K miles of degradation on the battery. 
The key to family holidays in the an EV isn't using dedicated charge points, but the humble 3 pin plug. It's not sexy, or quick, but plug it in overnight and by the next morning it'll have more than enough charge for a day of touring.
You do need to ensure you book accommodation that will give you access to a 3 pin plug, but in 5 years taking the family on holiday in EVs its never been an issue. Now that my daughter is getting older we can actually really to start utilising extra range the Tesla offers over the Leaf, and it really is no more inconvenient versus my old combustion car.
survivalist said:
From what I can see, Tesla is currently the leader in terms of both range and public charging, so other options are much less convenient.
Our Model X has LESS range than a brand new Zoe and SR+Model 3. Though we passed numerous Tesla Superchargers enroute we only used one rapid charger for the entire trip.However I do get what you are saying, even though any EV would have done the same holiday fine, just knowing if all else failed you could simply charge at any of the increasing number of Superchargers gives you the confidence not to worry.
On the way home I was actually surprised to see just how many Supercharger locations we passed and how many stalls were free despite it been the end of half-term.
But destination charging is the real key, for hotels/B&Bs its actually very easy. Sort out destination charging or expect a massive drop in customer numbers in the future. You don't even need loads of 7KW posts, just external 3 pin plugs will do, though just an extension cord works fine too.
Edited by gangzoom on Sunday 6th June 06:57
Diderot said:
For me at least, never thought I'd have to go down this route this early.
The crazy thing is the Leaf came out in 2011 and the Model S in 2013. We are now a decade on from EVs that simply work fine for most families, yet people still perceive them to be novelty items, and something years away!!Am not sure why EVs adoption has been so slow, especially with the number of options available now, but its pretty clear the vast majority of car buyers still don't really consider EVs as 'real' options, purely based on what they think they know about EVs rather than real life experiences.
Articles like the one printed in the Times simply help to reinforce unfounded beliefs about EVs. The biggest challenge it appears for mass EV adoption isn't the technology its getting people to give up their previously held beliefs about EVs.
Even after a fantastic family holiday where the car functioned like any other car, my in-laws were still not convinced EVs on sale today had enough range for their usage..........Every morning I had to answer the same questions about why slow charging overnight is fine, why you don't the battery to be at 100%SOC everyday etc. Bare in mind they have an EV in the household already buts very much used as a second car.
Edited by gangzoom on Sunday 6th June 07:16
Max_Torque said:
IMO, it's very simple: COST
Whilst a Model X is a very nice car, not many people are going to drop that sort of cash on a car.
Today, that situation (EVs > ICS cost) is changing rapidly.
I would agree, and I would hope that given how many 'affordable' EVs that are appearing things will change, but it really does seem to be taking forever when you consider how quickly other tech developments trickle down.Whilst a Model X is a very nice car, not many people are going to drop that sort of cash on a car.
Today, that situation (EVs > ICS cost) is changing rapidly.
It would be interesting to see what our EVs today look like compared to cars in 2050, am still not sure if these car will last a well as the classics of today. The increase in size of all our cars compared to the past really is quite dramatic! (my daughter wasn't impressed)
Jaguar99 said:
Right now I have 400 miles in my car ready to go. It doesn’t particularly matter where or when this 400 miles runs out because I can get another 400 miles pretty much whenever I need it and it takes less than five minutes
The real revelation is actually realising none of us are that important we need to be able to drive 400 miles non stop, with no planning, on demand. I picked up my commuter vehicle from a service just now, its got a range of about 40 miles when am in commuter mode, but I barely use 50% of that in a normal work day. The Tesla is charged to 50% most days of the week.
If you really have a job/life that demands you need to travel 800 miles with a 5 minute break than no on demand than an EV isn't for you (and you have a much more important job than most of us on here). But for most families a 200 mile range car is more than enough.
JeffreyD said:
How about a hundred mile round trip when you have 50 miles of charge left and when you get on the motorway you find that the services are closed and you can't find anywhere to charge.
That's the sort of ballache that needs sorting out.
But why/would I need to do a 100 mile round trip with zero notice?That's the sort of ballache that needs sorting out.
I'm been quite serious, may be my life just isn't exciting or my job not demanding enough, but I cannot remember the last time I needed to do even a 100 mile round trip with no notice?
If I knew I had a long trip planned for the day I would simply charge the car to 90% every night instead of 50%.
DodgyGeezer said:
I did one yesterday - spur of the moment thing. "Let's go to Portsmouth"
JeffreyD said:
Any number of reasons. Work or pleasure or family emergency. Or just because you fancied it.
Gosh I wish I had the 'free time' some of guys seem to have to just head for a 2-3hr trip some where random for no reason. Looking at my week ahead between the school run, work commitments, trying to squeeze in some exercise to stop my self turning into a round ball after a week of eating, I can pretty much schedule every waking hour into Outlook!
Most if not all EV owners here drive one by choice not force, and most if not all I suspect value their 'free time' above all else.
In many ways not having to worry about filling up the car mid week is a massive time saver for me with the EV. I certainly wouldn’t waste money on anything that made my life harder, but the only thing that stops us going totally electric on the driveway is simply down to ££££.
If you really are desperate for random trips just keep the car charged at 90% - on a LR Model 3 that's 230 miles+ of range, surely enough for anyone for sudden unplanned trips?? Though am sure some on here will also need to tow a caravan at random times for 400 miles non stop.......all I can say is tell what jobs you are doing that is letting you have so much free time during the working week!
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