Electric Vehicles EVs

I don't know - a lot of this "people don't know what they need" stuff kind of ignores the loss of utility if you can't make it work.

If you only use your car a few times a year for long journeys but you have kids in the car when you do, then needing to get timings right of charging and not faff around waiting for a charger / having a break while it charges does matter. Is it manageable? Probably, with planning, but given one of the main things people have a car for is to maximise their independence of travel (vs. public transport) it's not weird that people place value on that. Selling a more expensive car as "the downsides aren't that bad really" is not a good sell for many people (and I say that as someone who would be happy with an EV)

Selling a more expensive car as "the downsides aren't that bad really"

Mmm. As stories go it’s a pretty crap one.

Unless you can do the whole driveway / solar / sell to grid shuffle

The reason EVs are so expensive and why so many car companies are interested in software/subscriptions now is because the servicing revenue for EVs is non-existent.

Unfortunately UK public charging isn't cheaper than petrol anymore.

I'd go with an efficient ICE and save for some sort of home solar/charging setup for a future EV.

Or, if you're really keen I'd look at the Skoda Enyaq IV 60/80, VW ID 4, or Hyundai Ioniq 5 at ~30k miles (ideally for~£22k) and sell at 60/70k miles for the most favourable devaluation (currently ~£20k, but probably ~£15k in 2-3 years time).

My company uses Tusker for a similar scheme.

https://tuskercars.com/

Sorry I more meant the lust for massive SUVs and long protruding German cars.

I absolutely understand why people don't want to have to slavishly plan their journey around a shit changing infrastructure. There's a reason why it's basically only Teslas EVs with UK plates you see travelling down France.

Sampling bias much?

In what sense?

Public charging will have to come down because not everyone has a roof for panels, space for a battery, a front drive or have a convenient pavement a few M away that’s low on foot traffic.

At the moment cheap charging is for golf club members in large detached homes. (Slight exaggeration)

At the moment cheap charging is for golf club members in large detached homes. (Slight exaggeration)

Yeah, it's another case of the less well off having to pay more for the same thing.

Not sure if this is enormously helpful but my Dad (as an accountant) used to advise on the finances/financial benefits to a company and its employees in implementing this sort of thing. He can't help you as he is no longer here but I am certain that there will be people who can get this information together for you. You could try a large car dealership chain as a first port of call e.g. Ridgeway or Marshall groups

I’m taking out a Vauxhall Mokka EV pool car tomorrow. Couldn’t refuse the opportunity to try out one of the worst vehicles imaginable. I’ll make sure I post how dreadful it is!

Looking at the specs on Vauxhall: up to 252 miles Pure Electric Range*, 54kWh battery, 156PS motor.

I’m guessing Pure Electric Range* is Vauxhall’s EV equivalent of PMPO in the hifi world. Vauxhall saying 252 mile range when the car says it’s going to be able to do 122 miles. Slight difference.

Stelantis EV platform is so shit. Don't envy you having to drive that.

122 miles seems likely if you do anything approaching national speed limit.

But if you're out at work with your car you can't charge it off your panels. I went through all this stuff last year, was planning to use the car as a backup battery for the house overnight, etc, I imagined we'd be pretty much energy self-sufficient.

But if I'm out working Mon-Fri from 7.30am to 3.30pm that means I'm losing out on the best charging time. It gets dark here at 7pm in summer and 5pm in the winter, it just wouldn't work, the car might fully charge over the weekend but I'd have to top up while I was out and about during the week.

I bought a diesel truck in August. The road to hell, etc.

But if I'm out working Mon-Fri from 7.30am to 3.30pm

That's so pre-Covid. Now we all sit at home all day pretending to work while the car sits on the drive.

But if you're out at work with your car you can't charge it off your panels.

It seems the way to do it is during the daytime you sell back to the grid and then charge overnight from the grid where the price per kwh is lower than the price you get for selling back during the day.

I flipped that on its head, left the desk job during covid and went back out into the big bad world. I drive a lot in my job so I don't think an EV would be a good fit for my use case, I'd kill it.

But then again, I'd be moving it on after three years. How much would a Tesla with 100,000kms on it depreciate by? I should retain at least 80% of the value of my truck when I come to sell it, I doubt that would be the case with an EV.

Where I am the amount you get paid per kilowatt is miniscule compared to what you have to pay when you buy it back, even at cheap rate. I looked at batteries but the cheapest I could find (that wasn't going to burn my house down) was AU$1k per kW. Last time I looked they'd gone up.

PMPO in the hifi world

Rep.

Need a cybertruck, obvs.

So I’m using a plug in hybrid A class for a holiday in France this summer which uses a fairly standard type 2 connector (3/7kw). Our Air BnB has an EV charger that the owner has described as:

A 220V outlet is available in the garden, next to the street where you park your car. A former tenant charged his Tesla this way.

Will this work with my A class? What plug/thing do Tesla’s use?

It will come with a plug in charger that will plug into that socket

My assumption is that it’s a standard two pronged euro plug which you can draw 13amps from. Ie it’ll trickle charge the car at 3kWh.

In order to do that, you’ll need a 2 pronged eu to CCS charger. Most cars will come with a UK plugged one so you might just need to buy an adapter.

was nice to see Ralph Fiennes jumping into a little EV at Saxmundham station the other day

Seems expensive and I know people will scream active travel rather than tiny cars but good to see another small car entering the market although looks spendy for a niche product
https://www.theguardian.com/business/article/2024/jun/01/yes-lego-car-why-small-electric-cars-could-be-about-to-break-the-grip-of-suvs?