Electric Vehicles EVs

Thanks for making my point for me.

I’m not trying to be an eco warrior and I doubt a lot of people who own evs on this thread are either. I just bought an EV because it was the right choice for my family when we required a car. Why does that make you so angry?

It seems you and a few others are saying that I should either walk / cycle everywhere or just get a 90s v8 Jag because it already exists.

Then, you want to talk about road accidents (Tesla being the safest car per mile on the planet right now) and close passes (FSD development being a positive step here too) like all people and vehicles are equal. Or congestion and parking like I have control over the last 100 years of planning policy.

It’s odd because I don’t see anyone from this thread over in the cars thread questioning Dammits new diesel VW bus (replacing a V8 Mercedes he owned for a year, which replaced a v8 Mercedes) or someone lusting after a Land Rover defender etc etc.

It all just seems like really wasted energy to me… No pun intended

I’m not sure I understand. As I replied up thread, your purchase of an old car makes perfect sense.

People “need” new things all the time.

Isn't the unfortunate reality that far, far too often they don't? Anyone who as been to a decent recycling centre will have seen the epic piles of perfectly good stuff being scrapped.

One of our friends only buy 2nd hand for everything. Another friend is very into buying green and ethically sourced things. I have no doubt the former has a lower carbon footprint.

Ultimately I don't think it's helpful to get to into the personal as your post shows. I mean I've chosen to have my own children so have no environmental leg to stand on. What we need is a fundamental change in how our economy works and how we add meaning to our lives.

One final thing I would counter on any numbers about EV carbon footprints, is that anecdotally I can only think of one person on here who's talked about running their EV into the ground.

swerving the various charges associated with travelling into central London is what pushed me over the edge. and yes, the finger waggers want to get busy with any number of other threads on this forum where people could just as easily be accused of indulging in the sort of conspicuous consumerism they seem to have appointed themselves authorities on.

come on boys, giddyup.

Anyway...

I actually came to ask for some pointers of which brands/models to start with. My dad is thinking about a new car and has always wanted some form of electric. For my folks use I think it has to be duel fuel. Unfortunately all of the immediate street charge points are no longer available since their parking has been reconfigured, but I guess they could still find charging places.

Golf size and other than any modern car would do, as it's largely motivated by wanting an auto and cc.

Cheers.

asking then how many miles are they planning on doing a day is probably the best place to start. fewer miles, fewer charging worries i reckon.

given some of the respectable ranges offered by some models, i'd query if dual fuel is even a necessity.

conspicuous consumerism

Let's be honest this has always been the lifeblood of this forum.

you're not wrong mate, which is why it's toplels that the usual suspects have chosen this thread to dump on. hey ho, each to their own.

Cheers.

TBH this is what is a bit ridiculous about the desire for a new car:

• bi-monthly sub 1 mile journey for a food shop
  
• monthly sub 1 mile journey to the recycling centre
  
• weekly 30 mile round trip to us
  
• 000's of miles to France a once a year and then mainly 20km round trips.
  
  

I know soul did a similar distance to what they'd do. But they wouldn't be comfortable relying on charging, and my mum would veto a Teala budget.

Find out where the nearest rapid (50kw and up) charging point is. They could tank up there once in a blue moon between trips to France (Soul / mashton are pro's here) or possibly even consider hiring a real car for super long journeys.

Everything outside of the trips to the continent could most probably be done with a smaller battery which = cheapz but more trips to the charge point.

Consider a lease.

VW e-Up looks good. Bonus points if your folks live in the dales.

It's funny reading my summary back, as it shows why people's reticence to full EV is so often irrational.

When we went to visit them in France every service station I stopped at had chargers.

I get why my dad is so excersised about loosing loads of parking and access to theoretical chargers he hasn't yet used. But is parking somewhere else to charge up over night once a week that much of a hassle? Given that when I was a kid you'd often have drive around for ages looking for a parking space.

Also I did point out that it's probably cheaper and easier to keep the mini and just rent a nice big comfy car for the long trips to France than getting a whole new car. But is just that psychological thing about "wasting" money on a rental.

But is parking somewhere else to charge up over night once a week that much of a hassle?

It's really not.

parking / charging overnight also often comes with the added bonus of getting the hours you charge between 8pm -> 7am the next morning for free. At least that's the case with Source.

If you're doing a rapid charge (available at most service stations) you can probably get tanked up in the time it takes to grab a stabrucks and do a soduku while having a poo.

Sodupoo.

Pooduku?

available at most service stations

This is BS, I'm afraid, unless you mean Motorway services, not petrol stations?

there were loads when i drove up to the arse end of Bristol on the M4 a few weeks ago.

ymmv etc.

/edit - yes i meant motorway service stations

Gotcha

How long is a length of string and how much charge would they get from a granny cable at our house when they come over?

I'd guess typically their car sits on our drive for a good 5 hours.

Granny chargers top out at around 2-3Kw so 7-15 miles an hour of charge, depending on the efficiency of the vehicle.

Cheers.

We still see traffic, the lived environment taken up with parking, close passes, engineered obsolescence, conspicuous consumption, road traffic accidents, increased road building, non walkable communities, negatively impacted public transport

Exactly. The negative impacts of private car ownership and use go way beyond NO2 and the 30% of particulate emissions that come from the exhaust. (The rest is from brake and tyre wear). EVs are a continuation of the status quo dressed up as a solution.

EVs are the next step in car evolution. They all contain more autonomous systems than last gen cars.

Autonomous cars are a viable future state that ends car ownership and promotes cars as a per journey device, not a per owner device.

Autonomous cars end the need for residential roads to be parking lots and reduces the total required car numbers, by eliminating the need for redundant parked vehicles.

Or you know you could just say that cars are bad and we should just stop having them.

I feel like my, admittedly optimisitc, future state vision has about a million percent more chance of succeeding than your idea of, as far as I can make out, stopping cars being used at all, in any form.

Oh and yeah, whilst you are ranting, my EV is not poisoning local children.

Autonomous cars are a viable future state that ends car ownership and promotes cars as a per journey device, not a per owner device.

People like owning their own car which doesn't have other people's germs in and has their special stuff in the boot (I always have a towel and swimming trunks just in case I find somewhere interesting to swim).

Autonomous cars will be a disaster when they circle the block while the owner is at the dentist rather than pay for a parking spot.

i need to take a trip into the big city in a bit. roads empty because no fucker's got any petrol or rammed because the fuel queues are still snaking back to the M25?