1st Experience with Electric Car

Farmer Roy

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
NSW, Newstralya
Read the other day that Fonterra are about to run an electric milk tanker this coming season. Don't know much about it, its just a development vehicle and only has a short range, so only good for locals but its supposed to have a swapper battery that they claim can be changed in a few minutes.
Probably not much good but with electric and possibly hydrogen here, change is coming whether we like it or not.

i think Kenworth or one of the big truck companies anyway, was looking at swapping out batteries
 

Clive

Staff Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lichfield
Supposed to get the train to the Highland Show on Friday morning from Durham. Train was running and unaffected from the Strike-return on Sunday was- then a truck crashed on the line past Newcastle so all trains cancelled on Friday morning. Contacted friends who were traveling with us they volunteered to drive 👍 .They had difficulty getting through Durham due to some poor sole threatening to jump off the viaduct.
So he turns up eventually in his newish BMW x1 drive 4 or something very nice car . Range about 190 miles and that’s driving hard . Got to Edinburgh hotel on the Royal Mile with car park and as luck would have it charging point in the car park. He’s got an app which tells him how many miles/battery % it’s got . Hotel didn’t charge for parking and charging the car . Returned today. Dropped us off and he still 35 miles left to get him back home . Possibly one of the best all round cars I’ve been in . Very smooth comfortable (very)quick full of tec . Talking about it with him has changed my view on electric cars . I rarely do long journeys so be fine that way .

most people who are critical of EV's don't have one - fact !

No way I would go back to ICE for our higher miles / family car , they are painfully slow, inconvenient and expensive vs electric
 

Dave645

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
N Lincs
The purchase price of EVs is crazy then worth bugger all to change when battery is knackered, also not every vehicle is compatible with every charging point which is crazy, no thanks I'll stick with my diesel Nissan qashqi regularly getting 55+ mpg
Most EV batteries are either warranted for 8 years, battery management and battery design has improved very fast, but I agree like most things early adoption has its problems and the lack of standardised charging is a worry in the uk and EU it is mostly standardised now but the problem is imported cars and older EV’s may not be on the new standards.
That and the different charging networks and different apps etc, different speeds at chargers make things less than simple for new users, it one of the reasons Tesla are popular they have the better charge network where they make charging as simple as possible.
 
Most EV batteries are either warranted for 8 years, battery management and battery design has improved very fast, but I agree like most things early adoption has its problems and the lack of standardised charging is a worry in the uk and EU it is mostly standardised now but the problem is imported cars and older EV’s may not be on the new standards.
That and the different charging networks and different apps etc, different speeds at chargers make things less than simple for new users, it one of the reasons Tesla are popular they have the better charge network where they make charging as simple as possible.

Teslas are popular because of marketing spiel and the belief that their cars are superior. In reality they aren't the only electric car in town now. As the OP states, BMW and the rest are now firmly in the game and will produce a better product. The interior of Tesla's and their overall build quality was not that great given their sticker price. Other manufacturers will firmly be in the battery game now and build a better product.
 

Clive

Staff Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lichfield
To answers a few point in this thread

Charging at home cost no time as its usually overnight, a full tank every morning, more conmvienet that petrol stations

Charging while away from home, I can get 80% (over 200 miles) in 20mins on the right charger, which is less time than it takes to drink a Starbucks and have a pee ! rarely need to do that though, rare a stop away from home is more than 15mins even on slower chargers as it is just a top up to get to destination usually

fuel cost - low tariff overnight and will soon have solar and battery storage making it free, even on rip of fast chargers at services its still much cheaper than diesel


Only one downside to EV's .......... higher capital cost, this is somewhat offset by lower depreciation seen so far however , no road tax / low BIK etc

If you have the capital (or ability to borrow / lease it). EV is a no brainer for most people doing any mileage IMO
 
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Dave645

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
N Lincs
Teslas are popular because of marketing spiel and the belief that their cars are superior. In reality they aren't the only electric car in town now. As the OP states, BMW and the rest are now firmly in the game and will produce a better product. The interior of Tesla's and their overall build quality was not that great given their sticker price. Other manufacturers will firmly be in the battery game now and build a better product.
I agree cars are personal taste as much as anything else, the problem for car makers is making them at a profit.

I actually believe that the main car makers will fall away, but not to just Tesla but China’s cars.
They are coming thick and fast, they look very good, have far more UK looking interiors to the cars, not the minimalist looks Tesla have. I still see older car makers losing market share just because they have not ramped up production they just will not have the numbers of cars the market demands so will lose out and once people have tried other cars they may not come back to spend more on established brands when they can get similar spec cars for far less.
So the danger for established car makers is not just Tesla, it’s their slow ramp of output of EV’s and China.
 

Clive

Staff Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lichfield
Teslas are popular because of marketing spiel and the belief that their cars are superior. In reality they aren't the only electric car in town now. As the OP states, BMW and the rest are now firmly in the game and will produce a better product. The interior of Tesla's and their overall build quality was not that great given their sticker price. Other manufacturers will firmly be in the battery game now and build a better product.

Tesla big advantage HAS been their charging network which WAS much better than others - thats changing fast now though and Tesla have even started to make some of their chargers available to other brands now

Tesla lead on software but the hardware (cars) are horrible, low spec and not well built IMO vs offerings form more established car builders. They are light (which gives good range ). for no more reason than. lack of spec you would expect on a car of the value
 
I agree cars are personal taste as much as anything else, the problem for car makers is making them at a profit.

I actually believe that the main car makers will fall away, but not to Tesla but China’s cars.
They are coming thick and fast, they look very good, have far more UK looking interiors to the cars, not the minimalist looks Tesla have. I still see older car makers losing market share just because they have not ramped up production they just will not have the numbers of cars the market demands so will lose out and once people have tried other cars they may not come back to spend more on established brands when they can get similar spec cars for far less.
So the danger for established car makers is not just Tesla, it’s their slow ramp of output of EV’s and China.

There are barriers to the Chinese selling their cars in Europe and America. They also look pretty naff.
 

Dave645

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
N Lincs
There are barriers to the Chinese selling their cars in Europe and America. They also look pretty naff.
There are over 60 EV’s available in the uk now how many of them are from the big car makers?
And most of the existing car makers cars tend to be on the more expensive side I think VW has the best chance as they have had a better ramp up and targeting more affordable EV’s to make.
 
To answers a few point in this thread

Charging at home cost no time as its usually overnight, a full tank every morning, more conmvienet that petrol stations

Charging while away from home, I can get 80% (over 200 miles) in 20mins on the right charger, which is less time than it takes to drink a Starbucks and have a pee ! rarely need to do that though, rare a stop away from home is more than 15mins even on slower chargers as it is just a top up to get to destination usually

fuel cost - low tariff overnight and will soon have solar and battery storage making it free, even on rip of fast chargers at services its still much cheaper than diesel


Only one downside to EV's .......... higher capital cost, this is somewhat offset by lower depreciation seen so far however , no road tax / low BIK etc

If you have the capital (or ability to borrow / lease it). EV is a no brainer for most people doing any mileage IMO

Clive what sort of miles do you think are needed to justify one?
 

Exfarmer

Member
Location
Bury St Edmunds
To answers a few point in this thread

Charging at home cost no time as its usually overnight, a full tank every morning, more conmvienet that petrol stations

Charging while away from home, I can get 80% (over 200 miles) in 20mins on the right charger, which is less time than it takes to drink a Starbucks and have a pee ! rarely need to do that though, rare a stop away from home is more than 15mins even on slower chargers as it is just a top up to get to destination usually

fuel cost - low tariff overnight and will soon have solar and battery storage making it free, even on rip of fast chargers at services its still much cheaper than diesel


Only one downside to EV's .......... higher capital cost, this is somewhat offset by lower depreciation seen so far however , no road tax / low BIK etc

If you have the capital (or ability to borrow / lease it). EV is a no brainer for most people doing any mileage IMO
I agree on many points but when you get a busy service station with 50 customers looking for a high speed charge, I am afraid you will be very disappointed. There is no way the grid can deliver this sort of power of power to a single point.
I think you will find it throttled back so by the time you have drunk your coffee you will have enough power to get 10 miles down the road.
The only other option is as we have being installed near here is a charging point garage which relies on a series of diesel generators parked up the road
 

kiwi pom

Member
Location
canterbury NZ
To answers a few point in this thread

Charging at home cost no time as its usually overnight, a full tank every morning, more conmvienet that petrol stations

Charging while away from home, I can get 80% (over 200 miles) in 20mins on the right charger, which is less time than it takes to drink a Starbucks and have a pee ! rarely need to do that though, rare a stop away from home is more than 15mins even on slower chargers as it is just a top up to get to destination usually

fuel cost - low tariff overnight and will soon have solar and battery storage making it free, even on rip of fast chargers at services its still much cheaper than diesel


Only one downside to EV's .......... higher capital cost, this is somewhat offset by lower depreciation seen so far however , no road tax / low BIK etc

If you have the capital (or ability to borrow / lease it). EV is a no brainer for most people doing any mileage IMO
I try and see the positives in new tech and electric is pretty much going to take over, its not all roses though.
Negatives, cost and ability to charge. Lots of folk parking on the street. While they're still a minority your 15 minute charge on the road usually works, when everyone's doing it and the chargers are getting old and unreliable your 15 minutes could turn into 3 hours.
Reliability and second hand value will set the market, at the moment the well off can lease something nice then give it back in 3 years and there are a few people looking for second hand. The question is will that continue and will parts, service and batteries be reasonable priced to still attract the second hand buyer, if no one wants them when you're done, your lease is going up on the next one.
Electric price/availability and whatever tax the government eventually charge - probably a mileage tax - will make or break it.
 

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