Electric Cars

There is no worldwide shortage of lithium that I am aware of. It can be readily recycled from old batteries.

The main environmental impact from cars occurs where they are manufactured. Paint spraying, for example, uses insane quantities of potable water.

The cost of charging electric vehicles is so low in comparison to road fuels that it's basically zip all. I certainly would not go putting solar panels on my roof just to charge a car.

Hydrogen is a monumental pain in the chuff however you want to generate, store or use it.

The average annual mileage covered in a UK car is a mere 7435 so surely the focus should be to use EV technology for those vehicles with the higher usage. We bought a new van at the beginning of this month and it will have completed 7500 miles by next Wednesday morning- Had that been battery powered the annual emissions savings would be significant.
 

upnortheast

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Northumberland
We bought a new van at the beginning of this month and it will have completed 7500 miles by next Wednesday morning- Had that been battery powered the annual emissions savings would be significant.
Maybe less emisions because it was doing less miles while sitting on the charger rather than making you money on the road :D
 

JP1

Member
Livestock Farmer
I can't get my head around the mitsubushi outlander PHEV.
A friend had one and said it was stupid... (other hybrids may be also like this) (he sold it after about 4/5 months)

Bare with me a minute...

In winter (or any other cold day for that matter), the cabin is cold and the windscreen fogs up.
So he turns on the heaters to get warm and unfog windscreen.
In order to get heat, the engine starts up.
Well if the engine needs to run to get heat, you might as well use it to drive, yes?
So whats the point of the electric bit?
So lets say you contine to drive on electric with the engine running, the cabin takes a long time to get warm, because the engine is only ticking over and not working.

I like EVs, I run a new shape nissan leaf and think it's great. but the hybrid thing... I don't get it.
Company car tax dodge is why most were sold I bet

Totally stupid real World concept
 

JP1

Member
Livestock Farmer
Hydrogen is the real con, requiring so much energy to produce, compress, transport, then convert back into electricity before it can be used. The only good use is to suck up excess wind generation, but with cars charging on a smart grid this should be obivated.
View attachment 917648
I wish someone practical and bright like you was in charge of the Government green energy / road policy
 

Dman2

Member
Location
Durham, UK
We have gone down the PHEV route
Bought a Kia Optima
Does 32 miles on a charge, which for 90% of the time is no problem.
2lt Petrol engine in there as well.
Annoying thing is, now its cold engine runs for the 1st 10 minutes anyway to produce heat for the cabin.
Although it is also charging the battery as well.
Really nice to drive
And bloody fast if you floor it
We just use the 13 amp charger, have it on a timer so that it charges when solar panels are at their peak
1605867234096.png
 

sjt01

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
North Norfolk
We have gone down the PHEV route
Bought a Kia Optima
Does 32 miles on a charge, which for 90% of the time is no problem.
2lt Petrol engine in there as well.
Annoying thing is, now its cold engine runs for the 1st 10 minutes anyway to produce heat for the cabin.
Although it is also charging the battery as well.
Really nice to drive
And bloody fast if you floor it
We just use the 13 amp charger, have it on a timer so that it charges when solar panels are at their peak
View attachment 922079
Can you not warm it up electrically when plugged in to the mains? One of the joys of electric cars is the pre-warming on a timer, so at say 7am every morning the car is nice and warm inside, alll the windows clear and demisted. Some allow you to do it straight from the car app, if you are not on a regular schedule.
 

Dman2

Member
Location
Durham, UK
Can you not warm it up electrically when plugged in to the mains? One of the joys of electric cars is the pre-warming on a timer, so at say 7am every morning the car is nice and warm inside, alll the windows clear and demisted. Some allow you to do it straight from the car app, if you are not on a regular schedule.
Maybe didn`t get to that chapter yet
Manual would give War and peace a run
 

john432

Member
Location
Carmarthenshire
Can you not warm it up electrically when plugged in to the mains? One of the joys of electric cars is the pre-warming on a timer, so at say 7am every morning the car is nice and warm inside, alll the windows clear and demisted. Some allow you to do it straight from the car app, if you are not on a regular schedule.
We've gone full circle, there were kits available years ago where you plugged your car etc into the electric and a heater would warm up the coolant, and even heat the cabin ,on a timer , ready for your morning drive, used to say there was a big fuel saving for running with a prewarmed engine.
 

JP1

Member
Livestock Farmer
We've gone full circle, there were kits available years ago where you plugged your car etc into the electric and a heater would warm up the coolant, and even heat the cabin ,on a timer , ready for your morning drive, used to say there was a big fuel saving for running with a prewarmed engine.
A friend and neighbour once asked me if my engine block ever got cold .....
 

rollestonpark

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Burton on trent
I have an Octavia with the similar 2.0 TDI which runs between 68 and 71 mpg on a typical journey 🤷🏻‍♂️
If you use a sat nav on phone in the car, does the speed on that match the cars Speedo?
Probably not.
Normally the Speedo is 5mph higher. Or more
Therefore the mpg you see from the car is very optimistic. As according to the car you've travel further than you really have
 
The average annual mileage covered in a UK car is a mere 7435 so surely the focus should be to use EV technology for those vehicles with the higher usage. We bought a new van at the beginning of this month and it will have completed 7500 miles by next Wednesday morning- Had that been battery powered the annual emissions savings would be significant.

Totally agree.

Of course, the environmental impact of cars would be lessened if the British public stopped buying the things so often and ran cars on to big miles like the Americans do.
 
Company car tax dodge is why most were sold I bet

Totally stupid real World concept
Yep - pure tax buster...I have a BMW 330E - 2L Petrol Turbo and electric motor.
BIK @ 10% compared to the IC engine equivalent of circa 34%.
19 miles to a full charge and averages 34mpg. It’s very quick, handles well despite battery under boot floor. Wasn’t my first choice as I really wanted a Tesla Model 3 but for underlying reasons, the lease costs inc maintenance were more for the Tesla.....I think lease companies are unsure of future RV’s so load an element of risk into the monthly cost.
The maintenance element of the Tesla lease was higher than the BMW which put it out of budget. Maintenance should be minimal on electric cars - no fluids to change (exc brake) , no clutches , no coolant and water pumps to worry about etc.
 
If you use a sat nav on phone in the car, does the speed on that match the cars Speedo?
Probably not.
Normally the Speedo is 5mph higher. Or more
Therefore the mpg you see from the car is very optimistic. As according to the car you've travel further than you really have

Fair comment.

Interestingly we have just taken delivery of 2 new vans in the past 6 weeks and on both of them the GPS mph is less than 2 mph different from the dashboard - I am wondering if they are using GPS for the dashboard display rather than a mechanical link ?
 

rollestonpark

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Burton on trent
Fair comment.

Interestingly we have just taken delivery of 2 new vans in the past 6 weeks and on both of them the GPS mph is less than 2 mph ahead of the dashboard - I am wondering if they are using GPS for the dashboard display rather than a mechanical link ?
I'd normally say unlikely, in case gps broke/lost signal in the vehicle, you'd have no speedo.
But I think there is variations due to what tyre diameters some vehicle might have across different markets. 4x4s are well known for this due to the possible wheel/tyre combinations.

I think as 2wheels says, if your doing tank to tank measuring at the pump and then knocking some off due to excess on the odo, then you can't be far out.
 

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