Electric Cars

farmerm

Member
Location
Shropshire
Lots of talk, you see it a lot.

Given the average speed of a vehicle on the M25 at peak times (approx 0 miles per hour) I would suggest that no one is going to be draining their batteries on that road much.

Need to upgrade the train network and avoid so many people commuting to London really.
The London commute is pretty much done for the next 6 months or so. After employers and employees spend a year learning to live without the London commute and accountants start reconsidering the cost of office rental... things will never be the same again!
 

gmgmgm

Member
Mixed Farmer
117hp & 137ft-lb. Ouch.
Yes, a sniffy petrol engine in a wannabe 4x4 carrying a munter drivetrain and battery and motors and on fairly big tyres, was never going to end well putting something more akin to a Fiesta engine in that thing.

The Outlander PHEV has a small petrol engine yes, but remember it also has the (fairly powerful) electric motors on all four wheels. If I'm accelerating hard, the 2x electric AND 1x petrol motors will be used. Every braking motion generates a little more electricity, so it's rare you're completely out of power.
Carbuyer says: "The 2.4-litre petrol engine produces 133bhp, while the front electric motor can make 81bhp and the rear motor a little more at 94bhp " So that's up to 308 bhp in combination, though it's fairly heavy.

It's not designed to be a quick car, but for many users it's actually very practical to have the combination of electric, with petrol backup.
 

Highland Mule

Member
Livestock Farmer
The Outlander PHEV has a small petrol engine yes, but remember it also has the (fairly powerful) electric motors on all four wheels. If I'm accelerating hard, the 2x electric AND 1x petrol motors will be used. Every braking motion generates a little more electricity, so it's rare you're completely out of power.
Carbuyer says: "The 2.4-litre petrol engine produces 133bhp, while the front electric motor can make 81bhp and the rear motor a little more at 94bhp " So that's up to 308 bhp in combination, though it's fairly heavy.

It's not designed to be a quick car, but for many users it's actually very practical to have the combination of electric, with petrol backup.

I’m thinking more of a sharp acceleration to overtake on the A roads, after maybe an hour of not using the brake pedal, but another half dozen or more similar overtakes already. Frankly though, if it has a genuine 300+hp and can still not crack a ten second 0-60, that’s pretty poor.
 

Robt

Member
Location
Suffolk
The Outlander PHEV has a small petrol engine yes, but remember it also has the (fairly powerful) electric motors on all four wheels. If I'm accelerating hard, the 2x electric AND 1x petrol motors will be used. Every braking motion generates a little more electricity, so it's rare you're completely out of power.
Carbuyer says: "The 2.4-litre petrol engine produces 133bhp, while the front electric motor can make 81bhp and the rear motor a little more at 94bhp " So that's up to 308 bhp in combination, though it's fairly heavy.

It's not designed to be a quick car, but for many users it's actually very practical to have the combination of electric, with petrol backup.
Don’t worry, Ollie hasn’t ever driven one
 

JP1

Member
Livestock Farmer
Long term electric cars will make the majority of cars with engines look utterly daft. You wait and see.
Yes I'm waiting. If it works at all, I'd consider one

Until that point the idiots who drive environental lobbying should do the following:

1. Promote urban public transport that is safe and affordable (this will involve public subsidy)
2. Make walking to school / cycling to school easy , safe and the norm for children of all ages
3. Have a tax drive to get folks out of big SUV's and 4x4's for personal transport
4. Accept that in rural areas the most environmentally friendly option would be to continue with small economical diesel cars
 

Highland Mule

Member
Livestock Farmer
4. Accept that in rural areas the most environmentally friendly option would be to continue with small economical diesel cars

Curious to the logic behind this statement @JP1 - My own house (rural) has off street parking, so dead easy for me to have a charge point, and EV is the no brainer for 99.9% of my journeys, such that only holidays and similar special trips would necessitate a charge away from home. My FIL lives in suburban city, and has to fight for a bit of pavement to leave his car on. EV would suit him too, but he'd be using the forecourt charging points all the time. Truth be known, that's not actually a problem for him as there's a petrol station just along the road, yet my main driver for changing is not actually cost but convenience - I have a half hour trip to fill up the car if I need a special trip. My perception is that rural residents would benefit more from the EV convenience than urban ones would.
 

sjt01

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
North Norfolk
Yes I'm waiting. If it works at all, I'd consider one

Until that point the idiots who drive environental lobbying should do the following:

1. Promote urban public transport that is safe and affordable (this will involve public subsidy)
2. Make walking to school / cycling to school easy , safe and the norm for children of all ages
3. Have a tax drive to get folks out of big SUV's and 4x4's for personal transport
4. Accept that in rural areas the most environmentally friendly option would be to continue with small economical diesel cars
Next time you are up our way, drop in and have a go in one of our electric fleet. You will soon retract point 4.
 

JP1

Member
Livestock Farmer
Next time you are up our way, drop in and have a go in one of our electric fleet. You will soon retract point 4.
I'd like to meet you anyhow as I am always fascinated with what you've done and what you're doing. Challenge accepted

Point 4 is relevant to me though as a rural dweller that uses his car for many longer distance journeys and likes to get home

I still haven't bought a small petrol bike hoping I can believe in the hype and find an electric model with sustainable and long term range. What puts me off is I wouldn't have the luxury of departing with a partially depleted battery to save on recharges and really need 80 miles range minimum. I still don't think it's do-able (yet)
 

Dman2

Member
Location
Durham, UK
Curious to the logic behind this statement @JP1 - My own house (rural) has off street parking, so dead easy for me to have a charge point, and EV is the no brainer for 99.9% of my journeys, such that only holidays and similar special trips would necessitate a charge away from home. My FIL lives in suburban city, and has to fight for a bit of pavement to leave his car on. EV would suit him too, but he'd be using the forecourt charging points all the time. Truth be known, that's not actually a problem for him as there's a petrol station just along the road, yet my main driver for changing is not actually cost but convenience - I have a half hour trip to fill up the car if I need a special trip. My perception is that rural residents would benefit more from the EV convenience than urban ones would.
Same here
Have to drive 20 mins to get to nearest filling station
Really easy to just pull up outside of house and plug in
 
If a car has around 120 miles of range for me it would be plenty for the foreseeable future. For me, the cost savings and general reliability would be big winners. No more cambelts, no more aux belts, your tyres and brakes live longer. No spark plugs, no oil or filters, the savings will be insane.

Yes, we will probably need a liquid fuel of sorts for heavy vehicles for the time being but inner cities will be quieter and cleaner if the bulk of passenger cars are electric. Run buses on natural gas and trains on overhead lines and you are basically there.
 

An Gof

Member
Location
Cornwall
You're not a typical motorist though, if you're regularly doing 300miles in a single journey. I manage around 40k a year and rarely go over 200 a day. The average annual mileage for a car in England is under 8k/yr.

Range is a key factor for me. Living in Cornwall means that 500 mile round trips in a day are commonplace for me (well they were before lockdown). I dislike wasting time having to stop and fill up when doing such a trip and much prefer to drive up and
Back on one tank of fuel.
 

Highland Mule

Member
Livestock Farmer
Range is a key factor for me. Living in Cornwall means that 500 mile round trips in a day are commonplace for me (well they were before lockdown). I dislike wasting time having to stop and fill up when doing such a trip and much prefer to drive up and
Back on one tank of fuel.

Another unusual one if you do 500milers regularly - I have done from time to time, but not commonly, and I would personally sacrifice a twenty minute break to grab a coffee and use the loo if it meant I avoided that the other three weeks of the month.

Assuming that the 500 miles is something like Penzance to Swindon and back, that would be ten hours behind the wheel at least, and only an idiot would do that without at least one proper break. Please tell us you're not an idiot.
 

Highland Mule

Member
Livestock Farmer
If a car has around 120 miles of range for me it would be plenty for the foreseeable future. For me, the cost savings and general reliability would be big winners. No more cambelts, no more aux belts, your tyres and brakes live longer. No spark plugs, no oil or filters, the savings will be insane.

Yes, we will probably need a liquid fuel of sorts for heavy vehicles for the time being but inner cities will be quieter and cleaner if the bulk of passenger cars are electric. Run buses on natural gas and trains on overhead lines and you are basically there.

Based on my regular driving patterns, I'd want 200, but a genuine 200 so will probably hold out for a 300 range car. Seriously impressed that they are getting closer to that at affordable money too - suspect that within ten years I'll be able to buy what I need at sensible money.
 

sjt01

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
North Norfolk
Based on my regular driving patterns, I'd want 200, but a genuine 200 so will probably hold out for a 300 range car. Seriously impressed that they are getting closer to that at affordable money too - suspect that within ten years I'll be able to buy what I need at sensible money.
If you cost in running cost, then it is already sensible money. 5 years ago we looked at running our 7 year old diesel Corsa for another few years, and costed it against a 30 kWh Nissan Leaf. We made the worst case assumption that the Leaf would be worth zero at 8 years when the battery warranty ran out, and the Leaf still came in cheaper.
 

Highland Mule

Member
Livestock Farmer
If you cost in running cost, then it is already sensible money. 5 years ago we looked at running our 7 year old diesel Corsa for another few years, and costed it against a 30 kWh Nissan Leaf. We made the worst case assumption that the Leaf would be worth zero at 8 years when the battery warranty ran out, and the Leaf still came in cheaper.

Very possibly - but I'm not sure if the 300mile official range (200mile genuine) would fall into the same category of purchase cost as your Leaf did. I have a very economical volvo (65mpg achievable, 55mpg long term average), so costs are around 10p/mile for fuel. Last year I did around 30k miles in the main car, but this year has been much less - probably two tanks since March.

Will do research next time I change, and see what options I have.
 
Very possibly - but I'm not sure if the 300mile official range (200mile genuine) would fall into the same category of purchase cost as your Leaf did. I have a very economical volvo (65mpg achievable, 55mpg long term average), so costs are around 10p/mile for fuel. Last year I did around 30k miles in the main car, but this year has been much less - probably two tanks since March.

Will do research next time I change, and see what options I have.

By the time you come to change car next time I believe more car makers will be in the market with their offerings and it will be a lot more competitive. Many models at the moment are priced into the premium end of the market but this will change when the Koreans and Japanese get into the scene in a bigger way.
 

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Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

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As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

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