Electric cars

[Fred_Quimby]

Exactly. I did a quick check a few weeks ago and the cheapest public charger are 45p/kW according to Google. Many are up to 65 p/kW.
Electric cars typically do 2.5 to 3 mpkW so the cheapest is 15p per mile. Petrol for my Hyundai Ionic hybrid is currently 10.5p per mile.
EVs are great if you can charge at home, but public charging is expensive, charger rollout is well behind the target set by the last government and the cars themselves are expensive to buy.
Are EVs the answer, or are they a stop-gap until another fuel system (possibly hydrogen fuel cells) are developed for wide scale use?

Not sure where you get you mpkw figures from but I do not recognise them. My friend and I both have EVs and we average out at about 4mpkw over the year. Never had it as low as 3 even during winter driving. Lowest ever was about 3.7. During the summer months we regularly get between 4.5 and often 5.

Incidentally went to game on Wednesday, 230 miles return (A1 closed) but still had 60 miles left.

Incidentally, hydrogen is a non starter at present.

 

[Mazzarelli's Swiss Cheese]

Exactly. I did a quick check a few weeks ago and the cheapest public charger are 45p/kW according to Google. Many are up to 65 p/kW.
Electric cars typically do 2.5 to 3 mpkW so the cheapest is 15p per mile. Petrol for my Hyundai Ionic hybrid is currently 10.5p per mile.
EVs are great if you can charge at home, but public charging is expensive, charger rollout is well behind the target set by the last government and the cars themselves are expensive to buy.
Are EVs the answer, or are they a stop-gap until another fuel system (possibly hydrogen fuel cells) are developed for wide scale use?

I think the current EVs will probably go the way of betamax. Either because of better next generation EVs or as you say another technology.

 

[East Level 2]

Not sure where you get you mpkw figures from but I do not recognise them. My friend and I both have EVs and we average out at about 4mpkw over the year. Never had it as low as 3 even during winter driving. Lowest ever was about 3.7. During the summer months we regularly get between 4.5 and often 5.

Incidentally went to game on Wednesday, 230 miles return (A1 closed) but still had 60 miles left.

Incidentally, hydrogen is a non starter at present.

The mpkw figure came from a Google search about 6 months ago. It could have been slightly low as electric and hybrids offer poorer mpg and mpkw in winter. I drove a fully electric Hyundai Kona yesterday and it was showing 3.9 mpkw.

 

[East Level 2]

Does anybody have experience of plug-in hybrids? Some of the mpg figures seem ludicrous eg over 200 mpg. I know these result from a totally unrealistic measurement method so I'm after some real world experience.
I live in a flat so full electric isn't an option, but plug-in might work economically if the high mpg offset the higher public charger prices.

 

[meltonblue]

55k for a car? Out of reach for most people. 2nd hand battery? Wouldn't touch a 2nd hand electric car with a bargepole. No matter how cheap. One day you are going to have to get rid/ bury it somewhere. That won't be cheap.

He did say salary sacrifice to be fair, which is how I got mine too.

 

[bluethrunthru]

sold the wife's car last night to a neighbour for £200. It was a 59 plate Chevrolet Matiz 35k 2 owner car 4 new tyres, 11 months MOT, 10 month old exhaust just that the clutch had started slipping and she had run out of patience with it so she wanted out.

Guy I sold it to is a Vauxhall salesman who had a Corsa EV but decided taking the money for a company car but running his own was a better bet

 

[PragueBlue]

Does anybody have experience of plug-in hybrids? Some of the mpg figures seem ludicrous eg over 200 mpg. I know these result from a totally unrealistic measurement method so I'm after some real world experience.
I live in a flat so full electric isn't an option, but plug-in might work economically if the high mpg offset the higher public charger prices.

I had a Volvo XC60 plug-in hybrid (about 40 miles of electric per full charge) and got way more than 200 mpg. At one stage it was over 1,000 mpg I think.

I only did a few short journeys per day (school run, shopping etc) and so I could basically just run it on electric mode. That was until somebody told me that petrol deteriorates and I shouldn't leave it sitting in the tank for a long period. I then started using it a bit more on hybrid mode, just to make sure the petrol was gradually being used up.

IMO plug-in hybrids are great for someone like me who would normally do less than 40 miles per day but also does the occasional longer journey.

 

[East Level 2]

I had a Volvo XC60 plug-in hybrid (about 40 miles of electric per full charge) and got way more than 200 mpg. At one stage it was over 1,000 mpg I think.

I only did a few short journeys per day (school run, shopping etc) and so I could basically just run it on electric mode. That was until somebody told me that petrol deteriorates and I shouldn't leave it sitting in the tank for a long period. I then started using it a bit more on hybrid mode, just to make sure the petrol was gradually being used up.

IMO plug-in hybrids are great for someone like me who would normally do less than 40 miles per day but also does the occasional longer journey.

Thanks for the info. Do you select the mode or does it run in electric mode until the battery is almost flat?
I'd be using mixture of public charging and petrol so might not see any monetary benefit. I think some supermarkets offer free charging so that might help.
My petrol hybrid has averaged 60 mpg over 3 years, so I'm happy with that at the moment.

 

[PragueBlue]

Thanks for the info. Do you select the mode or does it run in electric mode until the battery is almost flat?
I'd be using mixture of public charging and petrol so might not see any monetary benefit. I think some supermarkets offer free charging so that might help.
My petrol hybrid has averaged 60 mpg over 3 years, so I'm happy with that at the moment.

You select the mode. Electric only, hybrid or power mode (just petrol). If you run on electric only mode, it automatically switches to hybrid mode when the electric runs out.

I only ever charged at home so don't really know about supermarket charging. I can only speak about my Volvo but I'd be surprised if you didn't get over 200 mpg unless you do a lot of miles per day.

It was the perfect car for me and my needs. If you do a lot of longer journeys, a petrol or full electric maybe better options.

 

[fulabeer]

55k for a car? Out of reach for most people. 2nd hand battery? Wouldn't touch a 2nd hand electric car with a bargepole. No matter how cheap. One day you are going to have to get rid/ bury it somewhere. That won't be cheap.

He said 55k gets you supercar performance. So in performance terms, they are way way cheaper.
EV's start at 14k (Dacia Spring). Secondhand get you a nearly new EV for same as ICE.

Why not touch 2nd hand EV's because of the battery? The batteries are turning out to last much longer that thought. So the minimum 8 year battery warranties are going up to 20 years or lifetime. What's the average engine and gearbox warranty on an ICE car?
Also, there is now a scheme were used EV batteries are going into battery electric storage use after car use.
It works as batteries are considered failed when they drop below 80% for an EV. Yet for commercial use, 80% is not an issue at all. So energy firms are using them to store electric for peak times etc. They then dismantle the core materials for recycle.

I cannot believe i'm sticking up for EV's. Unfortunately, there is so much ignorance about them, that people like me avoided them for far to long.
It's insane that people finally have an alternative to pumping toxic gas directly into our lungs, and are somehow against them. Yes, i know they pollute elsewhere, but still better than towns and cities.

I don't care if some people don't want one, fine by me, your loss. But people shouldn't spread fake news to fit an agenda.