EV Owners Thread

[Rusty Nails]

2.5 years in our second hand EV and not noticed any deterioration.

That's why I was asking about 5+ years. How old is your car? Soon there will be plenty of EVs of that age coming on to the used car market, and I was wondering if it could become an issue that would put people off buying those older cars.

Since asking this question I have done some searching and it seems as if there are estimates of between 20% and 30% degradation in battery performance over 8 years, which is not disastrous but might make EVs that have the lower ranges to start with a bit less convenient. I suppose this can be countered with the improvements in the rate of degradation as technology improves. By the time I get one there probably will be further improvement.

 

[Jameshow]

That's why I was asking about 5+ years. How old is your car? Soon there will be plenty of EVs of that age coming on to the used car market, and I was wondering if it could become an issue that would put people off buying those older cars.

Since asking this question I have done some searching and it seems as if there are estimates of between 20% and 30% degradation in battery performance over 8 years, which is not disastrous but might make EVs that have the lower ranges to start with a bit less convenient. I suppose this can be countered with the improvements in the rate of degradation as technology improves. By the time I get one there probably will be further improvement.

Must be most dependent on charging habits fast charging, shallow and deep charging will all impact the battery lifespan.

 

[iandg]

Started following, my wife's just bought an electric Megane

 

[gzoom]

That's why I was asking about 5+ years.

Our Model X was delivered in sep 2017, so 5.5 years, 60k, battery degredation is roughly 6%.

 

[icowden]

That's why I was asking about 5+ years. How old is your car? Soon there will be plenty of EVs of that age coming on to the used car market, and I was wondering if it could become an issue that would put people off buying those older cars.

It could be, but don't forget that battery tech is improving year on year. My car has a specific setting that looks after the battery for example.

 

[cougie uk]

That's why I was asking about 5+ years. How old is your car? Soon there will be plenty of EVs of that age coming on to the used car market, and I was wondering if it could become an issue that would put people off buying those older cars.

Since asking this question I have done some searching and it seems as if there are estimates of between 20% and 30% degradation in battery performance over 8 years, which is not disastrous but might make EVs that have the lower ranges to start with a bit less convenient. I suppose this can be countered with the improvements in the rate of degradation as technology improves. By the time I get one there probably will be further improvement.

Car is 4.5 years old. All I've had to do is replace wiper blades and new front tyres.
Battery life seems as good as when we got it.

 

[MrGrumpy]

That's why I was asking about 5+ years. How old is your car? Soon there will be plenty of EVs of that age coming on to the used car market, and I was wondering if it could become an issue that would put people off buying those older cars.

Since asking this question I have done some searching and it seems as if there are estimates of between 20% and 30% degradation in battery performance over 8 years, which is not disastrous but might make EVs that have the lower ranges to start with a bit less convenient. I suppose this can be countered with the improvements in the rate of degradation as technology improves. By the time I get one there probably will be further improvement.

If all these EVs coming into the second market are crap ( we will find out soonish ) , all it will do is extend the current lifetime of diesel/ petrol , which will not just disappear !

 

[icowden]

If all these EVs coming into the second market are crap ( we will find out soonish ) , all it will do is extend the current lifetime of diesel/ petrol , which will not just disappear !

That's true. But it might reduce much faster than you expect. When you can't take your petrol car into places without being charged, when the cost of that petrol starts to increase much more as demand decreases, you start to build a spiral. A very very quick spiral as people ditch their diesels / petrol cars in favour of cars that don't get charged extra, that are cheaper and more convenient to fuel and better for the environment.

Kodak is a good example of a company that had everything, but in the space of a few years, had nothing. There was a huge business in cameras using film. Then suddenly the digital camera was invented. Within 20 years film has almost been eradicated. Kodak invented the digital camera in 1975. In 1988 the first commercial digital camera was released by Nikon. 12 years later we had mobile phones with cameras in. Now film is hardly needed, much harder to get hold of and more expensive. There are few processing centres. That's how the world works.

 

[CXRAndy]

my Model S is 3 1/2 years old, not noticed anything dramatic in battery range.

 

[simongt]

Check out PetrolPed on YouTube. He has an EV and posts some useful and informative vidoes on the pros & cons of owning an EV.
His biggest minus is the paucity of charging points around the country and the number of apps; he has 10 on his cellphone, you may need to be able to have a reasonable flexibility to charge when you need to on journeys beyond the range of your particular EV. Then of course for each app, you need to register, supply personal & bank details etc., etc..
Just don't mislay your 'phone - !

 

[Emanresu]

A petrol station (what will they be called soon?) close to me has just added a 5-6 stand bank of fast EV chargers. Massive transformer added too. So it seems that petrol? chains are going to start offering another choice to the range of fuels.

What caught my eye was a transit type van being plugged in which raises the question about who pays for the unproductive time spent waiting for EV's to charge? Seems that what you save on direct cost of 'filling up' is more than lost in waiting for the EV to recharge.

As someone said, EV's are not about saving the planet, it's about saving the car industry. So true.

 

[FishFright]

A petrol station (what will they be called soon?) close to me has just added a 5-6 stand bank of fast EV chargers. Massive transformer added too. So it seems that petrol? chains are going to start offering another choice to the range of fuels.

What caught my eye was a transit type van being plugged in which raises the question about who pays for the unproductive time spent waiting for EV's to charge? Seems that what you save on direct cost of 'filling up' is more than lost in waiting for the EV to recharge.

As someone said, EV's are not about saving the planet, it's about saving the car industry. So true.

He was wrong too . It took Tesla and lots of legislation to get them to be even half arsed about EV.

One thing Tesla's success showed that the customers were well ahead of the industry.

 

[gbb]

That's why I was asking about 5+ years. How old is your car? Soon there will be plenty of EVs of that age coming on to the used car market, and I was wondering if it could become an issue that would put people off buying those older cars.

Since asking this question I have done some searching and it seems as if there are estimates of between 20% and 30% degradation in battery performance over 8 years, which is not disastrous but might make EVs that have the lower ranges to start with a bit less convenient. I suppose this can be countered with the improvements in the rate of degradation as technology improves. By the time I get one there probably will be further improvement.

Just before electricity prices started to leap, I was kinda mindfu,l of the benefits of an ev, a cheap used one around £6k perhaps. Nissan Leafs, Renault Zoes would be perfect for a 30 mile round trip for work each day, I have no ability to charge at home but we do have facilities at work.Most of the cars I looked at, mechanically and visually all looked fine but many were only advertised as having realistically 30, 40 , 50 miles range on a full charge, so considerably down on their original ability.
It wasn't going to be viable...given those mileages would continue to drop off, in a couple years I'd likely end up with a scrapper, not financially viable, not worth spending £6k for what, 2 or 3 years of motoring. My Mazda is very economical for a 2ltr, I decided to just continue as I am.

 

[icowden]

What caught my eye was a transit type van being plugged in which raises the question about who pays for the unproductive time spent waiting for EV's to charge? Seems that what you save on direct cost of 'filling up' is more than lost in waiting for the EV to recharge.

Yeah. Make the driver work all day with no lunch break, that's what I say. Flippin snowflake van drivers wanting "breaks". Should work harder the lot of them...

 

[simongt]

What caught my eye was a transit type van being plugged in which raises the question about who pays for the unproductive time spent waiting for EV's to charge? Seems that what you save on direct cost of 'filling up' is more than lost in waiting for the EV to recharge.

On the possibility that said van was a 'firm's van', it would be expected that said firm would have full charging facilities back at the depot and their EV fleet would have sufficient range to do a days work / deliveries etc. without having to recharge away from said depot.
On the matter of driver's breaks; for under Class 3 vehicles, breaks are a very sore point ( I've been there ). With the pressure to get deliveries etc. done on time, many drivers feel obliged to cut short or forego their breaks in order to meet their targets. And many delivery firms will use the flimsiest excuses to cancel any delivery bonus that the drivers may hope for.