Why do people get such strong feelings over electric cars and solar panels etc.

[cougie uk]

EV's come with inconveniences that aren't easily overcome by a lot of people, and introduce inequalities that mean some people will be disadvantaged simply by the wholesale switch to EV's relative to their current position, until those issues are resolved somehow it will continue to be a point of contention for quite some time.

I think on the whole an EV would be easier to live with than a hydrogen vehicle.


The range is fairly similar I believe but the cost of hydrogen is probably triple or more the cost of the same Mileage for electric.

I'm a bit baffled by the cars that need to do huge mileages but never seem to stop anywhere that a socket could be.

 

[Electric_Andy]

I'm a bit baffled by the cars that need to do huge mileages but never seem to stop anywhere that a socket could be

We'll be doing a 740 mile round trip in a few weeks (7 hours each way). If I had an EV I would guess we'd have to stop and charge at least twice each way. That would add an extra 2 hours to the journey; something we wouldn't relish. Added to that, would there even be a free socket available when we did need to recharge? I've seen a few YT vlogs about people who use EVs every day for work, doing big miles, and many of the charging points are taken, or broken, or the wrong type. That feeling of not being entirely in control still puts fear in me. Whereas all fuel stations tend to have some form of Diesel available. The final factor would be, when we get to our destination, we wouldn't be able to charge at the MILs house, as we can't park outside.

Of course, the money we'd save having an EV could be spent on a train ride for the 3 of us, but a quick google suggests it would take us 12 hours each way on the train.

In genereal I'm 100% for solar panels and EVs, but it can only ever fit a portion of the poulations requirements. I don't think full EV ownership should be mandated at all, unless the alternatives are reliable and affordable, which let's face it in the UK is never going to happen

 

[CXRAndy]

Do they look like this?

View attachment 734574

Did you see this thing land, what an amazing feat of engineering?

 

[CXRAndy]

We'll be doing a 740 mile round trip in a few weeks (7 hours each way). If I had an EV I would guess we'd have to stop and charge at least twice each way. That would add an extra 2 hours to the journey; something we wouldn't relish. Added to that, would there even be a free socket available when we did need to recharge? I've seen a few YT vlogs about people who use EVs every day for work, doing big miles, and many of the charging points are taken, or broken, or the wrong type. That feeling of not being entirely in control still puts fear in me. Whereas all fuel stations tend to have some form of Diesel available. The final factor would be, when we get to our destination, we wouldn't be able to charge at the MILs house, as we can't park outside.

Of course, the money we'd save having an EV could be spent on a train ride for the 3 of us, but a quick google suggests it would take us 12 hours each way on the train.

In genereal I'm 100% for solar panels and EVs, but it can only ever fit a portion of the poulations requirements. I don't think full EV ownership should be mandated at all, unless the alternatives are reliable and affordable, which let's face it in the UK is never going to happen

Buy a Tesla, their network is absolutely fantastic compared to all the others combined. You would need to stop only twice with a Tesla, which is perfectly normal for a one way journey of 360 miles. definitely a comfort and meal break. Would only take 40-50 mins to get you 90% fully charged. Same for return home trip.

We as a family are going to Ascot this weekend, a trip of around 260 miles one way. We will be able to get there on one charge, but I will likely top up just before destination and recharge for trip home the next day. My car has free lifetime supercharging, so its a real money saver on long journeys

 

[Chislenko]

I seem to remember the EV thread got terminated 🙂

 

[Electric_Andy]

Buy a Tesla

haha. Therein lies the problem. The cheapest one I could find within a 50 mile radius is £18k, 4 years old. Even if we sold our current vehicles, we'd be hard pushed to buy the battery alone

 

[tinywheels]

don't worry, Elon is always reducing the prices,a new one will be cheap as chips soon

 

[Gillstay]

The new microlino might suit a lot of people.

 

[classic33]

Buy a Tesla, their network is absolutely fantastic compared to all the others combined. You would need to stop only twice with a Tesla, which is perfectly normal for a one way journey of 360 miles. definitely a comfort and meal break. Would only take 40-50 mins to get you 90% fully charged. Same for return home trip.

We as a family are going to Ascot this weekend, a trip of around 260 miles one way. We will be able to get there on one charge, but I will likely top up just before destination and recharge for trip home the next day. My car has free lifetime supercharging, so its a real money saver on long journeys

Not been available since 2018 on new vehicles.
Three years is the limit now on either a model "S", "X" or "Y". Although they will let you do a one time transfer from an older vehicle that had it before.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Did you see this thing land, what an amazing feat of engineering?

I did, exciting times seeing the third space race.

 

[CXRAndy]

Not been available since 2018 on new vehicles.
Three years is the limit now on either a model "S", "X" or "Y". Although they will let you do a one time transfer from an older vehicle that had it before.

I bought my car late 2019.

 

[Alex321]

We'll be doing a 740 mile round trip in a few weeks (7 hours each way). If I had an EV I would guess we'd have to stop and charge at least twice each way. That would add an extra 2 hours to the journey; something we wouldn't relish.

That would be a poor EV. Most now have a range of over 300 miles, and certainly well over 200, so it would only be one stop. And unless you have two drivers swapping places, you should be stopping for 15-20 minutes every 2-3 hours anyhow, so you could recharge it during one of those stops.

In genereal I'm 100% for solar panels and EVs, but it can only ever fit a portion of the poulations requirements. I don't think full EV ownership should be mandated at all, unless the alternatives are reliable and affordable, which let's face it in the UK is never going to happen

I'm sure it will happen.

Why do you think it won't, when it is simpler than reliably keeping petrol stations open and supplied?

 

[Tenkaykev]

A new xkcd

 

[tinywheels]

 

[icowden]

haha. Therein lies the problem. The cheapest one I could find within a 50 mile radius is £18k, 4 years old. Even if we sold our current vehicles, we'd be hard pushed to buy the battery alone

I'm predicting that the second hand market will start to boom in 2026/2027. That will be when the current lot of relatively early adoption fleet leases run out.
At the moment you are looking at £30k for a car (MG MG4) with "long range" suitable for that sort of journey.

If you did stop twice with a shorter range car, your stop would only be 30 to 40 minutes. The way that fast charging works is that once you get nearer to full (around 80%) the charger rapidly decreases the amount of power flowing to the car. So from say 15% to 80% might only take 30 minutes, whereas from 80% to 100% might take a further 30 to 45 minutes.

There are great places to stop and charge - my favourite is the BP Pulse Gigahub at the NEC which has 30 ultra-fast 150kw chargers and 150 7kw chargers along with a nice Starbucks. It's also only 5 mins walk from a huge shopping centre with restaurants.

Instavolt have a gigahub at Stroud Park on the M40 with 32 super fast chargers and there are many more sites appearing.