Electric cars

[Milo]

I'm seriously considering biting the bullet and going full electric - there seems to be a big surge of decent cars coming along this year.

 

So - does anyone own one, is anyone thinking of buying one?

 

Owners, are you glad you did and what are the things you wish you'd looked for or done differently? Apart from range, what are the main downsides of owning one?

 

 

[Dr The Singh]

My scalextric set still works 20 years on.

[peach0000]

Which electric cars are you looking at? If you're looking at ones in the Tesla/Jaguar market there really are no obvious drawbacks anymore. The even the range of 250/300+ miles is more than good enough especially when you consider how fast they charge. However if you are looking at the Renault/Nissan/Mini etc market then the range is definitely something that needs to be considered.

[Wakeyfox]

Lucky enough to run my own business and my company car is up for renewal in November and I'm pretty sure I'm going electric.

 

The personal tax benefit will save me nearly £3000 a year in tax, I'll save about £1000 per year in fuel costs and the cost of the lease is tax deductible against the corporation tax, so in effect the lease cost will be 20% less.

 

The higher cost of EV vs their petrol or diesel equivalents doesn't make it so attractive to personal customers, but from a business point of view it makes sense.

 

Pretty sure I'm going down the Tesla route (3) although I'm in an XC60 at the moment and quite like the look of the Polestar 2.

 

 

 

 

[ALC Fox]

Very interesting news that Jaguar are making electric cars only from 2025. And then there's the news of a new gigafactory for electric car batteries for which a site near Cov airport has been earmarked. The future of electric cars is super exciting and I can only hope that the more prevalent they become, the cheaper that basic new models become too.

 

My 1.4 L petrol motor is 16 years old now so it's inevitable I'll be in the market for a car sooner rather than later. If I could afford a new lecky one, I'd buy one tomorrow in truth. But, like above, I'd prefer a Tesla/Jag than a Nissan/Renault.

 

I do wonder about the second-hand electric car market, though. After repeated charging, batteries are inevitably going to degrade, which would reduce the range, so would it ever be worth buying a second-hand one and shelling out for a brand spanking new main battery?

 

Maybe hire purchase is just going to become even more prevalent, or perhaps there will be an explosion of pay-as-you-go car hire a bit like the Boris bikes.

[Stuntman_Mike]

It's strange knowing we'll all be using them in 10 years.

 

I'm hoping they're affordable nearer the time when it's not worth buying a new petrol one.

[Strokes]

9 minutes ago, Stuntman_Mike said:

It's strange knowing we'll all be using them in 10 years.

 

I'm hoping they're affordable nearer the time when it's not worth buying a new petrol one.

I’d be amazed if that was the case.

People are still running cars 20+ years old. I doubt the transition will happen quite that way.

[Stuntman_Mike]

6 minutes ago, Strokes said:

I’d be amazed if that was the case.

People are still running cars 20+ years old. I doubt the transition will happen quite that way.

I've most likely misunderstood then, is that when the transition starts and they will stop selling petrol cars? Not that we have to stop using them by then.

[peach0000]

5 minutes ago, Strokes said:

I’d be amazed if that was the case.

People are still running cars 20+ years old. I doubt the transition will happen quite that way.

I reckon there will be a very generous government scrappage scheme before long that will really speed things up. However someone needs to come up with something half decent for half the price of the model 3 before we would see mass adoption.

[peach0000]

Just now, Stuntman_Mike said:

I've most likely misunderstood then, is that when the transition starts and they will stop selling petrol cars? Not that we have to stop using them by then.

In short. yes. 

[yorkie1999]

Know someone who's just had a merc eqc, looks a nice car, but had to have his drive dug up because he lives in a semi-detached which has a shared power feed so the electricity company had to supply a separate feed.

         Got me thinking though, how's it all going to work in 2030 when all new cars will have to be electric. How will this affect new car sales over the next couple of years knowing that if you buy a new one and pay for it over four years, there's probably not going to be any re-sale value because no-one's going to want to buy it. I'm thinking that in order for the government to force electric cars into the market that by 2028 fuel prices will get hiked to the point of not being able to afford them and car tax for petrol/diesel cars will be ridiculous. What's going to happen with trains, lorries and buses, or aeroplanes and ships!  What if you live in a terrace house, or don't have a drive, you can't just run an extension cable across a path.

 There's so many unanswered questions and so little time to implement infrastructure changes in this country that i can see it just being one great big balls up.  

[yorkie1999]

17 minutes ago, Stuntman_Mike said:

I've most likely misunderstood then, is that when the transition starts and they will stop selling petrol cars? Not that we have to stop using them by then.

Yes, but the cost of running a petrol car will be crazy money.

[tom27111]

There is no way on earth, that within a decade, all new cars will be fully electric.

 

I've said it on the car thread before, the infrastructure isn't there yet and the technology in the batteries still need massive advances. 

 

Things like that can't be rushed.

 

It'll lead to a boom in the used car market for petrol and diesel and have a detrimental effect on what is trying to be achieved. 

 

If anyone is thinking of going fully electric, don't buy it, lease it. You'll regret being stuck with an expensive car that doesn't work because the battery is knackered.

 

And don't look at anything that retails under 50k

 

Edit...If you do buy one, check all the small print in your warranty. I can almost guarantee that the battery won't be covered. Warranty companies are no mugs, they know the batteries aren't very good and won't pay 4k for you to have a new one.

Edited 19 February 2021 by tom27111

[Leicester_Loyal]

16 minutes ago, tom27111 said:

There is no way on earth, that within a decade, all new cars will be fully electric.

 

I've said it on the car thread before, the infrastructure isn't there yet and the technology in the batteries still need massive advances.

Spot on. Think of all the people who don't have driveways or anywhere to charge it within their house. We're miles away from the majority of the population having electric cars, and your average person can no way afford a brand new electric car.

[Jon the Hat]

1 hour ago, ALC Fox said:

Very interesting news that Jaguar are making electric cars only from 2025. And then there's the news of a new gigafactory for electric car batteries for which a site near Cov airport has been earmarked. The future of electric cars is super exciting and I can only hope that the more prevalent they become, the cheaper that basic new models become too.

 

My 1.4 L petrol motor is 16 years old now so it's inevitable I'll be in the market for a car sooner rather than later. If I could afford a new lecky one, I'd buy one tomorrow in truth. But, like above, I'd prefer a Tesla/Jag than a Nissan/Renault.

 

I do wonder about the second-hand electric car market, though. After repeated charging, batteries are inevitably going to degrade, which would reduce the range, so would it ever be worth buying a second-hand one and shelling out for a brand spanking new main battery?

 

Maybe hire purchase is just going to become even more prevalent, or perhaps there will be an explosion of pay-as-you-go car hire a bit like the Boris bikes.

On the plus side, there isn't a lot to go wrong apart from the battery, and perhaps you get more range in future as battery tech improves.  You could easily buy a car and have the turbo go which sets you back thousands.

[Izzy]

Rather than build HS2 we should be replacing roads with those new ERS ones which have built in electric wireless charging like they've started to do in Japan, Korea, Sweden etc. Genius idea.

[Christoph]

1 hour ago, yorkie1999 said:

Know someone who's just had a merc eqc, looks a nice car, but had to have his drive dug up because he lives in a semi-detached which has a shared power feed so the electricity company had to supply a separate feed.

         Got me thinking though, how's it all going to work in 2030 when all new cars will have to be electric. How will this affect new car sales over the next couple of years knowing that if you buy a new one and pay for it over four years, there's probably not going to be any re-sale value because no-one's going to want to buy it. I'm thinking that in order for the government to force electric cars into the market that by 2028 fuel prices will get hiked to the point of not being able to afford them and car tax for petrol/diesel cars will be ridiculous. What's going to happen with trains, lorries and buses, or aeroplanes and ships!  What if you live in a terrace house, or don't have a drive, you can't just run an extension cable across a path.

 There's so many unanswered questions and so little time to implement infrastructure changes in this country that i can see it just being one great big balls up.  

 

Yes some questions about those who might live in flats or terrace houses. Not exactly ideal scenarios for installing a charging station.  

[UniFox21]

43 minutes ago, tom27111 said:

There is no way on earth, that within a decade, all new cars will be fully electric.

 

I've said it on the car thread before, the infrastructure isn't there yet and the technology in the batteries still need massive advances. 

 

Things like that can't be rushed.

Exactly this, when the battery goes you're left with a huge bill to replace it. Same with the infrastructure, unless you're lucky enough to have a work place where a charge station is offered, or content stopping during long journeys for a while to charge, there are frankly too many issues with going full on for electric cars.

 

 

2 minutes ago, Izzy said:

Rather than build HS2 we should be replacing roads with those new ERS ones which have built in electric wireless charging like they've started to do in Japan, Korea, Sweden etc. Genius idea.

We've taken too long faffing around with HS2, that frankly when it is finally finished (2029-2033 for phase 1/2 and 2035 for 2b) the tech will be outdated. The improvement in connection will be pointless for the initial phases anyway. The billions we're spending should be used to electrify outdated rail areas as well as funding improving infrastructure in roads with things such as the wireless charging for cars. The years since it was first suggested in 2009/2010 have been absolutely wasted. 

[tom27111]

If I had to buy a new car now, I'd probably go for a self-charging hybrid.

 

Yes, the battery issue still remains, however, you aren't relying on that solely to power you and it also solves the charging issues. 

 

The electric motor typically kicks in under 30mph when you're in stop/start traffic around town, so you still make quite a fuel saving.

 

That would allow you a few years before investing in fully electric, in which time, advancements in the technology would be made.

 

I've sold cars under 3 years old, which didn't have a lot of miles on them and already the battery capacity was reduced to around 80%

 

A lot of manufacturers on fully electric will sell you the car, then charge you an extra fee to lease the battery from them too.

[Milo]

2 hours ago, peach0000 said:

Which electric cars are you looking at? If you're looking at ones in the Tesla/Jaguar market there really are no obvious drawbacks anymore. The even the range of 250/300+ miles is more than good enough especially when you consider how fast they charge. However if you are looking at the Renault/Nissan/Mini etc market then the range is definitely something that needs to be considered.

Yeah, more the former than the latter, tbh.

 

Although the I-Pace was disappointingly small when I went to have a look at one. Lexus have one coming out and the Volvo XC40 looks like it could fit the bill...but I haven't seen any and the delivery time is about 6 months.   

[yorkie1999]

23 minutes ago, Jon the Hat said:

On the plus side, there isn't a lot to go wrong apart from the battery, and perhaps you get more range in future as battery tech improves.  You could easily buy a car and have the turbo go which sets you back thousands.

Well, there is. Everything can go wrong. The only difference is there is an electric motor instead of a combustion engine, there's still a gearbox (single speed) and a drive train, suspension, brakes, tyres etc.

[Milo]

9 minutes ago, tom27111 said:

If I had to buy a new car now, I'd probably go for a self-charging hybrid.

 

Yes, the battery issue still remains, however, you aren't relying on that solely to power you and it also solves the charging issues. 

 

The electric motor typically kicks in under 30mph when you're in stop/start traffic around town, so you still make quite a fuel saving.

 

That would allow you a few years before investing in fully electric, in which time, advancements in the technology would be made.

 

I've sold cars under 3 years old, which didn't have a lot of miles on them and already the battery capacity was reduced to around 80%

 

A lot of manufacturers on fully electric will sell you the car, then charge you an extra fee to lease the battery from them too.

This is my dilemma.

 

I'm kind of thinking along the lines of jumping straight into full electric and missing out the hybrid options - I'm pretty sure I will probably only use the hybrid for a year or so before I'll want a full electric.

[Jon the Hat]

2 minutes ago, yorkie1999 said:

Well, there is. Everything can go wrong. The only difference is there is an electric motor instead of a combustion engine, there's still a gearbox (single speed) and a drive train, suspension, brakes, tyres etc.

They are massively simpler than a standard car, with thousands fewer parts to wear out.

[yorkie1999]

On the plus side, i've been in 3 different electric cars, and they don't half fvckin shift.

[tom27111]

1 minute ago, yorkie1999 said:

On the plus side, i've been in 3 different electric cars, and they don't half fvckin shift.

Not been in a Nissan Leaf or Kia Soul then?