Would you have an electric car if you had the money for a new car and were in the market for one?

[Mussels]

Balancing I can see being a huge issue, ironically one which having loads of batteries plugged in to the grid can help with.

Its not by accident that I've invested a chunk of my pension into firms who deal with grid storage and power systems

Overall capacity though, I'm not so sure. The national grid have already said that if everyone in the UK switched to an EV tomorrow total demand would still be less than the UK historic peak was (in about 2010). Since then UK electricity demand has been dropping steadily due to savings elsewhere, introducing EVs nationwide wouldn't even bring us back up to the highest demand ever.

I've heard that a few times but it doesn't answer the question as we don't know how much generating capacity has reduced since 2010, I'd expect investment has reduced in line with demand.

A car charger is what...7kW?

That's like having your kettle and your iron on at the same time pretty much. Obviously you don't run them both simultaneously for hours at a time, but you also don't fret about turning them on.

Both poor and rich people have kettles so averages say poor person is boiling a cuppa at the same time as rich person, if all the poor people had their kettles taken away and rich people boiled theirs at the same time then there would be the same problem.

[demographic]

This comparrison is worth a watch, its US based so the numbers don't work out the same but our petrol costs a hell of a lot more so if anything our numbers are even more stacked in favour of the lecky car.

[Dodgy69]

Had plenty of Nissan leafs in at work and often 100% gives about 190 miles ish. This week some are saying 300 miles so must be bigger battery.

Going in the right direction maybe.

[slowsider]

Had plenty of Nissan leafs in at work and often 100% gives about 190 miles ish. This week some are saying 300 miles so must be bigger battery.

Going in the right direction maybe.

If you're going that far you'd better hope it's the right direction

[Horse]

Had plenty of Nissan leafs in at work and often 100% gives about 190 miles ish. This week some are saying 300 miles so must be bigger battery.

Going in the right direction maybe.

Pic shows 'eco' mode. Is there 'turbo nutter mad bastid' mode? How many miles range?

[Couchy]

Domestic chargers aren’t an issue if you get a smart with some form of dynamic load management. But it’s a good way for those who are against it to say we’re doomed.
I still don’t want an EV as it’s still cheaper to run a few year old diesel. It’s getting closer but not there yet. Since seeing the tyre cost I’ve been asking lots of owners and they all say EV are heavy and expensive on tyres. Not something that’s normally bought up in running costs lol

[Mussels]

How would dynamic load management work? If it's the leccy company dictating when I can and can't charge then it's a non-starter, if they do it via discounted electricity to make it a choice then it might be ok depending on the small print.
Why are tyres still a problem? Is it poor car design or do they need van tyres, form over function maybe.

It still seems like early adopter tech at the moment, coupled with the cost I'm not interested yet

[Couchy]

How would dynamic load management work? If it's the leccy company dictating when I can and can't charge then it's a non-starter, if they do it via discounted electricity to make it a choice then it might be ok depending on the small print.
Why are tyres still a problem? Is it poor car design or do they need van tyres, form over function maybe.

It still seems like early adopter tech at the moment, coupled with the cost I'm not interested yet

Dynamic is already in use, you have a set load you can draw. A CT is fitted to the mains and the charger monitors this. Once it goes above a certain limit with say the cooker or shower being on the charger stops temporarily. Of course if the leccy company say you can’t not much you can do. Folk will have to get used to charging away from home.
Tyres aren’t an issue but they do seem heavy on them adding an unseen cost which no one calculates in.
But EV aren’t about saving money it’s about keeping the pollution in one place where it’s easily controlled, personal transport is only gonna get more expensive.

[slowsider]

https://techcrunch.com/2022/06/07/nimbu ... p8B8xoz2VZ

[Noggin]

https://techcrunch.com/2022/06/07/nimbu ... p8B8xoz2VZ

Bloody love the look of that!!

If they do winter/snow tyres for it, I'd be seriously tempted (one day!). Especially as the battery can be kept and charged at home - less battery deterioration from the cold! Although I guess just as easy to pick up and load into a van to steal

Looks like a LOT of fun

[Count Steer]

I see VW are advertising a rather cute looking electric camper.

I'm guessing it's not really a 'off grid' vehicle.

(On the plus side, you can have a kip waiting to access a charging point ).

[slowsider]

I might not buy a Toyota yet...

https://www.theguardian.com/business/20 ... d-fall-off

[cheb]

I've never quite understood how thing like that happen, it's not like wheel bolts are new thing exclusive to electric cars.

Maybe just an incorrect setting on a production line robot.

[Mr. Dazzle]

I sometimes think its a surprise it doesn't happen more often! When you consider how many bolts there are on a car and how many cars are made.....must be somewhere in the billions done up every year?

[Rockburner]

I might not buy a Toyota yet...

https://www.theguardian.com/business/20 ... d-fall-off

I wish journos would know what they're writing about sometimes.

the bolts that connect the wheels to the chassis

.

[cheb]

Ah, it was the lack of suspension causing them to shake loose.

[demographic]

Aptera, one of the vehicles that I could see the people who manage fine with a bike would be blown away by.
1000 miles on a full charge.
In California where its sunny the solar panels add about 40 miles of range each day.
Highest roof crush test results of any car tested.
0-60 on about 6 seconds.
Uses about 100 Watts per mile and has about the same drag as a 1 foot cube and less drag as the mirrors on some Yank pickup (think it was a Ford F 350 but can't remember).


Not much cop for me carrying tools every day but I could see it being great for single officewallas or young couples.

[KungFooBob]

You missed the No.1 selling point!

It's got scissor doors.

[demographic]

You missed the No.1 selling point!

It's got scissor doors.

Good point, well made.

Can't see it being my daily driver as I have a LWB van but could easy see it being parked in my daughters garage and either her or my (now only ten year old) granddaughter using something like it when she gets driving.
Think the last price I heard was $25,000 which is a fair wedge of cash but if you're able to charge it cheaply and not need much energy in the first place starts to look better the greater miles the owner does.

[Mussels]

Looks interesting but will be even more susceptible to weather, speed and road quality than other EVs, ok for commuting but I wouldn't want to rely on it for a big distance between charges.