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

[gremlin]

It would make a great commuter

That could work for me....

The downside is they're stupidly expensive.....

As I've just seen on their site. Is there any financial upside, notwithstanding the need for prehistoric plant matter to be purchased? Road tax? What about servicing?

[Mr. Dazzle]

No road tax on EVs at present, but I doubt that's gonna last much longer (relatively).

My parents just bought a new EV Mini and took up the BMW dealer service plan. Fleeced if you ask me, there isn't any servicing on the powertrain of pretty much every EV! Brakes and tyres obviously yes, but powertrains are generally sealed for life.

If you're clever with your tariff you can run 'em for pennies. In fact, they have solar and batteries at home, they charge up the house and car at 9p overnight and then feed into the grid at 15p from the panels during the day

[Mussels]

It would make a great commuter

That could work for me....

Now check the range on a cold and dark January day.

[Yorick]

I can't remember if I've commented on this previously, but I've had a Zero SR/F for about six months now, and it's spaztronically good. In my forty years of riding it's the best and easiest bike I've ever ridden. Fast as fuck, 140ft/lbs of torque all available from the tiniest twitch of the throttle, the acceleration is relentless and almost unreal with no gear changes. My darling wife has na early new BMW S1000XR, R1250RS or KTM640 to choose from, and she nearly always nicks my Zero (if I'm not out on it,) it's that good, especially when doing IAM masters tests. She can hear what gear they're in so can tell whether they're doing IPSGA properly And you can fill up for free at Asda

Is it heavy?

Yes and no. It's physically tiny but weighs a bit over 200kg. However the weight is all so low down it feels like it weighs much less very, easy to manoeuvre, especially at low speed. 0-60 is a shade under 3 seconds (or 1.6 seconds on a Dyno )

200 kgs is quite normal now for petrol engines.

[ZRX61]

Irony....

https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news ... estaurant/

If linky no workee:
Alan Ruck who played Cameron in Ferris Bueller was sitting at a red light in LA when his Rivian EV suddenly took off, pushing the car ahead of him out of the way, hit another car & then crashed into the front of a restaurant. Having seen the video he was lucky not to have run anyone over.

[Horse]

[McSatan]

That could work for me....

The downside is they're stupidly expensive.....

As I've just seen on their site. Is there any financial upside, notwithstanding the need for prehistoric plant matter to be purchased? Road tax? What about servicing?

Not really. It doesn't cost me anything to run, usually charging on the free electricity from the solar panels. The first (free) 'service' was at 600 miles, that was just to check nuts/bolts/brakes etc, other than that there is no conventional servicing. I wouldn't have one as my only bike, the stupendous riding experience is what made me buy it. If you get the chance have a test ride on one, and you'll see what I mean. Similar acceleration to a modern litre plus sports bike, only with no gear changes, just relentless fucking whooooooooooooooosh! You're never in the wrong gear, cornering becomes easier, smoother, and faster for the non riding gods like me, you can concentrate more on positioning, riding round swoopy twisty roads without touching the brakes is an utter joy, engine regeneration taking care of most of the slowing down. You can dial that completely out though, and it becomes like a two stroke. I absolutely love it, it is easily the best bike I've ever ridden in 40 years, and I could afford it, so WTF Having said that I've got other old noisy Ducatis and a two stroke for when I need a fix

[Felix]

399644376_1113861829583333_5256799003257670525_n.jpg (41.71 KiB) Viewed 391 times

[Felix]

If your Tesla hisses run

[Mr. Dazzle]

Isn't it meant to be powder or CO2 on electric fires? These guys clearly not done the 45 minute fire marshal training course.

[Yambo]

I get the feeling that it's going to be the insurance companies that will decide whether you'll all have electric cars over the next few years.

[Mr. Dazzle]

I get the feeling that it's going to be the insurance companies that will decide whether you'll all have electric cars over the next few years.

Because petrol cars can't catch fire you mean?

EVs get the press of course, and they're undeniably new/different to deal with, but ICE cars still go up in smoke more often.

That doesn't mean the fire risk should be just be ignored, just dealt with sensibly. Like we all deal with and accept the fire risk associated with fossil fuels. We don't even blink at TPFT insurance do we?

https://www.autoweek.com/news/a38225037 ... -ev-fires/

https://theconversation.com/electric-ve ... her-213468

[mangocrazy]

No idea if this is true or not, but I'm sure someone will be along shortly to confirm/deny, but the reason fires on Li-Ion battery systems are so hard to control is that the normal method of firefighting using a blanket of foam or CO2 etc to starve the fire of oxygen is negated by the fact that Li-Ion battery fires produce oxygen as part of the process, making them self-sustaining.

This little nugget of information was provided by the Aussie Youtuber John Cadogan, so blame him if it's all bollocks.

[Horse]

As an aside, @636mick will be able to tell you the potential knock-on effects of major petrol and diesel spills on the road after collisions.

Often, a road will be shut for the clean-up. Sometimes needing resurfacing (and painting new lines, etc).

[Rockburner]

No idea if this is true or not, but I'm sure someone will be along shortly to confirm/deny, but the reason fires on Li-Ion battery systems are so hard to control is that the normal method of firefighting using a blanket of foam or CO2 etc to starve the fire of oxygen is negated by the fact that Li-Ion battery fires produce oxygen as part of the process, making them self-sustaining.

This little nugget of information was provided by the Aussie Youtuber John Cadogan, so blame him if it's all bollocks.

As i understand it, that's correct.

[Horse]

Absolute guess but, presumably the method is 'cooling' rather than the 'remove oxygen' part of the fire triangle?

[Mr. Dazzle]

That'd be my guess too.

Aerospace solution is "put em in a box strong enough to contain it". Nearly worked on 787 too! Remember that?

[ChrisW]

Irony....

https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news ... estaurant/

If linky no workee:
Alan Ruck who played Cameron in Ferris Bueller was sitting at a red light in LA when his Rivian EV suddenly took off, pushing the car ahead of him out of the way, hit another car & then crashed into the front of a restaurant. Having seen the video he was lucky not to have run anyone over.

Maybe it fell off the jack?

[Treadeager]

No idea if this is true or not, but I'm sure someone will be along shortly to confirm/deny, but the reason fires on Li-Ion battery systems are so hard to control is that the normal method of firefighting using a blanket of foam or CO2 etc to starve the fire of oxygen is negated by the fact that Li-Ion battery fires produce oxygen as part of the process, making them self-sustaining.

This little nugget of information was provided by the Aussie Youtuber John Cadogan, so blame him if it's all bollocks.

As i understand it, that's correct.

Not sure that much oxygen is produced , but hydrogen* almost certainly is . The hydrogen ( inflammable/explosive in it's own right ) , reacts vigorously with other chemicals to produce hydrogen fluoride
Very nasty ... you wouldn't want to breathe in too much of that .

* remember the science experiments in school with small lumps of sodium or potassium dropped into water ( or workshop disasters with magnesium catching fire) .. Same chemistry.

Some chemical fires require no oxygen at all.

[mangocrazy]

The same Youtuber was talking about large quantities of brine as an effective way of dealing with a Li-Ion fire. I'll see if I can find the video.

Here t'is...