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

[Dodgy69]

We had the new Capri in work today. Looks much like others, ford, vw, Nissan, not much difference in many of them. I'm still of the opinion, they should of just concentrated on 2nd car owners, shopping car, maybe commuters and charge at home.. Once they got that market onboard, then open it up if necessary.

Keep the non EV for the long trips where refueling is less worrying and the EV for town and city work.

[Horse]

Who wanted 'engine' noise in an EV?

.

[Taipan]

4:28 in! Its the EV equivalent of the sports exhaust button!

[Mr. Dazzle]

I'm still of the opinion, they should of just concentrated on 2nd car owners, shopping car, maybe commuters and charge at home.. Once they got that market onboard, then open it up if necessary.

The practical - or perhaps more accurately - financial restrictions prevent that though.

Batteries were very expensive. They're still reasonably pricey, but even in this year they've come down loads. They're still on a downward trend. It's just a consequence of them being new and going up against essentially 100 year old well established tech in ICE cars.

You might be surprised at just how cheap a piston engine actually is for an OEM and even then it's really hard to sell them at profit. Ford quite famously struggled to even turn a profit on the Fiesta, the UK's best selling car for many years, based on the sale price of the car alone.

You couldn't make a cheap small EV a few years ago, at least, not one which wasn't basically a mobility scooter.

OEMs need(ed) the big expensive saloons and SUVs which can command high prices to bring in some bucks and help get the whole supply chain established.

[ZRX61]

You might be surprised at just how cheap a piston engine actually is for an OEM and even then it's really hard to sell them at profit. Ford quite famously struggled to even turn a profit on the Fiesta, the UK's best selling car for many years, based on the sale price of the car alone.

Several years ago I read how much it cost HD to produce a Sportster, IIRC it was around $1k.

[wheelnut]

Electric car ownership - Day 1

Picked the car up from the dealership yesterday afternoon.

We went to a Paul Heaton concert in Bridlington last night so that was the first run out. Brid is about 100 miles from us. Set off from home with 90% charge.

Got snarled up in Friday afternoon traffic and arrived at Brid with about 65% battery left. Nipped in to Lidl where there was a 50kw charger. Popped in for a few bits from the bakery for this morning. When we came out it had hit it back to 81% in 20 mins (£12).

After the concert drove home a lot quicker and had some fun on country roads. For a 2.5 ton car it handles really well. Shed the speed before the corner and drive it through seems to be the way. The AWD pulls it round nicely. Acceleration for overtaking and firing you out of roundabouts is addictive.

Got home with 40%. So far so good.

[Taipan]

What ev is it?

[wheelnut]

What ev is it?

Ford Explorer AWD

[Mr. Dazzle]

IIRC that's actually a VW ID5?

I'm just trying to get my head around your numbers above. I think you could have done it all on one charge and skipped the more expensive public charger?

[wheelnut]

IIRC that's actually a VW ID5?

I'm just trying to get my head around your numbers above. I think you could have done it all on one charge and skipped the more expensive public charger?

Yep - probably would have got back home with about 20% left. I was just conscious that charger availability may have been limited at 1am on the north Yorks coast. I’ll get a bit more confidence as I use it more.

The sat nav on the explorer is really good - it identifies the chargers nearby and tells you their capacity. It works out the best chargers to use based on your destination and current charge level as well.

[ZRX61]

What ev is it?

Ford Explorer AWD

Hopefully without the sunroof...