Electric Cars

[Jimmy HaveHave]

still a bit pricey but sure to come down over the next few years.

[Sippo]

I have a 330e. Brilliant and fast. Around town use electric, petrol on longer journeys. Range isn’t brilliant but does the job. Costs about 15p to fully charge in about 2 hours on Octopus Go tariff.

Plug in hybrids offer that security.

[Jimmy HaveHave]

I have a 330e. Brilliant and fast. Around town use electric, petrol on longer journeys. Range isn’t brilliant but does the job. Costs about 15p to fully charge in about 2 hours on Octopus Go tariff.

Plug in hybrids offer that security.

Where did you purchase from and what sort of price are they?

[Nomoreheroes]

Betamax was technically superior to VHS

#justSaying

I know. But, VHS ended up being cheaper, better marketed, more readily available and more popular.

[Sippo]

Where did you purchase from and what sort of price are they?

Mine is 3 and a half years old, 44k on the clock. Has every option ticked. i paid £16500 for it. i have had it 6 months. Not dropped in value. You'd think that the car would be heavy with the extra battery, but it doesn't. it's certainly quick and nimble.

Plug in hybrids are great, just don't expect the range. On out of town journeys, i whack it into save which then also charges the battery for when i hit a town. i average around high 40s mpg, for a car which has 250bhp is pretty good!

[4D]

I average late 30s in my 271bhp 100% petrol motor 

[Berniman]

Betamax was technically superior to VHS

#justSaying

Yep - VHS were better at marketing

[horlock07]

It's inevitable that there will be push back from those of a certain age and/or are resistant to any change.  I will be buying an electric car in the next 3 years and I am looking forward to it. I wouldn't say no to hydrogen fuel cell powered vehicle either.

As for consumer experience, there is a wealth of material available online.

Listened to something on Radio 4 a few months back where they had people of from a fair few of the big car manufacturers.

Whatever the man in the street may think, the ICE is frankly dead and everything is being directed towards the development of hybrid and electric, they are also looking and working towards things almost like these urban bike hire schemes but for cars, add into the equation automation for HGV's etc personal transportation is going to look very different in 5-10 years time.

Planning permissions with any  parking involved now need extensive charging facilities as a Condition of consent.

[THE FLASH]

My lease comes up next Summer, i need a car that can cover 250 miles before a recharge though...

If i dont get electric, im sure that the next lease will be my last with petrol!

[Batch]

Yep - VHS were better at marketing

and licensing. Sony being Sony screwed up and tried to close shop.

VHS did have the advantage of being able to store longer on it.

I'm sure Sony could have added LP if they didn't cock up.

[Jimmy HaveHave]

Mine is 3 and a half years old, 44k on the clock. Has every option ticked. i paid £16500 for it. i have had it 6 months. Not dropped in value. You'd think that the car would be heavy with the extra battery, but it doesn't. it's certainly quick and nimble.

Plug in hybrids are great, just don't expect the range. On out of town journeys, i whack it into save which then also charges the battery for when i hit a town. i average around high 40s mpg, for a car which has 250bhp is pretty good!

Cheers Sippo, did you buy in Swindon and is the insurance reasonable?

[Peter Venkman]

I have looked at full electric but due to several limitations I won't be taking the plunge yet.

I use on street parking at night so I can't plug in a car from the house so would rely on other charging places, the range is still way too low, I have mates with a Posche Panamera, a BMW Xdrive30E and a Hyundai Ioniq and the Ioniq has easily the best range of around 300 miles, the other 2 struggle to do 200 miles on a single charge.

I drive an Ioniq self charge hybrid and for me thats the best of both worlds as its electric at any speed under 30mph and uses the electric motor at cruising speeds on motorways.

I can easily do 75mpg at a steady 70 on a motorway but on back roads at speeds under 60 and on flat ground it easily breaks 99mpg (the highest the computer will show) and that is over 25 to 30 miles average of mostly flat - stop start back roads.

Tempted by a mild hybrid next time but their electric range and usable speed on electric is way shorted than a true hybrid.

Going to change it at the next registration change in March so have to decide by November as lead times are about 16 weeks on a lot of brand new cars.

[Chunkyhair]

I drove in a Tesla the other week - fucking hell the acceleration was (excuse the pun) electric.  Never driven anything like it.  It's my mates kmtotor and it has shaken off a lot of my scpeticism - he easily gets over 300 miles to a charge, drives like a dream etc etc.

That said, I still think (in my thick, Luddite/late adpoter way) that we are still very much in the early stages of development of electric motors.  The way tech acclerates (sorry, pun again) makes me think that in 5-10 years time we will see huge developments in the tech and the price to make it a safer investment.  For now I am thinking run my current motor into the ground (which given current mileage will be 8-10 years) and then go electric.  I think the Govt will have to offer incentives, like they will with these new fangled air heater things to replace gas boilers, as typical person won't be able to just overnight shell out and replace such an asset.

But then again, I know fuck all. 

[Jimmy HaveHave]

That's some mileage on a single charge and also decent return on mpg.

[RobertT]

The range they can do is already getting close to combustion engine cars of similar design to the electric comparator.  Clearly the investment needed is in Battery design and charging options, both of which appear to be taking off rapidly now.  The early adopters will be pushing their cars out into the second hand market in 5 years or so, at which point I think that will be the final push over the cliff it needs.

What Electric opens up is the design elements of the car - no longer needing to carry the weight of the engine and everything else that helps the thing move.  Even a heavy battery is nowhere near close, especially after a few more years of development (just look at the mobile phone and laptop surge and hw battery development pushed that on).  Cars will probably become much more fun to be a passenger in, even if automated driving is a bit further down the line.