Electric Cars and Motorhomes.
Time is coming up for me to think about replacing my Car and in a couple of years, my Motorhome.
But the choices are limited, my cars road tax is £30
can that be bettered ? it uses very little petrol and has at least 400 miles range.Local charging infrastructure is surprisingly good for a rural area, but concerned when travelling out of the area.
Motorhome is another story, none on the market at all yet, mine is euro5 what ever that means.
What do others plan to do? for new towcars for instance. Club needs to help and advise us.
Comments
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I plan to do nothing
My motorhome is only a few months old with a the latest Euro 6 engine so can more or less go anywhere. Not sure if OP is wanting to tow his car? Don't know for sure but aren't most electric cars automatics which might complicate matters if wanting to use an A-Frame? I don't tow a car, yet! As much as an electric car would suit our current use at home they are currently far to expensive to even consider one so if i changed my car it would be for another small petrol one. Perhaps the Government need to take a leaf out of Norway's book and not charge VAT on electric cars to get the market really going? I am hoping the current motorhome will last us as long as we want to continue motorhoming.
David
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The Milk & More electric floats from the milk depot just up the road from me get towed back home on a ridged bar quite often using a Diesel Transit van based float
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If a friend of ours was still alive who used to organise batteries from milk floats to lighthouses I could an answer that one Milo, sadly I can't.
Our Milk and More delivery comes on a big lorry at 2am, so it's quite noisy but we're in a rural area beyond the range of the average milk float.
I'm wondering if the OP means a hybrid?
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Either really, looking at total costs incl running costs....just how long do EV batteries last ?
are there any 2nd hand EVs on the market yet ? are they a viable proposition 2nd hand.
No will not be towing the car, already did that for a couple of years on an A frame. Now have a euro 5 PVC.
From what I have seen my £30 a year roadtax is about as good as it gets. Hardly an incentive to get an EV. Sorry environmentalists but cost is all important to me.
All that should be needed to tow an EV on its wheels is a means of disengaging the electric motors from the wheels.
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All that should be needed to tow an EV on its wheels is a means of disengaging the electric motors from the wheels.
That is what I have also been told by one A Frame supplier. The problem is such a system has to be foolproof. Most if not all electric vehicles available today employ some form of regenerative charging when braking or free wheeling. If the charging system is not disengaged there is a risk of the batteries exploding.
I tow a petrol Suzuki Celerio, semi automatic on an A Frame. As well as being a very light four door vehicle, the road tax is zero rated.
peedee
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Several questions, yes there are secondhand EVs on the market. Our EV batteries are guaranteed for 8 years. A full EV is quite heavy, would that effect towing if it was on a trailer? There are reasons, pointed out by Peedee due to the systems with EVs that could present problems if towed, including brakes locking etc if the battery runs out. It's not something I can give all the details about but we've looked at it and that's the present thinking.
Running costs for a full EV are minimal, £3 plus for an overnight charge and for ours an occasional 8 pints of fuel for the range extender which regenerates the battery on longer journeys. We can travel any distance on this system but unfortunately the REX system has been abandoned by the car maker.
Looks like you mean you've got a PVC and are thinking about an EV as a second vehicle? We've got a small motorhome and run an EV as our car. We have got used to the concept of EVs and we're happy with ours but it's not for everyone at present.
However a small hybrid is a good way to get into EVs, these are good for short journeys and this might be worth considering?
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I should add that the overnight charge costs I posted would be at the maximum end. Sometimes a charge isn't needed, sometimes it's a partial charge, so this costs pence rather than pounds. However hybrids, with a smaller battery capacity would need more frequent charging.
Hope this helps in any decision making Rayjsj, there probably aren't enough incentives to go down the EV route at present and infrastructure is one of them.
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I am resisting changing our £20 VED Euro 5 Golf as I am sure the EV market with present vehicles is very much in a state of flux.
Our Golf journeys tend to include some significant distance runs, rather than simply being a shopping trolley vehicle.
EV vehicles presently involve such a fast changing technology. It needs to be to meet many user's expectation, as well as new technology has an inherent tendency to improve, think computers and smart phones.
So what is "state of the art" today is not going to be such tomorrow. I suspect, that can and probably is already reflecting in depreciation being higher than the vehicle market has come used to until the whole issue was turned on its head recently.
Therefore, my view is until I see the impact of any new legislation looming to hurt me I will hang in with what I have, every year its value decreasing so with it the financial hurt we will take. Hopefully by then more market acceptable EVs will be here.
If we lived in a city rather than the sticks, a city where "taxing" Euro 5 hurt already, then the balance would be different.
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