High cost for a few miles
Did anyone else note the letter in the latest magazine from a guy who has bought a Mercedes EQC 400 Sport. This is an all electric car which costs in the region of £65,000. For that price it is possible to pull a caravan of 1500kg for all of about 100 miles before needing to be recharged ! It might be super quiet and well built but at that price I would hope it is.
For the life of me I cannot see diesels being phased out during my lifetime. There isn't anything at present that is a viable equivalent that could take the place of a diesel engine that most people would be able to afford.
Don't get me wrong, I've got nothing against electric vehicles, our milk used to be delivered in one every morning, but there are so many things that will need to be addressed before they can be universally accepted. I see a great future, though, for companies making very long heavy duty extension leads !!
Comments
-
I think having an electric car as your everyday vehicle is one thing, towing another. Our car is electric - 200 - 250 mile range on a full charge. Speed, acceleration - great. In fact acceleration is better than our previous 4 year old car. Yes, it cost us more to buy, insurance is about the same, but electricity is, as far as we can tell, (had car in June) about 40% of petrol costs. We are well pleased with it. I dont know what its tow capabilities are - certainly not a caravan.
But - our leisure vehicle is a motorhome.
I am sure that in due course we will get alternative fuel tow cars, but I am not suffiviently in the know to predict how they will be fuelled.
0 -
It may be that our government, keen to show it's green credentials, has over estimated the power of electricity and our ability to spend £50K+ on a suitable tug.
Let alone the capability of manufacturers to produce electric cars, vans and lorries etc., that would hasten the demise of petrol and diesel by their suggested date.
Although I will not be there to see it, I doubt very much that our world will be sgreen as they had hoped.at the time anticipated.
0 -
It seems, to me, quite clear that this, and governments of any persuasion, are all too keen to 'look good' and don't seem to worry too much about the consequences.
As for considering the concerns of people who tow I would be amazed that this might even register!
If you watch TV you could think that everything is going great, cant remember last TV ad for a non electric car, but unless EV ownership increases the uncertainties will creep in-none wants to build vehicles that cant be sold in large enough volumes to make an acceptable profit.
I cant see how the current situation, and its dire effect on both public and private finances, will not have an effect on both infrastructure plans and vehicle purchases..
Due to my age, and the chances of it affecting me, it is not something that I have followed closely however,the appeal of EVs is obvious but, like many other things in life, its a great idea that may prove to be very problematic to put into widespread use.
0 -
Realistically, at the current state of play, EV's are only practicable as city/commuter cars. Distance touring/towing/motorhoming have entirely different requirements that electricity cannot, at the present time, satisfy.
8 -
Let's hope Bojo's threat of no IC engined cars to be sold after 2030 is just his usual baloney. Otherwise there will be a lot of scrap caravans.
As said above, just a pie in the sky comment designed to make him look good, with no thought for the consequences.
Just imagine a motorway service station. At the moment you have probably a dozen or so cars filling, at say 10 minutes a fill including paying. Imagine that multiplied by 2 hours per vehicle, and only 3 or 4 charging points. We'll need our caravans to live in whilst we queue.
I do wonder what, if anything, the Club are doing on this subject?
1 -
"I do wonder what, if anything, the Club are doing on this subject?"
They're diversifying into rented static accommodation, Nutsy, much to the dismay of some as the Cayton Village thread demonstrates.1 -
You can already charge EVs via your external LV socket for £8 or £2 for a hibrid ,it will mean like the rest of the UK massive investment in upgrading the infrastructure to cope
As there are thousands of houses that are unable to access charging points for their multiple cars it is going to be a very "interesting" debate in the very near future
0 -
I may have read it here sometime, but surely the simplest answer, if you could only get the motor industry to agree to a standard size/design, would be to have a network of replacement batteries, rather like gas bottles, where you could pull up and have a fully charged battery fitted and on your way in a matter of minutes. If they really want us to buy electric cars, and are as serious about the planet as they'd like us to think, surely this wouldn't be too hard to achieve?
3 -
Due to the cellular nature of EV batteries this may not be a practical proposition. Ours fill the bed of the car, the main thing needed is charging infrastructure. People who don't have charging access at home will need easy access elsewhere, much like petrol stations are used now.. Our EV is four years old and we're still happy we bought it.
0 -
Even if swapped out batteries could be facilitated, would it be as good as the one you just had? Your new car's one replaced by a clapped out four year old one that only holds 70% of its new charge?
2 -
You have a floor load of batteries in an EV, I've mentioned before that they look like a flat box of dominoes. If ours need replacing (8 year guarantee) I presume the floor will need to be removed and new ones fitted I think the cost is around £2000 at the moment (but I may be wrong on that as I'm just the driver!
) We run the batteries down occasionally but mostly we don't need to, so a quick short charge at home keeps everything going. EVs and hybrids are very good for local journeys, I get a shock when I see fuel prices.However the thread is about change, which is now coming faster than we thought and I hope developments for tow cars/motorhomes will speed up too. Will it be motorhomes or tow cars which take precedence?
0 -
Battery prices have come down since the first EVs came out and some can be leased, maybe the merc batteries will cost less now? It's not easy to find the latest figures for replacements as most haven't reached that point yet. If ours are guaranteed for eight years we've got half way so far.
0 -
Video unavailable
This video has been removed by the uploader0
.
