What's the problem with electric cars?

[Whippy]

Originally Posted by Thekilt

I had an issue yesterday when parking. I didnt really need to charge as i had 170 miles remaining, and the cost per kwh was quite high. However to pay for parking was more arduous than charging. We didnt have any change, the parking machine didnt take card, and when trying to use the app it stated i was already registered but even after resetting password i still couldnt get in. 5 minutes faffing i gave up, parked at the charger (third party charger) plugged in and tapped the RFID card from Octopus and behold it was charging. Wasnt an issue at all. I have had bad experiances with third party chargers, and i dont for one minute disbeleive any of the issues other people have had. Its not all roses with Tesla chargers either. We have encountered ones which dont work, or dodgy connectors but luckily at the time of day we were there it wasnt busy at all.

I remember well the times i was at fuel stations and there wasnt any fuelat the pumps, then trying to find another local station with fuel before running out. similar stories but people forget this and focus on the negative of something they dont like.

Don't get too comfy,

https://www.ft.com/content/114effb2-...d-00a96a0336a2

😂😂😂

[Thekilt]

Originally Posted by Whippy

Don't get too comfy,

https://www.ft.com/content/114effb2-...d-00a96a0336a2

😂😂😂

its not all doom and gloom https://www.reuters.com/business/aut...rk-2024-04-30/

If tesla has been awarded funding from the DoE to expand, and they still have plans to expand but at a lower pace, and improve the reliability then they arent going anywhere.

This team has most likely been in place for 10 years +, given how long the supercharger network has been live. Who knows why Musk did it, however if he is looking at leaning the company a good place to start is the pay to employees. personel who have been around for a while with incremental pay increases ends up being a large pay pot. I dont like this methodology at all, but getting in new blood at a lower price reduces the overhead of the company. As the supercharger network is pretty stable right now is there a need to have a team who are responsible for creating and expanding it? we do the same at my work. Put teams in place for R&D projects, then disband when completed. Some may stay on but others not. they may be on short term contracts, but the news wont know the details.

[Kev0607]

Originally Posted by Forg

Why can't they learn from the Toyota hybrids which charge the battery as you drive around? Then you wouldn't need a power socket at all!

I always thought hybrid's were a better alternative. As you say, no charging infrastructure needed or home charging. They never really "took off" here though. It seems the vast majority of hybrid's are taxi's.

[Thekilt]

Originally Posted by Kev0607

I always thought hybrid's were a better alternative. As you say, no charging infrastructure needed or home charging. They never really "took off" here though. It seems the vast majority of hybrid's are taxi's.

I looked at plug in hybrids before going full electric, such as a few of the volvos and BMWs. with a 20 mile range that would suit our day to day driving dropping kids off and work commute. However my issues with it were:

1. You still had a service schedule
2. increased risk of something going wrong as you have both the electric drivetrain and engine
3. The weight is greater as you are carrying a battery and motor as well as the normal engine
4. Boot space is normally reduced due to the motor and battery location
5. on long journeys where you dont use the electric motor, you then use the petrol/Diesel which was the cause of my daughters travel sickness on long journeys (the vibrations)
6. Still had the high prices for fuel when not running on electric

For our case it wasnt really worth going this way, but other people they work well for. there is nothing inherently "Wrong" with electric cars, they work for certain people and not others.

[Whippy]

Originally Posted by Thekilt

I looked at plug in hybrids before going full electric, such as a few of the volvos and BMWs. with a 20 mile range that would suit our day to day driving dropping kids off and work commute. However my issues with it were:

1. You still had a service schedule
2. increased risk of something going wrong as you have both the electric drivetrain and engine
3. The weight is greater as you are carrying a battery and motor as well as the normal engine
4. Boot space is normally reduced due to the motor and battery location
5. on long journeys where you dont use the electric motor, you then use the petrol/Diesel which was the cause of my daughters travel sickness on long journeys (the vibrations)
6. Still had the high prices for fuel when not running on electric

For our case it wasnt really worth going this way, but other people they work well for. there is nothing inherently "Wrong" with electric cars, they work for certain people and not others.

I'm not sure about hybrids, if I was forced I would go into a self charging, but it's difficult to see where any real benefits accrued from that. For me plug ins are the devils toy, when running on pixies you're lugging around the extra weight of an engine and transmission, when on planet killing compound your lugging around all the weight from the dead battery, motors, wiring etc. fine if you tootle to b and q at the weekend but then why not just buy an EV.

[Kev0607]

Originally Posted by Thekilt

I looked at plug in hybrids before going full electric, such as a few of the volvos and BMWs. with a 20 mile range that would suit our day to day driving dropping kids off and work commute. However my issues with it were:

1. You still had a service schedule
2. increased risk of something going wrong as you have both the electric drivetrain and engine
3. The weight is greater as you are carrying a battery and motor as well as the normal engine
4. Boot space is normally reduced due to the motor and battery location
5. on long journeys where you dont use the electric motor, you then use the petrol/Diesel which was the cause of my daughters travel sickness on long journeys (the vibrations)
6. Still had the high prices for fuel when not running on electric

For our case it wasnt really worth going this way, but other people they work well for. there is nothing inherently "Wrong" with electric cars, they work for certain people and not others.

I was referring to self charging hybrids, not the plug in ones. I don't see the point of plug in hybrids. However, the points you make are still valid. There's still an engine in a hybrid that needs to be serviced, whereas there isn't in an EV (or much less to service anyway). Then there's the weight and fuel prices.

I think the biggest bonus to a self charging hybrid is exactly that, self charging. It may work well for people in rural areas that don't have easy access to charging points or the facility to charge at home. Then again, those people probably just have ICE vehicles.

[Tannaton]

Originally Posted by Kev0607

I was referring to self charging hybrids, not the plug in ones. I don't see the point of plug in hybrids. However, the points you make are still valid. There's still an engine in a hybrid that needs to be serviced, whereas there isn't in an EV (or much less to service anyway). Then there's the weight and fuel prices.

I think the biggest bonus to a self charging hybrid is exactly that, self charging. It may work well for people in rural areas that don't have easy access to charging points or the facility to charge at home. Then again, those people probably just have ICE vehicles.

The big issue with self charging hybrids is the run entirely on fossil fuel burned in an engine....

[GMcL]

The point of plug-in hybrid is not either or. You leave home with a full charge and a full tank gives a range of almost 500 miles which, at motorway speed, is better than any EV can manage. They work together to give ca. 54mpg and give almost 300 horsepower, What's not to like ?

If you can cover your usage with an EV battery then that's for you, if not, a plug-in hybrid might just be what you need. It's what I'm looking at for my motoring needs, my wife has an EV. Something like a 330e would cover what I do today with a diesel S60 and petrol Focus estate.

You could question what's the point of a 48v belt driven starter generator ? Can't drive on electric only, not powerful enough to really make a difference to overall mpg.

[The Thong]

Originally Posted by Tannaton

The big issue with self charging hybrids is the run entirely on fossil fuel burned in an engine....

My Crosstrek grabs every opportunity to grab sparks. Apart from braking regen, it charges on over run and at certain speeds charges direct off the engine. My motor switches over to running on the motor on urban roads at low speeds unless there’s either need to accelerate a bit sharpish or I hit a small climb. Alternatively it’ll switch to battery in a 50 mph road if the conditions are right and it’s down hill. The battery has a three mile range on it at the most but it’s surprisingly quick to recharge again etc etc again. I usually pootle up and down my street in battery mode. I’d happily have a Half Fat EV but I’ve got no where to charge it.
A friend of mine has an MG HS Hybrid who’s taken full advantage of the cheap electric incentives and it’s saving him a decent amount of money. He gets cheap electric between 00.30am to 04.30am so they run the washing machine and other things at the same time as well as changing the motor. He’s had the motor for three months and is still running on the petrol that came with the car. He reckons he’s getting 40 miles on the battery inc regen charging which is pretty respectable. With the right usage, chargeable hybrids are a good choice. My brother does the same with his Kia except his wife has a dedicated parking space at work with a free charger. She does 12 miles a day and recharges at work…. Quids in.

TT

[Kev0607]

Originally Posted by Tannaton

The big issue with self charging hybrids is the run entirely on fossil fuel burned in an engine....

And the electricity to charge an EV is produced with fossil fuels...