Electric cars

[Fixer Ed]

I'll 100% guarantee you'll not catch me buying an electric car!

IMO they are OK for shopping and short range commuting but a complete liability for anything else.

Now if the manufacturers had got their heads together and come up with a small range of standardised battery packs which would fit maybe not all but the vast majority of popular cars (more than one pack for bigger cars), and which could be physically swapped out robotically at the equivalent of petrol stations, owners could 'recharge' and in virtually the same way - and not much more time - then it takes to fill a tank with petrol or diesel.

[Sheff_Blade]

When you think about it, who is going to invest the huge sums of money required to install charging points (the electrical cabling alone for these high voltage units is exorbitant). The absolute maximum return you can get is from 24 customers per day. If each pays £10(?) to charge their car for an hour, after you pay the energy company 90%(?) then you may make £24 per day! Laughable! It will require billions of £ in government subsidies, and we all know how successful government subsidies have been in the past.

[Brian Deacon]

When you think about it, who is going to invest the huge sums of money required to install charging points (the electrical cabling alone for these high voltage units is exorbitant). The absolute maximum return you can get is from 24 customers per day. If each pays £10(?) to charge their car for an hour, after you pay the energy company 90%(?) then you may make £24 per day! Laughable! It will require billions of £ in government subsidies, and we all know how successful government subsidies have been in the past.

And then there’s hydrogen making great strides that could make electric vehicles obsolete in not too many years.

[Bee]

Bit like the gas bottles. One-for-one. Probably never see that day Fixer Ed as I am currently looking at 4 different battery chargers for 4 different makes of garden tools. Your idea crossed my mind last week when I purchased the 4th garden tool. Be better if you could have a spare battery to swap out yourself. The batteries would want to decrease in price by about 90% for that to happen.

Bee

[Vino]

A guy i used to work with recently bought an electric MG he decided to go from London to Blackpool for a long weekend...it took him 12 hours 1 way chargers en route were either not working or being used on return to London he drove it straight back to the dealers .

It doesn't surprise me Aos, just imagine what it would be if everyone had Electric cars,
The UK National Grid couldn't keep up !
Plus taking in the environmental impact caused by the manufacture and disposal of the vast amount of batteries.I
I'll wait until new technology appears , maybe hydrogen power !
Until then i will stick with my oil burner

[Army of stars]

A guy i used to work with recently bought an electric MG he decided to go from London to Blackpool for a long weekend...it took him 12 hours 1 way chargers en route were either not working or being used on return to London he drove it straight back to the dealers .

It doesn't surprise me Aos, just imagine what it would be if everyone had Electric cars,
The UK National Grid couldn't keep up !
Plus taking in the environmental impact caused by the manufacture and disposal of the vast amount of batteries.I
I'll wait until new technology appears , maybe hydrogen power !
Until then i will stick with my oil burner

I attended a seminar in Oxford 12 years ago for alternative vehicle fuels and the best speaker there was anMD of a company that manufactured fuel cells,apparently the technology has been around since the 1940s.....it emits only water that apparently is excellent for removing make up.

[Brian Deacon]

A guy i used to work with recently bought an electric MG he decided to go from London to Blackpool for a long weekend...it took him 12 hours 1 way chargers en route were either not working or being used on return to London he drove it straight back to the dealers .

It doesn't surprise me Aos, just imagine what it would be if everyone had Electric cars,
The UK National Grid couldn't keep up !
Plus taking in the environmental impact caused by the manufacture and disposal of the vast amount of batteries.I
I'll wait until new technology appears , maybe hydrogen power !
Until then i will stick with my oil burner

I attended a seminar in Oxford 12 years ago for alternative vehicle fuels and the best speaker there was anMD of a company that manufactured fuel cells,apparently the technology has been around since the 1940s.....it emits only water that apparently is excellent for removing make up.

They are Hydrogen Fuel Cells, making rapid progress but still a way to go yet but I believe that is where the future lies for fuelling our vehicles.

[Eden]

Hi, There is also the new Sodium Chloride (Salt) batteries, which seem to be developing. Raw materials could be far less objectional than Lithium mining and it said that they have a far larger capacity and should therefore be lighter in weight, thus may be a far better range than the current EVs
Personally speaking, I think the alternative fuels issue and the severe lack of infrastructure for refueling would rule me out of the market for the time being. I'll stick with my diesel 4X4 for the time being.

[Rosiemac]

Everything you say is true. Our daughter bought a new BMW hybrid. Took it to a government building car park and plugged it in. Left it there for 3 hours. Got 11 miles out of it. Had a charger point fitted at the side of her house. Charges it every evening and still needs to buy fuel. The installation of the charger point was expensive too. What’s it all about. Big talk about climate control. A waste of effort in the U.K. other countries have been successful but I wouldn’t rely on our British government doing much for the motorist apart from slapping charges onto the electric points.
We need a massive think tank to get this new electric car dream to be something realistic , affordable and practical. Motorists don’t have time to sit and edit in a queue to have their car charged. It’s ridiculous.

[Bee]

I'll 100% guarantee you'll not catch me buying an electric car!

IMO they are OK for shopping and short range commuting but a complete liability for anything else.

Now if the manufacturers had got their heads together and come up with a small range of standardised battery packs which would fit maybe not all but the vast majority of popular cars (more than one pack for bigger cars), and which could be physically swapped out robotically at the equivalent of petrol stations, owners could 'recharge' and in virtually the same way - and not much more time - then it takes to fill a tank with petrol or diesel.

I see where the Chinese now have battery swop stations so maybe not too long before their idea makes it to Europe. They are producing much more affordable EVs at the moment too.

https://www.electrive.com/2023/02/21/ni ... 20highways.


Fascinating video on the battery swap



Bee