Are you ready for an electric car?

Good advice if you are fortunate enough to have a charging facility at an overnight location, very many don’t.
More important is to be aware of available chargers in the area and allow sufficient time to charge when needed.

1 Like

Currently for me until there is a good electric pick up with over 300 miles range (that includes towing a trailer) electric isn’t an option.

Waiting to see Ford’s electric Ranger when it’s finally ready.

It’s true that the typical Jo probably doesn’t need 300 miles on a single charge maybe that’s just me (possibly a few others) because I’m/we are used to having a car that would run on petrol/diesel that would do this on a full tank.

But on the other hand, whilst I only commute 21.4 miles to/from work 5 days a week (obviously not including self isolation) if you have these needs because you go camping throughout the year etc and have need to take 2 cars, I wouldn’t want to have a car with such a low mileage range that I would need to stop every 100 miles to ensure I have enough charge to get to the destination. Like everything it all comes down to individual need

I agree 100 mile range would be a pain. But 200 mile range would get you to pretty much anywhere in the UK with one maybe two stops at most.

But how long would those stops have to be? If you’re in the middle of nowhere I doubt they’ll have a fast charger and otherwise it can take 10-20 hours to fully charge a battery, whereas I can refuel in 5 minutes

I would love an electric car, but range and cost mean mean I won’t be getting one anytime soon

1 Like

In the new Zoe it’s 50 mins to go from 20% to 80% at a 50kw charger, which you can find at plenty of motorway service stations.
Just because you’re traveling to the middle of nowhere doesn’t mean you have to charge in the middle of nowhere. You can charge 100 miles away from your destination, go to your destination then drive 100 miles back on your return trip. Granted it takes more planning, and you will have to wait an hour every 3 hours of driving. But just plan your lunch to coincide with your stop. Also worth factoring in the cost of refueling. It might only take 5 mins to fill your tank, but it’ll cost about 10 times more than charging an EV.

This spring I was meant to go and visit relatives in Wales. From where I live, I could’ve driven 3.5 hours, refill my car in 5 minutes when I’m there then not worry about petrol for the week. Top up in five, then drive home and refuel again in 5 minutes before doing my weekly shop

With a Zoe I’d be cutting it fine trying to make it to Wales in the first place. The nearest 7kW point to my relatives is 7 miles away so I’d have to stop there for 7-8 hours (according to the internet) to fill my battery up (hardly a lunch). Stop for a few hours again on the way back to top up, then at home waste another 8 hours

While I agree that I’d love an electric car, and it would work for the majority of my travel, it is simply impractical currently

And that’s a real worry. Who really wants to extend their day to that extent purely for refuelling?

Charging times will surely remain a real challenge.

4 Likes

Carl
That is well said, and what I was trying to say but didn’t do particularly well. It is important to pick an EV range that is suitable for (I would say) 90% of your expected journeys.
Aiming for a range of 350 miles because you drove to Scotland once in the last couple of years would probably not be sensible, but if you visit family in Bristol regularly so need 150 miles then that would be sensible to include in your “requirements”.

I agree, but part of this is planning when you do exceptional journeys. There are lots of fast chargers available across many areas of the UK and all EVs have the locations built into their sat nav systems.

David

I have never known any EV owner that was required to fully charge a car, except Bjorn Nyland when he has been carrying out his excellent tests and showing the results on his YouTube channel.
Keep in mind that whilst some ICE owners will try and run their car on fumes it is not something an EV driver would do.
My car will provide, if the battery is lower than 40%, additional range of around 50 miles in about 15 minutes or less so the anxiety you have is not something that has ever troubled me.
Incidentally I drove to Cardiff from Cambridge and then back again without the need to charge after the initial top up of 50 minutes at the outset.

Like I said, you don’t have to charge at the destination you can charge 100 miles away. So your trip could look more like this; Drive for 2.5 hours, stop for an hour for lunch and top up, drive the remaining 1 hour to your relatives. Then on the return, drive for an hour, stop for an hour to top up, then drive the remaining 2.5 hours back home. It turns 7 hours of total travel time into 9 hours, which is pretty reasonable for those one off trips to your relatives. Plus if you’re staying over, then you could top up overnight and avoid the second charge altogether.
edit: and again it would cost 10 times more to fuel a petrol car for the same journey.

Its not like you have to stand there waiting for 8 hours. You charge overnight while you sleep. or at a 50kw charger for an hour.

1 Like

If you’re regularly spending all day driving, then sure, an electric car might be a pain. But personally if I’m doing a 6 hour drive I will take a break to eat and stretch my legs.

Sure, but that starts to pale if you’re doing several 6 hour drives a week.

1 Like

We may all discover post Covid19 that many of the journeys that today are regarded as essential will not be in the future.
Only a foolish management would not review the possible opportunity for doing things differently.

2 Likes

This assumes that the relative has off street parking, which isn’t a given for most people

I agree. If you’re doing multiple nonstop 6 hour journeys every week then an EV would be a pain.

2 Likes
3 Likes
2 Likes
1 Like

Paywallled :-1:

I guess the gist of it is in the title though? :smiley: