Are you ready for an electric car?

This is what I found really interesting when I visited a Tesla dealership and wasn’t initially aware of.

Break pads don’t need to be replaced as frequently because it is done with the engine and they don’t need servicing because there are no “serviceable parts”.

Not a huge saving but still money in your pocket nonetheless.

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That’s the thing a lot of people don’t realise (and I used to be in that number), an ICE (internal combustion engine) is full of moving parts that wear out, but electric cars simply don’t have them because there’s no need.

The aim of the deadline is to drive the change faster, though, which can only be a good thing. I’m reminded of leaded petrol, which was still a thing in my lifetime. I’m genuinely shocked it wasn’t banned sooner, but I also remember people at the time saying it was being banned too soon.

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There also needs to be a much, much larger spare parts market so that people don’t have to buy brand new replacement parts from the dealership at massive cost. The same applies with used cars.

I believe certain manufactures only allow you to have your car repaired/serviced at dealerships too, so you couldn’t pop to your nice friendly local garage. Or they just might not be equipped to deal with electric vehicles, especially with Tesla since all of the functionality is tightly controlled electronically.

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Electric Cars do need servicing, even Teslas.
My Kona has annual inspection and consumables such as tyres, brake fluid, pads, wipers etc are monitored.
Cost was £72 and as an incentive to have the service carried out AA membership was renewed for a year.

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Oooh I didn’t know that was on the way.

I hope Ford respond with a electric Fiesta/Focus ST.

They did this but I think the range and cost on that might be a bit impractical.

Which parts are you referring to ?
Already the parts most likely to require replacement on an electric car are readily available from outlets such as Halfords.
Presently the most profitable areas for a dealership are the service department and used car sales, without these profit streams many dealerships would have to close.
New car sales are more and more being sold via an agency arrangement and used car sales are being eaten away by online operators such as Cazoo and Cinch.

I need to start saving…

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The Tesla Roadster is the car I’m keeping an eye on… 0-60 in 1.1 seconds :scream:

I’m not sure this will ever be road legal but damn that’s fast:

Elon claims he can do better and he is tweaking it to get the car to hover slightly as well :confused:

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Just reporting in.
I’ve had my Renault Zoe ZE50 R135 for 15 months. Couple of mildly interesting stats;

  • No mechanical issues at all.

  • Only driven around 2,500 miles (pandemic plus working from home = hardly driven it at all)

  • Used approximately 625kWh of electricity

  • Total ‘Fuel’ cost approximately £40 (charged at home roughly once a month on Octopus Go tariff for 5p per kWh).

  • Average of 4 miles per kWh overall (as low as 2 mpkWh in the winter, versus as high as 8 in the summer):
    image

  • Average round trip distance: 15.5 miles

  • Average of 200 miles per 100% battery charge:
    image

  • Fairly wide range of estimates for mileage remaining (as low as 150 miles from a full charge in the winter versus 245 miles in the summer).
    image

Overall really satisfied with the car. Looking forward to doing some road trips and getting more use out of it once the restrictions start easing up even further.

Already looking ahead to what my next car might be in 3 years. Current contenders include;

There will no doubt be plenty more to chose from by then, so who knows.

Any questions, hit me up.

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Love love love the graphs!

Curious about summer vs winter though. I’d have thought it would be the other way around with aircon working hard to keep you cool. Is it because there isn’t the heat generated from the engine to keep you warm?

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The battery is cooler in the winter. Cooler battery = less efficient battery. So it can’t propel you as far per kWh of energy. Electric cars generally have longer range in the summer. It probably doesn’t help that my journeys are so short, so the battery rarely has enough time to get up to temperate and perform more efficiently.

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You can see the same effect with mobile phones, or digital cameras. Colder they are, the less they work.

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You’ve packed a lot into that statement :flushed_face:

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The thoughts of many, I suspect (certainly me, anyway).

And in a nutshell…? :point_down:t3:

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I’m not sure how you’re calculating that… almost all new EVs are >200 miles, the better ones are over 300… so it’s between 1 and 2 stops for a 500 mile journey which you can mix in with your toilet breaks.

Charging is typically 30 minutes, if you’re going empty to full.

And it’s not like that’s a daily commute, very few people go anywhere near that distance more than a couple of times a year.

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These are some of the figures of the larger battery options.

Hyundai Kona Electric - 300 miles
Hyundai Ioniq 5 - 300 miles

VW ID4 - 310 miles
VW ID3 - 336 miles
Skoda Enyaq iV - 316 miles

Kia EV6 - 316 miles

Ford Mustang Mach-E - 379 miles

Tesla Model S - 412 miles
Tesla Model 3 - 360 miles
Tesla Model X - 360 miles

So you may need to stop three times for those attempting to do this journey of 874 miles.

download

For everyone else doing 74 miles as a long drive its probably fine in a 200+ mile version. :sweat_smile:

For that one time I might want to attempt to drive to Scotland for a holiday I would welcome a few 30 min stops regardless of what is powering the car.

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874 miles at £6/ Gallon diesel compared to 15p/KWh.

My Kona over last 30 months has averaged 4.8 miles per KWh, equivalent to range of 307 miles.

You do the maths :rofl:

Coincidently carwow’s new upload is doing 571-miles Scotland to London…

I’d have the Audi. So…

270 kW charging 10-80% full in 21 mins
150 kW charging 10-80% full in 31 mins
100 kW charging 10-80% full in 42 mins

Tesla
150 kW charging 10-80% full in 40 mins
75 kW charging 10-80% full in 68 mins

In that vid above he mentions 252 watt hours about 4 miles per KWh which seems pretty ace for the Tesla S. :+1: Then later about 3.7 per KWh, but its miles ahead of Audi 2.8 per KWh

Are the quoted ranges on electric cars more accurate than mpg on “normal cars”.

For example, my car is supposed to do 65 mpg but I actually get ~25. So they probably got the initial figure from coasting the car downhill because I’ve never got anywhere near that with normal use :laughing: