I think at that stage they become self aware and take over the human race 
1 Like
Bit of much needed investment at the motorway services
2021 might be the year I do a Bob Dylan, with the Mini JCW Electric due. Iād rather have an electric Abarth, but if the Mini is attractive enough I may have to finally hop off the fence.
1 Like
Piqued my interest. Expecting the range to be up thereā¦
Bit of a disappointment.
3 Likes
Iāve come to the conclusion that once my driving test is passed, the only option I really have is a hybrid. More than likely a Yaris.
I keep landing on the electric car page, however itās the range letting them down in all cases. Battery capacity, charging speeds, just arenāt quite there yet for what I require.
Itās approx 500 mile drive to my dadās place. To do that with petrol itāll only need one stop for fuel and a couple of toilets breaks and a break for food / drink.
Replicate that in a electric car. Itās 3 or 4 stops to top up for 99.9% of the current market, of at least 60 minutes whilst the battery gets charged. So that 10 hour drive then becomes 14 hours if you go for the top end of 4 charges. Youāve then got the fact that public car charger points arenāt at the moment totally reliable.
If I get a hybrid, itāll do be for 5-8 years until such a time that technology catches up, range increases, prices come down, charge points become more readily available and reliable.
If I was only driving local, then electric would be by 1st choice.
2 Likes
I found that if you just drive locally then you donāt save loads on fuel and therefore canāt justify the huge cost of an electric car.
1 Like
Hadnāt thought about that too be fair, not factored that in as not really researched it to much, given Iāll be driving all over the place.
I used to get excited about electric cars, but now Iāve looked further Iām just meh, yeah whatever.
So who are electric cars for in their current state? Those who desperately want to be more polar bear friendly, no matter the inconvenience?
I say this as someone who desperately wants to choose a more environmentally friendly car, but canāt for the same reasons as above.
I just wish hydrogen cars took off instead
What do you drive now?
We currenly have a 1.0 Kia Xceed which is surprisingly nippy for itās puny size, if still a relative tortoise compared to our previous 320D GT.
But it is super economical and low emmision, for a petrol vehicle.
Iād happily go electric too but the economics donāt make sense yet for us.
In my Kona I could easily achieve a 500 mile journey with just one 40 minute break for lunch and a top up charge.
I would have over 200 miles of range available at the destination.
1 Like
Itās a weird balance I found.
You do need to travel quite a bit to make it cost effective, but as @DaveJ said not too far because that then opens up a host of other issues.
I wouldnāt say youāre doing great things for the environment by owning one either. Itās certainly a step in the right direction but as discussed earlier all the battery production, lifespan and disposal seems to be a huge negative in this aspect.
I still really want a Tesla by the way, but now I work from home it would get used even less which pushes it even further out of my price range.
1 Like
I was just about to write this too. Unfortunately the latest prediction is electric fuel cells are going to fall to such a price that they out compete the cost of hydrogen fuel cells.
Thereās plenty research going into hydrogen, including how to not have to pack it into the fuel cell under pressure.
I do believe that theyāll be a course correction at some point in the future, where the next generation of kids looks back, at how we went mental for batteries and caused the next disaster scenario. Hydrogen will get a look in then to go mainstream.
Early adopters. They still need to come down in price and go up in range before theyāre mass-market ready. Though in terms of cost, lower service charges should offset some of the higher ticket price, donāt forget.
1 Like
This is what I found really interesting when I visited a Tesla dealership and wasnāt initially aware of.
Break pads donāt need to be replaced as frequently because it is done with the engine and they donāt need servicing because there are no āserviceable partsā.
Not a huge saving but still money in your pocket nonetheless.
1 Like
This is my issue with the arbitrary deadline put on banning the sale of new petrol cars. Without investment in battery and charging design, the day new petrol cars are banned will just push used car prices sky-high as many will not want to make the change. We still have 9 years so hopefully someone pulls something out of the bag
Thatās the thing a lot of people donāt 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 donāt have them because thereās no need.
The aim of the deadline is to drive the change faster, though, which can only be a good thing. Iām reminded of leaded petrol, which was still a thing in my lifetime. Iām genuinely shocked it wasnāt banned sooner, but I also remember people at the time saying it was being banned too soon.
1 Like
There also needs to be a much, much larger spare parts market so that people donāt 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 couldnāt 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.
1 Like
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 Ā£72 and as an incentive to have the service carried out AA membership was renewed for a year.
1 Like
Oooh I didnāt 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.