Electric Cars - Home Powering.

So my above comment was totally irrelevant really, because we made the mistake of actually driving it and it was absolutely fantastic.

So sod the drawbacks, I'm hooked and one Mini Cooper E ordered.
You've made the right call. Honestly for a day to day runabout electric is so much better.
 
Yeah, I imagine an electric Mini Cooper really is quite a lot of fun!

The reason we were changing is because the Cooper S is quite a noisy car, which at 6am is getting irritating now. So my thinking was go for the 1.5 Cooper, which is a 3 cylinder petrol, less noise and better on fuel, but still a similar driving experience as the Cooper S. How wrong was I... It was gutless, boring, and actually rather unrefined due to that engine, and my wife noticed that straight away.

Jumping out of that and into the Electric was jaw dropping. The performance is mind blowing. It drove like her Cooper S, but better, faster, more powerful, no lag and best of all, silent. I say silent, but it had a pretty cool Electric sound.

My wife is no petrol head and has no interest in changing her car, until she drove this thing and even she was like a kid in a candy store. I had a conversation the other week with Andy from Transporter HQ and he was telling me how his new Tesla is the best car he's ever driven or owned and couldn't see himself never not owning an EV, and now I totally understand.
 
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The reason we were changing is because the Cooper S is quite a noisy car, which at 6am is getting irritating now. So my thinking was go for the 1.5 Cooper, which is a 3 cylinder petrol, less noise and better on fuel, but still a similar driving experience as the Cooper S. How wrong was I... It was gutless, boring, and actually rather unrefined due to that engine, and my wife noticed that straight away.

Jumping out of that and into the Electric was jaw dropping. The performance is mind blowing. It drove like her Cooper S, but better, faster, more powerful, no lag and best of all, silent. I say silent, but it had a pretty cool Electric sound.

My wife is no petrol head and has no interest in changing her car, until she drove this thing and even she was like a kid in a candy store. I had a conversation the other week with Andy from Transporter HQ and he was telling me how his new Tesla is the best car he's ever driven or owned and couldn't see himself not ever owning an EV, and now I totally understand.

Yeah, I think that’s a pretty common reaction! It seems common for even the most determined petrol/diesel heads to change their views pretty abruptly as soon as they’ve sat in a decent EV. I’m definitely considering one as our next car given for any serious distance we’re invariably in the van anyway.
 
I had a thought the other day that perhaps the answer in the short term is a petrol/diesel hybrid that determines its form of propulsion based on GPS position. Electric for towns and cities and ICE for motorways and out in the sticks.
 
I followed a couple of model 3 Tesla's through town a few weeks back and you could see the drivers hadn't tired of winning the traffic lights grand Prix every single time,easily as fast as a litre class sports bike.
 
@RedUn. Out of interest, what sort of speeds would you expect to be doing over that 367 mile journey?
The calcs above are based on driving at the speed limits... In reality we drive it at the same speed you'd drive any quick car :thumbsup:
 
Yes, until you can do 5-600 miles on a charge and then fully recharge in the same time that it takes to fill the tank with diesel, and there are as many charging stations as there are petrol stations I’ll be sticking with IC engines.
There are more chargers than petrol stations already, been that way for a few years now. 8,380 Petrol Stations versus 15,935 charge stations.

[Source: Zap Map]
The total number of locations which have a public charging point installed is 15935, the number of devices at those locations is 25280 and the total number of connectors within these devices is 43454. There have been 537 new devices added to the Zap-Map database over the last 30 days which equates to 921 new connectors.
 
But how many pumps are at the petrol stations? That's not comparing eggs with eggs. Then take into account the amount of time spent at each pump versus plug. There would be some very long queues at the plugs if more and more people went electric right now.
 
But how many pumps are at the petrol stations? That's not comparing eggs with eggs. Then take into account the amount of time spent at each pump versus plug. There would be some very long queues at the plugs if more and more people went electric right now.
Do you have a petrol pump on your drive? Most people charge at home overnight when it's cheap as chips :thumbsup:
 
Then why did he make the comparison of charge points to petrol stations?

I've said before that EVs do have their uses. I'm still not convinced about overall cost of ownership. They may cost less per mile to 'fuel' but that's not the whole story.

There shouldn't be any need for people to justify their decisions based on costs or anything. I think for early adoptors, it's a lifestyle choice.
 
Then why did he make the comparison of charge points to petrol stations?

I've said before that EVs do have their uses. I'm still not convinced about overall cost of ownership. They may cost less per mile to 'fuel' but that's not the whole story.

There shouldn't be any need for people to justify their decisions based on costs or anything. I think for early adoptors, it's a lifestyle choice.
Myth busting more than anything I imagine.

It's interesting discussion either way, we're well past the early adopter phase now.

Agreed on the cost thing, you have to compare like for like though... Its like comparing a new T6 to an old transit...
 
Do you have a petrol pump on your drive? Most people charge at home overnight when it's cheap as chips :thumbsup:
No, I don't need one, there's petrol stations everywhere with 4-14 pumps per station and it takes me 5 minutes to fill up. That's to fill to the brim, not just enough to get home.
I shall have an EV at some point, they're getting better and better and the infrastructure is improving, but we have to be sensible when making claims.
 
There are more chargers than petrol stations already, been that way for a few years now. 8,380 Petrol Stations versus 15,935 charge stations.

[Source: Zap Map]
The total number of locations which have a public charging point installed is 15935, the number of devices at those locations is 25280 and the total number of connectors within these devices is 43454. There have been 537 new devices added to the Zap-Map database over the last 30 days which equates to 921 new connectors.
When you can charge an EV fully in 5 minutes that'll be a useful and relevant fact.
 
The VW iD4 should be arriving in a week or two and the Hypervolt charger is being installed on Tuesday..
I have not been in the pub for while but the dinosaur reaction to me buying an EV is familiar from the many conversations I have had with people who tell me how crap EV’s are when they have absolutely no idea what they are talking about. Test drove the iD3, iD4 and Skoda Enyaq. The Boss liked the interior in the iD4 the best.
I liked the way all of them drove, especially getting away from junctions and down slip roads.
Sitting at 90mph (allegedly officer) we could hold a whispered conversation.
And yes before a dinosaur chips in I know it’s speed limited to 99mph.
I am on my third diesel Passat Estate, good cars but felt so last century when we got back in it.
Grant for the charger installation then another £250 from Scottish government for charger and a 6 year interest free loan for £28,000 towards the car from Energy Saving Trust Scotland. Octopus Go account all set.
How is your Hypervolt @Deaky any tips?
 
Also the whole hanging on to ICE thing when there is a choice is a bit like leaving your grandchildren on the Titanic while you jump in the last lifeboat
 
Mileage tax, inevitable IMO.
I would agree. It’s not sustainable that vehicles from which less fuel tax is extracted are also charged less vehicle tax. Whilst I realise that these taxes are not hypothecated, there should surely be some correlation between road use and the contribution to its cost. Some form of road user charging would do this.

Before everyone cries out in horror, this doesn’t of course have to be an additional tax, rather the alternative charging methodology.
 
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