Electric Vehicles

[SolarWarrior]

Hi all,

I have been driving an EV, Nissan Leaf for work and wondered if there was any other sparkies/traders using similar cars or vans and how you are getting on?

I have clocked up 15,000 miles and still within my first year, there have been some ups and downs along the way, but nothing major or any mechanical failures, just human failures lol.

Look forward to hear from you and in advance thanks for reading.

 

[dansk]

Theirs one or two people in the PV section that do. Photovoltaic / Solar Panels Forum - Electricians Forums

 

[Kamikaze]

Electric vehicles are like heaven. Everyone wants to go there, but no one wants to go now.

 

[Sparkysoldman]

My wife's got a leaf and I have to say its brilliant early days yet but as long as you know it's limitations ie range it's fun to drive and virtually free.

Did 300 mile round trip today with 4 stops of 20 mins to charge one at ikea where she did some shopping and one when she stopped for a bite.

All charges were free so saved about £70 on fuel

once they sort out range conventional fuels are dead at the moment it just needs a bit of planning

 

[Marvo]

I've never seen an electric or hybrid car, they're not readily available where I am and there's certainly no charging points anywhere. How much did you pay for you nissan leaf and how much more expensive was it than a petrol driven equivalent car? Also if there's free charging points and it's effectively free from fuel costs why isn't everyone in the UK driving them?

 

[Richard Burns]

I've never seen an electric or hybrid car, they're not readily available where I am and there's certainly no charging points anywhere. How much did you pay for you nissan leaf and how much more expensive was it than a petrol driven equivalent car? Also if there's free charging points and it's effectively free from fuel costs why isn't everyone in the UK driving them?

The initial cost of an electric vehicle is usually greater than twice the non electric equivalent so this puts it out of range for most.
An electric vehicle generally has limited range at the moment and is therefore only useful for short journeys and one where you know there is a charging point.
There are not so many charging points available yet and whilst the vast majority are free at the moment there are definite and clear cut plans to introduce pricing structures for charging points in the near future, they are only free at the moment because of government incentives.
Knowing the way the economy works I am sure the cost of charging will go up prohibitively high very quickly.

Just for reference this is a list of EVs from a US website showing the purchase cost this year of various vehicles.
BMW i3 — $41,350 / €34,950 (Germany)
BMW i8 — $135,700 / €126,000 (Germany)
Bolloré Bluecar — €12,000 + €80/mo battery (France)
BYD e6 — $52,000
Cadillac ELR — $75,000
Chevy Spark EV — $27,495
Chevy Volt — $34,185
Citröen Berlingo Électrique — €26,220 (France) / £21,300 / 239,900 NOK
Citröen C-Zero — €29,600 (France) / £21,216 / 233,900 NOK
Fiat 500e — $31,800
Ford C-Max Energi — $32,950
Ford Focus Electric — $35,200
Ford Fusion Energi — $38,700
Goupil G3 — €17,000 (France) / £13,500 utility vehicle
Honda Accord PHEV — $39,780
Honda FCX Clarity — $600/mo (lease only)
Honda Fit EV — $259/mo (lease only)
Kia Soul EV — $35,000?
Mercedes-Benz B-Class Electric — $41,450
Mia Electric Mia — €12,255 (France) / 159,900 NOK
Mia Electric Mia L — €12,781 (France) / 165,900 NOK
Mia Electric Mia U — €11,730 (France) / £21,995 / 153,900 NOK
Mitsubishi i — $22,995
Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV — €33,050 (Netherlands)
Nissan Leaf — $28,800
Opel Ampera — €38,300 (Germany) / £33,750 / 349,900 NOK
Peugeot iOn — €29,600 (France) / £21,216 / 177,800 NOK
Peugeot Partner EV — €26,220 (France) / £21,300 / 241,000 NOK
Porsche Panamera S-E Hybrid — $99,000
Renault Kangoo ZE — €20,450 (France) / £20,517
Renault Twizy — €7,240 (France) / £6,895 two-seater
Renault Zoe — €20,900 (France) / £13,995
smart electric drive — $19,990 + $80/Month Battery Rental
Tesla Model S — $71,070
Tesla Model X — $60,000
Toyota Prius PHEV – $29,990
Via Motors VTRUX SUV, Truck, & Van — $79,000
VW e-Golf — €34,900 (Germany)
VW e-Up! — €26,900 (Germany) / £19,250
VW XL1 — €111,000 (Germany)
Wheego LiFE — $32,995
Wheego Whip — $18,995

 

[Fin170]

I do a lot of travelling up and down the country now and I am starting to see quite a few now, the police Vauxhall Amperas look very sci-fi and saw a model s for the first time last week on the A303

As for charging points I think every motorway service station, most little chiefs and a lot of ASDA car parks have them now. Think I'd be future proofing domestic charging points for more than 16A though

 

[Kamikaze]

In general the largest obstacle that hold back the EV market is not just battery technology, which is slowly being solved by what I would call dedicated enthusiasts, but by the fact that competition only exists in small markets. All big industries are driven by collusion and oligopolies. It's cheaper and easier for oil companies to lobby electric car manufacturers into bankruptcy, than it is to be forced into competing honestly with them. You only have to look at what’s happening to Tesla Motors to figure that one out. As for the Vauxhall Ampera, I quite like the look of them. Although I think they’ve overdone it with all them buttons on that dashboard. There should only be one big red button marked “Mario Karts”.