Electricians Vans, any of you have electric vans? How good are they now?

[Dan]

Wondering how many of you have electric vans now being used as your main electricians van? Are they good enough now to use for work?

Had a similar thread on tilersforums and there's one guy that had them since they were shyte and he stuck with them and now says they're brilliant and definitely worth having if you have a drive to keep it on charging nightly. Think it's a Nissan something or other.

 

[MDJ]

we have 3 at work, the guys who drive them hate them. the little van only does just over 100 miles between charges and the large vans 180 ish, there is then the task of sitting in the van for an hour and a half wasting company time whilst charging them as well. The guys just hate them

 

[Dan]

Well it can't be a one off if 3 of them are all hated! Think I'll stick with diesel then ha

Do you not stick them on charge overnight then?

 

[MDJ]

Well it can't be a one off if 3 of them are all hated! Think I'll stick with diesel then ha

Do you not stick them on charge overnight then?

nope the company give the guys cards where they charge at points in carparks etc, no charging at home

 

[Marvo]

we have 3 at work, the guys who drive them hate them. the little van only does just over 100 miles between charges and the large vans 180 ish, there is then the task of sitting in the van for an hour and a half wasting company time whilst charging them as well. The guys just hate them

I'd be interested to know how much cheaper they work out in real life scenarios after you pay for charging and aslo pay more for the vehicle in the first place.

 

[pc1966]

At our place of work we could have chargers, but none of us have them at home and a few (like myself) have no allocated parking place to even install a charger for home use (I live in a 4+4 block of flats of Victorian era). We might get a work van for a new project as we may have the odd 250+250 mile journey to a remote site and back, since nobody really wants to clock that up on their own car, not to mention wanting to keep common stuff in a small van all the time, but that won't be an EV.

However, if your use-case is typically 100 miles per day max and you have dedicated charge points they are a good choice.

 

[James]

I changed my pickup to a model Y

do around 35K miles per year.
pickup at 30mpg
1166 gallons or 5297 Litres per year
at an average of £1.55 that makes £8210 per year in fuel

model Y
real life uses about 280Wh per mile or 3.6 miles to the Kwh
I do not drive it gently, the official figure is more like 4 to 4.5 miles per kwh
on a motorway run, i get about 4.3 miles to the kwh.

so for 35K per year
at 3.6 miles to the kwh
makes 9722 kwh
not done the maths yet but lets assume that charging is only 95% efficient
makes my energy use per year 10208 kwh

my yearly stats show 80% charging at home and 20% at fast chargers
8166kwh at home 8.5p per kwh = £694
242kwh at fast chargers 55p per kwh =£132
Total fuel cost per year £826

8210 - 826 = £7384 saving.

 

[littlespark]

Where are you getting 8.5p per unit? Is that overnight off peak charge?

Let’s add to that equation solar PV charging up domestic battery storage during the day, to off load into the car at night…. Free fill up?


I’ve just done the c&g ev course and even the guy teaching us at the college couldn’t say anything positive about the Nissan leaf cars that the college staff use.

He had to drive one up to Perth for some meeting…. And then had to stay 50% longer waiting for the thing to charge up enough to get him home.

 

[DPG]

Where are you getting 8.5p per unit? Is that overnight off peak charge?

Let’s add to that equation solar PV charging up domestic battery storage during the day, to off load into the car at night…. Free fill up?


I’ve just done the c&g ev course and even the guy teaching us at the college couldn’t say anything positive about the Nissan leaf cars that the college staff use.

He had to drive one up to Perth for some meeting…. And then had to stay 50% longer waiting for the thing to charge up enough to get him home.

Nissan Leaf probably more suited for town/commuting rather than long distance runs to be fair.

I think baldsparky uses solar and has very low charging costs.

 

[James]

8.5 is what I pay overnight between 12 and 7

 

[Dan]

Holy ---- that's some saving then!

So one could be used by you @pc1966 you just need to get one between you from the boss or even you three get one on contract hire for a few years and bill something (for profit) to whoever is subbing to you?

Would that work?

 

[Marvo]

This is something that interests me because we have almost zero EV cars in my country, maybe once a week or even 2 weeks I see a hybrid car that doesn't need charging. They installed 2x charging stations in my local supermarket car park last year to make a bold statement about how enviromentally concerned they are about dolphins going t1ts-up and I've never once seen a car plugged into them. We usually get the 'first world trends' about 5-10 years after they're popular in Europe or the EU. I've seen local car showrooms have recently started advertising at least one token EV in their sales range so they're probably going to become more popular over the next few years.

 

[James]

Unles you can do most of your charging at home or work, the savings are not as good and you have to spend time charging.

Home and work, the car is sat there anyway so it costs you nothing in time.

 

[pc1966]

So one could be used by you @pc1966 you just need to get one between you from the boss or even you three get one on contract hire for a few years and bill something (for profit) to whoever is subbing to you?

Would that work?

One guy has no car so uses the bus, we would probably let him keep any van mostly at home for that reason, but if we have more staff then it might get shuffled around to be fair to all.

Longer term we won't be on site all of the time which is another reason that work EV charger option is not solving the charge problems for us. Eventually there might be plenty of on-street charge points at places like my street parking area, near sister's in Edinburgh, etc, but I don't see that happening for several years so will wait on EV development until then.

 

[pirate]

It's just totally impractical for me to have an EV where I live. Plus, I like my big diesel with 500 miles range. I used to do 30k miles per annum, now I do about 3k. That low milege might suggest an EV would be good, but as I said, it's just impossible where I live..plus, I can't afford one!

 

[Risteard]

Have a 75kWh Citroën ë-Dispatch and almost never need to use public charging (although it can take up to 100kW DC rapid charge when needed). Really can't fault it. Great van. Generally only charge it from around 30% to around 70% unless I need greater range.

Had a free charging offer yesterday between Midnight Wednesday to Midnight Thursday so stopped off at a rapid chargepoint to top it up for free on the way home even though I didn't remotely need the charge to get home.

I honestly think they can work for most people, but it's a lack of confidence in them which puts people off. That's not to suggest that they're for everyone though of course.

 

[MDJ]

I changed my pickup to a model Y

do around 35K miles per year.
pickup at 30mpg
1166 gallons or 5297 Litres per year
at an average of £1.55 that makes £8210 per year in fuel

model Y
real life uses about 280Wh per mile or 3.6 miles to the Kwh
I do not drive it gently, the official figure is more like 4 to 4.5 miles per kwh
on a motorway run, i get about 4.3 miles to the kwh.

so for 35K per year
at 3.6 miles to the kwh
makes 9722 kwh
not done the maths yet but lets assume that charging is only 95% efficient
makes my energy use per year 10208 kwh

my yearly stats show 80% charging at home and 20% at fast chargers
8166kwh at home 8.5p per kwh = £694
242kwh at fast chargers 55p per kwh =£132
Total fuel cost per year £826

8210 - 826 = £7384 saving.

not doubting you but I know of a guy who spent 120 K on a porche electric car and after 2 years tried to trade it in and got offered 40 kk, also when the batteries go the costs are crazy. I personally am neutral, I have heard good and bad things so appreciate the post mate.

 

[James]

I get what you are saying,

however a couple of points to note.

if you spend 120k on a sports car, you will expect it to depreciate by 50% even if it is a petrol version.

batteries are massively expensive and would cost a fortune if you had to replace it.
the comparison is, if you need to buy a new engine for a car, expect to pay in the region of half the original car purchase price.

i.e. my last pickup truck cost 24k and a new engine costs 11k, expect the engine to break down after 200k miles even if well serviced.

when it breaks down you don't run to the nissan dealer and say "put a new engine in please" generally speaking, they change the part that has failed,
and in serous cases a rebuilt or second hand engine is sourced for 2k to 5k

with an electric car, you are in a similar position, you can if you wish say to the dealer, put me a new battery in please and they will bill you 10k to 15k. or you ask for it to be fixed or replaced with a refurb unit.
they are modular, containing multiple modules that contain multiple battery cells.

they can diagnose the modules that have failed and replace them individually,
or in the worst case they can change the battery for a reconditioned unit, depending on the condition of the battery you are giving them, the costs range from 30% to 60% of the new battery cost. 4.5k to 9k (working on the 15k replacement cost)

I was not a believer in electric cars a few years ago and kind of smirked a little when other family members got them and sang there praises.

they are absolutely NOT RIGHT FOR EVERYONE.
however, for me over the next 10 years i expect to save
£7300 x 10 =73k in fuel
£250 x 10 =2.5k servicing
£300 x 10 = 3k road tax (although they may well reduce that incentive)
£30 x 520 =15.6k emissions charges for driving into birmingham, sheffield and bristol. (based on 2 x per week average)
£94k savings over 10 years buys a lot of spare batteries if i ever need one.

but to top it off, it is the most fun car I have ever driven and will do 0 to 60 in 4.2 seconds and that on occasions brings a smile to my face!!!!

 

[baldelectrician]

I have a Nissan Townstar and, in my opinion it is garbage

It has glitches such as when you change the driver profile it switches on 'approach unlocking' EVERY TIME. I asked about this and it is not a fault?

In winter the milage (stated at 180) went to 96 on a full charge. The range has never been above 150 since I got it.

Also- when you open the driver door it unlocks ALL doors (making it easy for someone to seal your tools), when I mentioned to Nissan I was told I did not bring up this issue before the purchase and they would do nothing

I will NEVER buy another Nissan / PSA vehicle

 

[pirate]

When one door closes, another door open...
Other than that, it's a great car!

 

[pirate]

on the Porsche question, I have a very good friend who specializes in Porsche cars, has done so for 40 years, and works for one of the biggest dealerships anywhere. He often tells me tales of buying in cars he sold a few months ago, and paying more than cost price if it's a rare model. Similarly, the original owner can see a massive drop if it's a common model, so not unusual to drop £30k on a car that's 6 months old. Those guys and gals usually have a fleet of top end vehicles and such losses are of no concern. He recently called by my place and showed me a Lamborghini he had just bought in for £250k...not my type of car...(for every reason!) and this belonged to an 89 year old lady in Perth. She was fed up with folks saying they didn't like the colour (it was a shocking green affair) so decided to trade it in for a black one. At that point, it was still on her private plate which alone was worth £300k! I can only wonder as to what her insurance premium is!
I digress...the point is, my friend has been told NOT to buy back any electric Porsches, unless the owner is prepared to drop at least 70% of cost AND is buying a new one at full price.

 

[nicebutdim]

The Porsche Taycan has been a bone of contention among owners as its depreciation has been far beyond that expected of common models. The issue is quite simply one of demand and its being far, far outstripped by supply.

I'd be very happy to buy one if depreciation continues into four digit prices