kenstel
Well-Known Member
In fact there's more than you think. I've stayed out of this thread because it's so complicated and at times, comments making claims without substantiation.
I saw your post about the Morecombe Bay barrage, and the subsequent post that the sea is a hostile environment and such installations require hefty and expensive maintenance.
The one thing to say about those maintenance costs is that like other costs, they're justified or not according to prevailing taxation and incentives regimes. For example, if changes in the wider government fiscal and environmental policies shifted one way or another, the relative costs of building and operating any infrastructure would change. So, let's say that taxation policy pushed petrol prices so that driving 100 miles in a petrol car would cost, say, £100 just for petrol, and changes in other policies reduced the cost of electricity for EVs to say, £10 for the same journey. If maintenance costs were the same, the determinant of purchase decision is heavily influenced by purchase cost. The likely change in those fuel costs will cause many people to switch to EVs, which will bring down purchase costs whilst also creating a market for charging solutions.
The same is true for fossil fuel and green electricity generation. It does not really matter in the commercial world what the cost of maintenance of the tidal generator is, because we need power, and electricity is convenient . What matters is that profit can be made from it, with/without subsidies. If C02 taxation was increased significantly for fossil fuel electricity, the cost/kW of the tidal electricity falls in comparison, and if the total cost falls below the cost of the fossil fuel electricity, then it will succeed, regardless of the breakdown of manufacture /oprration/installation /maintenance costs etc. Its the total cost that is important not any component of it.
However, to get back to the pros and cons of EVs, probably the biggest benefit by far is the ability to pre-heat /cool the car before getting in. The aircon is programmable so you can tell it what time you want to leave and what temperature you want it to be, and it calculates when to come on. In winter, it means the car is not only warm (warm seat too, and in some models, warm steering wheel) the windows and mirrors are frost free. All whilst the car is safely locked. Simply get in the car and drive. No scraping of windows, no nasty de-icer sprays that damage paint, rubber and the environment, no risk of incomplete windows scraping because you're late. Just a nice warm car.
Other benefits as mentioned above :quietness. The interior is quiet, no engine noise even at high speed.
automatic transmission on hybrids and SOME EVs. I don't like one pedal driving option, but it will probably become standard. One pedal means that you press accelerator, the car goes. Take your foot off and the brakes come on. It will eventually be the way all cars go. Atm, I have it disabled and I freewheel when I lift my foot, but all controls are instantly available. Autos are easy to drive.
Direct transmission (single gear) or electronic automatic allows computer mangment of drive to stay within power useage/economy/load profile. This paves the way to Self-Driving Cars.
Also, satnav route planning can consider the state of charge and incorporate charging stops if required, or can reduce power consumption eg heating to eke out the power. Range planning is also integrated so you know at the start how much power you'll have left.
EVs are said to use power about 30% more effectively than ICE. I don't know if that's true, just saying.
On an simplistic comparison, EVs don't produce pollution where they are driven. If they're powered by green electricity, then the only pollution is that made during manufacturing. NO petrol car can claim that.
There's a move towards banning fossil fuel cars from some areas because of pollution levels.
Company car users pay reduced Benefits In Kind. As I said above, a government fiscal strategy to encourage change.
Until the Ukraine war, some shops provided free to use chargers as away to attract customers. Again, fiscal policy to cause behaviour change.
The acceleration and power delivery is instant, and smooth. They're fun and easy to drive, even if you're not a speedy driver.
Charging can be scheduled so you can take advantage of cheaper energy rates. You can also limit how much to charge the car. If you're out and need 10%to get home, drive to charger, programme the car, take what's needed, drive home and use your green, cheaper rate power.
If you have a home charger (or one at work) , you'll probably rarely need to use a public charger and so never need to make a journey to buy fuel . Your refuelling is done when it suits you. No standing in puddles on the forecourt trying not to think what you're standing in.. No looking around for disposable gloves because the pump nozzles are stinking. No queuing. Not even during petrol shortages.
Fewer moving parts mean EVs should be more reliable
Cons.
Possibly need a different mindset. Instead of buying petrol to last a week say, you may need to refuel more often depending on model/distance . If its at home though, while you sleep, does it matter?
Petrol refuelling is faster. Again, only a concern if you have to use a public charger. The faster chargers can give you 10-15% in about 10 minutes, However you can sit in the car, in the warm, away from puddles and dirty pumps. If you have an account with the provider (or an app) you don't need money. Login, charge, go. Money comes out of your account. Ever tried getting petrol when you've forgot your wallet?
Not enough chargers. The Institution of Engineering and Technology wrote a year or so ago that charger installation needed to triple for the 2030 EV deadline. Personally, I've only used a public charger twice and never had a problem, but my journeys were planned to ensure I didn't have problems.(that's part of my mentality. I'd rather spend an hour anticipating problems, than spend 20 minutes dealing with an unplanned one)
People who do a lot of milage and need to charge whilst out and about may need to plan journeys better. There are many apps that show chargers and whether they're in use. Some integrate into your car satnav so it can use the best charger. The difficulty is getting better. Most MWay services have some sort of charger.
The biggest difficulty is overcoming 100+years of fossil fuel R&D, mindset, disinformation and vested interests. I saw an old guy looking at the plug on a charger. He was tutting to his wife "look at that, just look at that, it's got 7 connectors. Tut. What a mess. 7 connectors, oh Lord. 7. What a mess" I jokingly asked if 7 was his unlucky number. No. I asked what the problem was with 7 connections. He couldn't give an answer. So why the problem with 7 wires? He moved on. Simple luddite bigotry. Just something to complain about.
Disinformation and misinformation is also rife, either from the uneducated or those with vested interests. I was up your neck of the woods chippy, in November for my wife's birthday. On our leaving day, the car was frozen. Whilst we packed, I turned the aircon on via my phone. When we went out, another guest was standing looking at the ice melting on the windscreen. He asked me what was happening. I told him. He was surprised. "I was told EVs don't have any heating because they don't have an engine to generate heat." I beckoned him over and opened the door. A blast of hot air came out. He was genuinely surprised
On a recent TV programme about Traffic England staff on a motorway. There was a EV involved in an accident. One of the staff said they weren't allowed to tow EVs. Wrong! You can't tow automatics because the transmission can be damaged. That message went out to millions of viewers, reinforcing a negative, incorrect perception of EVs
Do you not think there were problems when we first started generating electricity, or pumping gas through pipes? We just found solutions to them.
We've had 100+years of previous technology and the need to prepare to move to alternative technologies has taken a back seat for years, because there's been little incentive - conventional power is available, distribution networks are stable and secure, profits are high.
People, and companies always try to take the easy way. They only change when the other way becomes the easy way. Look at TV adverts for cars. How many are for fossil fuel cars? None. The only cars advertised are electric or hybrid. That's because the 2030UK /2035EC deadline forced them to look at alternatives to fossil fuel. There was no alternative. Rather than stop car manufacturering, or operate only in areas that still allowed ICE, they invested in the transition.
Early adopters of any technology always face difficulties. Don't forget, early car drivers needed a man with a red flag walking in front of them, and it was first thought that the human body could not survive travelling in a train at 30mph.
Those difficulties were overcome with knowledge and experience. Same applies to new power sources.
EVs may not be THE permanent solution. Hydrogen has a huge benefit to offer. But for car use, electricity is possibly the technology offering the best compromise between cost, performance, safety and speed of implementation.
Anyway, sorry for the long post, but I haven't posted here before and probably wont again, so spread out across the length of the thread, it's a small contribution.
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