Electric cars.

[MashBag]

I need something that can do at least 150 miles in subzero temp

If that a regular event does an EV stack up at all?

 

[MashBag]

No they aren't

Tesla model 3 is the same weight as a BMW 320d
Tesla model Y is lighter than a Kia Sorrento

As for the big German luxo barge EVs, yeah they weight the moon, but how heavy is a landrover discovery nowadays? 2.7 tonnes if memory serves

Half a ton over, sorry

 

[dad_of_jon]

We are going round in circles.

As i have said its a personal choice if you dont think crud in the bottom of fuel tanks, fuel pumps sucking in air because the level of fuel is too low and overheating for the same reason carry on running your car on fumes the rest of us will carry on filling when it gets low but not too low

I'd imagine the E on fuel gauges isn't really E - when I came close to empty once and filled up to the brim it was a few litres less than the tanks capacity.

@Chippy_Tea Why risk it though? The same applied to running out of juice on an EV but no fuel filter, pump or crud.

I'm in the 1/4 tank - trip to fill brigade. When I'm passing Tesco Llanelli for 99ron E5. Never just go to fill up mind always get some shopping in.


If the middle east blows up that could start a rush to EV's if oil takes a massive hit. One fossilized car, one EV would be good to hedge your bets as long as it doesn't cause the cost of 'leccy to go up.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I'd imagine the E on fuel gauges isn't really E

Back in the day when my car was my means of transport to get you to work and nothing more the bulk of my wages went on nights out and fags i regularly run my cars half way into the red but never more and i never ran out of fuel, i assumes the end of the red was empty but never tested that theory.

Never just go to fill up mind always get some shopping in.

Same here we regularly go to Tesco Extra in the next town so i fill up when needed with momentum 99 (E5) which is only a few pence more than Shell/Texaco E10 where i live.


.

 

[Cwrw666]

Back in the day when my car was my means of transport to get you to work and nothing more the bulk of my wages went on nights out and fags i regularly run my cars half way into the red but never more and i never ran out of fuel, i assumes the end of the red was empty but never tested that theory.

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Same here we regularly go to Tesco Extra in the next town so i fill up when needed with momentum 99 (E5) which is only a few pence more than Shell/Texaco E10 where i live.


.

Our car at least (doblo) has a light that comes on with 20 miles left to go. I thought that was normal practice.
Of course you've got to be fairly brave to test that out.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Our car at least (doblo) has a light that comes on with 20 miles left to go. I thought that was normal practice.
Of course you've got to be fairly brave to test that out.

I see the same on my car dash when i turn the key it goes out soon after i have never seen it while driving.

 

[MashBag]

Does no one pop a can in the back and drive till it stops then, so you know what it does?

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Does no one pop a can in the back and drive till it stops then, so you know what it does?

No mine tells me on the dash

 

[jof]

Does no one pop a can in the back and drive till it stops then, so you know what it does?

No, because if you do that with a diesel you are into the pain of manually re-priming the pump somehow.
(Well one of them has a blood pressure type squeeze bulb on the fuel line adjacent to the fuel filter, so I'm guessing that's what it's for)

 

[New To Brew Sort OF]

Does no one pop a can in the back and drive till it stops then, so you know what it does?

Did that once 30yrs ago on my first car, must have done the test traveling down hill because a month or so later ran out of fuel way before I was expecting, during rush hour and on a bridge.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I think you can be fined for running out of fuel now you are supposed to have enough to get to your destination when you set off.

 

[BarnBrian]

I think you can be fined for running out of fuel now you are supposed to have enough to get to your destination when you set off.

Whilst running out of fuel isn't illegal in itself, under current legislation, drivers can be fined a minimum of £100 and three penalty points if their car obstructs the road as a result of an avoidable breakdown, or if running out of fuel is deemed to result in careless or dangerous driving

 

[New To Brew Sort OF]

It ok the way these lot are going, the only people with transport will be the elites, if they could tax o2 they would.

 

[old dog new tricks]

It ok the way these lot are going, the only people with transport will be the elites, if they could tax o2 they would.

yep kind of blows a hole in the encourage EVs as the tax breaks will be getting removed form 2025, was always going to happen as soon as it was shown that the Govt would lose income, what i do not get is why they have to backdate it to 2017 tho? why not just set it at 2025 when the taxation status changes, by doing this its slap in the face for early adopters.
My only fear with EV is what if the uncertainty in the Middle East pushes energy prices back up, I doubt I could afford the higher cost higher depreciation if there was less of saving in running costs.

Yes I know getting solar and battery install at home can offset this but the cost is eye watering unless you are in receipt of benefits or classed as ill.

I support EVs and home renewable's (especially solar and battery installs) , but the upfront cost is just too much and with credit at current levels its not viable for most.

In an ideal world I would move to solar and battery install(£20k+), high temp heat pump (£15k) and an EV(£20k+), but the upfront costs for this circa £55k is not viable.

 

[Benfleet Brewery]

Going back to the subject of charging costs here is an example of how EVs are amazingly economical if you charge at home on an EV tariff and what a complete rip off they are if you need to charge away from home.

So, a couple of weeks ago I bought a 2015 BMW i3 as a second car and for my daughter use. This older model EV only has a relatively small 22kwh battery of which 18kwh is usable (taking us back to the conversation on limiting charging capacities to increase battery life). It means it only has a real range of about 80 miles in summer and 65 ish in winter but that covers my commute and about 95% of all of our other daily driving.
However, this car is the REx version. REx stands for Range Extender. Basically, there’s a 650cc motorcycle engine under the boot. This engine doesn’t power the wheels but is connected to a generator which charges the battery so it is technically still an EV and not a hybrid. By default the REx is set to kick in if the battery charge drops to below 6% at which point it starts charging the batteries to stop them dropping below 6%. The REx runs on unleaded and has is a small 9 litre petrol tank which is enough to keep the batteries at 6% for a further 65 - 80 miles or so to almost double the range achievable to a combined 130-160 miles before having to stop to charge, or refuel.

Anyway, the point I’m trying to make is, taking its avarage battery range of say 70 miles, by charging this car at home for 7p kwh a full charge will set me back just £1.26 so about 1.8p per mile to run.

When the battery runs to below 6% and the REx kicks in it is now using petrol so if we assume £1.50 per litre, the tank costs £13.50 to fill so now it’s costing me 19p a mile to run.

However, if I was to stop and charge at a rapid charger, which can cost around 80-90p KWh, sometimes even more than that, a full charge assuming 85p will set me back £15.30 costing a little under 22p a mile.

So, believe it or not, after using all the home rate electricity, it is cheaper for me to keep filling it with petrol, of which over 65% of the total cost is taxes and other duty, use it in an ICE engine which runs at around 35% efficiency, to power a generator, to generate electricity to charge the battery, to power the motor for the rest of my journey, than to recharge it again using rapid chargers.

 

[old dog new tricks]

Going back to the subject of charging costs here is an example of how EVs are amazingly economical if you charge at home on an EV tariff and what a complete rip off they are if you need to charge away from home.

So, a couple of weeks ago I bought a 2015 BMW i3 as a second car and for my daughter use. This older model EV only has a relatively small 22kwh battery of which 18kwh is usable (taking us back to the conversation on limiting charging capacities to increase battery life). It means it only has a real range of about 80 miles in summer and 65 ish in winter but that covers my commute and about 95% of all of our other daily driving.
However, this car is the REx version. REx stands for Range Extender. Basically, there’s a 650cc motorcycle engine under the boot. This engine doesn’t power the wheels but is connected to a generator which charges the battery so it is technically still an EV and not a hybrid. By default the REx is set to kick in if the battery charge drops to below 6% at which point it starts charging the batteries to stop them dropping below 6%. The REx runs on unleaded and has is a small 9 litre petrol tank which is enough to keep the batteries at 6% for a further 65 - 80 miles or so to almost double the range achievable to a combined 130-160 miles before having to stop to charge, or refuel.

Anyway, the point I’m trying to make is, taking its avarage battery range of say 70 miles, by charging this car at home for 7p kwh a full charge will set me back just £1.26 so about 1.8p per mile to run.

When the battery runs to below 6% and the REx kicks in it is now using petrol so if we assume £1.50 per litre, the tank costs £13.50 to fill so now it’s costing me 19p a mile to run.

However, if I was to stop and charge at a rapid charger, which can cost around 80-90p KWh, sometimes even more than that, a full charge assuming 85p will set me back £15.30 costing a little under 22p a mile.

So, believe it or not, after using all the home rate electricity, it is cheaper for me to keep filling it with petrol, of which over 65% of the total cost is taxes and other duty, use it in an ICE engine which runs at around 35% efficiency, to power a generator, to generate electricity to charge the battery, to power the motor for the rest of my journey, than to recharge it again using rapid chargers.

Excellent points made here, my neighbour had a very similar i3 he sold it when the public chargers local to used to be free but now 40p KWh and 50p KWh, he has gone back to diesel as cheaper, he sold the i3 and got an old diesel Golf and Passat with money left over.

other issue is that not everyone can get the reduced rates for home use my energy contract for example if I want that i have to take a new deal with higher peak tariffs and higher gas charges to offset the reduced off peak electric rate

 

[Benfleet Brewery]

other issue is that not everyone can get the reduced rates for home use my energy contract for example if I want that i have to take a new deal with higher peak tariffs and higher gas charges to offset the reduced off peak electric rate

I’m with OVO. They don’t do special EV tariffs like other companies who charge a lower rate at night in return for higher rates during the day. They just do normal tariffs (I’m on the standard variable) but you have an add on called Drive Anytime. It’s free but you need to have a smart meter and compatible car or car charger to get it and you get a credit on your bill at the end of each month for every kwh that the car uses bringing it down to 7p kwh.

 

[old dog new tricks]

I’m with OVO. They don’t do special EV tariffs like other companies who charge a lower rate at night in return for higher rates during the day. They just do normal tariffs (I’m on the standard variable) but you have an add on called Drive Anytime. It’s free but you need to have a smart meter and compatible car or car charger to get it and you get a credit on your bill at the end of each month for every kwh that the car uses bringing it down to 7p kwh.

Good to know I am currently tied in with EDF, they said best I can get is 5 hours at 9KWh if i sign up for their deal

 

[MashBag]

No, because if you do that with a diesel you are into the pain of manually re-priming the pump somehow.
(Well one of them has a blood pressure type squeeze bulb on the fuel line adjacent to the fuel filter, so I'm guessing that's what it's for)

Some diesels not all, many self prime now. And to my surprise some petrol engine advise not to restart after running out of petrol, because a back fire could damage the cat. No not that one

 

[MashBag]

I think you can be fined for running out of fuel now you are supposed to have enough to get to your destination when you set off.

The AA
"Drivers can be fined as a result of running out of fuel. The warning comes from the UK’s largest breakdown organisation after one of its members was fined by the police for causing an obstruction after running out of fuel."

More.. Running out of fuel itself isn't illegal but causing an obstruction is.

Good shout chippy

Source: https://www.theaa.com/about-us/newsroom/aa-warns-drivers-of-low-fuel-gamble