Zak's EV discussion thread

While it is true battery tech is improving all the time. There are many compelling reasons to own an EV. and once you drive one you don't go back.

The reality is anybody buying a new ICE car at this point, are buying the past not the future. and the speed things are changing, ICE sales are set to plummet. not a wise investment IMO.

I am meaning more from a bigger picture perspective. If the driving force (pun) behind the shift to electric vehicles is to reduce emissions and to be more sustainable, surely there also needs to be a shift away from the culture of getting a new car every couple of years.

The technology is there to make these cars last decades (with battery upgrades etc.), so in the name of sustainability, policy should be in place to help push this.

As usual, rich people making more money will be the priority.

The move to electric is now inevitable. and they are an important part of the move to a cleaner more sustainable future.

Do not simply focus on the cars. what they are doing is much bigger and important than simple transport.

They are a catalyst bringing together technology across the energy sector, and bringing about a step change in how we create, store and use energy.

comment by Amigawolf no longer MIA (U18508)
posted 6 hours, 19 minutes ago
comment by TBag. (U11806)
posted 10 hours, 24 minutes ago

Kia Niro
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Are you tempted?
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I don't drive enough for any vehicle to be worthwhile when they have car sharing apps around (which is where they've started introducing EVs and I was luckily enough to stumble across one), but if I was I'd be very tempted to go down the EV route if I could afford it.

Yes. I know what you are saying. I test drove a Tesla. Would love to buy one. But hard to justify, especially with the miles I do.

And off course having to live off cabbage soup for about 5 years

Yeah I literally drive 15-20 mins daily Mon-Friday and then everything around my neighbourhood is walkable. Those 15 mins cost me about $50 a week without having to worry about, parking, fuel, insurance, maintenance etc, so having a car just isn't practical, which is a shame cos I do enjoy driving.

It's sad because at the moment I am the exact wrong type of driver for electric cars. The only times I drive are for 400 mile round trips to camp and climb mountains in the middle of nowhere, at weekends. Don't need a car in the city

Yeah those sorts of trips in the summer would be the only other type of driving I'd be doing and as you say, not really great for EVs

comment by Zak Rudden (U1734)
posted 5 hours, 16 minutes ago
I am meaning more from a bigger picture perspective. If the driving force (pun) behind the shift to electric vehicles is to reduce emissions and to be more sustainable, surely there also needs to be a shift away from the culture of getting a new car every couple of years.

The technology is there to make these cars last decades (with battery upgrades etc.), so in the name of sustainability, policy should be in place to help push this.

As usual, rich people making more money will be the priority.
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That's one of the most depressing factors when it comes to LED lighting. It's entirely possible to produce an LED bulb that will literally never break, and not only that, run a lot more efficiently than the current ones you can buy. You just run the LEDs themselves well below capacity, so they don't heat up as much. The only downside is that they're about twice as costly, as you need roughly four times the number of LEDs in the bulb.

But of course nobody is going to want to sell a product you buy one of that then lasts for potentially hundreds of years. So they don't (except in Dubai, where the Sheikh made them do it).

Zak, absolutely loving the idea of future proofing the cars with exchangeable parts and batteries, but you and I know that this is, sadly, unlikely to happen and the exact reasons for that! Think of apple changing to the lightning dock, thus rendering antecedent accessories redundant.

I was almost sold on getting a Tesla, but, for reasons unbeknownst to me, the insurance premium was over £5k a year for a Model 3, and nearly double that for a Model Y!!

Now, I haven’t held my license very long (under two years), but I was looking at an F Pace with near 300bhp and that was coming in at just over a grand.

Why the exponential increase? I have no idea. If I was after a Model S, I could sympathise