Are EVs the way forward?

My input.
Love my Sportline Diesel. Ok it’s fast but EV’s pass me with ease. My wife’s Hybrid Evoque is a beast! 3 cylinder 1.5 petrol pushing out 204 horses combined with a 100ps power pack (304ps total) . Such a pleasure to drive. Bit of a hairdresser’s car but she’s happy as only uses the battery as only works 5 miles from home so I do seriously think EV’s are the future. I’m also thinking of retiring my Sportline and leasing a Buzz for work as only work local.
Happy I’ve got a diesel though as got to go to Barenton in Normandy on Tuesday to do some K Rend Rendering on some property’s for a week or so.
ICE wins on that one :thumbsup:
 
BuilderJay said:
My input.
Love my Sportline Diesel. Ok it’s fast but EV’s pass me with ease. My wife’s Hybrid Evoque is a beast! 3 cylinder 1.5 petrol pushing out 204 horses combined with a 100ps power pack (304ps total) . Such a pleasure to drive. Bit of a hairdresser’s car but she’s happy as only uses the battery as only works 5 miles from home so I do seriously think EV’s are the future. I’m also thinking of retiring my Sportline and leasing a Buzz for work as only work local.
Happy I’ve got a diesel though as got to go to Barenton in Normandy on Tuesday to do some K Rend Rendering on some property’s for a week or so.
ICE wins on that one :thumbsup:
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I understand the downsides of duplication, but I'd have thought that such a hybrid would be ideal for many, the zero tailpipe emissions in urban, short duration journeys, combined with the ability to do long journeys without worrying about range.
As you point out, for most users they'd rarely burn fossil fuels, but they'd have that option.
Better for the environment than owning an EV but keeping an ICE vehicle for those longer journeys.
 
Lubrown said:
These things could be changed very easily. Designers don’t have to make the battery a structural part of the car - and I would assume not too many do? This will soon be found unacceptable by consumers due to increased costs and therefore these products will fail versus the competitors.

Likewise, insurance companies could easily look at their policies and discuss matters with vehicle engineers. They can come up with guidance that isn’t a knee jerk blanket ‘panic and scrap everything’ approach. They really do need pulling up on their actions in vehicle insurance altogether (not just EVs).

I dare say early models were a bit shortsighted and newer models have improved based on feedback. And this can and will keep happening.
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Your definitely right car manufacturers could make things alot easier and cost effective to work on but recently all manufacturers have taken a step backwards and over engineered simple things. Like the corsa rear bumper for example you could remove one fully in about 6 minutes. Now it's a good 30 minutes to remove and that goes to insurance premiums. Same with stupid one time use clips and other manufacturers that engineered there bumper to split on removal. It's a very wasteful trade that could definitely be made more environmentally friendly.
The insurance companies don't really care as they can just charge more knowing that folk like us will just pay it. They are truly awful people/pirates to deal with who just want to screw everyone over. They are just bothered about the bottom line.
 
How is the hybrid better for the environment than an EV when at best it can reduce people in town choking by using it's battery only but if it then fires up the ice engine/generator combo as soon as you leave town and is then no different to an ice car and it's back to gassing us all?
If you mean it's more convenient to use than an EV then that's something completely different and good for the driver but not the rest of us ultimately.
Off topic and we had 59mm of rain here earlier today which according to the weatherman was more than we had in the whole of September, apparently parts of east Yorkshire may be in for around 100mm plus tomorrow.
 
Hybrids, what exactly are they?

I serviced a couple year old 'hybrid' Suzuki swift last week. Apart from having stop/start fitted to it, there was nothing hybrid about it. Unless it has a traction battery fitted to it, it ain't a hybrid in my eyes.

To me, plug in hybrids should be the thing getting promoted before transitioning to fully electric.
 
Like I said for backward folk like me it's a good compromise. Electric for the short journeys (more of) and ice and electric for the longer stuff (still better then just ice). I really don't think we are as a country or us a trade are really ready for all cars to be fully ev. There's a massive gap in our trade who are trained to do them and out and about changing stations. It would give folk like me to gain confidence in the tech and the government time to get there act together to sort the grid out for reliable power or hydrogen.
Dundee_Kev said:
Hybrids, what exactly are they?

I serviced a couple year old 'hybrid' Suzuki swift last week. Apart from having stop/start fitted to it, there was nothing hybrid about it. Unless it has a traction battery fitted to it, it ain't a hybrid in my eyes.

To me, plug in hybrids should be the thing getting promoted before transitioning to fully electric.
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That training bloke hated the mild hybrid as he said It was neither one or the other and was just a gimmick with 48v.
 
Dundee_Kev said:
This swift didn't even have that. I think it would be classed as a micro hybrid.
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The Mrs had a new Fiat 500 mild hybrid for a year or so nothing hybrid about it.
It did have regenerative braking which was highly annoying and that was about it
 
DaveD said:
I understand the downsides of duplication, but I'd have thought that such a hybrid would be ideal for many, the zero tailpipe emissions in urban, short duration journeys, combined with the ability to do long journeys without worrying about range.
As you point out, for most users they'd rarely burn fossil fuels, but they'd have that option.
Better for the environment than owning an EV but keeping an ICE vehicle for those longer journeys.
Click to expand...
The problem is people aren't using them properly. Regular hybrids have little pure electric range, and mild hyprids (or more accurately IMA's) have none.

Plug ins have some potential, but it's quite a regular thing for them to go back at the end of a lease or on a trade-in and still have the electric charging lead sealed in its original packaging besause people aren't plugging them in. When I took my XC90 T8 back to trade it in it was the first the dealer had ever seen with the lead taken out of its packet.

Next we have to consider that their zero emissions range is almost always lower than stated.

Then there's the other issue that they still have the battery, electrics, etc that the anti EV crew bemoan, and the need to burn fossil fuel and pollute the air that EV owners bemoan. If we believe the nay sayers on each aide of the argument theyre to worst of both worlds, and in temrs of logic thats correct - you cant have your cake and eat it.

Then there's the consideration that they're horribly resource intensive, with both a battery and an aluminium block and engine.

In theory they should represent a good transition phase, but in reality there's a lot on the negative side it the balance sheet and chuck in the fact that most folk aren't using them as intended it all becomes moot. Rather than ensuring a smooth transition they're simply prolonging the agony.
 
Never achieved 550miles out of a tank on mine! Good effort. My thoughts on the convenience of filling up are very different as I have to drive in the opposite direction to where I’m going to get to a petrol station wasting time and fuel there always seems to be a queue to get to a pump get a glove on so my hands don’t stink when I get to work and then spend £90+ for it ! So filling for me is half hour + diesel in getting there,pretty crap experience tbh vs few seconds plugging the car in at home…
 
Sasquatch said:
The problem is people aren't using them properly. Regular hybrids have little pure electric range, and mild hyprids (or more accurately IMA's) have none.

Plug ins have some potential, but it's quite a regular thing for them to go back at the end of a lease or on a trade-in and still have the electric charging lead sealed in its original packaging besause people aren't plugging them in. When I took my XC90 T8 back to trade it in it was the first the dealer had ever seen with the lead taken out of its packet.

Next we have to consider that their zero emissions range is almost always lower than stated.

Then there's the other issue that they still have the battery, electrics, etc that the anti EV crew bemoan, and the need to burn fossil fuel and pollute the air that EV owners bemoan. If we believe the nay sayers on each aide of the argument theyre to worst of both worlds, and in temrs of logic thats correct - you cant have your cake and eat it.

Then there's the consideration that they're horribly resource intensive, with both a battery and an aluminium block and engine.

In theory they should represent a good transition phase, but in reality there's a lot on the negative side it the balance sheet and chuck in the fact that most folk aren't using them as intended it all becomes moot. Rather than ensuring a smooth transition they're simply prolonging the agony.
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I've used EV's but never used a hybrid, I was taking the experience of @BuilderJay (below) for what I believe it is - an honest unbiased appraisal of his experience.
I've read several times on this thread that those who haven't tried an EV shouldn't criticise them, the same might apply to Hybrids then.

BuilderJay said:
My input.
Love my Sportline Diesel. Ok it’s fast but EV’s pass me with ease. My wife’s Hybrid Evoque is a beast! 3 cylinder 1.5 petrol pushing out 204 horses combined with a 100ps power pack (304ps total) . Such a pleasure to drive. Bit of a hairdresser’s car but she’s happy as only uses the battery as only works 5 miles from home so I do seriously think EV’s are the future. I’m also thinking of retiring my Sportline and leasing a Buzz for work as only work local.
Happy I’ve got a diesel though as got to go to Barenton in Normandy on Tuesday to do some K Rend Rendering on some property’s for a week or so.
ICE wins on that one :thumbsup:
Click to expand...
 
The Flying Scotsman said:
Lucky you. You have a driveway.
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I don’t have a driveway but around me there are at least two charging bollards (usually doubles so two bollards and four on road bays) on most of the residential streets. Not fast chargers but lots of them so overnight charging no issue. There are fast chargers on several arterial roads and these are regularly used by the new EV London style taxis and DPD vans, occasionally see civilian cars using them too.

ICE powered cars are allowed to park in the normal speed bays as there is such a saturation that they aren’t oversubscribed. They are well used by EVs every day though and apparently there will be parking restrictions on bays when they get busier, reviewed on a road by road basis.
As neighbours change cars they do seem to be encouraged by the bollards as around half seem to go for EVs.

More councils need to partner up with suppliers and do this, and remove one of the issues people have. As you point out, not many of us have a drive.

Just wish I could plug the EHU into a bollard and top up the leisure battery!
 
James147 said:
My point was that putting diesel In isn’t a 5min quick fix for everyone and a very expensive way of fueling a vehicle
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I never go out of my way to buy diesel. I can get it anywhere. If I know I've got a 300 mile trip in a day or so and have a 100 mile range left in the car, I'll fill it up at my convenience. Not wait until the morning of the trip. Or, I'll allow time to stop en-route.

You could say that I do the same sort of planning that EV drivers need to do already, except with the convenience of being able to add range quickly if plans change.
 
Lubrown said:
I don’t have a driveway but around me there are at least two charging bollards (usually doubles so two bollards and four on road bays) on most of the residential streets. Not fast chargers but lots of them so overnight charging no issue. There are fast chargers on several arterial roads and these are regularly used by the new EV London style taxis and DPD vans, occasionally see civilian cars using them too.

ICE powered cars are allowed to park in the normal speed bays as there is such a saturation that they aren’t oversubscribed. They are well used by EVs every day though and apparently there will be parking restrictions on bays when they get busier, reviewed on a road by road basis.
As neighbours change cars they do seem to be encouraged by the bollards as around half seem to go for EVs.

More councils need to partner up with suppliers and do this, and remove one of the issues people have. As you point out, not many of us have a drive.

Just wish I could plug the EHU into a bollard and top up the leisure battery!
Click to expand...
It’s a lot different if you don’t live in a city though.
And by the sounds of it your city is miles ahead of mine.
We have no charging stations within walking distance.
Only had them put into the local shops carpark a few months ago.
I presume the petrol stations have them but TBH I can’t think of seeing any.
They have been installed in the city centre but elsewhere they seem to be few and far between.
I’m in Dundee Scotland’s 4th largest city.
 
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