Are EVs the way forward?

I'm not reading 499 replies, but as an Electrician I truly believe that Electric Vehicles are going to be a massive flop.

Hydrogen all the way

As a spaceflight engineer I truly believe hydrogen powered vehicles are going to be a massive flop.

Indeed, it's already gone from eight filling stations a decade go to three today, making the commercial trajectory about as reassuring as the physics behind it.
 
Another one.
How's your 150 Hp DSG T6? Still running on diesel?
Its going fine thanks. Going for its MOT soon having covered about 6.5k miles in the last year, greatly reduced from previous years, whilst my journeys by cycling have increased, especially for short local journeys.
When we replace our other (smaller) car, it will almost certainly be an EV, utilising charging from our solar pv panels and the battery storage system that will be installed soon. Whether or not the car replacement happens sooner or later than replacement of our 20yo gas boiler with air source heat pump(s) is still to be decided.
 
absolutely agree.
but i was asking what the alternative is for the members on here that need a long range camper/commercial vehicle?
Agreed also, but it will come, hopefully, eventually, maybe. Who knows.
 
Someone said that they had yet to see a nice looking EV....

My son had to ferry this press car back to Norwich last week from the Netherlands

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What is it?

Interesting article floating around about Ford CEO Jim Farley daily driving a Xiaomi SU7 EV for the last 6 months, and not wanting to give it up.
 
I've got no recollection of whether I've put a reply in here or not but I'm into the idea of EV and have been watching what's going on with them for about the last 6-7 years, since we went to the Fully Charged Show Live at Silverstone and I interviewed Robert Llewellyn about it.

I think for me to go "yeah alright I'll have one", it needs to be either Hydrogen powered or use a Solid-State battery. I also want to be able to charge it at home, but currently can't, so a house move or a change in infrastructure is necessary as I've seen the cost of charging publicly. I'd also like to be able to charge quickly at home just in case (of what, I don't know) but with 22kW being the max and needing 3-phase to do it, that's out of the question.

The other thing that puts me off - and this can be said for any car - is the purchase model of EVs as I'd probably need to lease and I am allergic to paying money on a car that I would never get anything back out of. I know car-buying has changed and depending on how you look at it, the cost of the lease is probably only the level of depreciation, but it's a personal barrier I have to get over. I paid £9k for a 6 year old A4 and, 5 years later, it was still worth £4k which contributed to the purchase of the next one.
I don't fancy a 6 year old EV as I think the current battery tech will degrade during its lifespan until we start to see SS tech going into them.
 
I'd probably need to lease and I am allergic to paying money on a car that I would never get anything back out of.
I feel much the same.

It may be irrational, but I baulk at paying for something that I'll never own outright - probably why I've never driven the expensive cars that now seem so common on UK roads.
 
I feel much the same.

It may be irrational, but I baulk at paying for something that I'll never own outright - probably why I've never driven the expensive cars that now seem so common on UK roads.
Yep, ditto here. Never had a car loan and always buy outright. Will have to rob a bank or win the lottery (would help if I did it!) to get a new EV!
 
Regarding finance, you need to look at the bigger picture. I rented my Caravelle. At the time the PCP rate was 1.5% and my money in the bank was earning about 0.5%. Three years later my savings were earning 5.5%. Now granted no one would have foreseen that, but it happened.

It's not all about the borrowing for one thing, it's what's happening with your money as a whole. How many people are pleased to be able to pay for vehicles outright but still have a massive mortgage? I know of people like that. They say that the house is increasing in value. Yes it is, but how much are they paying back over 25-30 years?
 
Might struggle to get finance at the moment. After the mis-selling court ruling earlier this week a lot of the players, including some of the bigger ones such as Moto-Nuovo, have suspended all new business.
 
Might struggle to get finance at the moment. After the mis-selling court ruling earlier this week a lot of the players, including some of the bigger ones such as Moto-Nuovo, have suspended all new business.
interesting. i'm just about to go look for (info on this) myself but any news links on this??
thank you

not to worry, easier to find than i thought!

 
Ask and ye shall receive...


I would link to somewhere less scuzzy than the Mail but mostmof the better sources are behind a paywall,

I've never had car finance, always buying my cars outright. However, I'm unusual in that I generally keep them very long term rather than chopping and changing every 3 years. Still have the Volvo C70 I bought new in 2005... when I bought my MINI Cooper S Electric in 2022 I was offered £150 trade in on my 40k mile concours winning Volvo, so decided just to keep it until one of us dies. In an ironic twist the MINI has since gone to free up the funds and driveway space for my T6.1

IMG_20190822_104923871_HDR.jpg

As a result of not paying out £350-500 or more on a car every month I was mortgage free at 33. Then, and only then, did I start to splash on foreign holidays, flash watches, cocaine and call girls.
 
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A quick look at current PCP rates indicates between 5% and 14% with your savings in an ISA at 4. something and going down.
Factor in a 10% lease deposit, repairing any damage incurred and an unfeasible balloon payment then leasing has nearly always been about getting a car you can't afford.
I did buy my used T6 and the Astra outright with a single payment which is why they're not new or top of the range models but feel I get looked down at when out and about... well, in the Astra certainly, by drivers in their more expensive rented cars, maybe it's just human nature and I'm being thin skinned?
 
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