The EV fact thread

[BTB 500]

To be fair, that's the lower powered model's figures. The 65hp version (the only one to be sold in the UK apparently) gets to 60mph in a slightly more spritely 14s. A Parkers road test describes it as being nippy in the 0-30mph range which is more in tune with town/local use. Low power figures for sure, but it may help in keeping insurance premiums low - a contentious issue with EVs.

In the early 80s I owned a Fiat 126 that had 23 bhp and 39 Nm (it was the original 600cc version). That had a top speed of 64 mph, hence the 0-60 time was around 35 secs But it was light with low gearing, so quite lively around town (surprisingly good in the traffic light grand prix ) and fun to drive if you avoided motorways.

 

[Bellow]

In the early 80s I owned a Fiat 126 that had 23 bhp and 39 Nm (it was the original 600cc version). That had a top speed of 64 mph, hence the 0-60 time was around 35 secs But it was light with low gearing, so quite lively around town (surprisingly good in the traffic light grand prix ) and fun to drive if you avoided motorways.

I could pretty much say the same about a 2CV I had. 'Launch' technique was to spin the motor up and dump the clutch and let the flywheel's momentum drag it forwards. Hard on the clutch but it could be changed out in half an hour.
The fortwo I had is a closer match to the Dacia Spring. It had similar power (65hp) but was lighter (730 vs 980kg). The nature of the Dacia's power delivery should compensate at step-off and be similar on faster roads (where the fortwo was capable - just) but leaning on it that hard is bound to reduce range. Like the smart, it can probably do it if it has to but not its natural habitat. That would be city/town/local as per the fortwo which, it must be said, never really took off sales wise.

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

During which period was " France always used to be way more expensive than suburban / rural England" ?
Did you spend a lot of time in France?
And the good reason was . . . ?

I used to, and still do, spend about a quarter of the year in France. As a wage slave originally, and as a Winter Exile now.

The driving mortality numbers in France have always been twice that of the UK. (3,300 in 2022, against 1700 in Britain)

The workaround, of course is that the French will happily drive a cheaper car than they would if they lived in the UK. Pragmatic solution.

I still remember a 22 year old rep pointing out to me a spot just off the Boulevard Peripherique as being the place where he had his "fourth accident." He's dead now, of course.

 

[markjay]

In the early 80s I owned a Fiat 126 that had 23 bhp and 39 Nm (it was the original 600cc version). That had a top speed of 64 mph, hence the 0-60 time was around 35 secs But it was light with low gearing, so quite lively around town (surprisingly good in the traffic light grand prix ) and fun to drive if you avoided motorways.

Amateur.

My first car was a Renault Dauphine with the 845cc engine and 27bhp

(I could not afford the Gordini.... )

 

[BTB 500]

Amateur.

My first car was a Renault Dauphine with the 845cc engine and 27bhp

(I could not afford the Gordini.... )

The really funny thing was that the car I had before the Fiat 126 was a Granada 3.0 Ghia

I once drove that Fiat home down the A3 on one cylinder after the terminal on top of one of the spark plugs broke off.

 

[philnewmerc]

So you can buy an early I-pace for £17k, which is nice, and it won't cost much to routinely service, but there's a whole range of other costs and risks out there.

I suppose the new paradigm for the future luxobarge owner will be much reduced servicing and running costs, but these will come at a 'cost' of a larger risk of something cripplingly expensive going wrong (e.g. battery)

Surely battery insurance/warranty must become a thing for 5+ year old EVs eventually?

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

I suppose the new paradigm for the future luxobarge owner will be much reduced servicing and running costs, but these will come at a 'cost' of a larger risk of something cripplingly expensive going wrong (e.g. battery)

Surely battery insurance/warranty must become a thing for 5+ year old EVs eventually?

As inevitable as warranties on ICE.

Once again, whether you've got a 15 year old S class or a 15 year old EQS, it's not normally the drivetrain that scraps the motor. It's condition, repair cost, and market value.

 

[ChipChop]

I care. This lot put a pox on the World that we’ll be paying off for generations and people are queuing up to give them money to the detriment of other economies.

It matters as people buy these EV’s in good faith to help the environment yet conveniently forget about all the coal mines this lot are opening up to power the factories that make these cars. Utter madness

Spot on!

 

[Bellow]

An end to the fire problem?

https://insights.globalspec.com/article/21866/novel-electrolyte-quenches-battery-flammability?uid=%2D1888229631&uh=c51a61&md=240319&mh=e6e79f&Vol=Vol24Issue12&Pub=1&LinkId=2159868&keyword=link%5F2159868&itemid=395940&frmtrk=newsletter&cid=nl

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

More news on the Hertz EV rentals:

Hertz CEO out following electric car ‘horror show’​

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/18/business/hertz-ceo-departure-ev/index.html#

A man who certainly turned that share price round. Now $7, after being $21 just in October 2021

(To be fair, it was his predecessor who "did the deal" to buy the cars, but the the implementation is obviously his issue. And also there was a big reputational knock when Hertz was found to have falsely reported vehicles as "stolen," which got some clients arrested. "Never a good thing.")

 

[markjay]

An end to the fire problem?

https://insights.globalspec.com/article/21866/novel-electrolyte-quenches-battery-flammability?uid=%2D1888229631&uh=c51a61&md=240319&mh=e6e79f&Vol=Vol24Issue12&Pub=1&LinkId=2159868&keyword=link%5F2159868&itemid=395940&frmtrk=newsletter&cid=nl

An end to the fire problem?

Maybe.

An end to the debate about the fire problem?

Not likely..............

 

[markjay]

Spot on!

Wise man once said:

"When one coal mine is opened up, another oil field is shut down"

 

[markjay]

Back on topic so here's a fact.
The majority of drivers would be more inconvienienced charging their car than filling it up with fuel as around 60% of the population live in a property without a driveway or garage

Good news for the 60%:

Charge point grant for EV drivers without driveways

DfT widens access to charge point grant, confirms £185m EV infrastructure funding to councils and launches forum for Government and charging industry.

www.fleetnews.co.uk

 

[ALFAitalia]

Are you 60% of drivers don't haver off street parking?....much less I think.


"We analysed all 27 million households in Great Britain to understand whether they can or cannot park and charge an electric vehicle off street at home. Through this research, we determined that 24.6% of households don't have access to off street parking."

Source -Field Dynamics.

 

[markjay]

Are you 60% of drivers don't haver off street parking?....much less I think.


"We analysed all 27 million households in Great Britain to understand whether they can or cannot park and charge an electric vehicle off street at home. Through this research, we determined that 24.6% of households don't have access to off street parking."

Source -Field Dynamics.

I think that the discrepancy can be explained by the fact that not all off-street parking is technically "a driveway or a garage".

The council towers blocks in my area all have off-street private car parks, for the use of the residents, for example.

And many new buildings will have an underground car park, which technically is neither a driveway nor a (private) garage.

The installation of charging points in this case would be something that the Landlord or Freehold company will need to arrange.

 

[Deleted member 55947]

Good news for the 60%:

Charge point grant for EV drivers without driveways

DfT widens access to charge point grant, confirms £185m EV infrastructure funding to councils and launches forum for Government and charging industry.

www.fleetnews.co.uk

So now the local councils are involved, what could possibly go wrong


People looking forward to it

 

[Petrol Pete]

Underground parking for new tower blocks so the residents can charge their EV's . What a great Idea .

They very rarely catch fire , but when they do !!.. But I am sure the companies that build them will not skimp ££ on fire safety , even if it hit's them in the pocket.

 

[markjay]

Underground parking for new tower blocks so the residents can charge their EV's . What a great Idea .

They very rarely catch fire , but when they do !!.. But I am sure the companies that build them will not skimp ££ on fire safety , even if it hit's them in the pocket.

Off street parking for residential flats has been a mandatory requirement for all new builds for around 50 years now (in London, at least).

The off-street car parks are generally associated with council blocks, where the ground belongs to the council.

Private developers prefer to dig under the building because for them space is a premium.

Street parking is generally only for tenants in old and existing residential buildings.

Havibg said that, in recent years, some local councils approved the development of new residential flats without the possibility of street parking (for example, where a floor is being added to an existing building), on the condition that the Leases say that the Lesees are not entitled to apply for a Resident Parking Permit, which effectively means that the flat can only be occupied by tenants who do not own a car.

That's the situation in London, anyway.

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

Are you 60% of drivers don't haver off street parking?....much less I think.
"We analysed all 27 million households in Great Britain to understand whether they can or cannot park and charge an electric vehicle off street at home. Through this research, we determined that 24.6% of households don't have access to off street parking."
Source -Field Dynamics.

Tsk, tsk, tsk....

We've been round this one before.

A household is a household.

A house or flat is a house or flat. A house or flat may be several households

A driveway is a driveway.....

Off street parking is off street parking.

My son lives in a house. But three households live in that house. (Three lodgers). They have no driveway, and no off street parking. But they can run a cable to an EV across the pavement. About one in twenty houses do that in this London street. (Usually just a temporary cable because it doesn't take long to charge a car, and many have access to charging at work and in car parks.)

I live in a house, and I have a driveway. Several neighbours have EV's but you barely see them cabled. Why? Because it doesn't take long to charge an EV.

The people in the HMO (House in multiple occupation) three doors down do not have a driveway, but they have access to lots of off-street parking, and our own commercial EV chargers.

In London, "households" don't always own cars, especially post Covid and ULEX. Folks in their 20's are much less likely to be running a car than previously. (Average age to pass the driving test is something like 27 now). When someone counts "household" numbers, remember that that includes "Bridget Jones" who commutes by public transport or Shanks Pony.

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

So now the local councils are involved, what could possibly go wrong


People looking forward to itView attachment 154562

People who appear to be still driving Ford Standard 8's, Fodens, and a Ponton Mercedes, according to your photo.