The EV fact thread

[BTB 500]

Older vehicles are insurance write offs if the cost of the repair exceeds their market value.

Of course, but on an older car that may have little to do with being scrapped. A car may still be 100% roadworthy and usable with minor cosmetic panel damage that insurance would never pay to fix. We had an old Mini Clubman that got lightly shunted from behind. Broken light cluster and bent bootlid - insurance write off. Bootlid from a scrap yard plus a rear light cluster - an hour's simple DIY and it was good as new.

Our 2007 Vito van (incidentally, the most expensive vehicle I've ever bought!) has collected a few bodywork dings over the years that would cumulatively almost certainly write it off if dealt with by insurance.

 

[clk320x]

Driving to visit someone in a cancer hospital without paying the ULEZ !!

I can see the point you are making, but some would argue low emission zones help persuade the change to vehicles that are less harmful to health, therefore meaning less of the city residents suffer from diseases such as lung cancer etc.

 

[markjay]

Driving to visit someone in a cancer hospital without paying the ULEZ !!

Tough one. But should the visitors also be exempt from Congestion Charge then? It's £15 these days. And maybe they should also be exempt from fuel duty for the journey? Etc.

 

[clk320x]

Tough one. But should the visitors also be exempt from Congestion Charge then? It's £15 these days. And maybe they should also be exempt from fuel duty for the journey? Etc.

Not to forget, air pollution is the leading cause of lung cancer after tobacco smoking, contributing to 20% of all lung cancer deaths. (Holme et al., 2023)
doi:Redirecting.

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

I can see the point you are making, but some would argue low emission zones help persuade the change to vehicles that are less harmful to health, therefore meaning less of the city residents suffer from diseases such as lung cancer etc.

Exactly, but that’s not why the EV transition is happening, nor is it the reason that Khan is taking millions from ULEZ fines.

We signed the Kyoto accord 27 years ago to reduce CO2 globally, not to clean air in the cities even faster. If that was the objective, the pollution reduction would be focussed on cities and we wouldn’t be making SVs tax free in the middle of the countryside

If he wanted to clean the air, he’d ban dirty traffic in congested areas. But he doesn’t, he just taxes people to raise money for his projects.

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

Tough one. But should the visitors also be exempt from Congestion Charge then? It's £15 these days. And maybe they should also be exempt from fuel duty for the journey? Etc.

Exactly. The objective is to tax them, and charge them for parking.

 

[markjay]

Exactly. The objective is to tax them, and charge them for parking.

I don't understand. Are you advocating some sort of 'blue badge' system for people who are visiting relatives in hospital?

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

I don't understand. Are you advocating some sort of 'blue badge' system for people who are visiting relatives in hospital?

Nope. I’m saying the objective is to tax visitors to the country’s leading hospitals as much as one can, with Ulez, congestion charges and parking fees, to give Mr Khan money to run empty buses when no-one uses them, and to build bicycle lanes that are both unsafe and seldom used.

Tax outsiders to raise money to be spent in the City. On virtue signalling projects, not structural projects like the £250 million Hammersmith Bridge repair, which has been closed for five years now, creating horrific pollution around Chiswick and Putney.

 

[clk320x]

Personally a total ban on non-compliant cars would have been my choice.

Do you think this would have been supported by a lot of the anti-ULEZ folk? As one of their main objections is that paying the charge doesn't reduce the pollution coming out their non-compliant car.

But this is a bit of a thread derailment, back to EVs.

 

[markjay]

Nope. I’m saying the objective is to tax visitors to the country’s leading hospitals as much as one can, with Ulez, congestion charges and parking fees, to give Mr Khan money to run empty buses when no-one uses them, and to build bicycle lanes that are both unsafe and seldom used.

I don't think that Mr Khan is getting anything from hospital car parks - I expect them to be run by private parking firms with the hospitals getting a cut.

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

I don't think that Mr Khan is getting anything from hospital car parks - I expect them to be run by private parking firms with the hospitals getting a cut.

Yes it’s Our NHS that taxes the motorist in addition to Mr Khan. Like the Congestion charge and ULEZ, all the money goes to the Government to finance Government projects.

The administration is in the hands of private contractors because civil servants can only work a four day week and are too slow and unreliable to implement.

 

[markjay]

Yes it’s Our NHS that taxes the motorist in addition to Mr Khan. Like the Congestion charge and ULEZ, all the money goes to the Government to finance Government projects.

Are you suggesting some sort of tax rebellion?

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Quiet day for this thread…

 

[markjay]

Quiet day for this thread…

Yup. Checked also the Daily Mail. No car caught fire, no reports of unintended acceleration. A very quiet day indeed....

 

[clk320x]

Quiet day for this thread…

Been up to Leeds and back in my EV today, no fires or issues to report.

 

[PXW]

Did a 160 mile drive over the weekend including a full circuit of the M25. Left with 99% battery, got home with 42% for comfortable real world range of 280 miles. All remarkably easy and normal!

 

[Will]

Tax outsiders to raise money to be spent in the City. On virtue signalling projects, not structural projects like the £250 million Hammersmith Bridge repair, which has been closed for five years now, creating horrific pollution around Chiswick and Putney.

I find the situation with Hammersmith Bridge mind boggling.

Considering it probably took less time to build in the first place with cast iron and wood, using hand tools and no modern tech.

Maybe they could make a charity song about a bridge in London falling down to raise funds for repair…

It’s all about the argument of who pays - TFL and the local council mainly AFAIK.

 

[baxlin]

Just watched a YouTube vid on the PetrolPed channel, about towing a caravan with an EV. Very interesting - aimed at real world rather than scientific. The battery usage rate turned out to be about the same as a diesel towcar, an approx doubling of the rate. So far so good.

The main problem appears inevitably to be charging. Unlike filling an ICE car, where the pumps are drive-through, EV charging points are invariably closed end boxes, which means having to unhitch the trailer, especially with a charge socket at the back end of the car, and leave it elsewhere in the car park.

Blinding flash of the bloomin’ obvious, but not anticipated by the planners it seems.

 

[philnewmerc]

Just watched a YouTube vid on the PetrolPed channel, about towing a caravan with an EV. Very interesting - aimed at real world rather than scientific. The battery usage rate turned out to be about the same as a diesel towcar, an approx doubling of the rate. So far so good.

The main problem appears inevitably to be charging. Unlike filling an ICE car, where the pumps are drive-through, EV charging points are invariably closed end boxes, which means having to unhitch the trailer, especially with a charge socket at the back end of the car, and leave it elsewhere in the car park.

Blinding flash of the bloomin’ obvious, but not anticipated by the planners it seems.

So either there'll be fewer caravaners in the EV future? - OK I'm now onboard the good ship EV !

 

[ALFAitalia]

Just watched a YouTube vid on the PetrolPed channel, about towing a caravan with an EV. Very interesting - aimed at real world rather than scientific. The battery usage rate turned out to be about the same as a diesel towcar, an approx doubling of the rate. So far so good.

The main problem appears inevitably to be charging. Unlike filling an ICE car, where the pumps are drive-through, EV charging points are invariably closed end boxes, which means having to unhitch the trailer, especially with a charge socket at the back end of the car, and leave it elsewhere in the car park.

Blinding flash of the bloomin’ obvious, but not anticipated by the planners it seems.

I supplied that caravans!!

So either there'll be fewer caravaners in the EV future? - OK I'm now onboard the good ship EV !

Afraid not....already got quite a few that tow with EVs....caravans are a keen lot....it will take more than a change of fueling to stop them. Also lots tow with a 4x4 or heavier diesel car but only use that for towing and drive a smaller car, often an EV when not towing. So there will be nothing stopping them keeping their tow cars after 2035.

The only real issue is having to uncouple when charging.....but there are places where you can charge with the van still hooked up....and there will be more as EV HGVs take to the roads.
I have a customer who tows all over the place behind his Tesla Type X ...it has a 2.25 tonne towing capacity....so he can tow any van he wants with that. His range roughly halves when towing (not surprising given he's towing a near 2 tonne twin axle!)....but even at around 150 mile range that's a good three hours towing....probably rather more if not on motorways as we have a 50mph limit on normal roads when towing and most would or should want to stop for a break after towing that long...Towing requires rather more concentration than solo driving so is mentally more tiring.

I did have to upset a Jaguar I-Pace owner the other day though....his dealer told him it could tow 1500kg....which would give a pretty god choice of medium and small size vans....the truth was that it could only tow 750 kg....no vans we sell are that light. So its either got to go or it will be getting a cold damp trailer tent!! The dealer denies ever saying that of course....but I don't have a lot of sympathy for him....its up to him to check before paying the cash....took me about 10 seconds on Google to check!!!