Terrible experience road-tripping an EV!!’

[Zcd1]

https://apple.news/Ac08cnx0sSy6crHAkfEyTkw

Awful, indeed…

[FeelingLucky]

No real surprises here, it wasn't intended to be a hit piece. Even non-EV users will appreciate it's best to start a long journey with a full charge, just a everybody knows you'll never hit WLTP figures.

In my 40 years of driving, I've never managed to hit the manufacturers quoted mpg figures and never seen fit to write an article in the guardian of the "untold truth of ICE cars".

[Zcd1]

I know it wasn't a hit piece - it was written as a sensible counterpoint to all the clueless people (including Mr. Atkinson) who've recently written their own hit pieces.

[LivLL]

That article is trash nonsense, explaining how he managed a tortuous 215 mile trip in a £60k EV that has over 300 miles of range.

Some of the EV fanatics are loons.

[Downward]

Lucky it was a Tesla. The rest of us peasants have to look for single fast chargers !

[MaxFromage]

For anyone reading that piece- You don't have to double back for Leigh Delamere, you can just use the access roads between East and West.

[PBCD]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Out of curiosity, why are the 'powers that be' so obsessed with preventing people entering/leaving
service areas via access roads to the extent that they will spend large sums of money installing
barriers, cameras, etc?

I don't see an obvious safety issue and some locations (such as Tebay) actually encourage swapping sides!

[DMZ]

I gave up on that article. What in the hell does right wing or left wing have to do with EVs? It’s a propulsion mechanism with well understood limitations and upfront costs that some can live with and others cannot. Anyone with an EV can give examples of successful journeys and not so successful journeys and lessons learnt on the latter. I’m amazed people still get paid to write about an EV journey that they did. YouTube is full of this tedium if you really want to watch somebody driving at the speed limit yapping on about range.

[dundarach]

"There were long queues for some internal combustion fuel stations during the holiday weekend.James Morris"

Eh?

Who the hell calls them 'internal combustion fuel stations'?

[croyde]

I don't think I have ever bought petrol at Motorway service stations, despite long journeys across the UK, including driving a big old Yank V8 from Inverness to London.

[C.A.R.]

He still made some rookie mistakes IMO

I did North Herts > Newcastle City Centre > Bishop Auckland > back to North Herts on the weekend in a Tesla (company car).

Normally straight up the A1(M) but there were accidents on the Friday which meant long detours. A 500 mile-round-trip, plus detours and exploring whilst up there ended up just shy of 650 miles.

Driving at a fairly consistent 82 on cruise control (apart from the roadworks...and Grantham) I only charged twice the whole weekend, neither of which was a "full charge" either, both times charging to 75%. First charge was £19.odd and the second one £28.odd.

Left home with 100%, charged off of a 3-pin socket at whatever the base rate is (35p / kWh?). Apart from almost forgetting to plug in the day before setting off (which wouldn't have been a drama) the whole thing was so stress-free that I barely give it a second thought.

There needs to be a polite way of saying "EVs: Not for simpletons".

[Richard-G]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

yes, loads of superchargers at gordano, think theyre only 150k though.

oh and tesla are listening, theyve just built loads of new superchargers at Exeter services so you dont have to go 3 mins off the M5 to the lovely darts farm!

[Zcd1]

LivLL said:

Some of the EV fanatics are loons.

The real loons are the anti-EV commentators. Without them, there’d have been no inspiration or need for this piece. Here’s the salient quote:

“The Context
First, I should mention some of the articles that inspired me to write this piece. Last year, Conservative broadcaster Iain Dale complained about a tortuous 11-hour journey in his EV, demonstrating how little research he’d done prior to purchasing it, and how he hadn’t taken adequate steps planning the charging for his terror trip. More recently, British food writer Giles Coren proved that he should stick to culinary articles in a piece explaining how he bought the wrong EV and wasn’t able to plan how to charge it properly either. Both these articles, unsurprisingly, were to be found in the right-wing press.
What was more of a surprise was when comedy legend, Rowan Atkinson – of Mr Bean and Johnny English fame – waded in last week with an article in more left-leaning publication The Guardian. Despite Atkinson’s citing his electrical engineering academic background, his article was filled with all the debunked myths of the anti-electrification movement. Indeed only a few days later, The Guardian debunked itself with a follow-up from Simon Evans of Carbon Brief.”

[PistonTim]

C.A.R. said:

He still made some rookie mistakes IMO

I did North Herts > Newcastle City Centre > Bishop Auckland > back to North Herts on the weekend in a Tesla (company car).

Normally straight up the A1(M) but there were accidents on the Friday which meant long detours. A 500 mile-round-trip, plus detours and exploring whilst up there ended up just shy of 650 miles.

Driving at a fairly consistent 82 on cruise control (apart from the roadworks...and Grantham) I only charged twice the whole weekend, neither of which was a "full charge" either, both times charging to 75%. First charge was £19.odd and the second one £28.odd.

Left home with 100%, charged off of a 3-pin socket at whatever the base rate is (35p / kWh?). Apart from almost forgetting to plug in the day before setting off (which wouldn't have been a drama) the whole thing was so stress-free that I barely give it a second thought.

There needs to be a polite way of saying "EVs: Not for simpletons".

I think your last point is scarily accurate and highlights just how the basic education and wit of much of the population is we share the roads with, the same people who keep calling them milkfloats etc None of it is hard to work out at all!

[poo at Paul's]

That Forbes article says having been to Devon before it didnt take significantly longer, although he goes on to say that he stopped was it 3 times there and back for 20 mins a time. So he's 70 miles behind the ICEW car that can do there and back without a stop.
Of course he says he'd have to stop for a break, but in the actual real world out there, huge numbers don't need to stop, or stop for 5 mins maybe on each of those legs.

So he has his 60k super SUV that does 0-60 in 3 seconds, and is only 60 miles behind the guy in a £5k Passat Bluemotion at the end of 450 miles or so.

There is no way around it, if you have to stop to charge up, it will be basically impossible to make up the charging time on the next part of your leg, before having to charge up again. You just cant go so much faster than a non EV, both because of the law, and because you just dont have the range.

For longer journeys, an EV will take longer, it does now, and likely always will. We have to accept that.

[TheDrownedApe]

poo at Paul's said:

For longer journeys, an EV will take longer, it does now, and likely always will. We have to accept that.

Yup. My matey can get from his to mine in 4.5 hrs in a £500 shed. It takes me 5.5 hrs (slower driving speed and charging).

I don't mind it taking an hour longer but what really annoys me is when the vehicle i'm drafting doesn't go my whole way and has the audacity to turn off.

[paulrockliffe]

PistonTim said:

I think your last point is scarily accurate and highlights just how the basic education and wit of much of the population is we share the roads with, the same people who keep calling them milkfloats etc None of it is hard to work out at all!

It's a legitimate complaint though, if you're too thick or whatever to work it out then you end up with a worse experience because navigating the petrol network is much easier, or more familiar. Some people are thick and they get to have an opinion as well.

Alongside that I think it's legitimate to highlight the extra mental load, even if you're not thick, modern life is so hectic, busy and chaotic, with so many things to remember, to work out or to sort out, people do want to be able to just get in the car and drive without having to think about more stuff and electric charging is an extra complication.

I doubt this would be a major reason not to buy an EV for many, but it's a negative all the same.

But can't the car just work all this out for you? It's just basic maths with all the variables connected to the internet, so why doesn't the car look at its battery, look at the journey, look at the chargers and look at how busy they are and factor in their use profile at the time you'll get there, and work out the optimum journey and charging points for you?

Let Google Maps access the API and Maps can give you all this before you leave and even alert you when it's time to leave to get to an appointment in your calendar based on the journey time including charging delays. I'm sure this will be a thing soon enough.

[andy43]

EVs just need thought before a long journey. It’s the same with trains. It may involve using the internet.
A Tesla and some others even do the thinking for you - tell it where you want to end up and it will tell you how to do it.
Start off half empty with no clue about where or how to refill your vehicle and you’ll struggle. Usually deliberately if you’re a journalist because that sells newspapers.

[What The Deuces]

TheDrownedApe said:

poo at Paul's said:

For longer journeys, an EV will take longer, it does now, and likely always will. We have to accept that.

Yup. My matey can get from his to mine in 4.5 hrs in a £500 shed. It takes me 5.5 hrs (slower driving speed and charging).

I don't mind it taking an hour longer but what really annoys me is when the vehicle i'm drafting doesn't go my whole way and has the audacity to turn off.

Properly chuckling at that.

[Richard-G]

paulrockliffe said:

PistonTim said:

I think your last point is scarily accurate and highlights just how the basic education and wit of much of the population is we share the roads with, the same people who keep calling them milkfloats etc None of it is hard to work out at all!

It's a legitimate complaint though, if you're too thick or whatever to work it out then you end up with a worse experience because navigating the petrol network is much easier, or more familiar. Some people are thick and they get to have an opinion as well.

Alongside that I think it's legitimate to highlight the extra mental load, even if you're not thick, modern life is so hectic, busy and chaotic, with so many things to remember, to work out or to sort out, people do want to be able to just get in the car and drive without having to think about more stuff and electric charging is an extra complication.

I doubt this would be a major reason not to buy an EV for many, but it's a negative all the same.

But can't the car just work all this out for you? It's just basic maths with all the variables connected to the internet, so why doesn't the car look at its battery, look at the journey, look at the chargers and look at how busy they are and factor in their use profile at the time you'll get there, and work out the optimum journey and charging points for you?

Let Google Maps access the API and Maps can give you all this before you leave and even alert you when it's time to leave to get to an appointment in your calendar based on the journey time including charging delays. I'm sure this will be a thing soon enough.

Have you driven a tesla? cus it does all that on the on board computer for you.

i drove to Devon last week from the midlands, left with 100%, 65mph the whole way due to my bike being on the roof ( 2021 model 3 LR with a sea sucker bike mount) arrived in torquay with 33% remaining. Even if i had to stop and charge ive got Hopwood park, Bristol Cribs, Gordano, Exter services and Darts farm on the journey. As it was i had free destination charging.

total round trip cost was around £7.20 and i guess door to door faster than an ICE as i didnt need to stop for fuel at all.