Living with an EV
Discussion
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ofEQ38Net0A&list...
I watched this with interest yesterday. I really don't want this to start an argument but having as yet no inclination to own an EV I wondered if those that do to be a realistic representation of the stress of owning one.
None of this will apply if you only use your car for local journeys but I like to drive down to Dorset a few times a year from Yorkshire to the Isle of Portland,it's about 300 miles give or take. The very thought of even attempting such a trip in one of these would put me off even trying. My old E Class diesel could get there and back in a full tank taking it steady without the need to stop at all.
Is it so difficult to find charging points? Is the infrastructure so unprepared? If this is a realistic review then I would say no.
I watched this with interest yesterday. I really don't want this to start an argument but having as yet no inclination to own an EV I wondered if those that do to be a realistic representation of the stress of owning one.
None of this will apply if you only use your car for local journeys but I like to drive down to Dorset a few times a year from Yorkshire to the Isle of Portland,it's about 300 miles give or take. The very thought of even attempting such a trip in one of these would put me off even trying. My old E Class diesel could get there and back in a full tank taking it steady without the need to stop at all.
Is it so difficult to find charging points? Is the infrastructure so unprepared? If this is a realistic review then I would say no.
I'm not going to bother with the video, but my experience of running a Polestar 2 for the last 20 months and 16k miles has been nothing but positive. I do a regular trip to see my parents in Northumberland from my home in West Yorkshire and haven't had any problems charging, and I've holidayed in the Lake District several times. I've queued for a charger once in that time, and in retrospect I didn't actually need to. I adopted the mindset of charging when I can, not when I need to. I have charging at home and at work. It potentially helps that the range estimation on the Polestar is very accurate, and I've never found myself with "range anxiety".
Gordon Hill said:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ofEQ38Net0A&list...
I watched this with interest yesterday. I really don't want this to start an argument but having as yet no inclination to own an EV I wondered if those that do to be a realistic representation of the stress of owning one.
None of this will apply if you only use your car for local journeys but I like to drive down to Dorset a few times a year from Yorkshire to the Isle of Portland,it's about 300 miles give or take. The very thought of even attempting such a trip in one of these would put me off even trying. My old E Class diesel could get there and back in a full tank taking it steady without the need to stop at all.
Is it so difficult to find charging points? Is the infrastructure so unprepared? If this is a realistic review then I would say no.
Why would you buy a car that isn't suitable for your needs? People who say they need a big range then criticise EV need to ask themselves, woukd they buy a two seater and complain they can't fit the family in. Horses for courses, seems simple. I watched this with interest yesterday. I really don't want this to start an argument but having as yet no inclination to own an EV I wondered if those that do to be a realistic representation of the stress of owning one.
None of this will apply if you only use your car for local journeys but I like to drive down to Dorset a few times a year from Yorkshire to the Isle of Portland,it's about 300 miles give or take. The very thought of even attempting such a trip in one of these would put me off even trying. My old E Class diesel could get there and back in a full tank taking it steady without the need to stop at all.
Is it so difficult to find charging points? Is the infrastructure so unprepared? If this is a realistic review then I would say no.
I'm going to keep this simple
I had an E-Tron GT, similar to the one in the video
Real world range was 250 miles or thereabouts. A little less in the cold, a little more in the summer.
It was a reliable 250 miles.
Charging points are not complicated to find. However, you do need a back up and a back up of your back up.
Finding charge points in use or not working is not unusual.
If you are driving around using the car for more than 200 miles a day, so relying on the public charging network daily - don't bother. It's not reliable enough yet and you'll go bonkers.
But if you are doing a few trips a year - it's fine. Just plan ahead and accept that you may need a small diversion or re-calculation. Remember - on your 300 mile trip, you're only going to need to charge once each way, probably for less than 30-45 mins each time.
The key to range anxiety is to get your head around how few times you actually exceed the car's useable range in a day. For me, that was hardly ever so the benefits of EV power outweighed the hassle of public charging twice a year.
My final point is that I would never have two EVs as our only transport, with infrastructure as it is.
So, to use the 300 miles trip as an example again, I would just take my wife's car for the 1% of the year that I take a long journey and use the EV for the other 99% of the time.
I had an E-Tron GT, similar to the one in the video
Real world range was 250 miles or thereabouts. A little less in the cold, a little more in the summer.
It was a reliable 250 miles.
Charging points are not complicated to find. However, you do need a back up and a back up of your back up.
Finding charge points in use or not working is not unusual.
If you are driving around using the car for more than 200 miles a day, so relying on the public charging network daily - don't bother. It's not reliable enough yet and you'll go bonkers.
But if you are doing a few trips a year - it's fine. Just plan ahead and accept that you may need a small diversion or re-calculation. Remember - on your 300 mile trip, you're only going to need to charge once each way, probably for less than 30-45 mins each time.
The key to range anxiety is to get your head around how few times you actually exceed the car's useable range in a day. For me, that was hardly ever so the benefits of EV power outweighed the hassle of public charging twice a year.
My final point is that I would never have two EVs as our only transport, with infrastructure as it is.
So, to use the 300 miles trip as an example again, I would just take my wife's car for the 1% of the year that I take a long journey and use the EV for the other 99% of the time.
This is an evolving market, each and every day. New charging stations are being commissioned all the time. The capability of the vehicles are getting better with each cycle.
To expect it to be up to the point of a 100+ year mature industry is short-sighted.
For point of reference, I've been designing and testing EVs for 6 years. When I first started, it was pretty bad. Now I own an EV and don't really think twice about long distance journeys - I travel from Essex to Edinburgh several times a year and each time I do it, it gets easier.
To expect it to be up to the point of a 100+ year mature industry is short-sighted.
For point of reference, I've been designing and testing EVs for 6 years. When I first started, it was pretty bad. Now I own an EV and don't really think twice about long distance journeys - I travel from Essex to Edinburgh several times a year and each time I do it, it gets easier.
Does this really need another thread?
There have been numerous posts from EV owners who use them for trips to Italy or skiing in France and a few other long distance destinations.
Why not look at those first.
99% of my journeys are local but took my i3s to Northampton shire a few weeks ago 180 miles each way. Stress free with one stop each way. I find the quietness of an EV is a more relaxing environment. I would add If I wanted a car to do distance runs regualrly I would have chosen a different EV.
I would never consider doing 300 miles a 5 or 6 hour drive non stop.
There have been numerous posts from EV owners who use them for trips to Italy or skiing in France and a few other long distance destinations.
Why not look at those first.
99% of my journeys are local but took my i3s to Northampton shire a few weeks ago 180 miles each way. Stress free with one stop each way. I find the quietness of an EV is a more relaxing environment. I would add If I wanted a car to do distance runs regualrly I would have chosen a different EV.
I would never consider doing 300 miles a 5 or 6 hour drive non stop.
Edited by Nomme de Plum on Wednesday 11th October 16:44
Muzzer79 said:
I'm going to keep this simple
I had an E-Tron GT, similar to the one in the video
Real world range was 250 miles or thereabouts. A little less in the cold, a little more in the summer.
It was a reliable 250 miles.
Charging points are not complicated to find. However, you do need a back up and a back up of your back up.
Finding charge points in use or not working is not unusual.
If you are driving around using the car for more than 200 miles a day, so relying on the public charging network daily - don't bother. It's not reliable enough yet and you'll go bonkers.
But if you are doing a few trips a year - it's fine. Just plan ahead and accept that you may need a small diversion or re-calculation. Remember - on your 300 mile trip, you're only going to need to charge once each way, probably for less than 30-45 mins each time.
The key to range anxiety is to get your head around how few times you actually exceed the car's useable range in a day. For me, that was hardly ever so the benefits of EV power outweighed the hassle of public charging twice a year.
My final point is that I would never have two EVs as our only transport, with infrastructure as it is.
So, to use the 300 miles trip as an example again, I would just take my wife's car for the 1% of the year that I take a long journey and use the EV for the other 99% of the time.
I had an E-Tron GT, similar to the one in the video
Real world range was 250 miles or thereabouts. A little less in the cold, a little more in the summer.
It was a reliable 250 miles.
Charging points are not complicated to find. However, you do need a back up and a back up of your back up.
Finding charge points in use or not working is not unusual.
If you are driving around using the car for more than 200 miles a day, so relying on the public charging network daily - don't bother. It's not reliable enough yet and you'll go bonkers.
But if you are doing a few trips a year - it's fine. Just plan ahead and accept that you may need a small diversion or re-calculation. Remember - on your 300 mile trip, you're only going to need to charge once each way, probably for less than 30-45 mins each time.
The key to range anxiety is to get your head around how few times you actually exceed the car's useable range in a day. For me, that was hardly ever so the benefits of EV power outweighed the hassle of public charging twice a year.
My final point is that I would never have two EVs as our only transport, with infrastructure as it is.
So, to use the 300 miles trip as an example again, I would just take my wife's car for the 1% of the year that I take a long journey and use the EV for the other 99% of the time.
Thanks for this, great reply. That's what I got from the review, the reliance on public charging points and not charging from home. I realise that if we are to all drive an EV at some point in the future then a different mindset will need to be adopted, hopefully by then the infrastructure will be better and the range between chargers will be longer. I must admit that Matt didn't give this test a great deal of thought.
44k miles, 2yrs, in a Tesla 3 and never had range anxietry / waited a charging / or had to search for a charger.
Includes 2 European Trips (Austria) in the Summer and recently travelling all over the country looking at potential Univeristy's for my son.
But if you don't fancy one, you don't have to buy one.
Includes 2 European Trips (Austria) in the Summer and recently travelling all over the country looking at potential Univeristy's for my son.
But if you don't fancy one, you don't have to buy one.
I'm on my second EV, both Volvo XC40 Recharge. My first one was the single motor and had a real world range of 180-200 miles max on longer motorway journeys. This wasn't quite enough, as in doing a trip say to one of the London airports from my home in the Midlands (~150 miles) it would be almost out of charge by the time I arrived, meaning having to plan much more around charging and the return journey as I wouldn't make it far at all before having to stop and charge on the return leg.
My new one (dual motor with uprated range) does around 280-300 miles, and the additional range has made a huge difference to the usability of it. London/M4 corridor locations are do-able with a very short charging break and the ability to make it most of the way back home before needing to charge means I have far more options available which is a nice safety net. Given my experience with both cars, I honestly think a 400 mile range EV and the anticipated infrastructure improvements over the next 12-24 months would mean zero range anxiety or inconvenience for me 99% of the time. I'd say I'm currently there around 80% of the time as things stand now. It's all down to usage, for some people (and/or scenarios) they just don't work - for roadtrips and UK breaks I take one of my petrol cars instead.
This is from a bona-fide petrolhead with the rest of my garage occupied by things that make Greta very unhappy!
My new one (dual motor with uprated range) does around 280-300 miles, and the additional range has made a huge difference to the usability of it. London/M4 corridor locations are do-able with a very short charging break and the ability to make it most of the way back home before needing to charge means I have far more options available which is a nice safety net. Given my experience with both cars, I honestly think a 400 mile range EV and the anticipated infrastructure improvements over the next 12-24 months would mean zero range anxiety or inconvenience for me 99% of the time. I'd say I'm currently there around 80% of the time as things stand now. It's all down to usage, for some people (and/or scenarios) they just don't work - for roadtrips and UK breaks I take one of my petrol cars instead.
This is from a bona-fide petrolhead with the rest of my garage occupied by things that make Greta very unhappy!
GroundEffect said:
This is an evolving market, each and every day. New charging stations are being commissioned all the time. The capability of the vehicles are getting better with each cycle.
To expect it to be up to the point of a 100+ year mature industry is short-sighted.
For point of reference, I've been designing and testing EVs for 6 years. When I first started, it was pretty bad. Now I own an EV and don't really think twice about long distance journeys - I travel from Essex to Edinburgh several times a year and each time I do it, it gets easier.
Right but the points raised in the video are quite irritating. Why so often does the card payment not work? Why is there often no queueing system in place? To expect it to be up to the point of a 100+ year mature industry is short-sighted.
For point of reference, I've been designing and testing EVs for 6 years. When I first started, it was pretty bad. Now I own an EV and don't really think twice about long distance journeys - I travel from Essex to Edinburgh several times a year and each time I do it, it gets easier.
It's like they do the bare minimum to tick "Add EV charging point" off their list without thinking about how people will actually use it.
Another irritation I have is chargers incorrectly reporting their status in the apps so you get there and find 3/4 chargers offline.
biggbn said:
Why would you buy a car that isn't suitable for your needs? People who say they need a big range then criticise EV need to ask themselves, woukd they buy a two seater and complain they can't fit the family in. Horses for courses, seems simple.
A few good friends have recently purchased EV's and I've often wondered what it would be like to live my life with one. I often go on reasonable length journeys at the weekend for MTB rides and family trips but now I WFH during the week. As a concept I actually fit the bill... until of course I think about driving further afield (2-3 hours journeys). I've often done longer journeys recently and pondered when arriving at the service station if I could get a charger and if the charger would be working - I've walked over to the charging bays and nine times out of ten found them to be busy or out of order (often traveling during school holidays in peak traffic).
With a little one I don't spend hours inside a service station before making my next stint of the journey - and with a meal and a toilet stop we'd be a maximum of 20mins at a service station. Staying longer and charge point watching would do my head in.
I think our infrastructure has quite a way to go yet but for someone such as my wife an electric car is perfect (short journeys around town and no motorway travel).
Not only that my current Derv will do a trip to cornwall/the lakes/dorset drive me around for a few days and then come back on the same tank to the midlands. That said I have been looking at V8 touring's recently and stopping for petrol 3 times is still more appealing.
budgie smuggler said:
GroundEffect said:
This is an evolving market, each and every day. New charging stations are being commissioned all the time. The capability of the vehicles are getting better with each cycle.
To expect it to be up to the point of a 100+ year mature industry is short-sighted.
For point of reference, I've been designing and testing EVs for 6 years. When I first started, it was pretty bad. Now I own an EV and don't really think twice about long distance journeys - I travel from Essex to Edinburgh several times a year and each time I do it, it gets easier.
Right but the points raised in the video are quite irritating. Why so often does the card payment not work? Why is there often no queueing system in place? To expect it to be up to the point of a 100+ year mature industry is short-sighted.
For point of reference, I've been designing and testing EVs for 6 years. When I first started, it was pretty bad. Now I own an EV and don't really think twice about long distance journeys - I travel from Essex to Edinburgh several times a year and each time I do it, it gets easier.
It's like they do the bare minimum to tick "Add EV charging point" off their list without thinking about how people will actually use it.
Another irritation I have is chargers incorrectly reporting their status in the apps so you get there and find 3/4 chargers offline.
1) Immature site development (because as you say, many people want to tick a box to offer charging rather than heavy investment to tear up their sites - defer that to later)
2) Telecom robustness (payment relies on telecom with systems like Payter and the link to navigation apps via OCPI and they are not as robust as they should be - see back to 1 as it needs maturity and refinement)
We're trying to build the aeroplane as we fly it.
ajap1979 said:
OK, so I watched a bit of the video...
First problem, although he mentions that journeys in an EV require more planning, he just turns up at Bletchley Park expecting there to be charger availability, without checking...
Not watched the video, but Bletchley Park? What a moron. There are sFirst problem, although he mentions that journeys in an EV require more planning, he just turns up at Bletchley Park expecting there to be charger availability, without checking...
tloads of rapid chargers in the Milton Keynes area, and not difficult to find either. I've been driving an EV since March - first, an Enyaq 80, and now an Enyaq vRS. I've covered around 10k miles combined in them and I've not once had to use public charging yet. Earlier in the summer, I went from Warwickshire to Liverpool and back on a single charge (278 miles). I had less than 10 miles of range showing when I arrived back at home, but the range meter seems very accurate.
I didn't even have to o anything special - I was driving at the NSL and using the air con.
Even if I had needed to stop, I'd have only charged enough to return home - adding 50 miles of range on a commonplace 50kW charger would have taken no longer than 15 minutes.
The secret, as others have said, is forward planning, and charging when you can.
A friend of mine has a Tesla Model-S and managed 18k in his first year of ownership and has used it on various holidays across the UK.
Firstly I say fair play to him, because on every trip he has to factor in charging stops near to where they are staying or on the route. But here's the thing, it's his first car. Passed his test at 36 and opted straight in for an EV.
Genuine question as I don't know but would he have found the charging more of a pain had he gone from say a diesel able to do 600 miles and top up any old place he likes. Certainly for the long trips, I know my preference.
I look forward to a time when EVs charge even faster or travel even further.
Firstly I say fair play to him, because on every trip he has to factor in charging stops near to where they are staying or on the route. But here's the thing, it's his first car. Passed his test at 36 and opted straight in for an EV.
Genuine question as I don't know but would he have found the charging more of a pain had he gone from say a diesel able to do 600 miles and top up any old place he likes. Certainly for the long trips, I know my preference.
I look forward to a time when EVs charge even faster or travel even further.
Alex_225 said:
A friend of mine has a Tesla Model-S and managed 18k in his first year of ownership and has used it on various holidays across the UK.
Firstly I say fair play to him, because on every trip he has to factor in charging stops near to where they are staying or on the route. But here's the thing, it's his first car. Passed his test at 36 and opted straight in for an EV.
Genuine question as I don't know but would he have found the charging more of a pain had he gone from say a diesel able to do 600 miles and top up any old place he likes. Certainly for the long trips, I know my preference.
I look forward to a time when EVs charge even faster or travel even further.
For various reasons I now have a Tesla and had a 520d before…Firstly I say fair play to him, because on every trip he has to factor in charging stops near to where they are staying or on the route. But here's the thing, it's his first car. Passed his test at 36 and opted straight in for an EV.
Genuine question as I don't know but would he have found the charging more of a pain had he gone from say a diesel able to do 600 miles and top up any old place he likes. Certainly for the long trips, I know my preference.
I look forward to a time when EVs charge even faster or travel even further.
I can charge at home and at work and indeed I would not recommend one to someone if they can’t charge at home/work….. I wouldn’t go back now. There is the odd occasion whereby I need to think a little more carefully but aside from that it’s great.
I do 20,000 miles a year (I do have race cars for the weekend critically as well!)
For daily’s EV is very much the way forward for me but I absolutely know it’s not suitable for all
sixor8 said:
I'm sure this has been pointed out before, but that's not how averages work.
For example, in a room of 10 people, 1 has an IQ of 150, the other nine have an IQ of 100.
Total is 900 + 150 = 1050. Average IQ is therefore 105, 9 of them are below the 'average.'
For example, in a room of 10 people, 1 has an IQ of 150, the other nine have an IQ of 100.
Total is 900 + 150 = 1050. Average IQ is therefore 105, 9 of them are below the 'average.'
And if the room has billions of people in it?
Gassing Station | EV and Alternative Fuels | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff