Electric cars - running costs.

Let's assume that I don't have listen again yet.

Did they say how long the fast charge took?

The Norwegians are planning to tax (or remove subsidies) from heavy electric cars. I think they mean ones exceeding 2 tonnes.

This kind of thing (and more) is inevitable. Governments are addicted to the tax levied on vehicle fuels and will not give them up.

I've been looking at EV charging (we've just ordered a hybrid) and I've found there are a surprising number of free or cheap charging points. Some require a subscription of about £8 per mth, others seem to be totally free. The £8 / mth one is the Polar network, which is a mix of free and charged for points.

Of course, the danger is that, having got everyone 'hooked', they ramp up the costs.

The Gov. still offer not only a generous 'bonus' to help fund a hybrid or EV, they are also funding the installation of domestic charge points. The process seems very 'slick' so far- ours should be installed in under

no danger whatsoever, it's guaranteed

NT

Something most proponents of electric vehicles tend to forget.

Indeed, one of the reasons we went hybrid and not all electric.

Most electric cars are charged overnight at home

What is the life of a battery? Do you need to factor battery replacement into the running costs?

That's because most are only town runabouts. If filling stations are getting round to fitting fast charging points, it suggests they are going to be used for longer distances.

Yes but that's a secret. Hush!

Bill

At least one manufacturer gives an 8 year warranty on their PHEV hybrid batteries- it covers them to ensure 70% capacity. Their batteries are also 'modular' and, supposedly, that means cheaper to repair (well swap out 'cells' or 'modules' (I'm not sure of the details.)

What happens if he needs the heater and the wipers etc as well though? Brian

You certainly need to factor in depreciation and lost capacity with age.

Proponents always base their claims on overnight charging on Economy7 which isn't going to do you any good on a long journey when you run out of power half way to Edinburgh. You may as well get the train.

Trouble is that when I do that journey by car, I have the back of the vehicle full of kit.

On my EV there is no heater and the wipers and lights etc run from an independent auxiliary battery so wouldn't affect the range as such, especially in the dry and daytime. ;-)

Cheers, T i m

We have a Renault Zoe (Wifeys car which I enjoy driving) which has a useable range of 185miles, will easily do an 80 mile destination and back, hardly a town runabout. We charge it overnight at 7p/kWh, about £3 including inefficiencies. We did not get an EV based on the cost of the fuel, it is just plain more enjoyable driving.

Yes, travelling to destinations more than 85/90 miles away starts to require a topup on the road. We bought it as a runabout for the missus mainly, longer distances we use the legacy vehicle, but battery technology already exists in the lab which will allow 500 or more mile range which for me is all the driving I want to do in a day.

We are lucky and have off road parking so can easily charge at home so an EV is a perfect solution. Having said that I do appreciate that the existing infrastructure makes it difficult for people in flats etc with no off road parking, but it will get better in time (it has to, and there are plenty of bucks to be made in doing so).

Andy

Normally the 12V battery is recharged from the 400V traction battery via a DC/DC convertor - typically 1kW , so heating/lighting etc DOES use the traction power. However 100W for lights (less if LED) will hardly make a dent in a 40/50/60kWh traction battery capacity. Many EVs use a reversible heatpump for the heating/aircon and give a COP of nearly 300% so those loads are much lower than on a pure resistive heating type.

Andy

Sounds nice for that purpose. That would cover a lot of our local driving.

So that would take what, a day and a half to recharge?

How will it get better in time? What is your plan for that?