Electric cars - running costs.

[T i m]

They probably will at some point, except for now they are trying to make them more appealing to stop thousands of people dying from pollution primarily created by running ICE's in our cities.

They probably will at some point, except it isn't necessarily 'fuel' in the same way petrol or diesel are (unless 'bio fuels')? Eg, how you use your electricity should be down to you shouldn't it, be it for cooling you beer or running your car?

Just the same with how you use your alcohol, be it in the food you cook, in a glass to drink, getting stickers off things or a fuel in your dragster or camping stove? ;-)

I'm sure you do. ;-)

Cheers, T i m

[whisky-dave]

Well IC cars are still genral speaking have a lower 0-60 time.

An advantage for some I guess lioke having an automatic.

I doubt that cost for cost.

and that makes driving more fun does it ?

Makes me wonder why the high end cars make such a noise, I could hear the 3 lamborghinis coming down mile end road from quite a way off. I hear that you can select the exhgaust type and sound for replacing exhast systems on porsches.

Handy if yuo ahave the space and setup for such things.

Presently it'll come.

What about the battery ?

Difficult for some to have handy access to charging points, intial cost, Petrol head types, those that are into high performance cars, those that want a cheap runabout.

[T i m]

Meh ... when I was driving my mates SL63 AMG (500+bhp) about it was obvious it had a bit of 'go' but where could you (legally) use it?

Getting the 'right' fuel for it was nearly as hard as finding a free / working electric charging point!

And all those engine bits flying about and still beaten to 60 by an electric motor in a Tesla or for a lot less money and a smaller engine with a 1080's Suzuki GSX-R1100. ;-)

Cheers, T i m

[John Rumm]

Since IIRC harry has a i-MiEV, that's a bit of an understatement! (0-62 in something like 16 seconds!)

Seamless as in you can't tell its accelerating

About 20K new now... more when harry got his. That buys quite a bit of performance if you want it.

Those that don't want something with the style of a pregnant roller skate, which is less than 60" wide? Do you get in it, or put it on harry?

[harry]

If you press the brake pedal lightly, you get regenerative braking. Harder pressure brings in the mechanical brakes. You can see it happening on the instrumentation.

However for normal driving, you don't touch the brake pedal. As you lift off the throttle the regenerative braking comes in progressively. In my car a lever adjusts the regenerative braking according to the roads you are driving on. Twisty roads, you set the regenerative braking higher.

[harry]

It has a perfectly normal/ordinary automotive braking system. As it's so infrequently used,I anticipate never having to change the shoes/pads. There is as yet no detectable wear.

[harry]

Seamless is there are no pauses for gear changing. ie continuous acceleration.

[harry]

The doors are very thin and there's no transmission tunnel. There is ample space.

I also have a Rolls Royce. So I know the difference. The doors are very thick on that.

[dennis]

The midland metro ones can stop in their own length. I don't know how much regeneration there would be.

[Tim Streater]

Never mind the regeneration, feel the broken bones.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

And shift that pollution to the countryside with more power generation? If they really do want to get rid of the sort of pollution that kills, make a start by banning diesels. Lots of vehicles used in towns are delivery vans and taxis etc - far more suited to electric use than the average family car. CO2 output from vehicles is a different matter - that doesn't kill.

What a very odd view. There is no difference in principle between raising tax revenue on petrol diesel or electricity - where it is used to power a car.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

What a very stupid system. Why on earth would you want the car to stop quicker under all conditions than simply coasting to a halt? Especially given plenty warning you're going to have to stop like at red traffic lights.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Let's get this straight. You boast about wasting energy with its excellent acceleration (you say) but worry about the cost of a set of brake pads?

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Plenty autos exhibit the same thing. A planetary gearbox does not interrupt power flow when changing ratio.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

They'll use some form of magnetic clamp to the rails. A steel wheel on steel has pretty poor traction, compared to a tyre on a road.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Quite. Probably cheaper to run down that cyclist than pay for all the injuries to standing passengers. Infinitely preferable too, since cyclists are always in the wrong.

[John Rumm]

The dual clutch designs are also able to apply continuous torque.

[Andy Bennet]

So how does that work with an ICE? If the car goes faster then the input/output ratio must increase, therefore to maintain the output torque the input torque must increase - but the ICE will slow down so its torque must increase for decreasing engine revs.

Sounds bollocks to me.

[bert]

The old trolley buses in Newcastle used to be quite lethal

[T i m]

It's like not running your petrol generator inside your workshop but outside.

I thought they were, effectively?

Agreed. Here is an idea ... electric trains or barges carrying the bulk goods between hubs and then electric vehicles from there to the factories, shops and houses etc?

Ok.

But why would specifically tax say alcohol for fuel more than if you use the same to drink or power your camping stove. The only reason to tax such when used for fuel (if cleaner alternatives are available) is to distract people from using it or to pay for the cleanup.

Cheers, T i m