Any electric car drivers on here?

[stevieturbo]

Do you think there should be more chargers or not?


As for scale, National Grid has already confirmed generation can cope with the demand, even at the most advanced scenario, you are right in some ways though that local grid reinforcement for high power to the 50kW/100kW plus sites, this is normal, the issue in Northern Ireland is the entire cost formthat is passed to the person/company requesting, in ALL other jurisdictions this is not the case, the Regulator has remit for decarbonisation and therefore provide assistance in this area, Typically costs in GB and Ireland are 40% of what they are in NI. NI Utility Regulator doesnt have decarbonisation as part of its remit currently, so can't resolve this, DfI and DfE need to change this, UR are open to it, NIEN (who are responsible for those connections) are open to it, Stormont continue to sit on their hands, the recently annonuced Energy Strategy is disappointing in its scope and ambitions.




Not sure I (and many others agree), active travel, followed by efficient and effective (and affordable) Public transport are very effective in protecting the environment, so investments in these areas are very welcome, However with 83% of travel in NI by car, and with 2030 just over 7 years away, investment in the Public charging infrastructure is vital and urgent. But as ever progress in NI is glacial.

So what are your thoughts on what needs to happen, rather than just pointing out what you see as problems ?

There will be more charges when the market needs them. If they are not there, they must not be a viable business yet. If they are viable...why not start up your own charger network ? You'll make a mint ?
Perhaps rent out your home charger and make it available to everyone ? That would create a much larger network already. Not overly fast charging, but could get some people out of a hole.
Charger stats might make more sense per EV, than per population. The entire population do not own EV's

It's a smaller more rural population here.....everything usually costs more and can often be less accessible. Although the population is growing....we can only hope we never turn into a ****hole with millions of people here like some big cities. Almost 2 mil now though for the entire country. Not good.

And dirty empty buses driving around endlessly holding up other traffic, just doesn't seem that clean or efficient ? Yes there will be certain times of the day when they might be full, but the rest of the day they are not.
Now if people believe that electric is clean....why are all the buses here not electric, to lead by example ? Buses are probably one of the easiest vehicles to do electric. They know exactly the route/range they need every day, they're huge, plenty of room for batteries etc etc. But almost none here are ( are there any full electric buses here ? ). Surely there is no excuse for any city based bus not to be electric ?
If they want to encourage people to use buses, are all the park n rides filled with EV chargers for when people park there ? If the network can handle it, and if it would be profitable....again, seems a no brainer ?
Bus companies cry about not making money....well they could make money from people paying to charge, while they pay to use the bus.

Presumably that none of things things are happening, means they are not yet viable, not yet profitable ?

 

[Coog]

Ironically all the city buses were already electric up until the 60’s then they done away with them I favour of ICE ones.

 

[stevieturbo]

Anyone spending 50k on a EV will be spending it on ICEV. Or maybe 40k on ICEV and budgeting the additional 10k on Tax or fuel or whatever. You don’t decide one day that you’re no longer going to run a £1500 diesel but instead spend 50 grand on a Tesla. That argument is pretty silly and has been repeated on here about a dozen times already.

I’d be surprised if anyone is actually paying £50k either. Most are through company schemes with low BIK tax. So not only do you get a better equipped and significantly quicker car for the same or less outlay but it’s also quite cheap to run. I went from a 150bhp diesel Tiguan to an Etron. The Tiguan was more per month before we even get into maintenance, fuel, etc.

Unfortunately or fortunately whatever way you look at it; I’ve little choice either. I either sort a newish car myself, take one from the list (probably an insignia or a bmw 314i or whatever) or decline the car allowance altogether.

It doesn’t work for all. Not everyone gets an allowance or access to a scheme, but I’d wager the majority of EVs on the road are through such schemes.

Yes if I was given one for free, or at a ridiculous deal I'd probably take one. But out of my own pocket...it does not make sense.

I've said for years that if I could get a van with a usable range I'd have had one years ago....but even today that still does not exist ( although I do not do big miles anymore )
Again you'd think vans would be an easy one to get good range with....most seem pathetic at under 200 miles.

But if there was a decent size EV car/estate out there, cheap, that can tow 3T and have a range of say 350-400 miles when towing.....perhaps I might be able to replace my daily with one.
It just seems we are still many many years away from that.

 

[Coog]

Yes if I was given one for free, or at a ridiculous deal I'd probably take one. But out of my own pocket...it does not make sense.

I've said for years that if I could get a van with a usable range I'd have had one years ago....but even today that still does not exist ( although I do not do big miles anymore )
Again you'd think vans would be an easy one to get good range with....most seem pathetic at under 200 miles.

But if there was a decent size EV car/estate out there, cheap, that can tow 3T and have a range of say 350-400 miles when towing.....perhaps I might be able to replace my daily with one.
It just seems we are still many many years away from that.

Oh totally. I’ve a Cayenne for that. The Etron would be useless for all the stuff the Cayenne does.

 

[davyk31]

A van with a 200 mile electric range is more than plenty for many users as not many will do more than that each day. Simply charge it up again each night and another 200 miles ready to go.

 

[big_pete]

Why do people assume that the motivation for buying an EV was to save money or be green?

Neither were a factor at all when I bought mine. I was looking at other similarly priced cars, the tesla was faster, had more tech, better warranty, drove better etc. But the biggest factor in it all is that I wanted one. You know, how most of us car enthusiasts actually choose their car? Of all places I cannot understand how people on here can’t fathom that.

As an added bonus it costs me pittance to run. The green aspect of it I couldn’t care less about.

Some people (probably a good amount of them) just get one for no other reason than they want one

 

[Mark Irwin]

E Golf does not have a great range but as an everyday car it is very good and fulfills 95% of my journeys without charging. I prefer driving it to turbo diesels as it is much smoother and relaxing not to mention safer pulling out of junctions and roundabouts. Not everyone has £50k in their back pocket but 4 years ago I was putting £250 - £280 per month into my ice car in fuel. The E Golf was a year old with 4000 miles on it and I got it for £22k with them giving me £7k for my hybrid so outlay was £15k; this is what I would have been paying for a replacement car anyway but fuel costs and zero road tax mean it is much, much cheaper to run. Everyone thinks they are doing 150 miles daily but in reality most people are not - and if you are doing that sort of mileage by all means buy the ice alternative if you can't get into a bigger range EV.

 

[davyk31]

Pete hit the nail on the head that some people buy an EV just because they want one or they like how they drive. I love the ease of driving mine, environmental benefits mean nothing to me. Economically mine was a no brainer as it’s a virtually free company car but I like the EV drive so much that I have another EV on order for private driving. The fact the running costs of it are low compared to an ICE equivalent car in terms of price and performance is a bonus but I’m choosing it because I like it.

 

[NickR]

I think it is definitely something I'll have to consider when we change the Ateca next year. I would love the like of a Tesla but I don't think I could get the man maths to work out. We would be doing 10-12k per year in our main car.

 

[stevieturbo]

A van with a 200 mile electric range is more than plenty for many users as not many will do more than that each day. Simply charge it up again each night and another 200 miles ready to go.

When I was on the road, I was doing 4-500 a day. An idle van won't be making much money, and not everyone just drives short trips around Belfast.

A few of the depot's I did work for, only had depot's in and around Belfast. So they serviced even Fermanagh and Londonderry areas. Not a hope in hell would 200 mile range be of any use. Even runs up around the north coast would end up over 200 miles by time you're finished. And some of those runs, I'd do twice a day.

Even for all the culchies coming to Belfast to work from the far west....200 mile range would be a push. So yes some people would suit a low range van, many would not. The VW ID Buzz does look nice though if they ever actually get it out there and with a usable range.

If they can make a car with a 300-400 range, it should be even easier in a van which has far more room available.

Even with me doing low miles these days and have a free work van, there still isn't an EV that would inspire me to want one and make some financial/practical sense. ( Tesla Plaid perhaps though...makes sense everywhere except financial. )

But yes a low range work van would do me these days if it could do a genuine 200 miles on a charge, that would probably be safe enough. Work don't seem to want to fork out the money though, so instead I have to suffer one of the worst and slowest vans on the planet, a Citroen Berlingo.

 

[davyk31]

There are always exceptions for sure but at your 500 miles per day 5 days per week for a year is 130k miles. There aren’t many vans doing that but if someone needs mega miles then the only option is diesel with plenty of time spent filling it up which is wasted down time.

I think it is definitely something I'll have to consider when we change the Ateca next year. I would love the like of a Tesla but I don't think I could get the man maths to work out. We would be doing 10-12k per year in our main car.

The maths will work if you compare with buying a similar cost ICE car. So if the Tesla is £50k and you compare with a £50k BMW the Tesla will work out cheaper due to lower running costs and strong residual. It won’t stack up however to compare with say a £20k ICE car. The break even is probably somewhere in between so maybe your £50k Tesla costs the same as say a £35 to £40k ICE car.

 

[StevenMc29]

Here's an example (with example salary) of why it is a no brainer for company car drivers. If you're into the higher tax bracket with your salary and benefits, the savings are even more!

 

[svensktoppen]

Yep, leased company car on salary sacrifice and it's basically free. Even more the more you earn.

It's a bit perverse though. Massive tax breaks for people who wouldn't think twice about splashing 50k+ on a car anyway and could easily afford it themselves.

Not a hope making that maths work on a more moderate wage and having to rent it yourself after tax.

Brilliant while it lasts for sure, if you can get it. How long do you think it will take before people work out that EV right now is really a massive tax dodge for the already well off? And that the loss in tax, both car and income, is being paid for by everyone else?

Even so, it's still a drop in the ocean if the goal is to electrify the masses and not just a relative few already well off.

 

[Rocko]

Not a hope making that maths work on a more moderate wage and having to rent it yourself after tax.

 

[Terry]

Yep, leased company car on salary sacrifice and it's basically free. Even more the more you earn.

It's a bit perverse though. Massive tax breaks for people who wouldn't think twice about splashing 50k+ on a car anyway and could easily afford it themselves.

Not a hope making that maths work on a more moderate wage and having to rent it yourself after tax.

Brilliant while it lasts for sure, if you can get it. How long do you think it will take before people work out that EV right now is really a massive tax dodge for the already well off? And that the loss in tax, both car and income, is being paid for by everyone else?

Even so, it's still a drop in the ocean if the goal is to electrify the masses and not just a relative few already well off.

It’s a good way for those cars to be bought and then depreciate and filter down into the used car market too. Glass half full look at it

Plenty of normal folk are also in the high tax bracket and are still getting heftily chunked. Once the cycle2work or car payment comes out, and/or additional pension contribution, there’s still a significant hit with losing 40-45% and it makes sense (for everyone) to try to be tax efficient with earnings.

I know what you’re saying but worth remembering there are plenty of EV cars out there that aren’t anywhere near £50k too, especially when including used cars, that can help electrify the masses

 

[DC.]

Got to the stage now were it’s a case of when not if I’ll get an EV.

None of the current offerings do much for me but I can see that changing within the next few years. Makes total sense for commuting and general daily duties.

 

[suckindiesel]

Anyone have experience of small electric vans? Like Partner/Berlingo?

 

[Woodcutter]

Anyone have experience of small electric vans? Like Partner/Berlingo?

Had one for a couple of days. Range isn’t great, i wouldn’t expect more than perhaps 90 - 120 miles weather & load dependant.

 

[svensktoppen]

Might still be ok as long as you could charge during breaks? Load would make a big difference to range in anything electric I would have thought?

 

[stevieturbo]

Might still be ok as long as you could charge during breaks? Load would make a big difference to range in anything electric I would have thought?

Doubt it. EV's are heavy already, rolling resistance wouldn't change a huge amount either way. Is the range of say a Tesla killed by having 4 fat passengers in it ? I'd guess probably affected very little.

Although if driving it like a loon, hard accel all the time...then it would have a larger impact. But normal driving, I'd doubt it makes much difference really.

 

[suckindiesel]

Had one for a couple of days. Range isn’t great, i wouldn’t expect more than perhaps 90 - 120 miles weather & load dependant.

Pretty grim. That said, most of my journeys are probably no more than 30-50 miles.

 

[jferg]

i will be joining the ranks of ev ownership this month

 

[Rocko]

Until then, free charges for the lads Ferg!

 

[Woodcutter]

Testing out the new fast charger in Portrush last night.

43 minutes got me 30kwh

 

[Woodcutter]