EV general discussion

But if you somehow run out of fuel in a petrol car, you can just walk or get a lift to the nearest station, get a can and fill up, be back and driving in 15minutes. You can't walk to a charging point and bring back a tub of electricity :D

I do know someone who's brand new EV refused to recharge, they got stranded at a services all night waiting for a flatbed (wasn't towable). AA guy couldn't do anything, the garage/dealer couldn't either. It had to get sent back to the factory.
 
Last edited:
The problem I find is that EVs range estimate is often like a car insurance quote. It varies massively based on weather, uphill/downhill, speed etc. My ICE car mileage is always generally consistent. I generally refuel the car when it has less than 50 miles too. If I did that with the EV I'd be refueling 4x as often which I think is where the valid grumbles come in.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Nasher said:
I do know someone who's brand new EV refused to recharge, they got stranded at a services all night waiting for a flatbed. AA guy couldn't do anything, the garage/dealer couldn't either. It had to get sent back to the factory.
Click to expand...
Yes, cars break down. Good point.
 
Nasher said:
Not very often these days and you can usually get them started with a few workarounds or bodges. I've never had a breakdown where an AA man couldn't get it going or tow it home.

This thing (a Zoe) was just randomly bricked.
Click to expand...
Why do the AA even own flat beds then? Seems odd if cars you've owned never breakdown.

Anyway, interesting news from Toyota:
www.ft.com

Toyota nears mass production of solid-state batteries

World’s biggest carmaker says stacking speed needed for full manufacturing is ‘almost there’
www.ft.com www.ft.com
1200km range and less than 10 min charge
 
dlockers said:
Why do the AA even own flat beds then? Seems odd if cars you've owned never breakdown.

Anyway, interesting news from Toyota:
www.ft.com

Toyota nears mass production of solid-state batteries

World’s biggest carmaker says stacking speed needed for full manufacturing is ‘almost there’
www.ft.com www.ft.com
1200km range and less than 10 min charge
Click to expand...

Because cars with a smashed up front end or bent suspension can't be towed. That's why they originally had flatbeds. Now they have to crane dead EVs on to them, but they'll make you wait for it.
 
Last edited:
Nasher said:
Because cars with a smashed up front end or bent suspension can't be towed. That's why they originally had flatbeds. Now they have to crane dead EVs on to them, but they'll make you wait for it.
Click to expand...
Why don't they just take a battery charger on a van? :S

Or are you still talking about cars that breakdown rather than cars that are crashed?
 
dlockers said:
The problem I find is that EVs range estimate is often like a car insurance quote. It varies massively based on weather, uphill/downhill, speed etc. My ICE car mileage is always generally consistent. I generally refuel the car when it has less than 50 miles too. If I did that with the EV I'd be refueling 4x as often which I think is where the valid grumbles come in.
Click to expand...
i admit it isnt 100% ideal.... however my understanding with EVs (and i never intend to push it that far) is that when the car gets close to the point, you are absolutely made aware.

when my car gets to 10% i think it is , my satnav automatically gets all back seat driver on me and comes up with the nearest charging stations and asks me which one i go to. at that point it goes into an extra eco mode with power cut significantly (i have seen that when i 1st got the car and i was working out my max distance i could go for my driving style).

beyond that i have never seen it because i dont cut it that fine, however with only a handful of miles left it then cuts off all none essential services and limits the car to 30mph i believe.

at that point even then, when the car runs out, i *think* you get a few more chances to start the car and move it a few 100 metres, literally so you do not end up stationary on the fast lane of the motorway.

dont get me wrong, if somone said to me would you like you car to have 50 more miles worse case scenario range in the dead of winter when going on the motorway, i am gonna say yes please and thankyou!!!

but i still think with just a small amount of common sense and a little forward planning, on our small island you dont NEED massive range. in America or Oz and going on some long into the wilderness road trip it may be a different story (i dunno as have not looked into it)

for towing when faulty, i am no expert but i thought an ev had the same towing limitations as any automatic car? if its just for a quick charge i know (not from experience) RAC can charge your car for you to get you to a charge point.

and yes in theory if you run your diesel car dry you can walk to a petrol station with a can (if you have a can).................. that is if you have not got air in your fuel line or sucked crap into your engine.....

but like i said, in an absolute pinch you could also knock on an ev drivers door and offer them a paper note for a few hrs charge and I like to believe in human nature and think most would say yes (which is ok so long as you have not ignored every single car warning and let your car go totally and utterly flat.)

hell i havent tried it so wouldnt like to say for certain, but i reckon if i pulled up into marshalls jaguar (i name them as i know they have a bunch of charge points for the cars they sell) but i expect all big garages which sell evs have charging points if you asked nicely and offered to pay, they would give you an emergency boost to get you on your way. (but maybe i am being naive? )
 
Last edited:
Nasher said:
But if you somehow run out of fuel in a petrol car, you can just walk or get a lift to the nearest station, get a can and fill up, be back and driving in 15minutes. You can't walk to a charging point and bring back a tub of electricity :D
Click to expand...

No, but you can knock on the door of the house you've run out of electricity outside, and offer them a few £ to let you plug in for enough to charge to get to a proper charge point :)

Of course it's rarely that quick or simple in reality, but then neither is walking to the nearest petrol station (assuming you even know where it is).

dlockers said:
The problem I find is that EVs range estimate is often like a car insurance quote. It varies massively based on weather, uphill/downhill, speed etc. My ICE car mileage is always generally consistent. I generally refuel the car when it has less than 50 miles too. If I did that with the EV I'd be refueling 4x as often which I think is where the valid grumbles come in.
Click to expand...

To be honest, I've found the GOM in my EVs to be far more accurate than any ICE I've ever driven, and it's also a lot easier to adjust your driving to "manage" that range as well.
 
Haggisman said:
To be honest, I've found the GOM in my EVs to be far more accurate than any ICE I've ever driven, and it's also a lot easier to adjust your driving to "manage" that range as well.
Click to expand...
The specific issue I had was driving to a friends. The route there must have been easier than the way back, so the estimated range I had was massively over estimated. I ended up doing an "emergency" stop at South Mimms. I guess I just need to get better at gauging battery % to distance required; which is what I think I do on the ICE employing some muscle memory!
 
When my various ICE cars have broken down, none of them were repaired at the roadside and they were all flat bedded back to a workshop to be fixed.

I must be unlucky but my anecdotal experience totally flies in the face of breakdown company stats.

I suppose the key difference between ICE and EV is that an ICE car will just run at its normal performance until it runs out of fuel.

An EV will start reducing its performance to protect the battery as it gets really low. As you go below 0% and you start approaching ‘true zero’, you get put into a turtle mode but you can usually still travel for 10+ miles below zero.

It’s really very hard to not notice that you are running out of electricity.
 
I noticed one of the breakdown companies the other day (sorry didn't take note properly) advertising they will get you going with an EV if you run outta charge.
So I guess they have started installing say a 10kwh battery pack in the vans.

Its all very well saying you can go and collect some ICE fuel in a can. With the ever reducing number of stations, personally a 10 mile hike in the dark along a wet rainy A road doesn't appeal much ;) And it can be a hell of a lot longer than that!
 
My Tesla is very accurate at estimating remaining battery. For example, travelling back from Manchester>London on Sunday, it estimated that I'd arrive home with 5% whereas, I actually arrived with 7%. It's that accurate I don't worry about not reaching somewhere (without a charge) if it suggests I will. When planning a route, it takes into consideration wind speed, outside temp etc. In addition, we've done 12500 miles since Feb at a cost of £278 in electric. I've also spent £0 on maintenance/servicing.
 
Mercenary Keyboard Warrior said:
I noticed one of the breakdown companies the other day (sorry didn't take note properly) advertising they will get you going with an EV if you run outta charge.
So I guess they have started installing say a 10kwh battery pack in the vans.
Click to expand...

Pretty sure the RAC have their vans fitted with a system that uses the engine of the van as a diesel generator. It charges at 3kw IIRC.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom