Soldato
So have you got a van then? 'Cause what happens if you rarely need the space, do you buy a vehicle for that rare occasion, just in case? I'll leave it there.
Fuel price discussion thread (was ‘chaos’)
- Thread starter watercooledman
- Start date
So have you got a van then? 'Cause what happens if you rarely need the space, do you buy a vehicle for that rare occasion, just in case? I'll leave it there.
So what do you do when you need to stop and eat, toilet etc. on a 9 hour drive? Let me guess you pack sandwiches, and pee in a bottle?
People do choose to drive far and not need to stop, except for a fuel and a quick wizz, I used to drive to and from Bristol to Sicily the only stops being fuel and boats, 30hrs and about 1750 miles very niche I know but did it a few times a year.
I know quite a few who do similar to see family.
I somehow used to manage this without Sat Nav, using a map, now every journey, no matter how small I seem to get lost if I don't have google maps on, obviously getting old
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Soldato
So have you got a van then? 'Cause what happens if you rarely need the space, do you buy a vehicle for that rare occasion, just in case? I'll leave it there.
I have an estate
![[TW]Fox](/data/man-of-honor/2009.png){kind=avatar}
Because he probably currently has that and doesn't see any reason why he should lose that flexibility. We don't normally downgrade certain levels of functionality when we upgrade our cars. We normally seek to improve over what we currently have.
I don't think 500 miles of range is particularly far away in terms of tech. It'll be here long before it becomes impossible to buy a car that isn't EV.
Perhaps sooner if we stop focusing on EV's which do 0-60 in 2 seconds when most people just want a useful car not a supercar.
Soldato
He can't re-fuel his current car at home, you win with one, lose with another, I'd call that being even, especially since the vast majority would be the beneficiary, not the negative. I shouldn't really bother to engage though, as you are Fox and therefore always right.
Soldato
Why do we need to focus on cars with a 500 mile range then?
Most people just want a car which fits their requirements and for the majority of people that doesn't include 500 mile journeys.
Soldato
Refinement, convinence, smoothness.
All better. No one jumping from a 530d to an M5 every considered the range.... The big battery EV dont drive as nice as they could carrying around 95% over capacbility.
</devils advocate>
Any way this is the petrol station thread, and truth be told those are no pleasant places. Another thing thats not a downgrade.
All better. No one jumping from a 530d to an M5 every considered the range.... The big battery EV dont drive as nice as they could carrying around 95% over capacbility.
</devils advocate>
Any way this is the petrol station thread, and truth be told those are no pleasant places. Another thing thats not a downgrade.
Correct, he can't. But for people who do mostly long journeys this is less useful than additional range. For people who do mostly short journeys though, this is very useful. Infact this feature alone means that if most of your usage is short trips then an EV is absolutely ideal and now is the right time to move to one.
It's almost as if different types of car suit different peoples usage profiles and not everyone has the same requirements.
This again? Really?
Depends a bit what you are comparing with what - in terms of passenger seating/leg room some dual cab pickups like the Navara and Ranger are pretty much the same as the large SUVs (dunno the exact comparison), others like the Hilux are a bit more cramped. Obviously you don't have the boot space like an SUV, rear seats are the most basic bench type, or if you get one of the lifestyle type models a glorified bench seat, and the suspension setup isn't geared for passenger comfort. (For some reason a lot of people judge pickups based on the king cab for room inside - not sure why as at least in the UK they aren't that common).
There are so many ways the lifestyle dual cabs (with a decent engine) don't make sense but you won't find many people who've owned one who'll willingly part with them.
Soldato
He said it was rare he does journeys that long.. D'OH!
Few people make 500 mile journeys. I agree.
Rather more than few people might make a 200 mile journeys with a 200 mile return journey with limited charging opportunity between them, though. It's not always convenient, or possible, to stop and charge mid journey. Sometimes it is, and that's great, but we're not yet at the point that you know with 100% certainty that enough range to get back home again afterwards is just a relaxing 20 minute coffee stop away. It's quite rare these days to find loads of free charging points at a motorway services, for example. Sometimes you just want to get home - a good example is the trip to the airport. Not everyone lives next door, most of the long term parking has no charging functionality at all let alone enough for you to just leave it plugged in for 2 weeks and the last thing you want to do when you get back at 10pm after a delay is realise your car doesn't have the range to get you home.
In time, this will stop being a problem, both though increased range from the vehicles offered and increased infrastructure. But we're not there yet.
You can argue all you want that people are wrong and they don't need what they think they need but the reality is that people buy products based on perceived need. To get everyone to move, you need to cater to these needs.
Most households have more than one car, so really the answer to me seems to be to have the best of both worlds. An EV for local use, an ICE for longer use.
Soldato
I don’t. My current vehicle does probably 400 Miles if lucky to a tank.
I have home charging and a low kwh electricity tariff. My gripe with EVs at the moment is that the charging outside of home is rather expensive (obviously still cheaper compared to petrol), and the time it takes to charge.
+ the initial outlay for a EV.
It’s easier for me to fill up at the pump, pay, drive off. Rather than, find a working charger. Wait 30 minutes. Then drive off. On long journeys I rarely make stops, and again if I do, it’s for a wizz and I’m in and out within 10 minutes.
EV isn’t for everyone, yet.
For a lot of colleagues who commute up and down the M4, EVs could not be charged enough at home, nor guarantee that you could make it too and from your commute without a stop.
This used to be me also doing Bristol to Maidenhead, to far for most EVs as a return trip all weathers and a bit sketchy with a life out side of work as to whether I could charge one long enough at home to get back to the office the next day.
Once chargers are everywhere and you can latch up where ever you park it'd be less of a problem but doing what some colleagues did which was to drive to a supermarket to charge and walk to work is not a realistic use model for me, that's as bad a public transport, I'd rather pay the fuel (which company covered of course, perhaps different if out of my pocket)
Soldato
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I do mostly short journeys and would move to an ev if they weren't so expensive but the purchase price of an ev Vs the cost of keeping my petrol car for the miles I cover I haven't done the maths but it would take a very long time to justify the purchase price of an ev
Plus I need an estate and how many ev estates are there, one. MG5
Plus I need an estate and how many ev estates are there, one. MG5
Soldato
If only we had an EV thread.
Soldato
Today was protest day wasnt it?
Man of Honour
Soldato
Sounds a bit like a damp squib as expected. with a load of them arrested for driving too slowly, cars seized, and one tool done for being filmed on his mobile whilst driving.
It's a quirk of EVs that as you increase the battery size you also increase the amount of power that can be pulled from it. As the electric motors are relatively small, light and compact (especially compared to the size of the battery) you essentially get the extra performance for free, and it makes for good publicity.