I've given up on LPG - the future is Electric.

Jonnycoupe · 3 Jan 2017 at 15:26

grudas said:
unless you have to drive over 60 miles?

current electric cars can make sense to some people, depending on the use but they do not have the power to replace ICE cars.

Just wait for an I-PACE

Jonnycoupe · 3 Jan 2017 at 15:26

hornetstinger said:
Can't think of many employers would be too chuffed you want to charge up at work. Not like you're charging a phone lol

Even the ones who have installed dedicated EV charging posts for that exact reason?

hornetstinger · 3 Jan 2017 at 15:28

Number of dedicated EV charging ports at my employer(s)

0.

LOL.

One guy trails a cable inside through the window, across the bushes and plugs it into the wall. haha

Pottsey · 3 Jan 2017 at 16:10

grudas said:
unless you have to drive over 60 miles?

current ccars can make sense to some people, depending on the use but they do not have the power to replace ICE cars.

Don't agree as its clear electric cars could replace ICE cars for a lot of people and there are benefits to electric cars. The average commute is only 8.5 miles. Most people live within 1 hour of there workplace. Electric cars are pretty good to replace the everyday runabout car a lot of family's have. You then swap to the ICE car for the rare long trips.

ozaudio · 3 Jan 2017 at 16:37

Look up fully charged on YouTube. He drives. All sorts of electrical cars and is into the whole renewable energy thing

SoliD · 3 Jan 2017 at 16:37

Need to work for an energy company who have them free to use at all sites. Whether you can get on to them is a different matter though.

Hawk Tuah · 3 Jan 2017 at 16:58

Nasher said:
EVs do depreciate very quickly though for exactly that reason. Once they hit a certain age people just won't buy them. They just cost a lot more to start with.

The depreciation is one of the big things that pushed me towards a Leaf.

Hawk Tuah · 3 Jan 2017 at 17:01

hornetstinger said:
Number of dedicated EV charging ports at my employer(s)

0.

LOL.

One guy trails a cable inside through the window, across the bushes and plugs it into the wall. haha

That's all I'd need. It's virtually all I'm doing at home, with a bit more permanence about the fitment.

helpimcrap · 3 Jan 2017 at 18:18

hornetstinger said:
what would be great is when you go into a charge station, a automated system removes your flat battery, and fits a freshly charged pack. So you don't have to wait around for it to charge.

Bit like changing your battery pack in a RC car.

This. Warehouses do it with forklifts and order pickers etc. Not sure if it will ever be viable as you would need a standard that EVERY car manufacturer uses. I.e. the same battery pack and sizes to stop theft/misuse.

helpimcrap · 3 Jan 2017 at 18:22

hornetstinger said:
Can't think of many employers would be too chuffed you want to charge up at work. Not like you're charging a phone lol

This is where roof solar panels come in. Means the company saves money on running costs and any extra goes towards that. Not sure how you would police it though or arrange costs.

atpbx · 3 Jan 2017 at 18:23

Pottsey said:
Don't agree as its clear electric cars could replace ICE cars for a lot of people and there are benefits to electric cars. The average commute is only 8.5 miles. Most people live within 1 hour of there workplace. Electric cars are pretty good to replace the everyday runabout car a lot of family's have. You then swap to the ICE car for the rare long trips.

So own two cars when you only need one.

Joe T · 3 Jan 2017 at 18:31

atpbx said:
So own two cars when you only need one.

Or rent, or ride-share, or any one of the many things that are on their way. The world is going to change

Pottsey · 3 Jan 2017 at 18:49

atpbx said:
So own two cars when you only need one.

That's wrong we need 2 cars and own 2 cars. We rarely do 60mile+ long trips when we do we use a fuel car. Our situation is pretty common a lot of if not most family's own at lest 2 cars. I could get away with an electric car for 100% of my driving needs, why would I ever by a fuel car again?

arch · 3 Jan 2017 at 19:56

Jamesyboyjim said:
An electric car would be great for my commute (15 miles each way) but the concern would be traffic. If there's an accident I can be in slow moving traffic for quite some time.

How long does a battery last when in traffic that moves just enough that wouldn't turn your engine off.

Being stuck in traffic uses virtually nothing. Its motorway 70mph speeds that eat into range the fastest, oh and the cold takes about 30% of the battery efficiency away. Our Zoe has about 70 mile range in this weather and 100ish + in the summer

Amp34 · 3 Jan 2017 at 20:12

atpbx said:
So own two cars when you only need one.

No, most families will own two cars. Usually it's a larger vehicle for the person that commutes the longest and a small one as a second car (especially if you have kids). It would be easy enough for most families to swap their Polo sized car for an EV equivalent, leaving the larger car for when they wed the extra range (such as holidays).

Nasher · 3 Jan 2017 at 20:24

arch said:
Being stuck in traffic uses virtually nothing. Its motorway 70mph speeds that eat into range the fastest, oh and the cold takes about 30% of the battery efficiency away. Our Zoe has about 70 mile range in this weather and 100ish + in the summer

Yep that is one of the biggest issues with batteries. They hate cold and it shortens their life.

But start/stop traffic is where they work. As you get faster their efficiency drops off a lot.

PiKe · 3 Jan 2017 at 21:21

Pottsey said:
That doesn't make any sense, the reason I want an electric car is I value my time and an electric car would save me lots of time over a fual car.

It makes perfect sense.

I went to Scotland for the new year, if I had an electric car instead of my 1.1 diesel, it would have added nearly an hour on to my trip and cost £12 to use the fast charge points at services, assuming they were functional.

Electric cars are stupid, until the range gets up to 300 miles on one charge, hybrids are the only ones that even slightly peak my interest.

The_Dark_Side · 3 Jan 2017 at 21:26

PiKe said:
Electric cars are stupid.

A thing that isn't suitable for anyone is stupid.
In this case, that thing is unsuitable for some people while being suitable for others.

hornetstinger · 3 Jan 2017 at 21:39

helpimcrap said:
This is where roof solar panels come in. Means the company saves money on running costs and any extra goes towards that. Not sure how you would police it though or arrange costs.

Do you live in fantasy land? Why would employer pay tens of thousands of pounds to have solar panels, which takes years to pay off, then have reserved parking and connection points just in case 1 car out of 50000 is electric, for the employee to charge free of charge for?

haha

Dangerous Dave · 3 Jan 2017 at 21:47

hornetstinger said:
Do you live in fantasy land? Why would employer pay tens of thousands of pounds to have solar panels, which takes years to pay off, then have reserved parking and connection points just in case 1 car out of 50000 is electric, for the employee to charge free of charge for?

haha

My employer provides free 7kw recharge points at work with the added bonus of them being right at the front of the car park.

I assume they get some kind of government payment/tax rebate for it.