When are you going fully electric?

[bigmike20vt]

This. You want to reduce congestion on a road during rush hour? if you have pay per mile road pricing you can price that at £1 per mile to "encourage" people to use public transport or car share.

encourage people to use public transport? that would be a joke right there (not that i am saying you are wrong) but....... outside of major cities like London and Manchester public transport is often not fit for purpose.

my car was off the road for a few days so i tried getting to work on the bus from the village i was living in. it meant me getting on a bus to take me 15 miles into Cambridge, and then getting another bus out of cambridge and to work - which was 13 miles.

Now bear in mind my work was only less than 20 miles from where i lived anyway so not only was this a massive detour, what took 35 mins in car would have taken 2 hrs.

cost was also more than driving (i cant remember amounts so no point me guessing but was more than my car) - and that is with the 2nd bus from cambridge to my work being free as it was a work bus which our company pays for and allows staff to travel from Cambridge to campus for free.

but that is not all................ not only was it in the best case scenario, long and expensive................. the damn bus never showed up. I asked in the post office in the villiage and the woman said it was a lottery if it would show up. my stop was mid way on its route and if the bus was full it would just skip out my village all together.
this meant i would have missed my 2nd work bus, and so i had to pay for a taxi (which cost upwards of £30 - i dare say over £40 today)

people (and not having a dig at Greebo here) who suggest we need to get on the bus more either are fortunate to live someone and need to travel somewhere which is well serviced OR they are simply unaware at how bad (and expensive) public transport is now.

The 1 area where i can honestly say the busses work generally quite well is the park and ride system around cambridge.

parking is free at the park and ride and its around £6 for an all day pass around the city... my wife went to hospital friday last week and use the park and ride.... this is all well and good if all you want to do is get into and around cambridge........ but you still have to get to the P&R site in the 1st place.

putting large fees on driving in and around a city as well as expensive inner city parking to encourage parking out of town and taking the P&R is something i think can work (but something would have to be done for residents who need a car to get OUT of the city) but that is a separate (but related) topic

 

[Jonnycoupe]

He said if £1 per mile in busy areas.

If you live in a village thats unlikely to be the price.

 

[bigmike20vt]

He said if £1 per mile in busy areas.

If you live in a village thats unlikely to be the price.

but what if part of your daily commute covers going through a busy area? (if your final destination is in a city, or alternatively it is your final destination in the rural area? a P&R in some cases may help but far from all cases)

I am not pooh poohing using public transport............ but that (the carrot) needs to be fixed 1st and THEN come up with the sticks afterwards imo - and what are the chances of that happening?

 

[Richie]

Price urban roads, and roads through villages, higher for example or charge more to travel at rush hour, etc. and you can modify behaviour.

A lot of villages don't have a robust public transport system and your suggestion is to make driving there more expensive than cities which, generally, have far better public transport networks?

 

[Mr Jack]

A lot of villages don't have a robust public transport system and your suggestion is to make driving there more expensive than cities which, generally, have far better public transport networks?

(It's not my suggestion because - as I said in my next post - I don't think road pricing is real world viable)

You want village roads to be used - as much as practically possible - by the residents of those villages and not as means for people to transit through. Much better for those people to be using the larger infrastructure roads designed for the purpose rather than bringing noise, pollution, and danger into roads and environments unsuited for it. In any case, most proposals for road pricing schemes include reduced or removed costs for residents on their local roads; it makes no sense to try and incentivise people away from roads that they must pass through to reach their own homes.

 

[jpaul]

cost was also more than driving (i cant remember amounts so no point me guessing but was more than my car) - and that is with the 2nd bus from cambridge to my work being free as it was a work bus which our company pays for and allows staff to travel from Cambridge to campus for free.

rather - cambridge is bicycle friendly ... Mostly drove 6m from Cottenham village to N Cambridge -
but, when sunny, or car was in the garage, the combination of the council luxury lit cycle path, and the buswaymonorail path, dispatched trip in 20mins
e: not even an electric bike

 

[shroomz]

I've got a new Kia Niro through work that arrived a couple of weeks ago. So far we've been on holiday to Arran and use it for the daily commute ~40 miles round trip. Going really good so far, am I missing something?

 

[Greebo]

He said if £1 per mile in busy areas.

If you live in a village thats unlikely to be the price.

This. The trials they have done they do exactly this. In rural areas where there is no (viable) public transport alternative (like where I live as well) then they are proposing at setting the cost per mile to a really low rate.

 

[Hawk Tuah]

I've got a new Kia Niro through work that arrived a couple of weeks ago. So far we've been on holiday to Arran and use it for the daily commute ~40 miles round trip. Going really good so far, am I missing something?

Not caught on fire yet, or destroyed the local roads because it's so heavy?

 

[cuke2u]

This. The trials they have done they do exactly this. In rural areas where there is no (viable) public transport alternative (like where I live as well) then they are proposing at setting the cost per mile to a really low rate.

Sounds good to us, my car is just about 3 years old and currently costing £570 to tax a year.
Hoping, or maybe dreaming, we'll not be forced to pay the same amount as someone doing 6 times times our annual mileage....

 

[Nasher]

This. The trials they have done they do exactly this. In rural areas where there is no (viable) public transport alternative (like where I live as well) then they are proposing at setting the cost per mile to a really low rate.

But if you need to get from town to a rural area (no viable public transport to get there) you'll have to pay the high rate for a chunk of the journey, so that doesn't work.

 

[Greebo]

But if you need to get from town to a rural area (no viable public transport to get there) you'll have to pay the high rate for a chunk of the journey, so that doesn't work.

define "work". To them it will work as intended. You may well from your rural area do so many miles at a really cheap rate but then if going into a city centre in rush hour, your last few miles will be at a premium. Those who live and work in a rural area will will have all their miles at cheap rate.

As with all changes there will be winners and losers.

There may even be scope for essential workers like NHS workers to get a super low rate even going into a city.

The alternative is to put £1000 per annum on VED for every car which doesnt seem fair to a lot of people either.

 

[b0rn2sk8]

I've got a new Kia Niro through work that arrived a couple of weeks ago. So far we've been on holiday to Arran and use it for the daily commute ~40 miles round trip. Going really good so far, am I missing something?

Probably not, it’s just a car.

You’ll probably get annoyed each time you need to use a different brand of public charger for the first time but that’s about it. Creating an account and adding payment can be a bit of a pain if you just want to plug in and go.

 

[lordrobs]

I've got a new Kia Niro through work that arrived a couple of weeks ago. So far we've been on holiday to Arran and use it for the daily commute ~40 miles round trip. Going really good so far, am I missing something?

Nope, sounds like you are riding the BIK gravy train like a pro. Enjoy it while it lasts IMO!

 

[ICDP]

I've got a new Kia Niro through work that arrived a couple of weeks ago. So far we've been on holiday to Arran and use it for the daily commute ~40 miles round trip. Going really good so far, am I missing something?

Is it a petrol version?

 

[shroomz]

Not caught on fire yet, or destroyed the local roads because it's so heavy?

My other car is a 2t volvo turbo diesel estate so feels rather nippy and nimble in comparison!

 

[shroomz]

Nope, sounds like you are riding the BIK gravy train like a pro. Enjoy it while it lasts IMO!

I guess, I just meant more there seem to be quite a few negative folks but it seems to have worked for me. I would probably replace the old volvo when it dies (hopefully not for another 5 years or so) with a 2-3ish year old Niro or Enyaq or whatever is common then.

 

[Hawk Tuah]

I guess, I just meant more there seem to be quite a few negative folks but it seems to have worked for me. I would probably replace the old volvo when it dies (hopefully not for another 5 years or so) with a 2-3ish year old Niro or Enyaq or whatever is common then.

You'll find the same negative folks who've never driven an EV, don't ever intend to, and make a habit of telling us at every opportunity.

 

[lordrobs]

You'll find the same negative folks who've never driven an EV, don't ever intend to, and make a habit of telling us at every opportunity.

I don't really think that is a fair comment for these forums. People have their own opinions but I'd say the veiwpoints on here cross the whole spectrum.

The last person to be shot down for their negative comments on EVs here was an EV owner themself.

 

[bigmike20vt]

You'll find the same negative folks who've never driven an EV, don't ever intend to, and make a habit of telling us at every opportunity.

it is frustrating....... its not unique to here however. it has gotten to the point that i just dont talk about cars at work any more because every little issue i have - which can be related or totally unrelated to it being an EV.... i get the smug shake of the head with .... EVs are just not good enough!.

(I actually got a warning from my manager when i actually said FFS! in the office -it was a knee jerk reaction and was louder than i meant to - when someone started going off on one about EVs causing fires and using that airport car park fire as a prime example - you know, the one started by a diesel!.. I went so far as to find the video of the car on fire and even bought it up on the tax website and the response i got was.......... well it *could* have been an EV!. )

hence........ i keep out of work car chat now