When are you going fully electric?

Feek said:
Except that until recently, most people could get by with one vehicle that did everything they need. Now, an EV is very often mentioned as being a 'good second car', and that's largely down to the associated range/charger anxiety.
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Has the car that fits all your needs really been a thing? All cars tend to be a compromise.

Get a large estate or SUV for those family holidays and your car is too big for some streets/roads/car parks. Get a small sporty car and it can’t be used as a family holiday wagon.
 
Feek said:
The MX-30 courtesy car I had yesterday had a for sale board on the back seat. It's a 24 plate demonstrator model with just over 900 miles and they want £31,995 for it. I question the intelligence of anyone who thinks that's a good purchase. It's absolutely bat**** crazy.
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This was the point I was trying to make, it’s not that the MX-30 is a bad ‘second car’ it’s £30k+ for a pretty average Mazda. If it was good value, I wouldn’t question it.

If can afford to spaff £30+k on a average Mazda that will be worth £15k in 18 months, general running costs are probably not a concern either. You can get a lot of nice cars for £30k… even in electric guise on the used market.
 
New cars are expensive though, yes EVs slightly more so but it's not like the equivalent ICE stuff is cheap as chips in the world of new cars.

An MX-30 'Exclusive Line' is £29,995 RRP.
A CX-30 'Exclusive Line' is £28,665 RRP.

You can get a much nicer second hand car for £30k, sure, but that applies whether you're talking about the electric Mazda or the ICE Mazda really. Buying new cars has typically always been a great way to burn a lot of money very quickly.
 
[TW]Fox said:
Imagine a world where the car market was a free market and we could just purchase whatever suited us best. There would be fewer arguments about electric cars between people who think they are great because they get them effectively free through work and cannot imagine anyone else feels differently and people who hate them because they can't tow a caravan to Spain twice a month and think everyone does the same thing and I think we'd all eventually end up getting to the point where most of us drive one through choice anyway because really, there is a lot to like about electric cars and there are numerous situations where they are simply better than any alternative.

But there remain situations where they are worse and likely always will be. What makes it complicated is the fact people are, like it or not, being pushed towards them regardless. They are being treated like the answer to every question.
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Where has anyone said short range EVs are the only alternative? You are now making up points nobody else made, just so you can rant against them.

Every car is a compromise, EV or not. They rarely if ever fit every need perfectly.
 
Feek said:
lol

In over 40 years of car ownership, I'd never describe any of them as a compromise.
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Never once did you need to get a delivery because it wouldn’t fit in the car. Never once did you have to ignore a parking spot because it was too tight, or because you didn’t want to risk your car getting hit? Never once did you have to do multiple runs because everything or everyone wouldn’t fit?

If the answer to this or any other such scenario is yes, then your car is a compromise.

Every one of those may be a very rare occurrence but it is similar to demanding an EV should be able to do 400 miles without stopping because you drive to Scotland once a year.
 
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ICDP said:
Never once did you need to get a delivery because it wouldn’t fit in the car. Never once did you have to ignore a parking spot because it was too tight, or because you didn’t want to risk your car getting hit? Never once did you have to do multiple runs because everything or everyone wouldn’t fit?
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Out of those, the only one I'd say 'yes' to is the parking spot but that's only when it's unmarked street parking. I've never ignored a marked spot because it's too tight. I spent years working in the city and the west end when it was still actually possible to park and I'm a demon at parking.

The others, no, never.
 
ICDP said:
Where has anyone said short range EVs are the only alternative?
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I've no idea. Where did I? My point was about electric cars generally and how they always turn into the same argument against two completely opposite point of views neither of which seem prepared to accept the middle ground.

ICDP said:
You are now making up points nobody else made, just so you can rant against them.
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Really?

there is a lot to like about electric cars and there are numerous situations where they are simply better than any alternative.
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Never seen a sentence like that in an anti electric car piece..
 
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Feek said:
Out of those, the only one I'd say 'yes' to is the parking spot but that's only when it's unmarked street parking. I've never ignored a marked spot because it's too tight. I spent years working in the city and the west end when it was still actually possible to park and I'm a demon at parking.

The others, no, never.
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But if you had a smaller old banger you didn’t care about then you could have used that unmarked street parking. I am of course using a ridiculous argument to highlight how illogical it is to dismiss EVs, just because you have to charge them on a longer trip you take once or twice a year.

Driving 400 miles in the UK takes about 8 hours. Is charging for 40 minutes (or less) such a massive compromise?
 
[TW]Fox said:
two completely opposite point of views neither of which seem prepared to accept the middle ground.
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The only thing that was claimed to start with here was that there is a place for cars with short range, in response to the idea that a short range EV was 'comedy'.

That's hardly denying the middle ground is it? It's very much the anti-EV 'they're all crap unless they can do everything ever' side of the fence engaging in that behaviour.
 
Kenai said:
The only thing that was claimed to start with here was that there is a place for cars with short range, in response to the idea that a short range EV was 'comedy'.

That's hardly denying the middle ground is it? It's very much the anti-EV 'they're all crap unless they can do everything ever' side of the fence engaging in that behaviour.
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It's a 290 page thread covering a wide range of issues. I didn't quote anyone directly with that post, it was a general observation - the fact there was yet another argument about range might have prompted me but it stood alone and wasn't part of a claim which I have made clear multiple times I do not agree with (That there is no place for a car with short range).
 
sandys said:
I'm with you here I'm one of those people who keeps the average low right now, but even in the past when my commute was a 200 mile round trip, I only did it 2 or 3 days a week because WFH other time, this also helps to keep average low and no doubt why it is low now because many people have Hybrid working that helps to bring the average mileage down but doesn't mean the journey length has reduced, just less journeys.
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May well drop the average down but with the average length of journey (not average per day) being 8.1 miles, your commute of 200 mile was already an outlier. With you doing that you need 45 other people all doing only 4 miles on their journey to get the average down to 8.1 again. You are still doing a 200 mile commute whether you do it 1 day per week of 5. You dropping the number of journeys per year will have helped drop the average miles per year as the stats show, down 1000 miles on 10 years ago but it doesnt change the average journey.

So perhaps the 100 mile EV is aiming their car at those 45 people majority not the minority like you? :p
 
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[TW]Fox said:
Imagine a world where the car market was a free market and we could just purchase whatever suited us best. There would be fewer arguments about electric cars between people who think they are great because they get them effectively free through work and cannot imagine anyone else feels differently and people who hate them because they can't tow a caravan to Spain twice a month and think everyone does the same thing and I think we'd all eventually end up getting to the point where most of us drive one through choice anyway because really, there is a lot to like about electric cars and there are numerous situations where they are simply better than any alternative.

But there remain situations where they are worse and likely always will be. What makes it complicated is the fact people are, like it or not, being pushed towards them regardless. They are being treated like the answer to every question.
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Nobody was saying you should buy an EV with a 100 mile range. The question was asked why on earth was manufacturers making them and who on earth would buy one.
 
Feek said:
Yes, I had it for 13 years and it did around 360,000 miles. It wasn't a compromise at all.
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Of course it was, it's probably one of the best examples of a good compromise car, otherwise it would have had a V6 in it.

The best all round cars compromise in some areas to provide benefits in others. A diesel Focus is compromised in terms of noise, refinement and performance in order to deliver efficiency and range.
 
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