EV are they worth it?

[IT Minion]

Calm yourself down Robby, (though if you're an EV convert I can see why you may be a little over-wrought having been taken in), and cut the insults you use instead of reasoned argument. Now when you're ready, please list the REAL, TANGIBLE benefits to EV ownership. Things that are worth all the extra hassle, inconvenience, expense and the hilarity of driving something that sounds just like a Unigate milk float (well, my neighbour's Tesla does).

I thought Prius owners were bad.

Lower driving cost is probably the biggest one. If you do plenty of miles daily and have off-street parking then you can save a fortune. Plus you start the day with a full tank each day and don't need to queue for a petrol station.

If you only wheel your car out once a week for a 500 mile trip then they don't work as well.

 

[DiyNutJob]

The ship jumping will turn into a stampede before long.

 

[Avocet]

The ship jumping will turn into a stampede before long.

 

[flameport]

Only useful if you have the rapid charger cable.

All rapid chargers (which are all DC) have tethered cables. There is no other option. You do not need your own cable at any of them.

A cable is only required for AC charging which doesn't have a cable attached, as would be found at most public locations where you would be parked for an hour or four while doing something else.

I still can't work out why EV owners rushed to make their lives more complicated and expensive for no discernable gains.

I have an electric van. When purchased 2 years ago it cost £6000 more than the diesel version.
So far it has saved £3000 per year, most of which is due to using electricity instead of diesel. Next year it will save another £3000, and then another £3000 and so on. Obviously those savings can and will vary as the price of electricity, diesel and other factors such as road fund licence change, however there are no circumstances where it could ever cost more than the diesel.

99% of the time it charges overnight at home for a few hours. I use rapid charging a few times per year on the rare occasions where it's necessary to drive longer distances than the typical workday of between 10 and 80 miles, and for those it's a stop of 20-30 minutes.
As it has no clutch pedal, there is no more aggravating an old leg injury every time I drive somewhere.
I never have to go to stinking fuel stations to buy expensive fuel.
Servicing costs are virtually nothing as there is no oil to replace, no oil filter, no air filter, no fuel filter, no injectors to clog, no DPF to be ruined by urban driving, and countless other failure parts which electric vehicles just don't have.

The only additional expense was the extra paid when purchasing the vehicle.
Everything else is much easier, cheaper and far less hassle than any other vehicle I have owned.

Other people's situations and experiences will vary.

 

[DiyNutJob]

The stampeding is beginning to build.

 

[Avocet]

The stampeding is beginning to build.

Meanwhile, back in the real world, 2023 first half figures just on my desk today...

 

[DiyNutJob]

EV being a joke is confirmed.

 

[Avocet]

EV being a joke is confirmed.

Fortunately, I don't drive from Land's End to John O' Groats that often, so it's not really an issue for me...

 

[flameport]

The stampeding is beginning to build.

If by stampede you mean the total collapse of the Japanese auto industry, then correct-o-mundo.

Honda have almost 2 EVs
The tiny Honda E, which no one is buying because it's grossly overpriced.
Then they have their oversized and underspecified clumpwagon SUV which no one is buying either, as availability is uncertain and alternatives from other manufacturers are better and cheaper.
Meanwhile they continue to prioritise sales of petrol cars even though most of the world is banning the sale of such things in the next 5-15 years.

Nissan have 2 EVs.
The Leaf, which they have been selling with a few changes for the last 13 years and is now well overdue for a replacement.
The Aria, which is another clumping SUV.
Most of their cars are petrol, including the ridiculous e-power things which are electric vehicles powered by a petrol engine and generator. Aimed at people who want an electric car and also want to power it with 100% petrol, for maximum expense and inconvenience.

Toyota have one EV, which is actually made by Subaru, and the launch of that involved the wheels literally falling off and all of them being recalled. They also sell a close equivalent under the Lexus label, and it's one of the worst performing EVs on the market, and it's grossly overpriced. Only die-hard Lexus customers with money to burn will buy it, so that's basically no one.
The rest of their offerings are the same old hybrid affairs which they have been selling for the last 25 years but are now promoted as 'self charging hybrids' or in other words 100% petrol powered.
Then there is the £60k Mirai hydrogen effort which despite being available for the last 9 years is now being discontinued because they have finally realised that hydrogen powered cars are a dead end and no one is buying them.

Subaru have the Solterra, which is basically the same car as the Toyota and Lexus offerings.

Mazda have the oversized MX30 with a tiny battery and tiny range to go with it.

Mitsubishi have nothing.

All of the above are years behind every other car manufacturer. Expect one or more to fail in the near future.

 

[robinbanks]

All of the above are years behind every other car manufacturer

Historically I think the view was that the Japanese don't excel at innovating, but they do excel at refining - perhaps their time is yet to come

More hearsay, but a friend claims to know a Toyota design engineer who is predicting the demise of EVs when they launch their almost-ready "top it up occasionally with tap water" self-hydrogen-generating vehicle.. I said I'd wait to see to believe..

 

[DiyNutJob]

Historically I think the view was that the Japanese don't excel at innovating, but they do excel at refining - perhaps their time is yet to come

Their time will never come if everyone is stampeding out of the EV business. EVs are the betamax of the car world.

 

[robinbanks]

Have you not yet learned that any YouTube video whose cover image features some pillock wearing an unnaturally sesnsationalist expression and/or a tabloid worthy headline, is chock full of absolute boIIocks?

 

[Avocet]

Historically I think the view was that the Japanese don't excel at innovating, but they do excel at refining - perhaps their time is yet to come

More hearsay, but a friend claims to know a Toyota design engineer who is predicting the demise of EVs when they launch their almost-ready "top it up occasionally with tap water" self-hydrogen-generating vehicle.. I said I'd wait to see to believe..

I wish them well with that, but the physics just doesn't add up. How long have they been trying to make a go of the Mirai?! Toyota, of all companies, should know that unless we can get enough green energy to meet the world's needs about three times over, hydrogen is a dead end. You can go about 3x further in a battery EV on the same amount of electricity as you'd need to use in order to get the hydrogen for the Mirai.

 

[DiyNutJob]

Have you not yet learned that any YouTube video whose cover image features some pillock wearing an unnaturally sesnsationalist expression and/or a tabloid worthy headline, is chock full of absolute boIIocks?

You clearly not learnt EV is bull ox. Even though sensationalist, there are truths to these stories:

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[freddiemercurystwin]

This was quite an interesting programme to listen to: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3ct4mvd