EV are they worth it?

[norseman]

Phew .. a lot to answer A so my reply is limited to your annual mileage/average age point as that is less contentious than the EV/ICE arguments.

2 cars, one is 25 years old & covers 5k miles pa
The other is 36 yo & rarely exceeds 1k pa

The youngest was built by engineers, not accountants or geeks.
The oldest was built by the Brits. ( ) but still more reliable than today's offerings.

Both are well maintained & I confidently expect them to have plenty of life left.

 

[flameport]

People with these old bangers that only drive tiny mileages per year really should consider if they need to own a car at all.

The lowest CO2 / pollution / environmental damage car is the one that doesn't exist.

 

[norseman]

People with these old bangers that only drive tiny mileages per year really should consider if they need to own a car at all.

The lowest CO2 / pollution / environmental damage car is the one that doesn't exist.

That's something of a crass statement made without knowledge of 'people's' circumstances.
In our case we live in a rural location with a bus service (16 seat) that only does one round trip into town a day & not at all on weekends & bank holidays.
Many others may well be even less served by public transport, in some cases it's non-existent.

If future UK legislation offers benefits for those prepared to give up their cars in order to 'save the planet' I assume yours' will be amongst the first to the crusher?

nb. just to annoy you even more .. many of these 'old bangers' will still be serving their owners (draconian legislation permitting) long after todays' crap has been recycled

 

[ReganAndCarter]

People with these old bangers that only drive tiny mileages per year really should consider if they need to own a car at all.

I don't do huge mileages, but what's the alternative? Public transport?

Have you actually used public transport in this country?

 

[Avocet]

Phew .. a lot to answer A so my reply is limited to your annual mileage/average age point as that is less contentious than the EV/ICE arguments.

2 cars, one is 25 years old & covers 5k miles pa
The other is 36 yo & rarely exceeds 1k pa

The youngest was built by engineers, not accountants or geeks.
The oldest was built by the Brits. ( ) but still more reliable than today's offerings.

Both are well maintained & I confidently expect them to have plenty of life left.

OK, you don't say whether they're petrol or diesel, what they do to the gallon, or whether you regularly drive them in town, so I can't say much about environmental impact. Obviously, they'll be nothing like as clean as a modern car. The 36 year old one probably won't even have a cat, so that will be pretty bad on emissions. The 25 year old one might have a cat, but will still be a long way off the emissions performance of a modern car.

(I speak, by the way, as someone with a 34 year old pre-cat petrol car, but like yours, it doesn't do many miles and very rarely in built up areas, so I don't beat myself up about it too much).

 

[Avocet]

People with these old bangers that only drive tiny mileages per year really should consider if they need to own a car at all.

The lowest CO2 / pollution / environmental damage car is the one that doesn't exist.

True, of course. I absolutely don't need my petrol car - just like we don't need steam trains - but they're jolly nice to see and have a ride on, once in a while. The important thing, is that I'm not doing 20k a year in it, like I am in my EV.

 

[Avocet]

That's something of a crass statement made without knowledge of 'people's' circumstances.
In our case we live in a rural location with a bus service (16 seat) that only does one round trip into town a day & not at all on weekends & bank holidays.
Many others may well be even less served by public transport, in some cases it's non-existent.

If future UK legislation offers benefits for those prepared to give up their cars in order to 'save the planet' I assume yours' will be amongst the first to the crusher?

nb. just to annoy you even more .. many of these 'old bangers' will still be serving their owners (draconian legislation permitting) long after todays' crap has been recycled

To be fair, I expect about the same numbers of today's cars to be kept as classics, as I expect any other year's cars to be. Your 25 and 36 year old cars are relatively unusual. Most of their contemporaries have already been recycled.

 

[norseman]

OK, you don't say whether they're petrol or diesel, what they do to the gallon, or whether you regularly drive them in town, so I can't say much about environmental impact. Obviously, they'll be nothing like as clean as a modern car. The 36 year old one probably won't even have a cat, so that will be pretty bad on emissions. The 25 year old one might have a cat, but will still be a long way off the emissions performance of a modern car.

(I speak, by the way, as someone with a 34 year old pre-cat petrol car, but like yours, it doesn't do many miles and very rarely in built up areas, so I don't beat myself up about it too much).

Both are petrol with the oldest non-cat doing between 17 & 23 mpg, the youngest has a cat & 24 - 34.
Always rural driving, if we go into town it's by bus.

 

[DiyNutJob]

I can say without checking the EV maker said driver error.

 

[ReganAndCarter]

To be fair, I expect about the same numbers of today's cars to be kept as classics, as I expect any other year's cars to be.

No way. Today's cars, especially ordinary (ie. not super cars) cars or EVs, are totally soulless. They're just like a washing machine, a metal box that does a job. Also younger people aren't into cars like they were, they have their scooters and i Phones. Another thing, modern cars aren't designed to be serviced and repaired by the home mechanic with non specialist tools. Older cars, especially Yanks, were mobile works of art - 21st century cars don't have any of this appeal.

Cars of yesteryear felt like they had a connection and were built by humans, not accountants. No finer sound or feel than driving a V8. EV = dull.

 

[DiyNutJob]

modern cars aren't designed to be serviced and repaired by the home mechanic with non specialist tools.

They are. Just get the tools from china. Give them time, and the tools will be available. But I wouldn't mess with the battery though. It will burn down the car as well as the house, and the DIY firefighter won't be able to put it out.

 

[ReganAndCarter]

I can say without checking the EV maker said driver error.

Yep, guilty of DWA. (Driving while Asian)

 

[DiyNutJob]

Yep, guilty of DWA. (Driving while Asian)

Was the paris taxi driver asian? He had the same F1 skills as this one.

 

[ReganAndCarter]

Was the paris taxi driver asian? He had the same F1 skills as this one.

What Paris taxi driver?

 

[DiyNutJob]

What Paris taxi driver?