EV are they worth it?
- Thread starter ericmark
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That's very kind. I shall, thanks! (Although, if you came up with a credible, well-researched and convincing argument, I'd listen to that too - and might even stop pouring scorn if I agreed with it)!
Remember that all my life, I've loved cars. All my working life, I've worked in the car industry. Ever since I've been old enough to have a car, I've maintained my own cars. I still have a 35 year old ICE car right now, in fact, and hope to keep it for many years to come, as I'm very fond of it.
However, I also realise;
that the oil won't last forever;
that if the Ukraine war has taught us anything, it's that energy security is important, and as oil supplies start to dwindle, it will become increasingly so; and
that continuing to burn what's left, is causing environmental problems in terms of air quality and climate change.
Now over here, the latter isn't causing us huge problems yet. Yes, it's a bit wetter, yes, we don't often get snowy winters any more, and yes, we get more floods and severe storms, but as a developed nation, we can more or less cope with that. Of course in countries with more extreme climates, it means the difference between them being inhabitable and uninhabitable. As more of it becomes uninhabitable, we can look forward to more people wanting to try and find some other place to live, and getting into rubber dinghies to go and look for it...
Currently 2035. Remember though, that's only the sale of NEW ones. Will that date slip? Yes, quite possibly. Will we continue to suffer the effects of climate change for a bit longer if it does? Yes, quite possibly. Am I really bothered whether it's 2030, 2035 or 2040? No, not hugely. It's not like the production of ICE cars will carry on at full production until then and suddenly stop anyway. Once car manufacturers have re-configured their production lines to build EVs, and pensioned-of their ICE engine plants to developing countries, they won't be bringing them back, if some politician says "As you were, lads. It'll be 2040 now".
I don't know how long this thread is going to continue, but at my age I probably won't be here in 2024.
However, I'm happy that I shall be able to keep (and hopefully drive) an ICE car for the rest of my life.
If anyone does happen to keep the thread going, and looks in here in 2024, I hope they realise that the prophets of doom have been wrong all along!
Don't worry. I shall post no more.
However, I'm happy that I shall be able to keep (and hopefully drive) an ICE car for the rest of my life.
If anyone does happen to keep the thread going, and looks in here in 2024, I hope they realise that the prophets of doom have been wrong all along!
Don't worry. I shall post no more.
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Sorry to hear that you are on your last legs, we are in 2024.
Personally if it was me I'd find a few better things to do than post climate denial stuff on here if time is that pressing.
Oh and nobody is saying ice cars will be banned, are they ? Im also likely to remain in an ice for most, if not all, of my remaining driving days. But id like the planet to be cared for, for my children and grandchildren, and any children theymay have. That means looking at new ideas such as EVs
I like Jay Leno's take on the future of petrol vehicles, when he says they'll still be used but in the pursuit of pleasure, rather like the way a horse used to be an everyday sight on city streets, as a beast of burden, the advent of the car made their workload much lighter and freed them to become a rich man's sport, then the car in the same way can become a rich man's sport in racing. Taxed up the tailpipe, to be sure, but those vintage car rallies are still popular and i see no reason why select vehicles can't be seen the same way.
Yes, I think that is exactly what will happen. They'll slowly shift from being "transport" to being "leisure goods". Classic car clubs will probably get licences to bunker limited amounts of fuel, and you'll have to go there to fill up when you want to go to a classic show or on a club run. Used sparingly, there's no real problem with that - especially if it's synthetic fuel. The planet can cope with a limited amount of CO2, just not as much as we're dumping into the atmosphere today. I'm a "mere boy" of 59. In 2035 I'll be 70 and will have to renew my licence. A brand new ICE car sold in 2035 will have an average life of at least 15 years, so by the time the last ordinary ones are shuffling off this mortal coil, I'll be 85 and probably no longer able to drive. In the same way as I love watching the odd steam special hauling an excursion train, I will always love the moan of a big, tuned V8 with a cross-plane crank, or the banshee howl of a nice Alfa V6, or the smooth-as-silk bark of an Aston V12. The trick is to use them sparingly.
Yes, of course I meant 2040. I shouldn't post when I'm in a rush. However, I do hope still to be here in 2028/9 so that I can say, "I told you so!"
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The science is unlikely to say that petrol is the future.
Very unlikely
Very unlikely
Well,
my EV charger was successfully installed at home, a fortnight ago.
Utility provider told me that, if my expected night-rate use was less than a third of my daytime use, I'd be better off sticking with the standard tariff.
I currently use nowt at night, and an average of 150 kwh per month, pretty much exclusively on day-rate.
About £40 per month usage, plus £15 standing charge.
This will go up to about £50 per month (daytime) usage, plus about £17 standing charge.
Expecting to still do c. 300 miles per week (which is a full charge's worth), which currently costs me c. £30 in diesel.
At night-rate of 6.3p per kwh, that'll cost 6.3 x 77.4 pence, or less than a fiver, won't it?
So, my electric bill will go from £55, to £90 per month.
And my diesel bill will go down from £130 per month, to squat
Even better, my BiK is being slashed, from £250 per month, to £80
And I'll be getting paid 8 or 9p per mile, for business use
Luverly jubberly
my EV charger was successfully installed at home, a fortnight ago.
Utility provider told me that, if my expected night-rate use was less than a third of my daytime use, I'd be better off sticking with the standard tariff.
I currently use nowt at night, and an average of 150 kwh per month, pretty much exclusively on day-rate.
About £40 per month usage, plus £15 standing charge.
This will go up to about £50 per month (daytime) usage, plus about £17 standing charge.
Expecting to still do c. 300 miles per week (which is a full charge's worth), which currently costs me c. £30 in diesel.
At night-rate of 6.3p per kwh, that'll cost 6.3 x 77.4 pence, or less than a fiver, won't it?
So, my electric bill will go from £55, to £90 per month.
And my diesel bill will go down from £130 per month, to squat
Even better, my BiK is being slashed, from £250 per month, to £80
And I'll be getting paid 8 or 9p per mile, for business use
Luverly jubberly
Well,
my EV charger was successfully installed at home, a fortnight ago.
Utility provider told me that, if my expected night-rate use was less than a third of my daytime use, I'd be better off sticking with the standard tariff.
I currently use nowt at night, and an average of 150 kwh per month, pretty much exclusively on day-rate.
About £40 per month usage, plus £15 standing charge.
This will go up to about £50 per month (daytime) usage, plus about £17 standing charge.
Expecting to still do c. 300 miles per week (which is a full charge's worth), which currently costs me c. £30 in diesel.
At night-rate of 6.3p per kwh, that'll cost 6.3 x 77.4 pence, or less than a fiver, won't it?
So, my electric bill will go from £55, to £90 per month.
And my diesel bill will go down from £130 per month, to squat
Even better, my BiK is being slashed, from £250 per month, to £80
And I'll be getting paid 8 or 9p per mile, for business use
Luverly jubberly
That's most definitely an up-side. Effectively, I'm hooning about in an almost three-and-a-half hundred horse car for 2.5p per mile when I charge at night from home! Like you, with fuel savings and BIK savings, it's basically a £300-a-month pay rise for me. What's not to like? Doing the environment a good turn while I'm at it, is just icing on the cake.
Yes, I had heard that the initial interest in EVs has reduced lately. I think I might have also mentioned earlier that uptake of them might also drop when the government decides to impose 'road tax' (yes I know they don't call it that now) on EVs and possibly also to reduce any other benefits presently handed out.
I still maintain that, even though I may not be around by then(!), I doubt that whatever government we might end up living under in 2040 it is unlikely that they will even have managed to ban the sale of new ICE cars. In fact, I wonder whether the vast majority of them will be coming from China by then!
It probably will. But to me, that's all the more reason to get in early. The tax take will have to be made up somehow, and I'm under no illusions about that, but I'm sure as hell enjoying it while I can!
The 2035 deadline doesn't apply to niche vehicles anyway. Annual production under 1000 is exempt. You'll need very deep pockets though! By the time that comes around, ICE vehicles made in those numbers will be Ferrari money. On top of that, they'll be paying even more tax, they'll be taxed to enter pretty much every town and city centre, and their fuel is likely to be mail-order synthetic fuel at about £25 a gallon. Let's see how many of the people today, saying they will "never" drive an EV, will be putting their money where their mouth is...
No problem. We have just bought a new Skoda Fabia. An excellent car which, I hope, will keep us happy for many more years. If the new 'government' (for want of a better word!) does begin to punish motorists by bringing forward 'the deadline' to 2030, we'll either get a new one of the same or keep this one going as necessary.Yes: I'll not take the thousands of pounds p.a. benefit right now, as it might not be there forever........
Good advice
Hardly a prospect that would set a petrol-head off, in a fit of salivation.