Would you buy an electric car

Daegerty

With ~100 mile range, not ugly, decent size boot. Less than 30k
In a few short years there should be a good few on the market. I'm not counting the Nissan Leaf because it is ugly as sin.

Only if it was looney expensive to run a petrol or a diesel car.

Daegerty

RoverJames wrote: »

Only if it was looney expensive to run a petrol or a diesel car.

It's heading that way

I'd love a nice 2 seater petrol guzzler with manual gearbox but in a few years I might only be able afford filling it once a year

Daegerty

Daegerty wrote: »

It's heading that way

Well if it costs €30K to buy one of these electric yokes it might not be as near as you think

Absurdum

Not anytime soon, mainly because of range anxiety, and also because what's on offer at the moment is expensive and not very good. I think dropping €30k on a Leaf will turn out to be a very expensive mistake in a couple of years.

Lazairus

for 4 grand ,

bank of batteries and an altenator

convert your own car.


CH

galwaytt

I wouldn't be averse to the right one, the right way. But for 30k ? Not a notion - it's price will have to reflect it's limited ability/range, and so for that reason, it'll have to be in the range of what a Clio etc is today: sub 10k.

iphone4g

Only if there was nothing else

Daegerty

Lazairus wrote: »

for 4 grand ,

bank of batteries and an altenator

convert your own car.


CH

Thinking of giving this a taer alright..

bazz26

Not a chance unless it was this:

No, I don't think it's the right choice of technology. It's hardly "green" when the power being put into the battery has most likely been generated from fossil fuels. Hydrogen fuel cell technology is what I'm interested in.

questionmark?

At the moment not a chance.

Too short of a range.

Too long to charge up compared to what 2 minutes or so to fill up a tank.

The huge cost involved in buying one at the mo.

The lack of a noise that you get of the engine.

The pleasure in pissing off the green party while driving a Petrol

Those batteries will lose their efficiency a lot quicker than a standard engine will, imagine the cost of replacing them.

Imagine the face on the missus when she sees the electric bill :eek:

BTW i agree with sir clarkson when he says Diesel is the fuel of the devil. So my views on electric arent great either

mle1324

Nope not until the American taxi's (particularly NY ones) all become electric/hybrid. Might sound silly but it's something thats always pissed me off considering how congested US citys can get and most of the cabs are 4.6 v8's.

I do stand to be corrected though as I wouldn't know too much on the emissions of the crown vic.

Bumpstop

The battery car people don't tell you, the batteries have to be replaced every few years, ( no jokes ) at quite a large cost.

Range will always be the big issue, as our government saw fit to make sure noone lives near where they work.

The car is so intrinsic to our way of life, the new one must at least be as good as the old one.

I.e. turn key and go, roadside refuelling in minutes, good performance, not being sprayed by 23 pints of sulphuric acid in an accident.

Quietness, people give out about loud exhausts, but noone walking on acountry road was ever surprised by a noisy car.

My money is on the hydrogen fuel cell, with hydrgen roadside pumps.

But to be honest nothing will ever be as evocative, as a screaming howling, petrol or indeed diesel engine, just listening to thing click, hiss, and tick, in the driveway after you have just driven the nuts off it, priceless.

Nissan doctor

Battery/electric/hybrid cars are not the future. They are like putting a plaster on a shot gun wound.

Hydrogen fuel cells are the future of the car.

unkel

Most of you probably will. Those electric sh1tboxes might cost €25k, but they will save you hundreds in motor tax!

I won't, thanks

Rev, rev, rev me V8 petrol

x in the city

Daegerty wrote: »

With ~100 mile range, not ugly, decent size boot. Less than 30k
In a few short years there should be a good few on the market. I'm not counting the Nissan Leaf because it is ugly as sin.

no...

but there is the tesla...

johnos1984

mle1324 wrote: »

Nope not until the American taxi's (particularly NY ones) all become electric/hybrid. .

A large portion of them are hybrid

Nissan doctor

johnos1984 wrote: »

A large portion of them are hybrid

There are no hybrid crown vics. However other types of hybrids are making their way into the cab fleets in the states. Nissan altima and Ford escape are 2 common ones being used in NYC.


On the subject of using the large engined crown vics as taxis, if you'd ever driven in NYC you'd see the advantage of a high torque engine!:eek:

Bumpstop

Hybrid Crown Vic' hillarious.

Caliden

Karsini wrote: »

No, I don't think it's the right choice of technology. It's hardly "green" when the power being put into the battery has most likely been generated from fossil fuels. Hydrogen fuel cell technology is what I'm interested in.

This.
It would also be interesting to know the energy costs involved in the manufacturing of an electric car.

I wouldnt consider electric cars to be a viable alternative to any future petrol crisis and the government should hold back any plans they may have until one of the superpowers make the first move.

Cabaal

mle1324 wrote: »

Nope not until the American taxi's (particularly NY ones) all become electric/hybrid. Might sound silly but it's something thats always pissed me off considering how congested US citys can get and most of the cabs are 4.6 v8's.

I do stand to be corrected though as I wouldn't know too much on the emissions of the crown vic.

Haven been in las vegas and san francisco in 2009 i can honestly say almost every taxi was a hybrid prius, so taxi use must def be above the 50% mark

Neilw

An electric car would be ideal for my work commute, I'm only a couple of miles from work and we had a charging station installed a while back so the running cost would be very small. I'd keep my other car for long journeys and a bit of fun

Oh yeah, I wouldn't buy a g-wizz :P

biko

Yes, I would def consider an electric car, even as only car.
Maybe the Mini E or Nissan LEAF, they look like regular cars.

ArphaRima

Atari Jaguar
I will when they are good. So not yet. Maybe in 15 years.
Sportscar performance and a 300 mile range.

Tesla are going the right direction here.

subway

Current range isn't far off the range of my own car so tthat, in context, wouldn't put me off.
The trade down in performance and the ridiculous charge time would.

R.O.R

Range anxiety is my concern at the moment.

Currently I use my car purely for commuting to and from the office, so if there was a decent sized, comfortable car, that could do that journey on electric power I'd have no issue with it. The fact I could plug it in and charge it during the day (at the office) would also be a major bonus. If I was closer to the office, I'd give serious consideration.

That would cover about 90% of the driving I do, for the other 10% when I need something that will get to the other end of the country there's always another solution. Rental cars aren't that expensive nowadays.

Zubeneschamali

I drive an S-Max, so call me when I can have an electric car with 7 seats, 1000 km range, which gets to 100 km/h in 10 seconds, charges in 5 minutes and cruises happily above our legal limit. It should cost under 40K new.

Electric cars aren't even close yet.

Satanta

Wouldnt buy an electric car just yet until the technology improves, but I would consider an electric motorbike for getting to and from work. For the family and for pleasure driving the car wont be getting replaced ant time soon

Anan1

All other things being equal, i'd prefer electric - what's not to like about smooth, near-silent go? In the real world, i'll choose based on ability - let's see what they offer.

stevenmu

I'd agree with Anan1, I love the idea of electric cars.

But in reality: Nissan Leaf drivers run out of juice on the road

In a normal fueled car you could simply pull in somewhere and top up, that's not so easy in an EV.

langdang

I would, as a basic run-around, if they were cheap
I want it cheep-cheep - it's never gonna be my only car or my "fun" car so basically a 4 wheeled scooter with a roof.
I'd want some deal where if you are paying 500euro plus on your petrol/diesel car that the tax for the electric car would only be a nominal amount or free.
Free onstreet parking for smart car or smaller sized vehicles. Reduced rate in multistoreys.


A major factor for anyone in this country is that trying to run two cars in this country is looking to be bent over by insurance companies*. Maybe the government (I know, god help us) could do a combined tax/insurance scheme for electric cars.

*the DIY conversion of an existing car sounds interesting and fun until you (no doubt) get told that it's now effectively a kit car and the insurance quote involves vaseline...

LordSutch

I wonder will they ever invent a 'Scalextric' type system for the roads?

Just Imagine

mle1324

Cabaal wrote: »

Haven been in las vegas and san francisco in 2009 i can honestly say almost every taxi was a hybrid prius, so taxi use must def be above the 50% mark

Haven't being in the states for a few years myself but when I was there a lot of the cabs were v8's.

pajo1981

Any alternative to diesels would be a good thing, IMO.

A soon as they get the range up and charge times down, there will be no looking back.

mondeo

I would not drive an electric car, the reason is because I'm a man and driving something that runs on batteries offends me.

That's being 100% honest about it

qz

"Only if it's a Tesla and only if it's for the weekend" option required.

Max_Damage

mle1324 wrote: »

Haven't being in the states for a few years myself but when I was there a lot of the cabs were v8's.

The vast majority of taxi's in America (especially NYC) are Ford Crown Vic's.

mle1324

Max_Damage wrote: »

The vast majority of taxi's in America (especially NYC) are Ford Crown Vic's.

I know, I mentioned that a few posts back

Daegerty

pajo1981 wrote: »

Any alternative to diesels would be a good thing, IMO.

A soon as they get the range up and charge times down, there will be no looking back.

Whaat have you aagainst diesels?

Stevie Dakota

I hope as many people buy them as possible, it's the early adopters who pave the way for the rest of us and bring costs down and improve the technology. Maybe when Leaf V3.2 arrives I'll think about it.

Like the neighbour who bought a 42" Plasma for €6000 when they first came out....

Nissan doctor

Stevie Dakota wrote: »

I hope as many people buy them as possible, it's the early adopters who pave the way for the rest of us and bring costs down and improve the technology. Maybe when Leaf V3.2 arrives I'll think about it.

Why? Even the manufacturers will tell you that electric cars are not the long term future, they are a quick fix. Look at all the major players, they are, in the backround, perfecting the hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and also liquid hydrogen engines. Bmw and Mazda both have working Hydrogen engines, normal internalm combustion engines, with similar HP and performance as petrols, the same noises and driving experience but with only h2o as an emmission!

The main thing that makes electric cars seem more viable is that we already have electricity, we don't have a means of distributing hydrogen as yet. But if that was an issue the car as we know it wouldn't exist either.

Stinicker

I'd buy an electric car, although not all electric, but a hybrid electric would do in that for most of your journeys you'd be on battery and for that extra long occasion you would have the diesel hybrid generator to fall back on, add in remote charging points and this would be even less needed.

The Chevy Volt/Opel Ampera ticks most of those boxes however if I was to spend €40k on a car I'd rather buy a BMW 3 series or something. Another ten or twelve years and they will begin to be more mainstream.

Pop up a wind turbine and generate your own power, up yours Government, although by then they will probably have Motor Tax up to like €3k a year and Petrol will probably be cheaper than today and will be akin to TVO used for us enthusiasts with our rare gas cars, probably like something from iRobot.

jackbauer

Here's the thing. Electric cars don't save money. Not in their current incarnations anyway. Upfront cost is the killer. Forget low tax. Some suvs now are in band A here as far as i know. Lower maintenance costs? Sure , but over the lifetime of the vehicle it still won't stack up.The other nail in the coffin is this incessent desire to push them as a direct replacement for a conventional vehicle. A simple nonsense with today's battery technology. That's the bad news. The good news is often buried under the above and gets little attention in the mainstream.

I built an ev with lead acid batteries. After a while i wondered why i had bothered. Yeh it drove ok but that 365kg of lead made it accelerate like a fiat 126 and handle like a dumper truck. Chucked that out just recently and replaced it with 96kg of lithium iron phosphate cells. Now the only thing holding me back is the motorway speed limit and yes , limited range. But not limited power. Two weeks ago i towed a broken down toyota hybrid to a garage.

Battery life is 3000 cycles. So if i drove to max range 300 days a year i got a 10 year battery. After 3000 cycles its down to 80% of capacity so its not just like one day the car stops and thats that. Recharging takes 90-120 minutes from a 32amp supply or 20 minutes with 3 phase power available at work. It does spin the meter:D


It is a unique driving experience. I've had a lot of people behind the wheel and everyone has a smile at the end so i would encourage people to take a test drive at least.


Excluding the tesla , would i buy one of the current offerings? Probably not.

I'm skeptical on hydrogen. Lots of problems and its an energy carrier not a fuel. Time will tell and i'd be happy to be wrong.

salamander27

jackbauer wrote: »

20 minutes with 3 phase power available

Wow! I've waited almost as long for petrol in some stations particularly when someone decides to buy the weekly shopping while they leave their car at the pump!:mad:

If I could afford one I probably would buy an EV for doing short trips like school runs. The sort of trip that devours petrol.

Testament1

Anan1 wrote: »

All other things being equal, i'd prefer electric - what's not to like about smooth, near-silent go?

Near-silent is whats not to like. To me it would just seem wrong to floor the accelerator and not hear a nice engine note.

Bodhan

I've driven the Fluence ZE last year and although it was the prototype it was great to drive, just like a bum heavy Fluence with no noise (batteries in the boot, now moved underfloor).

The range is an issue, but fast chargers are on the way from ESB which will help some. BMW are getting into it now so there's no way back from EV cars, in fairness they aren't the total solution just yet but Renault are testing a battery in the new Zoe, 200kms they say.

Hydrogen cars are still a long way off, 5-10 years unless there's some sort of breakthrough with the extraction system, even the delivery system still has problems.

pburns

Nissan doctor wrote: »

Battery/electric/hybrid cars are not the future. They are like putting a plaster on a shot gun wound.

Hydrogen fuel cells are the future of the car.

Yep, + 1 from me.

It might make some sense for urban driving, if price/range/re-charge improved as a partial or stopgap solution - for some. Personally I just don't buy into electric or even less so hybrid as a long term solution.

Batteries are expensive to produce, have a finite lifespan, are difficult to dispose of in an environmentally friendly way...and re-charging is NEVER going to be as convenient as re-filling.

As for the Tesla...tsk...me arse:rolleyes:...it's a Lotus Elise that doesn't handle as well. The Lotus starts out as a featherweight 1.6/1.8 - hardly a gas-guzzler! The fact they had to base an electric halo model on the light little Lotus is tantamount to cheating in my view.:) I don't believe in tootling around in big V8s on the school run either like the Yanks do - that's wasteful.

As far as I'm concerned more efficient petrol/diesel engines ARE the stopgap and hydrogen or something similar is the future. Everything in between is a load of bollocks.

Like everything though, there are vested interests, big business and misguided weeny-Greeny politics at play...

Nissan doctor

pburns wrote: »

Like everything though, there are vested interests, big business and misguided weeny-Greeny politics at play...

It could be argued, very convincingly, that the entire global warming/emissions/fuel crisis banwagon is being driven by big business and politics too.:rolleyes:

ianobrien

I would consider an electric car when

1. The have a range of 800 to 1000km (match a normal car)
2. Can be refulled from empty to full in under 2 minutes (like a normal car)
3. Match normal cars in terms of price
4. Resale values similar to normal cars
5. Running costs cheaper than normal cars, inchuding high mileage (I tend to run up high mileages on motors)
6. They are greener than normal cars, from manufacture, through use and disposal at end of life. Also, the fuel generation needs to be looked at (Moneypoint anybody?)
7. Look and feel like a proper car, not a Japanese Washing Machine with wheels.

Also, in 40 years time, will we be seeing the Nissan Leaf at Vintage Motor Shows, and will it get there under it's own steam.....

Bodhan

ianobrien wrote: »

I would consider an electric car when

1. The have a range of 800 to 1000km (match a normal car)
2. Can be refulled from empty to full in under 2 minutes (like a normal car)
3. Match normal cars in terms of price
4. Resale values similar to normal cars
5. Running costs cheaper than normal cars, inchuding high mileage (I tend to run up high mileages on motors)
6. They are greener than normal cars, from manufacture, through use and disposal at end of life. Also, the fuel generation needs to be looked at (Moneypoint anybody?)
7. Look and feel like a proper car, not a Japanese Washing Machine with wheels.

Also, in 40 years time, will we be seeing the Nissan Leaf at Vintage Motor Shows, and will it get there under it's own steam.....

I have from research and press conferences come across these answers

1. The have a range of 800 to 1000km (match a normal car) Best yet 200kms
2. Can be refulled from empty to full in under 2 minutes (like a normal car) Battery swap is something Renault is looking at
3. Match normal cars in terms of price. The Fluence D has the same cost of ownership as the ZE version
4. Resale values similar to normal cars. Remains to be seen
5. Running costs cheaper than normal cars, inchuding high mileage (I tend to run up high mileages on motors) range problems there, but on short journeys the EV is cheaper to run
6. They are greener than normal cars, from manufacture, through use and disposal at end of life. Also, the fuel generation needs to be looked at (Moneypoint anybody?) Being worked on now, battery manufacture is the eco bad bit, the rest is the same as a normal diesel
7. Look and feel like a proper car, not a Japanese Washing Machine with wheels. umm the Fluence, BMW I3 all normal looking cars, only the Leaf looks weird.