Increase in Anti-EV Media Articles

There obviously are savings with mobile phone plans or BEVs if it works for someone's use case. It's just maths.

I know there are unreliable petrol engines of course. My first car was a Morris Ital, and I got to rebuild the engine long before I knew what I was doing :-(

The car did teach me that Halfords torque wrenches were not to be trusted also.

I gather even the none turbo three cylinder engines are troublesome on some models. I think my car is 3 cylinder, but I only opened the bonnet twice at most since buying the car. We used to run petrol cars to around 180,000 miles after which they were swapped and became pool cars. None of the Mazdas made it to pool car stage, in fact they were the only deisel engined cars we had, most were variations on a Civic or Focus 1600 and petrol

I did a lot of miles, I never liked staying out if it was avoidable. Even here where there are not too many boring, plasticy Travelodge type places, I used to commute from near Clonakilty to Tralee daily.

The hotels are better than Britain for short notice three or four night stays, but after years of trying to avoid the places it was too late to change my habits.

My company in the UK were not happy with my antics, being concerned about looking bad if I wrote off a few families on the motorway I suppose, but they got used to it!

Can't say any of that sounds enticing.

Well you certainly got the hop over everyone else.

If whoever you have delegated pricing phones and plans to has negotiated a deal thats costing 50 quid a month id suggest its time for a performance review 😂

I loved the job.

I never had much interest in cars though, I did want an estate but the company were insistent on their choices.

An EV would have been out, it would be today as I.m sure places like Scotland would be a nightmare even in summer to try to get charged.

Is anyone selling these things yet? :-)

https://www.amazon.ca/NERMAK-Portable-Battery-Charger-Waterproof/dp/B0CQMW1Z5N/ref%3Dsr_1_25?crid=MIV3H5Z8G8Y3&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.U-onSXJdA9GFUaanrEzZKdjeMoRfyUftRpUKB9-Hu35SXqnNMH2rUKjRFh-WGP57H2IgDKY0SCdZPv-ajJYQlwmYWxHRGV3qON3WXMJ_NHWXQA2tE2dlRDREFBJb6XxveY-YvVRQY-5xeQvE52virdUL88Vp2bQZlNh8gityaIwtwufrK9x1gFcgm4EZVazyqHoCbnRsvXe1p_W1ki3AqhVPO8376-zyqENowPTGDEZujsuM97Ik1Fbesdn4g2XhMn96oXsoDH8Re_osiC2tLDTw8xSSlPD5aBjjoMMzT9U.89qXOls_VlWwiLlHoqzeBraAVgC8YsMWXvZMby4zlhU&dib_tag=se&keywords=Solar+Trickle+Charger&qid=1715587909&s=lawn-garden&sprefix=solar+trickle+charger+%2Clawngarden%2C215&sr=1-25

There must be a world of opportunity for the shysters that were supplying performance enhancing magnets for fuel lines and software upgrades to get more MPG from plug in USB sticks or car lighter attachments.

New technology is often jumped on by the snake oil salesmen exploiting peoples lack of experience.

You won't have money for long picking the worst deal and worst saving at every opportunity.

Wasn't aware that Scotland has no electricity.

Whatever snake oil sold your fleet petrol cars to do starship mileage really knocked it out of the park.

It's amazing how easily people are fed bullshit and they lap it up and ask for seconds. The kid has more sense than all of them.

When we bought our BEV, my wife's colleagues were quick to add their two cents. They said they would never buy an EV because of the range issue, that the batteries are made by slave labour, and that EVs regularly go on fire.

Thankfully she knows better now and she loves the car. They can't harp on about range because we have proven it's not a problem. They can't harp on about the fires because there is proof that it's the other way around by around 50-80x. They can't harp on about child labour because cobalt is used in petrol/ diesel production and it's being phased out of batteries.

Now they've moved on to asking her how we will sell our car. Apparently, no dealer will take them and it's all over the news. I just laughed and said if that's what they think, so be it. If we lost 50% of the value in 3 years, we would still be far better off than someone selling a diesel/ petrol car when you take into account the significant savings on fuel, tax, insurance and maintenance.

These people are not petrolheads or car aficionados. My personal feeling is that they're somewhat jealous. I think they would love to be able to save on fuel but they have swallowed so much FUD and spread it, that they have past the point of return in their minds. They can't admit they were wrong as it would make them look foolish - people would question why they have an EV after being so negative about them. They can't change their mind so they have decided that if they can't have it, they will spoil it for everyone else. They have doubled down on the crap and it's their loss.

I moved to that years ago as well. Was paying over €60 a month which was basically covering the cost of the new phone.

Bought a SIM unlocked phone for €200 (it does my job perfectly fine) and it's €20 a month now for unlimited everything.

My wife also faces similar challenges, particularly from those closest to her who harbor feelings of jealousy. Our financial stability and my early adoption of new technology seem to irk a few people in her circle. Interestingly, my wife herself is considering a shift back to a hybrid vehicle. She hasn’t fully embraced her EV and lacks confidence in using it effectively on longer trips. She overcharges it on her way back from the odd 300km trip.

Reflecting on all of this, I’ve concluded that some people resent the idea of their loved ones acquiring new things or trying something new that they fear themselves. The association of EVs with politics complicates matters, and until charging infrastructure becomes more widespread and convenient, widespread EV adoption remains a distant goal. It’s a somewhat disheartening reality, but it’s the world we live in. I think we are going backwards.

The comment that started this line of discussion was the inertia of the market to find a better deal.

The argument that's someone wants and can afford a 1200 iPhone on a 60 a month plan is a strawman argument. No one's arguing that someone with a 5.0 Mustang needs to buy a 10yr old leaf.

I have 5 years since I started driving electric and I passed a cumulative 150k km driven with no tailpipe. More that 2 years I drove free of charge, benefited from zero BIK, 75-50% toll reduction for good years. Driving 150k km on our petrol cars, would have costed approx 19k in fuel. Even at an overinflated price of 50c/kWh, would cost something like 12k in the EVs (the highest average consumption rate on my cars is less than 16kwh/100km). In reality I paid less than 4k. Then servicing would have been at least 10x oil changes some brake pads and probably one timing belt, not to mention 2xNCTs every year. There are other benefits like a more even usage. Before when we had 2XICE cars, I was driving mine and missus was driving hers leading to a 95/5% split usage. Now we drive whichever is more convenient for the particular journey. Having said all that, the costs were just one reason for changing to EVs but not the main one.

Back in 2019 people were incredulous that we're going to manage with the EVs. All the "you'll have nowhere to charge", "tyre particulates", "bring a fleece with you as the heater eats battery", "I have a friend with a flatbed" and EV fires were brought up at pub or at work as soon as people found out we drive electric. We're still getting the talk about poor charging network and what not. My stance however was never to hit back but to asses if the person in front of me is actually open to dialogue. If they start with all the rubbish monologues without listening to what I have to say as a person with professional experience and having driven both ICE and EV, I keep my mouth shut and move one. Plenty of others are open though and had lots of good discussion on the subject. I did drive tests with friends and acquaintances and even lent cars for weekends. While EVs can be perceived inferior from the range POV, they are superior in many other aspects like driving dynamics, comfort, running costs. They do require a change of mindset and that's not possible in every case just yet.