Poll: Why did you go electric?

[Big Ears]

You have to consider the whole vehicle when keeping an old smoker on the road, many do get EV conversions, but that too has to be sourced, manufactured and transported.

Studies have proved it is less polluting if well maintained and certainly has more character than any EV or Hybrid

 

[Corindikev]

It was a tossup between value over the long run and driving experience with environmental always in the mix. There is no option to rate these but all are equally important. The effortless ease of driving any EV is a winner for anyone not rusted on to a cylinder head. Instant torque with silence, no stinking toxic fumes, plug in at home, virtually free running etc. What is not to like? The future of motoring is here NOW. What the hell is wrong with all the dumb right wing press & EV haters unless they are all in the pockets of the fossil fuel companies.

 

[T1 Terry]

The "others" are a long list.
1) Mechanic for 40 yrs, just fed up with the direction they were heading.

2) Wanted a project that tested me to develop new skills

3) Love my Kombi and have been keeping it on the road since '98 and it now has close on 1 million kms. A total body restoration is needed so a conversion to EV was sort of a must. I had already converted it to LPG over 15 yrs ago, so cost for fuel wasn't really an issue

4) Bought an ex taxi Prius with 680,000kms on the clock ... and still going. The taxi owner thought it had a timing chain failing, turned out to be a block cat causing back pressure and the spring mounting for the exhaust was causing the pipe to chatter against the case iron exhaust manifold .... it has now close of 1 million kms on it and still the original engine and electric drive unit, a s/h traction battery cost $400, tyres and wiper blades and the odd oil change when I remember ... still startles people when it accelerates from 80km/h behind then to 130km/h as you pass them

5) Bought a second Prius with an extended range battery added to it, 1,000km plus for 40 ltrs of fuel, then recharging from solar each evening, 2,000km on 20 ltrs .... ICE powered just didn't make sense except for range .... a big issue in Australia .... a long way between places when travelling

6) had 2 different diesel motorhomes, 7 mtr so small ones, 20ltrs plus per 100kms, @ over $2 a ltrs hybrid started to make a lot more sense

7) bought all the gear to do the conversions cheaper than the cost to rebuild the ICE in the Kombi and around 6 mths fuel in the 10 mtr 10 tonne motorhome .... that burnt to the ground.

8) The prospective replacement, a v10 Ford on petrol/LPG, that is gunna have to become a hybrid

9) Had a business designing and installing full off grid systems for RV's and house too far away from the mains to be economical to run the cables ... only made sense to refuel the RV and towed vehicle when camped up or at home

T1 Terry

EDIT: Yet to drive a going MG4, hopefully I win this salvage auction for a repairable write off MG4 with 4,800km on the clock ... had a hit up the rear end, broke the bumper and mounts and buckled the rear hatch a bit ... have all the parts from the salvage write off, so I might yet get an MG4 that I can drive :lol:

 

[Rolfe]

Hi Terry, how are you getting on? It's good to hear you so cheerful after what happened.

 

[Archev]

Yes many people won't agree with me here. But it isn't just emissions it is the total
energy, resource usage and impact of the mining, manufacturing, transportation etc... that goes into making a new car, which is huge.

Yes but add in servicing.

 

[Bricktop X PWR]

What made you move from Tesla? I test drove the M3P Highland version, fantastic and significantly faster than the Xpower, but near double the price!

Too low, too impractical, too black.
Not racialist.
Nothing to see here, move along.

I knew all this running up to the purchase by the way, but it was a Tesla!

Excitement got the better of me.
My first full EV and it was a bloody Tesla!!

It was everything I hoped it would be.

Fast, quiet, efficient, Sci Fi made real with its self driving software.
Truly mind blowing when you first let it take over.
Did I mention it was a Tesla??

Cut to six months later, I was getting tired of harnessing my dog on the back seats.

If was a pain getting in and out for my wife and her arthritic hip.
Wipers were such a pain.
All the functions being within the touchscreen becomes real wearing, real fast.
I could go on.

And I will go on....

It always looked bloody dirty, it was like driving a moohoosive greenhouse on wheels but the final straw was the rear doors dropping a few mm when the windows were put up.

But defend it, and the brand to the hilt I would. (I do)

I would definitely have another (when they eventually build the M2 hatchback?) and since my dog passed away the practicality issue would not be a problem.

Unless I get another dog of course....

 

[Rolfe]

My next door neighbour's dad has just bought a brand new dual motor model Y. He's currently in the honeymoon period, after struggling a bit to get to grips with it at first. I wonder how long the honeymoon will last...

 

[Ian Key]

My Ford Focus was getting a bit long in the tooth and being a 2.0l 163 bhp diesel it wasn't the most economical especially as I was mainly doing short journeys. I also promised myself a new car when I retired and I like gadgets.

I intend to keep the car for a number of years and in my mind if I got a ICE car the resale value would be zilch as at that time new car sales of ICE cars would be banned in 2030.

 

[Rolfe]

We might find that petrolheads are queuing up to buy used ICE cars then, because they can't have a new one. On the other hand, maybe everyone will have realised how great EVs are, and nobody will want an ICE ever again.

You decide.

 

[Big Ears]

I think ICE cars might increase in value by 2030 unless the infrastructure improves dramatically.

Diesels may be more so unless delivery vehicles go EV on very large scale, Amazon have already abandoned EV vans as unworkable.

 

[Robf]

Bought my first electric car (second hand 22kw Renault Zoe with rented battery) in 2016, we had solar panels and 1st gen Zappi. I just wanted to try and see if it was a viable option and cut down on our emissions, but just loved the drive, felt a bit like being inside an episode of Thunderbirds .
Swapped the Zoe for a 30kw 1st gen Leaf to get better range (handy for drive to work). Still had a back up (Toyota Verso) just in case (Pre COVID and we both had drives to work).
Replaced the Leaf with MG ZS LR which did away with any range problems and when the time came replaced the Verso with the updated MG4, which is just the best thing I think that I have ever driven (and I have had some pretty fast cars). Since the software updates (r59 etc) it is feeling so much faster, just great fun.

 

[Rolfe]

I think ICE cars might increase in value by 2030 unless the infrastructure improves dramatically.

Diesels may be more so unless delivery vehicles go EV on very large scale, Amazon have already abandoned EV vans as unworkable.

But the infrastructure has improved dramatically. The main concern is that it goes on expanding as EV ownership expands. Amazon have a weird business model with these vans. I have no idea what they thought was "unworkable" about them.

 

[T1 Terry]

I think ICE cars might increase in value by 2030 unless the infrastructure improves dramatically.

Diesels may be more so unless delivery vehicles go EV on very large scale, Amazon have already abandoned EV vans as unworkable.

Where did you get that gem from Amazon 2023 Report: EV Fleet Expansion Milestone it seems they're actually expanding their EV fleet, not abandoning it ......

T1 Terry

 

[Bam Bam]

I think ICE cars might increase in value by 2030 unless the infrastructure improves dramatically.

Yeah, they will be considered 'classics' for the museum!

The infrastructure is going to have to increase massively.

To be fair there are a bank of Rapid DC chargers outside a new Lidl in Abingdon off the A34. Every new development adds them in and each house gets their own and there will be thousands of chargers in no time at all.

We only need to rapid DC charge a couple of times per year, so we aren't putting much strain on the infrastructure.

 

[Big Ears]

Where did you get that gem from Amazon 2023 Report: EV Fleet Expansion Milestone it seems they're actually expanding their EV fleet, not abandoning it ......

T1 Terry

Might be a different model Terry.

I don't recall where it was in one of the news notifications on my phone a few weeks ago about them being auctioned off for peanuts.

 

[okohll]

Might be a different model Terry.

I don't recall where it was in one of the news notifications on my phone a few weeks ago about them being auctioned off for peanuts.

Most of the post office delivery vans I see in the city around here are now electric, which is nice to see

 

[Big Ears]

None here too hilly.

 

[Rolfe]

Where did you get that gem from Amazon 2023 Report: EV Fleet Expansion Milestone it seems they're actually expanding their EV fleet, not abandoning it ......

T1 Terry

I think I'm seeing a pattern here.

• Has a "self-charging" hybrid, i.e. an ICE car, not an EV.
• Thinks EVs are only a stop-gap until hydrogen appears (oh my aching sides...)
• Informing us that JCB are the oracle on the bright future of hydrogen.
• Believes it's "less polluting" to keep an old ICE banger on the road than to get an EV (that one has been comprehensively debunked to hell and gone, never mind that these things are money pits).
• Believes said old banger has "more character" than an EV or a hybrid. Sure, that's a personal thing, but I'd say they have character like Steptoe and Alf Garnett have character. Character I'd be filing for divorce from.
• Thinks the charging infrastructure still needs to "improve dramatically" or people will be queueing up to buy old ICE cars.
• Telling lies about Amazon delivery vans. (It may be that they were auctioning off superseded models, but to invest in new vehicles, not because they're "unworkable". I drive through Keighley regularly and I don't believe this rubbish about Amazon having some special ICE delivery vans just for there for one second.)

This is precisely what FUD is. It's the absolute definition of FUD. @Big Ears, you wouldn't like to add that we'll all be sorry when we have to pay £40,000 for a new battery in four or five years, or that we'll be lucky if it hasn't gone up in flames before then? Or that they cost thousands to insure, or that they're useless in winter, or that you get seasick driving in them? Because with that you'd probably have a full house of anti-EV talking points. Straight out of the Daily Mail playbook, even if you're only doing the crossword.

You've never owned an EV, you've never lived with one, you've never experienced the 2p/mile fuel costs or the amazing convenience of waking up to a full "tank" every morning, or how easy and trouble-free long journeys are in 2024. As another member said above, only someone whose brain is rusted to a cylinder head would believe this nonsense.

@Big Ears, I don't know what you're even doing here. You may have an MG, but it's an ICE. You hate EVs, and you believe every single piece of nonsense put out by the vested interests who want to stop EV sales and put the public off the best thing that's happened for personal transport since the ICE itself. And for some reason you want to tell us all about it.

I suggest, rather, that if you hang around, it's going to be other members who will be telling you. And thanks for that, @T1 Terry.

 

[Big Ears]

I think I'm seeing a pattern here.

• Has a "self-charging" hybrid, i.e. an ICE car, not an EV.
• Thinks EVs are only a stop-gap until hydrogen appears (oh my aching sides...)
• Informing us that JCB are the oracle on the bright future of hydrogen.
• Believes it's "less polluting" to keep an old ICE banger on the road than to get an EV (that one has been comprehensively debunked to hell and gone, never mind that these things are money pits).
• Believes said old banger has "more character" than an EV or a hybrid. Sure, that's a personal thing, but I'd say they have character like Steptoe and Alf Garnett have character. Character I'd be filing for divorce from.
• Thinks the charging infrastructure still needs to "improve dramatically" or people will be queueing up to buy old ICE cars.
• Telling lies about Amazon delivery vans. (It may be that they were auctioning off superseded models, but to invest in new vehicles, not because they're "unworkable". I drive through Keighley regularly and I don't believe this rubbish about Amazon having some special ICE delivery vans just for there for one second.)

This is precisely what FUD is. It's the absolute definition of FUD. @Big Ears, you wouldn't like to add that we'll all be sorry when we have to pay £40,000 for a new battery in four or five years, or that we'll be lucky if it hasn't gone up in flames before then? Or that they cost thousands to insure, or that they're useless in winter, or that you get seasick driving in them? Because with that you'd probably have a full house of anti-EV talking points. Straight out of the Daily Mail playbook, even if you're only doing the crossword.

You've never owned an EV, you've never lived with one, you've never experienced the 2p/mile fuel costs or the amazing convenience of waking up to a full "tank" every morning, or how easy and trouble-free long journeys are in 2024. As another member said above, only someone whose brain is rusted to a cylinder head would believe this nonsense.

@Big Ears, I don't know what you're even doing here. You may have an MG, but it's an ICE. You hate EVs, and you believe every single piece of nonsense put out by the vested interests who want to stop EV sales and put the public off the best thing that's happened for personal transport since the ICE itself. And for some reason you want to tell us all about it.

I suggest, rather, that if you hang around, it's going to be other members who will be telling you. And thanks for that, @T1 Terry.

You overstep your bounds as a moderator there, I'll have nothing more to do with you as you have obviously got your own agenda and are seeing only what you want to see.

I have nothing against EVs at all, show me where I have explicitly said that please, I've called you out before and you just ignored it as you could not as I have never said a single thing against EVs other than the charging situation, I don't have one because I have nowhere to charge one so got as near as I could or I may have got one.

This is a great little forum, and has some great members so I'll stop there, so if you want to have a pop do it in a PM not embarrass yourself in a thread.

 

[Bam Bam]

You overstep your bounds as a moderator there, I'll have nothing more to do with you as you have obviously got your own agenda and are seeing only what you want to see.

I have nothing against EVs at all, show me where I have explicitly said that please, I've called you out before and you just ignored it as you could not as I have never said a single thing against EVs other than the charging situation, I don't have one because I have nowhere to charge one so got as near as I could or I may have got one.

This is a great little forum, and has some great members so I'll stop there, so if you want to have a pop do it in a PM not embarrass yourself in a thread.

It is a great forum.

I think EVs have to be the future - there is no credible Net Zero plan that doesn't include a ****tonne of renewables and EVs.

But that requires a huge amount of grid infrastructure, which governments are only slowly realising. Ed Miliband gets it at least, so hopefully we will start to have progress there.

Do you live near that EVMan who lives in North-West Yorkshire?