Would you buy one?

[desmo]

I was watching the article the other night about Nissan producing the worlds first all electric family car.

Forget the fact that it cost's in excess of £25,000.

Let's say that there was a wide range of electric cars available at a comparable cost to a petrol or diesel car, would you consider buying one?

The spec's they were quoting for the Nissan were about 100 miles between charges, cost of charge was about £2. (didn't mention charge time or top speed of vehicle)

Seeing that I only commute about 10 miles each way to work & the vast majority of our car driving is in or around town, I would definately buy an electric car if they were cheaper & widely available, especially seeing they are also exempt from road tax & the London congestion charge?
I wonder why we havn't seen more firms bringing out electric cars?

[LVC]

Nope - batteries cost a chuffing fortune in France - it's bad enough with the kid's RC cars let alone a full sized one :look:

[Nickj]

Because they are so environmentally unfriendly is one reason, the only reason they're so cheap is the massive subsidy they recieve. Overall they are inefficient using more power per unit travelled than a petrol engine would. Current buyers are people with enough money to afford to have principles. LOL I have no money and am an unprincipled *******. ;)
I read somewhere that if all the uks cars went electric overnight there would be the massive saving in co2 outputs of under 2%. Putting the subsidy into house insulation actially would save more energy.

AFIK the first electric cars came out in about 1905, didn't make a real impact then and they shouldn't now.
A hybrid might but only when the battery power density increases by at least 50%.

I think you can take that as a no

[Rogerg]

8hrs between charges on average on an electric vehicle.

So not the choice for a grand tourer.

The problem with electric cars is how the electricity is produced. The vast majority of electricity is generated in this country by basically digging something up out of the ground & setting fire to it - wether it be coal/ oil/ natural gas etc.

I've also got concerns over the longevity of the batteries in these vehicles. Anyone with a mobile phone or laptop will know that over time their ability to hold a charge diminishes. If they are quoting 100 miles on a new battery - whats that going to be 3 years down the line?

The manufacture & disposal of batteries is of course not very kind to the environment either.

Personally I think the way forward is the Hydrogen fuel cell.

[popelli]

complete con these electric cars

add the co2 emissiosn to produce them, the co2 emissions to generate electricity and then the co2 emissions to fit replacement batteries it just does not add up

as for the massive subsidies to get sucjers to buy them, where is that tax revenue coming from????

and if everybody was conned into buying them and the govt lost all the petrol tax revenue then they would be putting a road tax onto something to make up the shortfall

like most green issues its a complete scam to applease brussells that has absloutely nothing to do with saving the plannet

[He11cat]

Sorry "Greenwash" .. the electricity still has to be produced to power these cars.
The batteries will eventually "die" and then they go somewhere ...

I know every good small change we make has an impact but these really are a greenwashed product.
Popular with the celebs at the mo.. to make them feel better about their high impact lifestyles.

[CK & AK]

I wouldn't buy an all electric car, tho I have got a hybrid - the CR-Z GT.

Not brought because its green/eco or cheap tax - but cos I liked the look of it :D (from the front, it looks similar to the Audi R8 - which I couldn't afford :( )
On a direct comparison to the Mito (which I very nearly brought) it knocked it for 6 on the handling & finish etc. Small items round the car - lights, levers, buttons etc all added to the appeal.
Yes, it has battery power - but this is through an IMA assist - and it purely does assist, particularly when in sport mode :D

As to an all electric? - a big fat nope.

CK

[bigredduke]

The conundrum with electric (or any alternative for that matter) is this:
at the moment the Government receives huge amounts of revenue from the duty on petrol and diesel. If, overnight, we all bought electric cars their revenue stream would be severely curtailed and they would be stuffed. They would then put huge amounts of duty on electricity. This would be hugely unpopular with the electorate however, especially with pensioners struggling to heat and light their homes. So what our 'political masters' would do it introduce a two tariff system, one for domestic electricity and a much more expensive one for vehicles. They would decree that vehicles could only be fitted with and use a 'special' type of connector which could only be hooked up to the higher rate supply rather than the cheaper domestic one.
The penalties for not complying would be similar to those for using red diesel designated for agricultural use in road vehicles ie draconian. All governments rely on road users for revenue and would find a way to tax the majority to maintain or increase it.

[Pedro]

Read a report that compared a Toyota Prius to a V8 petrol Land Rover Discovery not so long ago...

Taking manufacture processes in to account, the V8 Disco worked out environmentally cleaner than the Prius for TEN years!!!

The biggest issue faced with the eco battery cars is disposal of said batteries - some very unpleasent chemicals to say the least.

I also had the misfortune to be driven in a Prius recently, jeez what a nasty plasticy thing...

Sooo, me buy an electric car? Not a bloody chance, I'll have the v8 petrol disco please

[Rogerg]

Anyone see QI this week??

It's claimed owning a medium sized dog has the same environmental impact as 3 Toyata Land Cruisers.

Cat = VW Golf

[popelli]

Taking manufacture processes in to account, the V8 Disco worked out environmentally cleaner than the Prius for TEN years!!!



I wonder what the enviromental impact of scrapping good usable 10 year cars was vs the cost of producing new cars was under the recent scrapage scheme?

It did wonders for the local economy, our local garage lost a lot of work reparing said 10 year old cars

[slipperyweeguy]

Yes, I would buy if the sums added up for me. I spend, at today's prices, at least £105 per week just on petrol. I would be mad not to consider alternatives. My 175,000 mile petrol-engined Honda is ten years old and 100% reliable, so I would like to try a hybrid Honda.
As for why other firms have not brought out electric vehicles- well, uncertainty in the marketplace must be a factor. Perhaps when enough potential buyers have travelled in an electric taxi some fears may be allayed. You would have a hard job selling a light bulb to someone who does not have an electrical supply to plug it into, so that must apply to the widespread availability of recharging points for vehicles too. What if you got free recharging included in the price of your car parking fee?
I am old enough to remember when diesel engines were rough, noisy, crude, low performance units that would break down in the cold, and were expensive to service. Look at the market for diesel units now. I am really surprised that LPG is not more popular in this country. The myth that the fuel is not widely available persists, and the price and tax advantages are not promoted.
As for electric cars, I believe that technology will develop and industries will grow to service the technologies. Compare the size, weight and performance of a mobile phone from ten years ago with one from today. Companies exist to sell and recycle both batteries and used phones. A company manufactures wind turbines half a mile from here, and each day I drive past the largest wind farm in Europe. From the wind farm I look west to the sea where enormous amounts of energy are available from wave and tide, with the tides being predictable and reliable for the future. The technologies to harness that power efficiently will come. I know a very clever man who is investing a few of his millions in renewables research. Regrettably he is having to do it in the USA.

[Nickj]

So they put a red electrons into the electricity just for cars, and festoon them with mini windmills for charging when parked and a battery boost when scuttling down hills.
The problem with batteries is as they get more energy dense the more energy they store. Anyone fancy seeing this at work I'll send you one of my knackered li-po heli batteries with a full a charge as it'll take. This will be a baby 11v 1000 to 2200 mah, dead short it or hit it with a hammer... You'll be impressed by the result ;)
Now do this in a car that's holding anything from 20-100 volts with the capacity in amps and I wouldn't want my ass anywhere near a damaged one. And yes they are using this battery technology as it has the best current power densities.

[Mick E]

NO.:Furious:

[uksurfer]

i am so looking forward to someone turning up and saying


'i got one..............'

[Thirdway]

Two years ago I was close to buying an electric pushbike. Did about 15 miles on a charge and would give me an incentive to get a bit of excercise without turning into a bag of sweat.

Trouble was that I wasn't able to sell the car because I would still need it in bad weather and to travel to meetings, but would save a bit on fuel for the 14 mile round trip.

That was until I realised how poor the battery life became. With regular use it would need new batteries each year.......at around £400 a pop it suddenly became very uneconomical.

Imagine having to replace the batteries in one of those Nissans !!

Next up you need somewhere you can leave the car to charge and at the moment that is restricted to University Campus etc, those that have space and a substation able to cope with the huge current needed for fast charge.

So, the answer is No for the moment and I doubt batteries will ever become popular. The fuel cell is already a reality and Honda are running their FCX Clarity in California already. Filling up in exactly the way we do it now and getting similar performance.

In terms of green issues, well petroleum is only a by-product of cracking crude oil. Essentially it's waste. Without the products derived from oil in the first place....oh you know, virtually every polymer product, and a million other things that make the modern world work.

Actually, if global warming is a reality, then the easiest solution is just to stop producing meat. Those who want to truly go green should also go vegetarian. The Methane from animals is many times more harmful and the trees cut down to make way for grazing land adds to the problem.

I'm all for a clean environment, but the LEAF is not the solution.

[desmo]

Some interesting points.
Maybe the cost, weight & battery technology is not quite there yet, but I think with time it will improve.
Ok, charging may be a problem for some people, but overall as a purely town car I personally think we will start to see more of this type of vehicle in the future.

I am not a climate change / green freak, I just think with the cost of petrol / diesel, when they get a bit more refined with sensible cost for refurbished batteries, it could prove to be a lot cheaper to run than a petrol / diesel car.

Take a look at this baby!!!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1316273/E-Type-Jaguar-supercar-200mph-electric-hybrid-jet-engine-costs-200K.html

[Thirdway]

Some interesting points.
Maybe the cost, weight & battery technology is not quite there yet, but I think with time it will improve.
Ok, charging may be a problem for some people, but overall as a purely town car I personally think we will start to see more of this type of vehicle in the future.

I am not a climate change / green freak, I just think with the cost of petrol / diesel, when they get a bit more refined with sensible cost for refurbished batteries, it could prove to be a lot cheaper to run than a petrol / diesel car.

Take a look at this baby!!!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1316273/E-Type-Jaguar-supercar-200mph-electric-hybrid-jet-engine-costs-200K.html

Been done a long time ago

http://www.rover.org.nz/pages/jet/jet5.htm

hope they have improved the fuel consumption somewhat.

[gremlin]

My argument is still the same, where is the electricity going to come from? We haven't the means to generate enough to replace fossil fuels yet and I doubt we will for the forseeable future. Fuel cell would be way better and less damaging to the environment before during and after the life of the vehicle.
Going back to the Landrover V Prius or whatever, our M reg diesel Disco is more economical to run and maintain than my so called eco box. If a bearing goes you replace it you don't have to replace the whole hub assembly so it's cheaper for us and not so environmentall unfriendly in the replacement part manufacturing.
There has been developement work done on two stroke engines and apparantly they are way more efficient and economical to run. Surely if you have a car that can sip fuel possibly biofuel it would be a better option than carving up the countryside leaving it totally unuseable for anything to get the cadmium or whatever for batteries which are hard if not impossible to recycle.
To my way of thinking being a bear of little brain I would have thought a vehicle that uses easily available and recycleable materials in its manufacting which has componants that can be easily replaced and that is so fuel efficient it barely gives out any emissions at all should be a more viable option.
I know using land for growing biofuel crops isn't ideal as the poplation is growing way too much and needs feeding but there are even technologies being developed to get around that. At least it is then carbon neutral fuel.
If more methane digesters were used to convert waste surely that could be used to fuel vehicles too, although I'd not be too keen to be behind one using it unless the smell of eggy farts is completely neutralised!:biggrin: