A good article Saturday's Telegraph re electric vehicles. The journalist drove from Lands End to John-o-Groats to test the charging facilities. His summary was that things have improved but the journey took 4 days. I travel from Stroud to Thurso most years (660miles) on a fishing trip and have on some occasions done it in one hit but usually stay overnight with a pal near Lancaster. Your man says the cost of recharging his Kia was just £48 but failed to mention the hotel accommodation.
Things are getting better but EV ain't for me just yet. You have to have a spread sheet showing charging points especially if you have a long journey but spontaneity is not in the equation. MY 09 GS manual in Lago Grey, Wood Co arm rest and side bumper strips - now sold.

MY 15 SD4 SE Auto Orkney Grey with colour coded Bumper Door Mouldings

With Mayor Khan looking to extend ULEZ in August 2023 to include my home address I’m already thinking about what to do. Complete EV is out, no facility at home or locally to charge. Is it worth going the PHEV route or should I just buy a newer petrol? Whichever way I go, my perfectly good diesel gets shown the door and I have to dig deep for a replacement.
If all goes to plan we’ll be moved by then

We did a charity UK 3 peaks climb several years ago - all to be done in 24 hours from start of the Ben Nevis walk.
Drove up from Brum, but due to 2 major incidents on the motorways where we stood stationary for hours in traffic jams, we didnt get to the foot of Ben Nevis till about 10pm. Luckily in June it didnt get dark there and so the walkers were able to get up and down in the early hours. We then drove to Scarfell and then on to Snowden and completed the last walk within the 24 hours.
Maybe these challenges will be a thing of the past. Jules

Sidthecat wrote:

With Mayor Khan looking to extend ULEZ in August 2023 to include my home address I’m already thinking about what to do. Complete EV is out, no facility at home or locally to charge. Is it worth going the PHEV route or should I just buy a newer petrol? Whichever way I go, my perfectly good diesel gets shown the door and I have to dig deep for a replacement.
If all goes to plan we’ll be moved by then

Here are a few musings of my own -
Nobody fills up at expensive motorway service stations unless they have to or someone else pays for the fuel, yet the pumps are pretty much in use most of the time during the day - say 80% usage between 8am and 6pm.
Lets say it takes 10 minutes to half fill the car's tank.
If most BEV will need to charge for an hour to obtain an equivalent of a "half tank of fuel" (Im totally guessing at this) then you are going to need 6 times more charging points than petrol pumps.

Basically we are going to need hell of a lot more charging points than we have now in order to prevent gridlock - and unlike a motorway service station which have massive car parks that can have charging points in all the slots, your local fuel station won't have the space to install them.

Yes charging at home will offset that a bit - but that is not going to be an option for millions any time soon. Jules

Sidthecat wrote:

With Mayor Khan looking to extend ULEZ in August 2023 to include my home address I’m already thinking about what to do. Complete EV is out, no facility at home or locally to charge. Is it worth going the PHEV route or should I just buy a newer petrol? Whichever way I go, my perfectly good diesel gets shown the door and I have to dig deep for a replacement.
If all goes to plan we’ll be moved by then

So you have thought about moving out of the London and living somewhere more cost effective
I'm sure many others are in a similar situation. Just don't all come and live up here the weather is awful anyway compared to the South Jules

Plugshare shows all the charging locations. Procrastination, mankind's greatest labour saving device!

Acoustic insulation ARB TPMS 3xARB air compressors After cooler Air tank On-board OCD pressure air/water cleaning Additional 50L fuel Carpet in doors ABE 2x1kg Waeco 28L modified fridge Battery 4x26ah Solar 120w Victron MPPT 100/20 DC-DC 18amps 175amp jumper plug Awning 6x255/60R18

With the right EV (350kW charge capable), and charging at home before setting off on a trip, it's possible to drive 1000 miles with just an hour spent charging, assuming you can find enough working 350kW chargers.
This will improve over time.
I'd love to electrify my Freelander 2, but unfortunately it's electronically too complicated, so might have to settle on electrifying a Freelander 1 instead. Hyundai Ioniq 5 Ultimate. The family car.
2009 Rimini Red SE TD4. Gone.
2006 Tonga Green i6 HSE. Gone.
Audi A5 convertible, my daily driver.
1972 Hillman Avenger GT, the project.

I hadn't realised that 350kW chargers exist - nice.

lets say your average motorway petrol station has 15 pumps (many have more) and it takes 10 minutes to fill up with petrol. In comparison it might take 20 minutes to top up an EV, so you are looking at 30 x 350kW chargers.

That's 10MW of power - a really big supply to a site that is usually remote, that raises two issues, who is going to pay for it?, and can the local grid handle it?


Forget the pro's and con's of EV, it's the infrastructure or lack of it that is going to move the 2035 ban on new ICE vehicles. Tangiers Orange - gone, missing her
Replaced by Ewok what a mistake - now a happy Disco Sport owner

They are:
1. too expensive (comments are that cost will come down )
2. Range issues, i would like to see some data on towing and impact on charge)
3. Infrastructure is not fit for purpose
4. Biggest polluter, tyres, are more quickly worn
5. 5-7 years before carbon neutral (so if you buy new you are not really helping planet at that point!)
6. Probably need battery cell/complete replacement within 10 years
7. For those who wish to travel on European/world adventures you may become stuck depending on remoteness of destination and again infrastructure.
8. For those who like to maintain own vehicle
9. Insurance is likely higher and tax may be in future when government loose all tax from ICE vehicles and fuel.

So, deep pockets, limited usage and it doesn't immediately impact on the environment
What`s not to like

Nodge68 wrote:

With the right EV (350kW charge capable), and charging at home before setting off on a trip, it's possible to drive 1000 miles with just an hour spent charging, assuming you can find enough working 350kW chargers.
This will improve over time.

In Australia the average car does 13,000km per year. So about 36km per day. At 0.23kWh/km is about 8.28kWh per day to top up a car.

So it's really only when travelling long distances that you need high speed chargers. Procrastination, mankind's greatest labour saving device!

Acoustic insulation ARB TPMS 3xARB air compressors After cooler Air tank On-board OCD pressure air/water cleaning Additional 50L fuel Carpet in doors ABE 2x1kg Waeco 28L modified fridge Battery 4x26ah Solar 120w Victron MPPT 100/20 DC-DC 18amps 175amp jumper plug Awning 6x255/60R18

Personally Owned Transport will be for the affluent

Shared usage schemes, however, will be available to all. Rent the seat while you're in it, not for the 95% of the time it's parked..

We have to change what we do, and how we do it. We can't continue doing what we're doing with zero change. It's not the end of the world if a private car can't tow something, but it is inconvenient or requires change in behaviour. What is a little more than inconvenient is increasing number of ever more severe weather events caused by us just carrying on as we have for the last 50 years. Current driveway contents:
2021 V60 Cross Country B5
2009 FL2 dog bus and shooting wagon

On Order: 2023 Fisker Ocean Ultra - deposit paid.

jules wrote:

Will councils pay to install chargers outside every terrace or council house; they cant even fill the potholes?

According to the Shell advert they are going to put up little posts at the kerbside to charge your BEV, I know Christmas is coming this year but flying pigs and roadside chargers for everyone without a driveway may co-inside on the same day. my PC is slightly to the right of Genghis
2012 HSE SD4 In Orkney Grey now gone, best car ever.