Anyone on here have an Electric car?

SmallTown

SmallTown

Well-known member
Just ordered one last week. If the stories of Tesla's woefully inaccurate supply chain are true, I'll either get it tomorrow or in 2021!

Just wondered if anyone had one, I seem to recall someone did. Any tips? Charging tips? Anything different we need to do that we wouldn't do in an ICE car?
 
What were your motives of getting one? If it was too so your little bit for the planet then i'd take it back.. lithium is a scarce resource and, in my opinin, we are doing more harm than good in looking at battery operated cars rather than another technology such as hydrogen fuel cells. If it's too save money on petrol then I can't blame you, anything surely the initial outlay will take years to payback?

I'm sure you'll enjoy it as the couple of people I know who have one love all the gimmicks such as watching Netflix whilst it charges, they just aren't for me yet!
 
BurneoFunction said:
What were your motives of getting one? If it was too so your little bit for the planet then i'd take it back.. lithium is a scarce resource and, in my opinin, we are doing more harm than good in looking at battery operated cars rather than another technology such as hydrogen fuel cells. If it's too save money on petrol then I can't blame you, anything surely the initial outlay will take years to payback?

I'm sure you'll enjoy it as the couple of people I know who have one love all the gimmicks such as watching Netflix whilst it charges, they just aren't for me yet!
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It really wasn't to save the planet. I 100% agree with you on that one. Anyone saying they are good for the planet needs to do more research into what goes into manufacturing them and especially what goes in the batteries. Also the "zero emissions" thing entirely ignores the fact you plug it into the national grid on a night. Also agree on the Hydrogen fuel cell bit.

Also I haven't technically bought the car. I'm just going to lease it, but yes I did have financial reasons to buying the car. Not only fuel savings (my apartment has free charge points so during an average week I'll spend £0 on fuel) but thanks to new BIK rules and no car tax for the first year I'll save A LOT this year on the vehicle. Those savings decrease dramatically next year as the car is a high tax band (I think) but it'll still be cheaper than my current car by quite a bit.

My other reason is because this (Tesla Model 3 Performance)was the first EV I've driven that has decent driving dynamics. Not great, and certainly not as good as a lot of people claim but it's fun to drive despite the weight of the batteries and of course it has that EV party tricky of crazy acceleration.
 
My next car will be fully electric or a hybrid. My days of running on diesel power are coming to an end.
It's the technology that attracts me to that market of cars. Plus like you said @SmallTown the acceleration looks crazy fun.
 
RandySavage said:
My next car will be fully electric or a hybrid. My days of running on diesel power are coming to an end.
It's the technology that attracts me to that market of cars. Plus like you said @SmallTown the acceleration looks crazy fun.
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I think we are getting to a point where electric car are becoming more "normal" and therefore starting to improve and be less of a gimmick. I'm the same as you, the tech is fascinating. Another advantage: most don't need a service in the first couple of years. It's not like you will need to change spark plugs and, with regenerative braking, discs and pads can last a lot longer if you "one pedal" drive.

Also, one thing I never considered, despite being terrible for the range, an EV will start better in the cold. Saw a video of a guy in the yukon jump in has car (outside but under a gazebo) and start it even though the temp was -32. You couldn't do that with an ice car unless you heated the thing to stop the fluids freezing.
 
SmallTown said:
I think we are getting to a point where electric car are becoming more "normal" and therefore starting to improve and be less of a gimmick. I'm the same as you, the tech is fascinating. Another advantage: most don't need a service in the first couple of years. It's not like you will need to change spark plugs and, with regenerative braking, discs and pads can last a lot longer if you "one pedal" drive.

Also, one thing I never considered, despite being terrible for the range, an EV will start better in the cold. Saw a video of a guy in the yukon jump in has car (outside but under a gazebo) and start it even though the temp was -32. You couldn't do that with an ice car unless you heated the thing to stop the fluids freezing.
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If you have it plugged in you can have it fully heated/cooled ready for when you get in as well. Some of the fanier ones like the Jaguar IPace pre-condition the engine as well so it runs more efficiently once unplugged. My Golf GTE could do the pre-heating of the interior. I had it set on a timer for my usual commute time so when I got in it was already warm (and no need to scrape windows either when everyone else's are frozen). In an ICE car you have to get moving a bit before the car starts to warm up, in an electric that hasn't been pre-heated it has the battery charged to start heating immediately. Uses up way too much of the battery heating the car though which really reduces range which is a problem an ICE doesn't really have.
 
boromike85 said:
If you have it plugged in you can have it fully heated/cooled ready for when you get in as well. Some of the fanier ones like the Jaguar IPace pre-condition the engine as well so it runs more efficiently once unplugged. My Golf GTE could do the pre-heating of the interior. I had it set on a timer for my usual commute time so when I got in it was already warm (and no need to scrape windows either when everyone else's are frozen). In an ICE car you have to get moving a bit before the car starts to warm up, in an electric that hasn't been pre-heated it has the battery charged to start heating immediately. Uses up way too much of the battery heating the car though which really reduces range which is a problem an ICE doesn't really have.
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Yeah I plan on pre heating mine when I finally get it. best to do that when it's on the charger! You can set schedules on the Tesla app too so I can set it once to pre heat before every commute and not worry about it at all. I do worry about range though. England very rarely his hot enough temparutes for optimal battery condition so I expect it's a lot less than the quoted 320 miles.
 
Laughing said:
You can buy an i8 now for about 30 grand. I love em and it will probably be my next car. So many buttons and bright lights.
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They look like a spaceship! I didn't know you could get them that cheap. I must admit I like a good button. It's odd that I've gone for a car with hardly any!

I decided to go full electric though.
 
SmallTown said:
Yeah I plan on pre heating mine when I finally get it. best to do that when it's on the charger! You can set schedules on the Tesla app too so I can set it once to pre heat before every commute and not worry about it at all. I do worry about range though. England very rarely his hot enough temparutes for optimal battery condition so I expect it's a lot less than the quoted 320 miles.
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ST I do a lot of motorway driving and tesla charging points are at every service station. From London to Boro you would have to charge once on the way, but you would stop on the way anyway.

Also, and I am making up science here, surely the carbon footprint on a tesla is miles smaller than a family sedan running on Petrol. Think about what it takes to get oil from under the ground, to a refinery, turned into petrol and shipped to the garage. Even without burning the fuel, I suspect it's carbon footprint is massive.

Yes the batteries do use scarce earth elements but that will change fairly soon. Hydrogen fuel cells are all well and good, but I wouldn't want to be driving at 70 MPH sitting on top of one of the most explosive elements on earth.

In Amsterdam, all the taxi drivers have tesla S' They do complain a bit about having to charge during the day and stick with them due to tax breaks.
 
I'm not sure I would have to charge on the way up to Boro? I saw a carwow review and it the got a model 3 from London to gateshead before it ran out. Although that might have been the long range version not performance.

It's almost a moot point anyway as on a longer journey my bladder always has a shorter range than my vehicle! I guess I'd just have to factor in a lunch stop to my journey.
 
Laughing said:
ST I do a lot of motorway driving and tesla charging points are at every service station. From London to Boro you would have to charge once on the way, but you would stop on the way anyway.

Also, and I am making up science here, surely the carbon footprint on a tesla is miles smaller than a family sedan running on Petrol. Think about what it takes to get oil from under the ground, to a refinery, turned into petrol and shipped to the garage. Even without burning the fuel, I suspect it's carbon footprint is massive.

Yes the batteries do use scarce earth elements but that will change fairly soon. Hydrogen fuel cells are all well and good, but I wouldn't want to be driving at 70 MPH sitting on top of one of the most explosive elements on earth.

In Amsterdam, all the taxi drivers have tesla S' They do complain a bit about having to charge during the day and stick with them due to tax breaks.
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There is essentially very little difference between an electric and an ICE other than where the fossil fuel is used. In an ICE car it is done in the car, in an EV it is done in a power station. Until we stop using fossil fuels to power the national grid then the environmental benefits are negligible. Hydrogen cars are also no more environmentally friendly at the moment because to capture hydrogen we primarily use electricity which is produced in power stations using fossil fuels. I have seen so many arguments people have about claiming they make environmental decisions based purely on the last step in the process without understanding the impact of the full process.

Hydrogen cars aren't any more dangerous than petrol. Both can explode but at least hydrogen would be a single explosion instead of an explosion and then a fire. Petrol stays alight for a long time. Hydrogen will be stored in much stronger tanks than petrol is to reduce the risk of escape as well.
 
Tesla are also embarking on vehicle to grid electricity, where you be able to "sell" your excess charge to the grid whilst plugged in at work, and "buy" your charge from the grid when it's cheapest overnight. They really are an awesome looking company. I've just purchased another tranche of shares.
On a side note, upon reaching 50, and suffering a two-thirds (at best) life crisis, I've decided my next motor is a huge V8 guzzler. Just for a few years before I'm too old to enjoy it
 
dan_ashcroft said:
How much a month? Around £550?
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It was on our scheme at work a few months ago. I could have got it for around £400pm for 12k miles per year including insurance, tax, tyres, maintenance etc. through the NHS lease scheme. It's salary sacrifice so big savings on tax, NI & pension and no BIK for the 1st year (1% & 2% for years 2 & 3).
 
boromike85 said:
It was on our scheme at work a few months ago. I could have got it for around £400pm for 12k miles per year including insurance, tax, tyres, maintenance etc. through the NHS lease scheme. It's salary sacrifice so big savings on tax, NI & pension and no BIK for the 1st year (1% & 2% for years 2 & 3).
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Must have been tempting! I'd love one but could never bring myself to put so much money in, especially with the upfront fees. I'd want the auto-drive as well but it's currently not really fit for purpose in the UK. How could you not get it though with it being a killer feature of the Tesla? I'd hope the software updates will improve the situation to make the roundabout handling reliable.
 
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