Anyone on here have an Electric car?

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.
Typical Tory
 
I did get it with the full self driving. It was a tough decision because it was so expensive but I think the right one, as it's just gone up by £1000 today and it'll just go up and up.

The frustration is with UN/ECE regulations. The car CAN enter a motorway, drive along it, changes lanes when necessary and exit it without driver input. Do to regulations, however in the EU and UK it can only suggest entry/exit and lane changes, you yourself have to indicate and tap the wheel to change lanes. Also, not sure of this is EU as well but certainly UK, in the rest of the world it'll pick a lane change, indicate then sit in it's current lane until the next lan is free. In the UK if it can't change lanes in 5 seconds it just cancels. Also the UN/ECE regulations limit the amount of stirring lock that can be automatically applied, meaning if the bend is too sharp the car can't do it.
ALSO smart summon (where you can get the car to drive towards you on it's own) works over wifi in the rest of the world and in America has a 200 ft range. In the EU and UK it has a maximum range of 20m. Worse than that it only works over Bluetooth and therefore you have to be standing next to the car, making it pointless.

Maybe I should have voted Brexit to get rid of these rules?
Me and the boy have an electric car each, but we hardly get the Scaletrix out these days.
 
Had a ride in a relative's Tesla and the acceleration was so strange without the expected engine noise. One drawback of that car was that it spent four months off the road waiting for a new couple of parts after someone drove into them. Not many places to deal with you yet.

I'd definitely like one to reply my wife's car, as the range would easily meet her needs. It's just cheaper at the moment to run an efficient, small petrol car.
 
Had a ride in a relative's Tesla and the acceleration was so strange without the expected engine noise. One drawback of that car was that it spent four months off the road waiting for a new couple of parts after someone drove into them. Not many places to deal with you yet.

I'd definitely like one to reply my wife's car, as the range would easily meet her needs. It's just cheaper at the moment to run an efficient, small petrol car.
The acceleration is something else. Like you say the lack of noise and drama makes it strange.

Yeah Tesla are nowhere near there build quality and service wise. I wouldn't have risked one if it wasn't for having a second car to fall back on. They'll get there though. They are a new company.
 
So I have a delivery week of the start of September.

Although as we have heard these guys are famously unreliable with those dates
 
I did get it with the full self driving. It was a tough decision because it was so expensive but I think the right one, as it's just gone up by £1000 today and it'll just go up and up.

The frustration is with UN/ECE regulations. The car CAN enter a motorway, drive along it, changes lanes when necessary and exit it without driver input. Do to regulations, however in the EU and UK it can only suggest entry/exit and lane changes, you yourself have to indicate and tap the wheel to change lanes. Also, not sure of this is EU as well but certainly UK, in the rest of the world it'll pick a lane change, indicate then sit in it's current lane until the next lan is free. In the UK if it can't change lanes in 5 seconds it just cancels. Also the UN/ECE regulations limit the amount of stirring lock that can be automatically applied, meaning if the bend is too sharp the car can't do it.
ALSO smart summon (where you can get the car to drive towards you on it's own) works over wifi in the rest of the world and in America has a 200 ft range. In the EU and UK it has a maximum range of 20m. Worse than that it only works over Bluetooth and therefore you have to be standing next to the car, making it pointless.

Maybe I should have voted Brexit to get rid of these rules?
Europe and the UK falling further behind now. The car can now stop at traffic lights automatically in the rest of the world. Banned in the UK. Brexitcant come soon enough!
 
I’ve just bought a hybrid, but because of WLTP the tax is still a lot more than it was 3 months ago. If I could’ve bought and registered the car before April 6th the emissions were 115 g/km, now under WLTP they’re 146 g/km. Be wary of the new tax levels!

Electric cars are are getting cheaper but their range still isn’t all that great.

I noticed Hyundai have just launched a hydrogen powered car, Nexus I think, but at £70k it’s a bit steep.
 
I’ve just bought a hybrid, but because of WLTP the tax is still a lot more than it was 3 months ago. If I could’ve bought and registered the car before April 6th the emissions were 115 g/km, now under WLTP they’re 146 g/km. Be wary of the new tax levels!

Electric cars are are getting cheaper but their range still isn’t all that great.

I noticed Hyundai have just launched a hydrogen powered car, Nexus I think, but at £70k it’s a bit steep.
Depends what you want on range. The one I have ordered has a range of 320 miles. I genuinely wouldn’t drive more than 250 miles in the UK without stopping for a pee or a coffee. The bigger electric vehicles have all the range you could need. “Range anxiety” only exists in the mind of those who don’t own one!
 
Depends what you want on range. The one I have ordered has a range of 320 miles. I genuinely wouldn’t drive more than 250 miles in the UK without stopping for a pee or a coffee. The bigger electric vehicles have all the range you could need. “Range anxiety” only exists in the mind of those who don’t own one!

Not true, although I don't own one but my reasoning stands. We have family that live 300 miles away and we visit regularly. With an electric we would have to stop on both legs when we go visit. In the past that wouldn't be a problem as I'm happy to have a break and get a drink /food etc. Now we have young kids it's different. If they are sleeping I don't want to have to stop, I want to have the choice to stop. Things are just more awkward when kids are involved. Also running low on battery and then hitting a traffic jam would be a worry.

It's not the range that is the problem but the lack of charging infrastructure, particularly domestically, which is the problem.
 
Not true, although I don't own one but my reasoning stands. We have family that live 300 miles away and we visit regularly. With an electric we would have to stop on both legs when we go visit. In the past that wouldn't be a problem as I'm happy to have a break and get a drink /food etc. Now we have young kids it's different. If they are sleeping I don't want to have to stop, I want to have the choice to stop. Things are just more awkward when kids are involved. Also running low on battery and then hitting a traffic jam would be a worry.

It's not the range that is the problem but the lack of charging infrastructure, particularly domestically, which is the problem.
Plenty of chargers in the country and it’s growing all the time. I wouldn’t worry about that. As for range: Admittedly there are only 2 cars you can buy that have a range that’ll do 300 miles comfortably (the Tesla models S and X long range) mine will have a range of 320 but I’d not be comfortable with that.
Not sure about the traffic jam thing. Do you worry about that in your ICE car? If you’re at a complete standstill then yes an EV would run out of fuel eventually but if you’re crawling and stop starting I bet an ICE struggles just as bad and could run out of fuel itself. I genuinely can’t think of a trip I’ve done longer than 270 miles (the distance between my house and my mother’s) that I haven’t stopped for a “comfort break” along the way
 
Plenty of chargers in the country and it’s growing all the time. I wouldn’t worry about that. As for range: Admittedly there are only 2 cars you can buy that have a range that’ll do 300 miles comfortably (the Tesla models S and X long range) mine will have a range of 320 but I’d not be comfortable with that.
Not sure about the traffic jam thing. Do you worry about that in your ICE car? If you’re at a complete standstill then yes an EV would run out of fuel eventually but if you’re crawling and stop starting I bet an ICE struggles just as bad and could run out of fuel itself. I genuinely can’t think of a trip I’ve done longer than 270 miles (the distance between my house and my mother’s) that I haven’t stopped for a “comfort break” along the way

It's the domestic chargers that are the issue. Plenty of places to charge but none of the family we visit will have a charger so even a short trip of 100 miles would mean a stop on one of the legs for upto an hour which is impractical. 100 miles isn't much but the quotes range is nowhere near the real world range. Most of the 200+ range cars will struggle to do 200, especially if you want things like heating on in the winter.

As for the traffic jam, an Ice car uses very little fuel when idling and you can still use the heating. Electric use loads of battery just using the heating so a long delay in the winter in an electric car you will have to go without heating.
 
It's the domestic chargers that are the issue. Plenty of places to charge but none of the family we visit will have a charger so even a short trip of 100 miles would mean a stop on one of the legs for upto an hour which is impractical. 100 miles isn't much but the quotes range is nowhere near the real world range. Most of the 200+ range cars will struggle to do 200, especially if you want things like heating on in the winter.

As for the traffic jam, an Ice car uses very little fuel when idling and you can still use the heating. Electric use loads of battery just using the heating so a long delay in the winter in an electric car you will have to go without heating.
I get you. And I agree, if you are stood dead still then you’re going to use fuel in an EV that you won’t in an ICE car (tip: use the heated seats rather than the heater, it takes up less energy.) however, every traffic jam I’ve ever been in has been stop starty, slowly crawling traffic. An ICE car will fair just as badly with fuel economy under those circumstances.
Good point about domestic charging but did you know you can charge them from the mains electric?
 
I get you. And I agree, if you are stood dead still then you’re going to use fuel in an EV that you won’t in an ICE car (tip: use the heated seats rather than the heater, it takes up less energy.) however, every traffic jam I’ve ever been in has been stop starty, slowly crawling traffic. An ICE car will fair just as badly with fuel economy under those circumstances.
Good point about domestic charging but did you know you can charge them from the mains electric?

Yes. My GTE was mains charged but that was fine because it was only a small battery. When reading the specs for the Jaguar I pace it said 48 hrs to charge from empty to full via 3 pin. And not all houses have the capacity in the consumer unit to charge a car.

Fully electric, especially the bigger battery ones are going to need every house to have 2 dedicated fast chargers. Or charging technology is going to have to take a big leap forward.

I love the idea but I think we're 4 or 5 years away from it being something I'd consider as our long distance car.
 
I read Tesla's start at £35k (monthly schemes maybe £350/month but will work out even more expensive in the long run). I am not willing to pay £35k for a depreciating asset. Free electricity helps, but I only spend around £1200 a year on fuel. Even with no servicing and no road tax and free fuel - it would take 10 years to get your money back (extra £15k for electric).

Once electric cars become more popular the electricity will no longer be free or their will be long queues for the free stuff. I also read electric cars depreciate faster than petrol, because they don't last as long.

How quickly does an average charger recharge a Tesla? To me anything over 30 minutes would be drawback. I know charging at home takes several hours.

It would be nice to have a cleaner car, but I expect lorries, coaches and buses contribute to the most vehicle pollution in the World.

As said before I prefer the hydrogen option for the future. As said its no more dangerous than petrol nowadays.

From what people say the TELSA is like driving a computer or giant smart phone which I can understand would appeal to some.
 
Don't like Tesla at all. The digital operation of their vehicles is terrible. Obviously it is something that takes some getting used to but it really does make a car less enjoyable, significantly so. I guess I sway heavily in the direction of classic design and egineering over futuristic things. Fake Lexus is the first thing that comes to mind when I see a Tesla, and I'm not keen on Lexus - although they are extremely reliable vehicles.
 
Yes. My GTE was mains charged but that was fine because it was only a small battery. When reading the specs for the Jaguar I pace it said 48 hrs to charge from empty to full via 3 pin. And not all houses have the capacity in the consumer unit to charge a car.

Fully electric, especially the bigger battery ones are going to need every house to have 2 dedicated fast chargers. Or charging technology is going to have to take a big leap forward.

I love the idea but I think we're 4 or 5 years away from it being something I'd consider as our long distance car.
Hmmm, but in your example you were talking about 100 mile trips? The jag has an (albeit terrible for the battery size) range of 250 miles. So it wouldn't be empty when you get where you were going. Plenty of time to charge it for a return trip. The iPace is also a terrible example battery wise. It has the largest battery of any current EV (Along with the long range Tesla Model x and s) at 100KWh yet it has the slowest charging speed of any 50 grand plus car and the worst range. Significantly so if you compare it with cars with the same amount of battery. This is one of the points I guess: you can't just say "An EV" anymore. You have to compare types. For example I specifically wanted a car the got me from Home to my mothers house on a full charge under good conditions. That meant any Tesla (apart from the standard range model 3) , The Kia e-niro or the Porsche Taycan. 2 thirds of the teslas, and the Porsche, I can't afford so it was a straight shoot between the Kia and the Tesla. With my sensible trousers on it's a no brainer. Despite having comparable range the kia has a much smaller battery so it'll be cheaper to refuel. Also it'll be FAR more reliable than the Tesla, and comes with the best warranty in the car industry. However, as you may have guessed, I love my cars, so going for a BMW M3 baiting performance model 3 was the way to go for me.
 
Don't like Tesla at all. The digital operation of their vehicles is terrible. Obviously it is something that takes some getting used to but it really does make a car less enjoyable, significantly so. I guess I sway heavily in the direction of classic design and egineering over futuristic things. Fake Lexus is the first thing that comes to mind when I see a Tesla, and I'm not keen on Lexus - although they are extremely reliable vehicles.
What do you mean by the digital operation? They drive like pretty mush every EV I've driven, except faster. I myself do prefer classic engineering but I'm also a fan of gadgets. Also the decision to even try an EV was based on financial sensibilities over excitement, I was also thinking of buying a Porsche.
I must admit, looks wise, the car I have gone for does nothing for me. I just think it look dull. which is inexcusable when you have so much to play with: no having to fit a driver train around the design, no having to put air intakes on the car. Why would you make something that just looks like an car? Performance wise though it's a hell of a machine. I spend more time driving it than looking at it!
 
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