The Car thread
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Yeah, range is improving all the time. Chinese market has a couple of 700k boys out within the next year, and that’s up from the 500-600 ones that are launching as standard today.
Would also add that, even in the west, there’s plenty of non-SUVs around. Dunno why SUVs get so much focus, but know Hyundai, Toyota and their ilk have a bunch of decent saloons and city runners. And there’s Tesla, of course.
Doubt the missus and I will ever go back from EV now. They’re just so good - quiet, reliable, cheap to run, comfy and spacious. Really excited to see what comes out in the next decade. -
Was in reply to this - quoting for page turn bug:
b0r1s wrote:Once range gets past 500 miles petrol stations will be a thing of the past. Merc have already produced a 1,000 Km range car: https://mashable.com/article/mercedes-eqxx-1000-km-single-charge
Like streaming changed the way media was consumed EV’s change the way people interact with car “fuelling”. The old way will be a thing of the past in a generation.
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It'll be at least 15 years after that point before enough people move on from petrol/diesel.
Most people can't afford an electric car. Even then there are big questions about the state of batteries at that point. -
LivDiv wrote:It'll be at least 15 years after that point before enough people move on from petrol/diesel.
Most people can't afford an electric car. Even then there are big questions about the state of batteries at that point.
I mean, that’s gonna vary from country to country. Norway is now 65% new sales EV, China near 50%. A lot of it depends on infrastructure investment and government subsidies. EV is a real thing and I’ve been surprised how slow the uptake has been, comparatively, in Western Europe and the US. For the aforementioned countries, though, we’re not talking 15 years, we’re talking 3-5. -
What I’m trying to say, as usual, is that English speaking westerners are insular and ignorant of what is actually happening in the world around them. 80% of world EV manufacturing capacity will be in Asia by 2025. Western legacy carmakers are fucked lol.
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For those interested: https://time.com/6133180/norway-electric-vehicles/
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Yeah that's not happening here.
Those cars are going to have to be between two and five grand without the batteries being totally fucked.
Those stats are new sales not cars on the road. Petrol stations are going to exist while there are still lots of petrol cars driving about.
EV is a middle to upper middle class thing. -
China is also 100% EV on all public transport, including buses since…yonks ago. Near 100% of taxis are EV or natural gas. The area where I live and work doesn’t have a visible petrol station and I honestly can’t remember the last time I saw one…charging setups for days, though.
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LivDiv wrote:Those stats are new sales not cars on the road. Petrol stations are going to exist while there are still lots of petrol cars driving about.
EV is a middle to upper middle class thing.
You can visibly see which cars are EV in China as the plates are green, compared to blue plates for combustion cars. There’s a LOT of green plates. Current estimates put near 90% of cars on Chinese roads as EVs by end of the decade.
And…they’re cheap. I can go out and buy a decent, road safe and reliable EV for less than 10K (Sterling) with government subsidies.
The problem is western governments. Cheap, good quality EVs exist today. -
I’m all in on EVs now. Will never go back to anything else. Just need a work van with an alright range and carrying capacity and that’s me done with trad vehicles.
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yourfavouriteuncle wrote:I’m all in on EVs now. Will never go back to anything else. Just need a work van with an alright range and carrying capacity and that’s me done with trad vehicles.
VW have the tech, it seems, though they’ve delayed some of their camper ID.Buzz models for a bit as the diesel version is still selling well - understandable but short sighted, imo.
There should deffo be some decent van options out sooner rather than later, and I’d expect them from Ford, Mercedes or maybe Toyota (in the west). -
If I was running a garage now I’d be looking for ways to supply chain and fit batteries as the classic service model is gonna die once EV’s become mainstream. There will have to be an after market solution including recycling.
As for costs we work with a major European car manufacturer and our focus for them over the next 5 years is EV. Nothing cheap yet obviously but once the £20k new cars hit the market it will be 4 years for those to be around the £7-8k mark still with decent batteries. -
I was thinking about third party garages and how their business model may change with the demise of the internal combustion engine, but there are plenty of other things on cars that need servicing/replacing, so I guess they should be fine for the most part?
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Minnesänger wrote:yourfavouriteuncle wrote:I’m all in on EVs now. Will never go back to anything else. Just need a work van with an alright range and carrying capacity and that’s me done with trad vehicles.
VW have the tech, it seems, though they’ve delayed some of their camper ID.Buzz models for a bit as the diesel version is still selling well - understandable but short sighted, imo.
There should deffo be some decent van options out sooner rather than later, and I’d expect them from Ford, Mercedes or maybe Toyota (in the west).
There’s a Toyota one available here and a Vauxhall too I think? Will be looking in more detail in a month or two. -
ZMM wrote:I was thinking about third party garages and how their business model may change with the demise of the internal combustion engine, but there are plenty of other things on cars that need servicing/replacing, so I guess they should be fine for the most part?
Not really. Due to regen braking a lot of EV car owners don’t need brake pads changing for years. It’s mainly air filters and brake fluid probably every couple years. Certainly not the levels we are looking at currently. -
Aren’t they miles easier to construct too? I’m sure I’ve read somewhere that the staff at VW know that about half of them will be gone once they flip to producing only ev and so they’re now all working twice as hard to try make sure they’re one of the ones who get to stay.
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A lot of manufacturers will work off an EVP (Electric Vehicle Platform) with all makes and models being built on top of that basic frame. Some have a couple of platforms to choose from (BMW, for example) and there's a fair bit of these platforms being shared across entire families e.g. the CMA which is used across the Gheely, Volvo and Polestar brands. Think the VW Group has a bunch of them but the main one they will be relying on is the MEB, which their ID line (ID.3, ID.4, ID.Buzz) line is built off of.
It means there's always a functional base to build off of - you got your drivetrain and batteries etc all setup from day one, so then you can focus on interior and exterior design, chassis etc. -
We started seeing the first new hybrid jeeps here. Quick look at the website and Jeep claims they're installing solar panel charge stations on the most popular trails.
Meanwhile we're (well B mostly) looking at a third generation Toyota 4 runner. Pretty much every person we've talked to has brought an extra level to the word asshole. Car seems quite nice for such an old model, but prices are ridiculous right now. -
With all the EV talk in this thread of late, thought some people might be interested in these. Had a couple of days out with the wife and some friends recently, as May 1st to the 5th was a national holiday. Popped over to Haikou to spend time with the missus, so this was the first time actually spending time in the car since we bought it (as I'm still based in Shenzhen at the moment).
And one cool feature of (some) EVs is stuff like 2-way charging. We were able to run our "camping" setup off of the car with little issue. Know that the upcoming VW id.BUZZ models will also have that and think there's a few other cars out that already do it.
So yeah, EVs pretty cool. Also saw this and had no idea EVs were getting such a rough time in Aus (though knowing Aus it shouldn't come as a surprise)
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That video is crazy!
I don't think I could cope with the range anxiety of powering external items with an EV.[quote=Skerret]Unless someone very obviously insults your loved ones with intent, take nothing here seriously.[/quote] -
Hodge360 wrote:I don't think I could cope with the range anxiety of powering external items with an EV.
Yeah, wouldn't risk it somewhere without a decent charging network.
We ran it most of the day and also had a bunch of kids in the car watching cartoons, listening to music and playing with the onboard Karaoke kit (wife picked it, I promise) and we were never in danger of even dipping below 50% charge, so wasn't really a cause of anxiety for us. If we lived somewhere where there was no charging station within 50 km, though, might have been a bit more cautious. -
Thought I'd pop some news in here, seeing as EVs are on topic.
For those that may be interested, the London Borough I work for, currently have between 200-300 charge points with the intention of expanding this to 2000 within 4 years. My team is delivering this. I can't speak for the rest of GB, but I expect most major cities will have a similar game plan. Thought this may help those of you on the fence about investing in a car because of worries about available charge points.
There are naturally a few people that are opposed to the idea if it affects them parking outside their own house, but most council's will likely push them through anyway. -
I just watched this video the other day that showed there are more public chargers in London than the rest of the UK as a whole. I wouldn't hold my breath outside London that this is going to improve much. We are such a shit country when it comes to any kind of infrastructure.
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Yeah, that's a shame. There is a lot of money in for the providers though, so hopefully money will talk. Encouraging news about increase in the 2nd hand EV market too today, because that'll be what helps further drive things forward, because they're still largely unaffordable for most.
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kestla wrote:Thought I'd pop some news in here, seeing as EVs are on topic. For those that may be interested, the London Borough I work for, currently have between 200-300 charge points with the intention of expanding this to 2000 within 4 years. My team is delivering this. I can't speak for the rest of GB, but...
That's actually really fucking cool, had no idea that's what you did. Curious about the day-to-day or organising something like this and how it all comes together, if you were willing to elaborate more (without disclosing anything sensitive, obv). -
Minnesänger wrote:
That's actually really fucking cool, had no idea that's what you did. Curious about the day-to-day or organising something like this and how it all comes together, if you were willing to elaborate more (without disclosing anything sensitive, obv).kestla wrote:Thought I'd pop some news in here, seeing as EVs are on topic. For those that may be interested, the London Borough I work for, currently have between 200-300 charge points with the intention of expanding this to 2000 within 4 years. My team is delivering this. I can't speak for the rest of GB, but...
I'm also curious about
- Power delivery - what's the current?
- Availability / repair SLAs - big problem in London / wider UK is that reliability of EV charging points is sketchy, especially compared to Tesla. You drive a few miles to get one only to find that it's out of order
- Location - with that many, I'm guessing all over the place (street parking, shopping centres etc) -
We really need to get to inductive charging in car park spots. I can't help think when I see cars parked in city streets that the young scamps are gonna be unplugging them and your car is dead in the morning.
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As with many infrastructure things, the UK is hamstrung by its local authority system. Central Government says something like “charging points in every town and city! £45bn investment!” And then each local council around the UK is told how much of that is to be spent in their area, and also to go find the money themselves from their own local infrastructure budget. Then the local council puts the work out for procurement locally and every part of the UK ends up with different chargers distributed differently.
I’d love to be wrong on this. Maybe Kestla can provide some hope … -
b0r1s wrote:We really need to get to inductive charging in car park spots. I can't help think when I see cars parked in city streets that the young scamps are gonna be unplugging them and your car is dead in the morning.
Can’t speak for other brands but you’re not unhooking that Tesla charger without the phone key or keycard.
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