Electric Vehicles - A rant.

[SaulGoodman]

Forgive me folks but I’m having a bad day with this electric car and needed to vent. Also want to know if anyone else feels the same or if I’m just being miserable.

I first bought an electric car 3 years ago through my work. It was a good deal and I liked the idea of no longer having to fill up with fuel and the promises of cheap charging.

Now, I don’t have a driveway so can’t charge at home (first mistake maybe) however there is a public charger a 5 minute walk away from the house and I figured fair enough, I can plug in there when it needs charged or whatever.

There’s also two “rapid chargers” where I stay in Dunbar. For the first year or so everything was great, I could plug in at the library walk home and collect the car, fully charged for about £15, using the rapid chargers when needed for a quick top up.

These days though, Ooft. Prices keep jumping up, loved the idea of an electric car when I first purchased one, prices were fair and chargers always seemed to work. 3 years later and many more people have electric cars. Lucky if you can get these rapid chargers during the day and even then, one of them charges at 13kW and the other charges at 50kW but frequently cuts out mid charge. The charger at the library has been dead for about 3 months with no sign of a funeral, or someone coming to fix it. Not to mention the ridiculous 75p per kWh if you dare to charge between 4-8pm.

Moving back to a petrol hybrid next month and not a day too soon. The future? Not at this rate anyway.

Edit: As I post this, the charger has just cut out on me again. AARGH

[Jones28]

Unless you’re on a motorway and heading south the infrastructure is dog****.

A former colleague runs an electric audi covering Scotland and the mental routes he has to take to find a chargers are mad.

I couldn’t do it.

[SaulGoodman]

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Unless you’re on a motorway and heading south the infrastructure is dog****.

A former colleague runs an electric audi covering Scotland and the mental routes he has to take to find a chargers are mad.

I couldn’t do it.

It’s an electric Audi I have and I think they’ve went with style over substance because it doesn’t look like an electric car and the range is absolutely dugmeat. Promised range of ~200 miles on a full charge but you’ll only get that if you crawl everywhere at 50mph. I thought setting the cruise at 70 would give me reasonable range but it drains the battery quicker than Hibs drain my happiness.

I’ve started getting insured on my mums car for taking on our trips up north. Ullapool and back on not even a tank of diesel. Electric cars have a long way to go imo.

[Moulin Yarns]

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It’s an electric Audi I have and I think they’ve went with style over substance because it doesn’t look like an electric car and the range is absolutely dugmeat. Promised range of ~200 miles on a full charge but you’ll only get that if you crawl everywhere at 50mph. I thought setting the cruise at 70 would give me reasonable range but it drains the battery quicker than Hibs drain my happiness.

I’ve started getting insured on my mums car for taking on our trips up north. Ullapool and back on not even a tank of diesel. Electric cars have a long way to go imo.

I've got friends 40 miles north of Ullapool who have an MG4 ev and they have no problem with charging or planning trips to the central belt.

[Moulin Yarns]

I've got a 170 mile round trip to Glasgow this week, on street charger close to where I'm staying but stop at Stirling on the way home, large charging hub at the park and ride or rapid charger at pub for breakfast.

[patch1875]

I keep thinking of going electric but can’t bring myself to do it.

At the moment the poor range and terrible residuals are putting me off. we can charge from home which I think is a must if it’s going to work.i usually drive Audis but the etron range seems to be terrible even the large capacity 55 version.

Think Tesla’s are still the best but really hate the look of them ,the long range polestar is the one that still catches my eye.

[heretoday]

We're not ready for electric vehicles yet obviously.

[nonshinyfinish]

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We're not ready for electric vehicles yet obviously.

Bit of a sweeping statement that.

If you have a home charger then you're probably fine. There will be edge cases of people needing to drive hundreds of miles in the middle of nowhere, but for that vast majority home charging + occasional public charging on a long trip is absolutely fine.

Without a home charger is harder, more expensive and dependent on public charging options near where you live. I had an EV for a year before getting a home charger, but that was before electricity prices shot up and I had a few decent public chargers nearby.

There's lots that needs to be improved – most importantly public charging infrastructure including lots of kerbside level 2 charging for people without driveways – but writing the whole thing off as 'not ready' is just ignorant.

[hibsbollah]

Ive got a home charger now, which obviously makes a massive difference. Prior to that we used chargescotland and as long as you used the zapmap app to plan your route it wasnt too bad. A couple of trips to the midlands became challenging when the spaces were busy, but you just need to have a plan B, and accept you might get delayed and have a podcast to listen to or a book to read.

Its still a lot lot cheaper than petrol, and i love not having to go to petrol stations anymore. My skoda range is supposed to be 240 miles, but i was surprised how much this drops if you have the heater on, youre doing motorway speeds and its a cold day. Probably no more than 150 miles.

[Zondervan]

I went Electric in October 2022. Car is a BMW iX3 and range have averaged out at around 200 miles for a full charge.

This range does for me as I don’t do a lot of long drives. In fact, Forfar a couple of weeks ago was about a 170 mile round trip, so had bit of a panic before setting off but I had over 30 miles to spare when I got home.

Home charger is a must-have though in my opinion, so this will rule out a lot of people that don’t have driveways, and the charging infrastructure in built-up areas is still inadequate.


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[Since90+2]

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I went Electric in October 2022. Car is a BMW iX3 and range have averaged out at around 200 miles for a full charge.

This range does for me as I don’t do a lot of long drives. In fact, Forfar a couple of weeks ago was about a 170 mile round trip, so had bit of a panic before setting off but I had over 30 miles to spare when I got home.

Home charger is a must-have though in my opinion, so this will rule out a lot of people that don’t have driveways, and the charging infrastructure in built-up areas is still inadequate.


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I'd imagine the vast majority of people don't have driveways, the infrastructure is miles away from being ready.

[Hibbyradge]

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[McSwanky]

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Not the best analogy really...

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[Hibbyradge]

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Not the best analogy really...

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I can't think of a better one.

[RyeSloan]

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I'd imagine the vast majority of people don't have driveways, the infrastructure is miles away from being ready.

Think you would be surprised on that.

The RAC suggest 72% of cars are garaged or parked on private property and only 25% on street.

[grunt]

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Think you would be surprised on that.

The RAC suggest 72% of cars are garaged or parked on private property and only 25% on street.

Where are the other 3%?

[Itsnoteasy]

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Where are the other 3%?

🤣

[Moulin Yarns]

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Where are the other 3%?

Joyriding 🤔

Or in the garage having fan belt fixed 😉 ( see other thread)

[Stairway 2 7]

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Think you would be surprised on that.

The RAC suggest 72% of cars are garaged or parked on private property and only 25% on street.

Edinburgh is a smaller figure as a city but still.

In the last census 64% lived in a flat, 13% lived in terrace housing, 13% lived in semi detached or 4 in a block, 10% in detached.

The vast majority of Edinburghers won't have a driveway.

In Scotland 36.4% of Scottish households lived in flats. 22.8% lived in semi-detached houses, 21.9% lived in detached houses, and 18.6% lived in terraced

Think it's a no brainer if you have a driveway and can afford a new car. Infrastructure in the city is terrible though we should have charging points in most streets.

[Moulin Yarns]

I'm in Glasgow for celtic connections, staying in Glassford street in the merchant city and from the window I can see 3 charging points capable of charging 2 cars each. Decent infrastructure for a street in the middle of the city.

Mind you I think it's £6 an hour for parking!!

[danhibees1875]

That sounds frustrating. I'm still not confident to take the plunge and bought a petrol car last year, I don't use my car daily - it does a weekly trip to the shops and then the odd big drive (400/500 mile round trips) every 2 months or so and I really didn't fancy the charging on that trip each time due to fears (irrational perhaps) of how much time that could add to the journey.

I'm now partially regretting not at least getting a PHEV though as I'm moving house soon and the new place has solar panels (TBC how effective they actually are) and, by chance, an EV charger built in which I'll not be able to use.

Swapping cars now feels too soon after not long getting the petrol car though - I'd presumably lose a good chunk of money.

[Scouse Hibee]

I wouldn’t even consider one after reading this thread. The anxiety of worrying about range/charger availability is not for me.

[Trinity Hibee]

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I wouldn’t even consider one after reading this thread. The anxiety of worrying about range/charger availability is not for me.

Ye same. I’d be too stressed. They definitely need to improve the amount of charging points if they want people to go green. 200 mile range is certainly not enough to tempt me in to buying one and I mainly just drive in Edinburgh. But if I’ve bought a car I expect it to get me wherever I need to go, within reason, so until that time I won’t be buying one as trying to find an available charging station isn’t something I constantly want to be thinking about

[Hibbyradge]

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I wouldn’t even consider one after reading this thread. The anxiety of worrying about range/charger availability is not for me.

People talk about range anxiety. Few actually experience it once they've had the car for a few weeks.

I've worried about running out of petrol/diesel many times purely because I took it for granted that there would be a filling station when I needed it so I didn't plan.

Planning to charge is actually a doddle despite what non EV users think.

I understand the reluctance with some people though. After all, there are folk who are scared to try foods because they "don't like the idea of it"!

It's illogical, but fear is persuasive.

[matty_f]

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People talk about range anxiety. Few actually experience it once they've had the car for a few weeks.

I've worried about running out of petrol/diesel many times purely because I took it for granted that there would be a filling station when I needed it so I didn't plan.

Planning to charge is actually a doddle despite what non EV users think.

I understand the reluctance with some people though. After all, there are folk who are scared to try foods because they "don't like the idea of it"!

It's illogical, but fear is persuasive.

I've just handed back my EV (was a work car, got made redundant) and I miss it. Got a petrol car just now, and had forgotten how much I hated the petrol station trips.

I'll be going back to an EV at the first opportunity. I do a fair bit of driving, and never had the range anxiety - charger at home helped, and I never had a trip where I couldn't charge my car, including longer drives to Liverpool and Manchester, the west coast of Scotland and Aberdeen for the football (could have charged the car while I was at the game, but went for a fast charger after the game to let the traffic die down before I left).

It was by far the best driving experience I've had, and as I said, at the first chance I get, I'll be getting another.

[Scouse Hibee]

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People talk about range anxiety. Few actually experience it once they've had the car for a few weeks.

I've worried about running out of petrol/diesel many times purely because I took it for granted that there would be a filling station when I needed it so I didn't plan.

Planning to charge is actually a doddle despite what non EV users think.

I understand the reluctance with some people though. After all, there are folk who are scared to try foods because they "don't like the idea of it"!

It's illogical, but fear is persuasive.

I have driven the length and breadth of the U.K. over 30 odd years and never once worried about running out of petrol or diesel.

[speedy_gonzales]

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I have driven the length and breadth of the U.K. over 30 odd years and never once worried about running out of petrol or diesel.

You've never lived.
I sometimes play "chicken" with myself and run my works van down to single figures on the "miles left in the tank" display.
Looks like my vehicle is getting swapped out for an electric van though so I'll maybe have to grow up. Not so easy to get a depleted EV battery going again as it is to walk to a garage with a fuel can 🤔

[Scouse Hibee]

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You've never lived.
I sometimes play "chicken" with myself and run my works van down to single figures on the "miles left in the tank" display.
Looks like my vehicle is getting swapped out for an electric van though so I'll maybe have to grow up. Not so easy to get a depleted EV battery going again as it is to walk to a garage with a fuel can 🤔

Nah not for me mate, driving theses days is stressful enough without having to worry about running out of charge.

[hibsbollah]

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People talk about range anxiety. Few actually experience it once they've had the car for a few weeks.

I've worried about running out of petrol/diesel many times purely because I took it for granted that there would be a filling station when I needed it so I didn't plan.

Planning to charge is actually a doddle despite what non EV users think.

I understand the reluctance with some people though. After all, there are folk who are scared to try foods because they "don't like the idea of it"!

It's illogical, but fear is persuasive.

I agree with that. Its just a matter of changing the way you think about things and planning things in advance. Going electric has been a net stress reducer, for me anyway.

[matty_f]

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I agree with that. Its just a matter of changing the way you think about things and planning things in advance. Going electric has been a net stress reducer, for me anyway.

I had to hand my electric car back when I left my old job and so am on a petrol one at the moment, I'll be getting another electric on as soon as I can.