Shelley Posted August 5, 2008 Report Share Posted August 5, 2008 As to where the electricity comes from ultimately, the biggest advantage is that it can come from a variety of places. One website I came across claimed that a fair portion of the electricity for EVs can be supplied simply from that not needed for getting oil out of the ground. Typical example of ignoring the question. You still need to get fuel from somewhere to generate the electricity to charge up your car. And please don't say wind power because you still need conventional power stations for when the wind isn't blowing. You are totally right. How about a geostationary solar space station? We just have to get it up there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asperity Posted August 5, 2008 Report Share Posted August 5, 2008 Not in my lifetime and I don't intend kicking the bucket anytime soon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dizzy Posted August 5, 2008 Report Share Posted August 5, 2008 As to plugging in .......I only plug it at home or at friends houses. I'm really looking forward to this becoming a reality so that I can double my range and get out to Manchester, Liverpool, or Chester. I could get to Trafford Center if I could charge there, and I keep meaning to write to them and ask about it. Some of the more fanatic EV people on my mailing list have resorted to more creative measures for charging like going to caravan parks. I've heard there are pretty helpful, but not tried it myself. Hi Shelly, nice to have you back. Thought you might return with this one How long does it actually take you to recharge your car and how much does a full recharge cost any idea. With the increase in electric prices I wonder how your friends feel about you plugging into their mains supply though I'm not too convinced about the use of caravan parks though especially in high season. Site owners may be helpful for the odd elec car but I would imagine if it became the norm you may have some very irate caravan owners letting your tyres down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shelley Posted August 6, 2008 Report Share Posted August 6, 2008 As to plugging in .......I only plug it at home or at friends houses. I'm really looking forward to this becoming a reality so that I can double my range and get out to Manchester, Liverpool, or Chester. I could get to Trafford Center if I could charge there, and I keep meaning to write to them and ask about it. Some of the more fanatic EV people on my mailing list have resorted to more creative measures for charging like going to caravan parks. I've heard there are pretty helpful, but not tried it myself. Hi Shelly, nice to have you back. Thought you might return with this one How long does it actually take you to recharge your car and how much does a full recharge cost any idea. With the increase in electric prices I wonder how your friends feel about you plugging into their mains supply though I'm not too convinced about the use of caravan parks though especially in high season. Site owners may be helpful for the odd elec car but I would imagine if it became the norm you may have some very irate caravan owners letting your tyres down. First for all of this keep in mind, mine is very low end, 5 year old G-wiz. G-wiz is low end and mine isn't even the best G-wiz. The EVUK page will give you a much better idea of what is possible. That said, the electricity cost is the least of your worries. It takes 2 hours for a 80% charge and 6 for a full charge. It is very cheap, don't notice it in the noise, supposedly 30-50p for a charge that takes you about 30 miles. That's a full charge too. When I have asked friends to give me a charge, like when we went to a dinner party in Liverpool, it probably cost them under 20p. That said I have heard there is quite a bit of a social problem with them in India where they are quite common. They are struggling with the etiquette of asking friends for charges. The government has promised a charging network, though, as I found out from somebody's post on this forum. They will be charging a set per year charge of ?75. From what I've heard, they've already started, but it's not got out of London yet. The big expense with an electric car is not the electricity. It is the battery that needs to be replaced ever 3 years or so. I replaced ours a little while ago. They actually had a pretty good life of about 4 years. It cost I think about ?1000. Mine are ordinary lead acid. I probably could have done it cheaper if I had had the time and known what I was doing. One of the local garages thought they were probably just the large batteries that large lorries have. (LiIons are considerably more expensive, but more better, getting usually around 100 miles per charge. The new G-wiz's are upgradable to LIIons.) Even counting the replacing of batteries, they are still considerable cheaper than running a petrol car, but not quite as dramatically. There is also less else to go wrong with it, so I think lower maintenance other than replacing batteries. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dizzy Posted August 6, 2008 Report Share Posted August 6, 2008 Six hours charging for a 30 mile trip does see a lot and I guess you would have to be good at remembering to plug to in each night or you may be forced to use public transport the next day The charging cost do not seem to bad but then again cars are somewhat more of a convenience these days so not sure if the electric ones fall into the same convenience category. 4 years battery life and a cost of ?1000 to replace would be a bit of a pocket shock but I suppose like you say you?d have saved more than that on petrol prices over the 4 years. Maintenance wise thankfully my petrol car has hardly cost me anything over the years I?ve had it and as a major plus point as long as I stick petrol in it, it will take me as far as I want to go without a worry. Guess your type would be very good for mums on the school run and trips to Morrisons etc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shelley Posted August 7, 2008 Report Share Posted August 7, 2008 Six hours charging for a 30 mile trip does see a lot and I guess you would have to be good at remembering to plug to in each night or you may be forced to use public transport the next day We keep plugged in all the time. They recommend it if you can. It's got some kind of computer program to keep it from overcharging. It keeps it topped up at all times and warm in cold weather. Guess your type would be very good for mums on the school run and trips to Morrisons etc Exactly. We still have a petrol car, but use it way way less. It's well known that a large part of people's driving is short distances. Like you, I live in the south end of town. I'm almost to Stretton, so even farther out than you. Tony's family lives in the north, Callands, Cinnamon Brow, and we have friends in Birchwood as well. I do tutoring in various other parts of Warrington. Tony works at Daresbury. He usually cycles, but if the weather is really bad or he's not feeling well, he takes the electric car. This one is not good enough for it to be really convenient to give up the petrol car, but for many people the EV1 that was killed was. GM came out with a car called the EV1 a few years ago on a lease only basis, and a number of people in California got them. They were much more like real cars than the G-wiz, with a max speed of 70 mph and a range of 110. Many people found that they were able to use them for such a large amount of their driving that it wasn't worth keeping their petrol car. It was cheaper to sell it and hire one for trips too long for the EV. If somebody came out with something like the EV1 for any kind of reasonable price, I would probably sell both of our cars and get it, and use a train or hire a car when the distance was too far for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dizzy Posted August 7, 2008 Report Share Posted August 7, 2008 We keep plugged in all the time. They recommend it if you can. It's got some kind of computer program to keep it from overcharging. It keeps it topped up at all times and warm in cold weather. Guess you need a garage/under cover space for charging them then and I'd also have to overcome my safety habit of unpluging things when they are not actually being used I've only just got used to having to leave the caravan gas switched on at night to power the fridge I can see the benefits of having one of your cars when you know your daily plan and only have very short or infrequent trips to make. Our ploblems are that we both have no idea from one day to the next as to wether we will do 5, 10 or 50 miles in a day. Guess we'd need to have 2 normals and an electric just incase Like I said though they do sound good for occasional use if it fits into your lifestyle. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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