Hybrid & Tesla

[Deleted User 1874]

Not that I would ever buy a leaf but I think that’s a little unfair.
It’s the worlds best selling EV (or certainly was) and at a reasonable price. Range is more than reasonable too and has good space inside.
I personally think until cars like this become more common across all manufacturers I see it being a very long time to get people into EV’s.

The new leaf 2 is pretty good. Again not my style / cup of tea but to the majority of people that want an EV without a huge budget it works....
The world won’t become greener (if that’s your thing) buying Premium EV. It’s the little / cheaper EV’s that will achieve this imo.

It’s interetig to see EV UK sales are lower Feb 2018 to Feb 2017.

I have much respect for the original Leaf, but it’s a seriously dull car in every respect. It’s a car you would only ever buy for it’s utility and green credibility. The new one looks a fair bit better but the Model 3 is a much more desirable car, regardless of whether or not you care about becoming greener. I would probably choose a Model 3 over any other premium compact saloon.

[Paul]

I do like plenty of space around my car when I park up for the night though . Its a good night stop if you are in the area - Logis Auberges des Moissons at Matouges, just off the A26, a fair price for excellent rooms but restaurant can be pricey - a truffle & champagne specialist.48A05D04-BB60-497C-B337-007C9C216FE0.jpeg

We found all the “proper” places full on our arrival notably one with a Tesla !
We thought it polite to reciprocate

PS. concur with your opinion of the place, except we chose the formule menu - couldn’t quite stretch to your champagne and truffles

[Wing Commander]

Lovely looking Tesla TT, Paul!

[steve w]

Peteski
Personally imo the infrastructure isn’t there at the present time for most people to feel confident In owning a fully EV,I can set off in the morning with a tank of fuel and have no concerns for 400m + not the 200m ish+ Of a EV and I don’t want the anxiety of constantly having to wonder where I can top up the batteries or if I’m going to get home ,with petrol there’s fuel stations on every road should I need to fuel up,battery technology is improving every year and another concern that I have is if I owned a EV in 12 months time the batteries will be out of date to speak, there’s a place for EV but imo not for anyone doing any daily distance but that could change in the years to come but they’re not for me just yet anyway.
SteveW

[Paul]

Lovely looking Tesla TT, Paul!

TT “S” please!

[Wing Commander]

Of course, silly me, Paul!

[Deleted User 1874]

Peteski
Personally imo the infrastructure isn’t there at the present time for most people to feel confident In owning a fully EV,I can set off in the morning with a tank of fuel and have no concerns for 400m + not the 200m ish+ Of a EV and I don’t want the anxiety of constantly having to wonder where I can top up the batteries or if I’m going to get home ,with petrol there’s fuel stations on every road should I need to fuel up,battery technology is improving every year and another concern that I have is if I owned a EV in 12 months time the batteries will be out of date to speak, there’s a place for EV but imo not for anyone doing any daily distance but that could change in the years to come but they’re not for me just yet anyway.
SteveW

For sure you have to plan longer journeys in an EV, but it's very rarely a big deal (at least in a Tesla with the Supercharger network). I would argue that most people overestimate their need for a 400+ mile range and underestimate the ability to charge up batteries along the way. Those who do make the switch to large battery EVs rarely have a problem, even if they are using them for long haul trips. The key thing in owning and driving an EV on a daily basis is access to secure overnight home charging. If you don't have a driveway/garage then it is likely to be a major hassle. But for the millions of people who do have the facility to charge overnight, plugging in at home is a lot more convenient than stopping for fuel on the road. I haven't been in a petrol station since February and can't say I'm missing them at all! Every morning I wake up with a 200 mile range and I don't even have the biggest battery option (which would give a 250-300 mile range). The nearest Supercharger is 10 miles away, so I can top up there for free if I'm passing by. There are Superchargers roughly every 50 miles along major motorway and A-road networks, making light work of a trip up or down the country. Also now loads of destination chargers at hotels, pubs etc. There are still a few notable holes in the Tesla Supercharging network (e.g.Wales is pretty non-existent and the South coast is a bit thin) but otherwise plain sailing and there are always public charging points to fall back on as a last resort, lol!

Battery tech is not improving so quickly as to make any particular EV obsolete over a typical lifecycle. In the last decade we have only seen incremental improvement like you see in all cars anyway. You see the odd click-bait news headline announcing the latest and greatest battery tech, but the reality is that everyone is using the same Lithium technology and will be for the foreseeable future. The main improvements over the next 10 years are going to be the charging infrastructure and lower battery costs. Plus of course more actual choice of vehicles.

[Col Lamb]

Like SteveW when we first started discussing EVs I too thought and wrote that the infrastructure was not there and needed extensive works to install a system before I would consider an EV.

Roll on 15 months and now I would have no problem buying an EV and in fact I cannot see me buying anything but an EV, which is why Porsche is annoying me by their apparent slow progress in getting the EV that I want on the market.

In the last 15 months throughout all our travels I have been looking at the charging stations out there and I can category state that there are probably more by a factor of 10 than you probably think that there is.

Every Mway has them, there are a lot on A roads, car dealers have them, town centre car parks have them, goodness on Sunday we were at the Theatre and two EVs (a Zoe and a Leaf) were on charge in the car park near the Theatre.

So have no fear order that X or Model 3 today

There are mobile phone Apps such as Zapmap that give the location of charging stations therefore you may find it interesting to install said App and look at charging stations along your most usual UK routes.

[johnd]

Battery tech is not improving so quickly as to make any particular EV obsolete over a typical lifecycle.

I guess the one aspect that may be improving, at least incrementally, is battery packaging and associated weight and volume, so maybe >90kWh could become available in eg I-Pace sized cars or 80-90kWh in somewhat smaller vehicles than at present.

[Deleted User 1874]

Roll on 15 months and now I would have no problem buying an EV and in fact I cannot see me buying anything but an EV, which is why Porsche is annoying me by their apparent slow progress in getting the EV that I want on the market.

+1 I wish Porsche would get on with making full EV SUVs, but they still appear to be multiple years away. Tesla are still way ahead in the EV market in terms of what you can actually be driving today.