Electric car climate control

[reset]

It's not flawed technology at all - the concept is perfectly valid, the technology is continually being refined.

Not to be negative but my question is how far can one go on a charge and how fast?

It may be good for a city dweller who is riding the subway to work. My last job was 85 miles one way. (no train or subway or bus service)

73

[ppppenguin]

The best electric cars such as the Teslas have a usable range over 200 miles. Others will catch up, prices will fall and the best will get better still.

[Murphyv310]

An electric car would work for me. 90% of my driving is in town, out with that is my daughter in Glasgow but just a 32 mile round trip, gone are the days of driving to Inverness, Aberdeen, Newcastle and further afield.
Snag is electric vehicles and battery leasing is way out of my league and always will be, so my present car will be my last.

[Murphyv310]

The Renault Twizy is under £7000 most likely the cheapest electric vehicle on the UK market but it's tiny with cramped room for a passenger, you have a mandatory battery hire https://www.renault.co.uk/vehicles/new-v...rging.html

So in my mind I'd be better off with a base model Dacia Sandero. Just add up the battery lease and higher leccy bills and battery power isn't that great.
The battery lease is double what I spend on petrol a month!!

[Murphyv310]

And of course it's safety aspect, not a car as such as its a quadricycle https://youtu.be/-9WgaoDF3_Q

[boater sam]

Think I'll buy a Peel, convert it to electric with a washing machine motor and a box of D cells.

[Raditechman]

A friend of mine has been using an electric car for a couple of years, he bought a second hand Nissan Leaf. He charges it form his home solar panels. I have traveled in it and notice he does not use the heating! takes an extra jacket and a hot water bottle.
As for me I have been using an electric  bicycle for over 3 years, when it is cold I wear an electrically heated jacket!
I will be very pleased when there are fewer diesel vehicles on the roads.
John

[Murphyv310]

Hi.
Although I too would be happier to see less diesel vehicles on the road we do need to have a suitable substitute for them.
Vans and lorries use diesel for many reasons, good efficiency that gives good economy, range, plentiful supply and reliability. To transport goods around the country, servicing companies, diggers, JCB's, cement mixers, emergency generators and many other things rely on diesel. These are not easy to replace, many businesses run older Diesel powered vans and Trucks, so far there is no substitute for diesel engines that can do 400 miles on a charge, and even if available some companies would not afford to replace their vans or lorries, this could lead to unemployment due to businesses closing. Range needs to addressed a long time before any legislation is forced on business and the public.
Yes Diesel is dirty but government has to see the bigger picture first.

[beamcurrent]

We have an electric car, a BMW i3 it works well gives no bother, plugs in at home and gives a summer range of 140miles and a winter range of c.100 miles. Quite external temperature dependent.

All the services use the battery and reduce the range according to how much power they draw. We have not found them to make much difference apart from the air con maybe 5% reduction.  

As regarding heating, it has nice heated seats to keep you snug.

As regards the long term hydrogen is the cleanest fuel into a fuel cell. Toyota make one that you can buy today, but finding a filling station is trickier!

A car is a tool, you buy the one that fits the work required of it.

Brian

[ppppenguin]

It's not hard to envisage electric trucks with 500+ miles range and swappable battery packs. Strikes me as technically easier than 500 mile range cars. I've no idea whether they will actually happen.

Any vehicle doing a fairly well defined amount of daily work is an obvious candidate for electrification.Especially if it's on a site with electricity or returns to a depot each day. From diggers to dustcarts. It's only a matter of development and getting to the right price.