Why are people buying electric cars?

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cambsno said:
I also foresee that hitting the EV market. We all know a small tax now will snowball into a bigger one. Which is at odds with the government wanting net zero, stopping ICE cars etc. I dont really see how you can have both, you need one or the other.

What will annoy me is that no doubt the Tories, LD and even the Greens (maybe reform) will criticise this as another tax on the middle earners and contradictory to green policy. BUT. when one of them get in next time, will they repeal it? Of course not.
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Because it's not about wanting net zero and climate change. It's about control and making money.
 
Clive K said:
And if someone has to travel longer distances for work, taking the kids to school, regular medical appointments, etc they would be taxed more than someone who lives closer. There is no fair way no matter which system of taxation is used. But motorists are seen as a cash cow so will be taxed in whatever way.
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Like me, driving 800-1000 miles a week, could get costly. I do think it's a red herring just now, aimed at getting our attention away from all the other **** that's coming up. That said, there does need to be some way of taxing road use and have it used for the roads, not just dropped into a big pot.
 
Steep said:
That said, there does need to be some way of taxing road use and have it used for the roads, not just dropped into a big pot.
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The problem with that lies in the way that hearing the word "hypothecation" causes the blood pressure of the Treasury officials to shoot up.

Of course it makes sense for all taxation to be for a specific spending purpose but that just hasn't happened in Britain since Charles the First started raiding the Ship Money coffers, to fund daily expenditure. Even after the Long Parliament declared this behaviour illegal, Oliver Cromwell seems to have decided that they couldn't possibly have meant him, could they?
 
Steep said:
Like me, driving 800-1000 miles a week, could get costly. I do think it's a red herring just now, aimed at getting our attention away from all the other **** that's coming up. That said, there does need to be some way of taxing road use and have it used for the roads, not just dropped into a big pot.
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There is a lot of disinginuity going on regards roads and motorists.

When public authorities had to fund speed cameras and did not receive any revenues the few operational speed cameras were often left broken for weeks. After the changes that gave local authorities and police revenue from these speed traps the numbers increased drastically and all were regularly maintained. The siting of speed cameras has more to do with revenue collection than the touted purpose of road safety.

Road congestion is often cited as a reason for collisions and increased pollution. But the investment in public transport that would reduce both isn't adequate. Despite this there are restrictions on parking spaces allowed on new build industrial and office units that force employees to park on pavements because there is no adequate public transport and insufficient parking places.

Ridiculous parking fees and the hassle of finding parking spaces similarly increases urban congestion as drivers including shoppers and workers circulate whilst looking for somewhere to park that doesn't involve remortgaging the house.

The two excuses of increasing road safety and decreasing pollution are being used for blatent taxation.
 
Clive K said:
Despite this there are restrictions on parking spaces allowed on new build industrial and office units that force employees to park on pavements because there is no adequate public transport and insufficient parking places.
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There are quite detailed rules about providing adequate parking for new buildings.

This example from Charwood Borough Council suggests that they actually want more parking spaces associated new builds...

 
AndrewFlannigan said:
There are quite detailed rules about providing adequate parking for new buildings.

This example from Charwood Borough Council suggests that they actually want more parking spaces associated new builds...

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Which is all balls! None of the local developers provide enough. Council insist on 1.3 space per house. Which bearing in mind in country villages most drive is crazy.
 
AndrewFlannigan said:
I knew there was a reason I had you on ignore for so long. Back you go...
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He could sort of be right..... Near to me they are regenerating East Bedminster - as far as I'm aware with an extra 5,500 residents. Also as far as I'm aware, the available parking is in public car parks with the exception of some dedicated private disabled parking..... Opposite my dad they knocked down an old ATS and then car sales garage. I think they built at least 9 "town houses" on the land, with you guessed it, no off street or dedicated parking - and that's in an area with narrow streets and full length terraced houses already....
 
AndrewFlannigan said:
I knew there was a reason I had you on ignore for so long. Back you go...
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Indeed he could be right. With the new developments around Bicester over the last 20 years there have been statements about restricting parking spaces. Visiting friends in new developments can be very difficult because there are no spaces near their houses. One of the eco towns had been intended not to allow cars to park 'on site' at all, though I've no idea if that went ahead.
 
I wasn't talking about housing. On industrial estates there was a planning permission ratio of parking spaces to the expected number of employees that was designed to encourage people onto public transport. The policy was rigid even for emergency services and shift workers who started and finished outside the hours that public transport ran. That is why if you drive around any new industrial estate you will find vehicles parked on the pavements and in some cases double parked obstructing larger vehicles from accessing units.
 
I wonder how many new parking spaces the new builds in Exeter have created. IIRC, one of the builds is on what used to be a car park!
 
Nod said:
I wonder how many new parking spaces the new builds in Exeter have created. IIRC, one of the builds is on what used to be a car park!
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I admit to wondering what Exeter City Council is attempting to achieve.

It seems as if they don't want shoppers or workers to use their cars to access the city from Cowick Street to Pinhoe Road.
 
Nod said:
Is redundant! Not easy to get through the city in any direction.
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I meant that there's almost no parking along that west to east axis.

Forty years ago you could find plenty of parking in those areas and it didn't appear to interfere with traffic flow.
 
LeeRatters said:
I saw it too. The 'person' who posted it (that I saw) is a very popular person in the car/automotive ''scene'' (?) - website, blogs, IG, FB page, and 175,000 YouTube subscribers...... Again, that doesn't mean that it isn't made up, but it also means it wasn't posted by Bob from down the snooker club.
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Yes, I saw this pushed to me on FB as paid content today.

It's somebody who makes a great deal of money out of social media and so loves controversy. They are apparently so "famous" that they don't feel the need to provide any evidence of their unusual claims.

Now none of that actually means it is made up - but it does seem pretty likely :)
 
Not about buying, but more about the reality of owning an EV.

One of my boys is in the army and off doing a snow boarding trip in Austria.

The army trying to be green have given them an electric van + BP card for charging to get there and back.

The van is only doing between 120 & 140 miles per charge, 40 minutes to charge each time, can’t use the heater as much as they would like as it drains the electric to much and for the same reason can’t go over 60 MPH.
 
About the same as a 110 Landy then!!!
 
Been loving this week. Get up. Put on my climate control to 22. 5 mins later leave the house and straight into a warm and defrosted car. Last night, leave the pub, put on climate. 3 mins later a warm car to get in!
 
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leaky5 said:
Not about buying, but more about the reality of owning an EV.

One of my boys is in the army and off doing a snow boarding trip in Austria.

The army trying to be green have given them an electric van + BP card for charging to get there and back.

The van is only doing between 120 & 140 miles per charge, 40 minutes to charge each time, can’t use the heater as much as they would like as it drains the electric to much and for the same reason can’t go over 60 MPH.
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If they'd given them a Tesla Model Y instead of a van it'd be much easier. Or a Renault Megane. A brick shaped van is literally the worst at being a long range EV.
 
srichards said:
If they'd given them a Tesla Model Y instead of a van it'd be much easier. Or a Renault Megane. A brick shaped van is literally the worst at being a long range EV.
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Could have been worse - like my colleagues Corsa that dropped to under 116 miles on a full charge being driven gently between 20 and 50mph.
 
cambsno said:
Been loving this week. Get up. Put on my climate control to 22. 5 mins later leave the house and straight into a warm and defrosted car. Last night, leave the pub, put on climate. 3 mins later a warm car to get in!
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Been doing the same in my petrol Puma this week.
Remote start it and it’s sets the heat to max and puts the heated seat on. Runs for 5 minutes
 
leaky5 said:
Not about buying, but more about the reality of owning an EV.

One of my boys is in the army and off doing a snow boarding trip in Austria.

The army trying to be green have given them an electric van + BP card for charging to get there and back.

The van is only doing between 120 & 140 miles per charge, 40 minutes to charge each time, can’t use the heater as much as they would like as it drains the electric to much and for the same reason can’t go over 60 MPH.
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They should go in Summer, get much better range then. :)

Vans and larger commercial vehicles are quite far behind the times in terms of aerodynamic design. Of course being big they are more prone to air resistance and wind but manufacturers could do more to make them more efficient. I suspect the reason they got that van is because it's what MT had spare. Electric vans are fantastic for town and city working but not for long range motorway type driving. Even the new Kia PV5 only comes with a mid range battery in the long range model though better design means it can do 250 miles (more like 200 today. They do support ultra fast charging though.
 
Steep said:
They should go in Summer, get much better range then. :)

Vans and larger commercial vehicles are quite far behind the times in terms of aerodynamic design. Of course being big they are more prone to air resistance and wind but manufacturers could do more to make them more efficient. I suspect the reason they got that van is because it's what MT had spare. Electric vans are fantastic for town and city working but not for long range motorway type driving. Even the new Kia PV5 only comes with a mid range battery in the long range model though better design means it can do 250 miles (more like 200 today. They do support ultra fast charging though.
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Agreed Electric vans are amazing doing what vans do most like multi drop deliveries in dense urban areas like post office, amazon etc , the main issue with vans is they are a bit crick shaped as well so on motrways its never going to be great.
 
cambsno said:
Been loving this week. Get up. Put on my climate control to 22. 5 mins later leave the house and straight into a warm and defrosted car. Last night, leave the pub, put on climate. 3 mins later a warm car to get in!
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If ever a sentence was missing some rather important information, this would be it... :D
 
cambsno said:
Been loving this week. Get up. Put on my climate control to 22. 5 mins later leave the house and straight into a warm and defrosted car. Last night, leave the pub, put on climate. 3 mins later a warm car to get in!
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I had a shocker this week. I went to Belgium and had to leave Kev parked in a pine forest for a few days. There was so little reception that he couldn't hear me telling him to warm up from my warm cottage. I had to use DE ICER!!!!

Mind you, everything else about driving an 8 year old EV on the continent was awesome.
 
Frosty morning yesterday, opened garage door, got in car, farted and wriggled, started car and dove off, warm air entering the cabin within 1 mile, all good for me.
 
On Wednesday morning.
I had to dig my car out and get a push to get me on the road, my manager who lives in the same small town, could not get out of his drive way with his EV,
I want an EV now.
What's good for the Goose.
 
My dino mobile, 2015, talks to something without my input. The clock changes each time there’s the nod to Scottish farmers.
 
Once again, there's talk of a bribe on offer to those rich enough to afford an electric car...

www.bbc.co.uk

Electric Car Grant : £1.3bn boost for EV scheme expected in Budget

But it is also possible electric vehicle owners could face a new tax elsewhere in Wednesday's Budget.
www.bbc.co.uk www.bbc.co.uk

It's thought that they won't even restrict it to new customers.
 
AndrewFlannigan said:
Once again, there's talk of a bribe on offer to those rich enough to afford an electric car...

www.bbc.co.uk

Electric Car Grant : £1.3bn boost for EV scheme expected in Budget

But it is also possible electric vehicle owners could face a new tax elsewhere in Wednesday's Budget.
www.bbc.co.uk www.bbc.co.uk

It's thought that they won't even restrict it to new customers.
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Honestly, I'm getting sick of all the budget "leaks". It's almost like they want to spread fear, uncertainty and doubt.....
 
JonathanRyan said:
Honestly, I'm getting sick of all the budget "leaks". It's almost like they want to spread fear, uncertainty and doubt.....
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As said elsewhere, are they “leaks” or just media hacks trying to look relevant by writing any garbage they can dream up with zero actual insight.
 
ancient_mariner said:
My car is from Jan 2019, but needs a smartphone for an internet connection.
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All MK4 focus send info back to Ford via its built in modem. that is how it is able to send you alerts via the app for things like tyre pressure etc.

Outside of the U.K via connected services you could pay ford a subscription to use the in built internet connection but was only available for a short time in the U.K before being pulled not sure why. Would guess it wasn't popular as could use your phone as a hotspot etc. The tech is in all MK4 and MK 4.5 focus and pretty much every ford made from end of 2017 onward. Think the Fiesta got it first but not 100% sure.
 
f/2.8 said:
All MK4 focus send info back to Ford via its built in modem. that is how it is able to send you alerts via the app for things like tyre pressure etc.

Outside of the U.K via connected services you could pay ford a subscription to use the in built internet connection but was only available for a short time in the U.K before being pulled not sure why. Would guess it wasn't popular as could use your phone as a hotspot etc. The tech is in all MK4 and MK 4.5 focus and pretty much every ford made from end of 2017 onward. Think the Fiesta got it first but not 100% sure.
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The Ford Pass app has been slowly cut down to now be pretty useless.
I thought the alarm trigger notification was the best feature, but that got removed. :mad:
 
Delphin said:
As said elsewhere, are they “leaks” or just media hacks trying to look relevant by writing any garbage they can dream up with zero actual insight.
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Probably both :) There will be some element of "let's see how unpopular this would actually be" and "if we prepare them for this, people will be happy when we do that instead". But some of it is basically click bait.
 
Delphin said:
The Ford Pass app has been slowly cut down to now be pretty useless.
I thought the alarm trigger notification was the best feature, but that got removed. :mad:
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Yep although still allows you to view your service history. Pretty much useless for anything else.

I suppose if you have an auto you can remote start the car.
 
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