Why are people buying electric cars?

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Not keen on the MG truck, but it is in keeping with that segment of the market.

They can make pretty cars, I like the Cyberster

f.jpgdo.jpg
 
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Even in the USA.

“Pre-owned electric cars and trucks in America are now almost as cheap as used gas-powered vehicles, on average, and are selling even faster.”

“EV batteries are proving to be more durable than expected and in the U.S. they are generally covered under warranty for at least eight years or 100,000 miles.”

www.latimes.com

The fastest-selling cars in America are used EVs

A year ago, the new Ford Mustang Mach-E GT had a sticker price around $55,000.
www.latimes.com www.latimes.com
 
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Someone said Ford were retracting from the EV markets, well apparently not.

"Ford, which dominates the market for full-size pickups, announced plans in August to make a mid-size electric truck that will sell for about $30,000, as well as a battery-powered SUV that will start below $40,000." (average price of a new car in the U.S. hovers at $49,100)

www.latimes.com

How minimalist EV trucks could finally make electric vehicles affordable

Stalwarts like Ford Motor Co. and startups like Slate Auto are focusing on Americans’ favorite vehicle.
www.latimes.com www.latimes.com
 
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Steep said:
New MG for 2027 - The Cyber-X. Still a concept and imo it looks fugly but competing with the jeep or replacing the Jimny, a short boxy rugged vehicle and ~300 miles range.
Possibly having a semi solid state battery (probably not) for under £30k it could be a good seller.
They just need to give it some character first.

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Can we at least agree to ban cars where the bonnet is above hip height on an adult / shoulder on a toddler? That doesn't seem unreasonable, right?
 
...and equip all electric cars with automatic braking, if they sense a pedestrian within the danger zone for the vehicle's speed.

After all, many already have it. For good safety reasons, tampering with such a system should totally disable the vehicle in a way that can only be repaired by an authorised garage.
 
AndrewFlannigan said:
...and equip all electric cars with automatic braking, if they sense a pedestrian within the danger zone for the vehicle's speed.
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Why only electric cars?

AEB works and saves lives (also money) and is common on ICE vehicles. Estimates say manufacturers could fit it to every vehicle for less than £200. Which is less than an airbag.
 
Delphin said:
Not keen on the MG truck, but it is in keeping with that segment of the market.

They can make pretty cars, I like the Cyberster

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and according to the auto press.(Top Gear or similar, cannot remember which), - the MG cost £120 for it's time related service/inspection whereas the Porsche Boxster cost £800+ ....... for what was deemed to be the equivalent, (time related service/inspection).
 
AndrewFlannigan said:
...and equip all electric cars with automatic braking, if they sense a pedestrian within the danger zone for the vehicle's speed.

After all, many already have it. For good safety reasons, tampering with such a system should totally disable the vehicle in a way that can only be repaired by an authorised garage.
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And ban mobile phone use for pedestrians while walking - particularly crossing roads.
 
JonathanRyan said:
Can we at least agree to ban cars where the bonnet is above hip height on an adult / shoulder on a toddler? That doesn't seem unreasonable, right?
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Absolutely agree SUV type vehicles are very dangerous for pedestrians in a collision, there is no reason for such vehicles in a city
 
Nod said:
And ban mobile phone use for pedestrians while walking - particularly crossing roads.
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That would be extremely hard to do and very unpopular. For example, Google Maps would want an exemption.

AEB is cheap and effective.

Limiting height of front impact point also easy and effective. The point being if you get an impact below your hip you will pivot around the hip fall in the direction the impact came from i.e. over the vehicle. If you get hit above the hip there is no pivot left in the body and you are pushed with the force - in this case under the vehicle. This is doubly true for kids and shoulders. If you have to get hit by a car (and really I don't recommend it) then getting hit below the knee is really important for your survival. Source: got hit in the ribs by a car. 4/10 would not recommend.
 
It's more that the f**kwits tend to be completely unaware of their surroundings rather than self preservation.
 
What I cannot come terms with or understand why, with either electric or petrol/diesel vehicles and motorcycles. There are engine sizes and power output limits for motorcycles for most new riders (young). However a person passing his test in a car, can then legally drive any car whatever power output with only the driving schools experience. They could reconsider this and the death rates of young drivers may drop. It worked with motorcyclists after compulsory limits and the CBT test was introduced, so what is to stop it working with new car drivers.

My advanced driving instructor (a good few years ago now) thought new car drivers should have experience with riding on a powered two wheeler when they first take to the roads. Not necessarily passing their test, but just some experience say over a 1 year period to learn about the risks that motor cyclists have to face daily.
 
NorthEastCamera said:
What I cannot come terms with or understand why, with either electric or petrol/diesel vehicles and motorcycles. There are engine sizes and power output limits for motorcycles for most new riders (young). However a person passing his test in a car, can then legally drive any car whatever power output with only the driving schools experience. They could reconsider this and the death rates of young drivers may drop. It worked with motorcyclists after compulsory limits and the CBT test was introduced, so what is to stop it working with new car drivers.

My advanced driving instructor (a good few years ago now) thought new car drivers should have experience with riding on a powered two wheeler when they first take to the roads. Not necessarily passing their test, but just some experience say over a 1 year period to learn about the risks that motor cyclists have to face daily.
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Legally drive any car maybe, but (for the average young person) certainly not financially......!
 
LeeRatters said:
Legally drive any car maybe, but (for the average young person) certainly not financially......!
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Yeah very tough for young driver.

When our eldest passed her test we got her the cheapest car we could find in terms of insurance cost an utter crap box Peugeot 107. The insurance was just over £2300. She hit a parked car in a supermarket car park causing one of the bumper clips to pop out on the other car, there was no damage to her car, there wasn't even any paint damage to the other car, just needed the bumper clip pushed back in. Stupid mistake but not a big accident. Initially the other driver agreed to us paying to have his car repaired but then It turned into a bit of a nightmare and is still not fully sorted yet. The other driver put in an injury claim as well as for the damage to their car. Thankfully the injury claim was laughed out as CCTV showed they weren't in the car and were actually in the supermarket when she hit their car. Even still though my daughters insurance is due to renew soon and the cheapest price we have had so far is just under £4600.

It is ridiculous price but unfortunately we will have no option but to pay it as she needs the car to get to university. For sure it was her fault for hitting the other car but thats a hell of a penalty to pay for such a minor accident. In an ideal world we wanted to get her a newer, better car for starting university but that's probably not going to be an option now with the cost of insurance.
 
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f/2.8 said:
Yeah very tough for young driver.

When our eldest passed her test we got her the cheapest car we could find in terms of insurance cost an utter crap box Peugeot 107. The insurance was just over £2300. She hit a parked car in a supermarket car park causing one of the bumper clips to pop out on the other car, there was no damage to her car, there wasn't even any paint damage to the other car, just needed the bumper clip pushed back in. Stupid mistake but not a big accident. Initially the other driver agreed to us paying to have his car repaired but then It turned into a bit of a nightmare and is still not fully sorted yet. The other driver put in an injury claim as well as for the damage to their car. Thankfully the injury claim was laughed out as CCTV showed they weren't in the car and were actually in the supermarket when she hit their car. Even still though my daughters insurance is due to renew soon and the cheapest price we have had so far is just under £4600.

It is ridiculous price but unfortunately we will have no option but to pay it as she needs the car to get to university. For sure it was her fault for hitting the other car but thats a hell of a penalty to pay for such a minor accident. In an ideal world we wanted to get her a newer, better car for starting university but that's probably not going to be an option now with the cost of insurance.
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£4,600 - what does a long term, say one year rental cost?
 
LeeRatters said:
Legally drive any car maybe, but (for the average young person) certainly not financially......!
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I took delivery of replacement (not new) car last Wednesday and there was a young lad there with presumably his mother in the final stages of buying him a car and she paid for a used 19 plate Seat Leon for him. They drove away in separate vehicles with him in the Leon.

You don't have to pay a fortune out for a powerful car, a second hand VW Golf GTi a few years old still with plenty of poke can be picked up for relatively little money. they will still exceed 100mph quite easily. Youth knows no bounds with invincibility and that is a crash waiting to happen. Insurance - what insurance?

Look at the crash rate & death rate with drivers 18 to 25 just tends to prove it.
 
f/2.8 said:
Yeah very tough for young driver.

When our eldest passed her test we got her the cheapest car we could find in terms of insurance cost an utter crap box Peugeot 107. The insurance was just over £2300. She hit a parked car in a supermarket car park causing one of the bumper clips to pop out on the other car, there was no damage to her car, there wasn't even any paint damage to the other car, just needed the bumper clip pushed back in. Stupid mistake but not a big accident. Initially the other driver agreed to us paying to have his car repaired but then It turned into a bit of a nightmare and is still not fully sorted yet. The other driver put in an injury claim as well as for the damage to their car. Thankfully the injury claim was laughed out as CCTV showed they weren't in the car and were actually in the supermarket when she hit their car. Even still though my daughters insurance is due to renew soon and the cheapest price we have had so far is just under £4600.

It is ridiculous price but unfortunately we will have no option but to pay it as she needs the car to get to university. For sure it was her fault for hitting the other car but thats a hell of a penalty to pay for such a minor accident. In an ideal world we wanted to get her a newer, better car for starting university but that's probably not going to be an option now with the cost of insurance.
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Have you explored the possibility of getting a 'black box' fitted to monitor her driving habits. My next door neighbour's daughter who was 19 (24 now) when she started driving her own car, had one fitted for a few years until she added up a reasonable NCB, and the reduction in insurance cost was remarkable. Shop around and speak to other insurers and ask. You have nothing to loose.
 
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f/2.8 said:
Yeah very tough for young driver.

... the cheapest price we have had so far is just under £4600.

It is ridiculous price but unfortunately we will have no option but to pay it as she needs the car to get to university. For sure it was her fault for hitting the other car but thats a hell of a penalty to pay for such a minor accident. In an ideal world we wanted to get her a newer, better car for starting university but that's probably not going to be an option now with the cost of insurance.
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When I worked with insurance claims, people were often baffled why premiums could exceed the total value of their vehicle. One claim I knew of (far in excess of £10 million) was caused by a vehicle whose value was probably under 1k. I personally took a claim that involved a driver hitting stationary unoccupied vehicles which was probably settled over 50k and another claim involved paying for resurfacing a mile of motorway.

It's not what you drive, it's what you can hit. And yeah, if everybody else on the road is driving 70k lease vehicles it's going to cost a lot to insure.

BTW - I note you say "she" and "her".....young female drivers are demonstrably safer than young male drivers but there's a handy law that says they have to pay the same. It's about fairness.......
 
NorthEastCamera said:
Have you explored the possibility of getting a 'black box' fitted to monitor her driving habits. My next door neighbour's daughter who was 19 (24 now) when she started driving her own car, had one fitted for a few years until she added up a reasonable NCB, and the reduction in insurance cost was remarkable. Shop around and speak to other insurers and ask. You have nothing to loose.
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Yes I've heard the tracking device make a huge difference on insurance, and another plus they force new drivers into a better driving habit that will hopefully stick with them forever. .
 
BillN_33 said:
£4,600 - what does a long term, say one year rental cost?
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Near her uni? About 12k a year for shared accommodation. For accommodation on her own around 20k a year. There is some places owned by the uni that is cheaper at around 8k a year but they are only available to students who have already completed 2 years.


NorthEastCamera said:
Have you explored the possibility of getting a 'black box' fitted to monitor her driving habits. My next door neighbour's daughter who was 19 (24 now) when she started driving her own car, had one fitted for a few years until she added up a reasonable NCB, and the reduction in insurance cost was remarkable. Shop around and speak to other insurers and ask. You have nothing to loose.
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She already has a black box.


JonathanRyan said:
When I worked with insurance claims, people were often baffled why premiums could exceed the total value of their vehicle. One claim I knew of (far in excess of £10 million) was caused by a vehicle whose value was probably under 1k. I personally took a claim that involved a driver hitting stationary unoccupied vehicles which was probably settled over 50k and another claim involved paying for resurfacing a mile of motorway.

It's not what you drive, it's what you can hit. And yeah, if everybody else on the road is driving 70k lease vehicles it's going to cost a lot to insure.

BTW - I note you say "she" and "her".....young female drivers are demonstrably safer than young male drivers but there's a handy law that says they have to pay the same. It's about fairness.......
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Have no issue with insurance being worth more than the car. Her car only has a value of £1500.
 
NorthEastCamera said:
I took delivery of replacement (not new) car last Wednesday and there was a young lad there with presumably his mother in the final stages of buying him a car and she paid for a used 19 plate Seat Leon for him. They drove away in separate vehicles with him in the Leon.

You don't have to pay a fortune out for a powerful car, a second hand VW Golf GTi a few years old still with plenty of poke can be picked up for relatively little money. they will still exceed 100mph quite easily. Youth knows no bounds with invincibility and that is a crash waiting to happen. Insurance - what insurance?

Look at the crash rate & death rate with drivers 18 to 25 just tends to prove it.
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It's not the price of the car, it's the price of the insurance on it. My daughter has a 12 plate 1.4 Fiesta and she started off £220 a month. My boy has a 2009 1.2 i10 and that started at £188 a month. Either of them could have bought faster, more powerful cars but they couldn't afford to insure them..... My boy was at college working part time when he passed so he literally narrowed his car choice down to the cheapest few to insure. Which is what I said in my original post.
 
Why do people think they need a car that will do 100mph or more, no car needs to more than 70mph in the UK.

I don't really understand this need for "flash" cars for the young.

I started with a second hand 850cc mini van, it got me to college,then work and anywhere else I wanted to go. What more do you need.
 
Delphin said:
Why do people think they need a car that will do 100mph or more, no car needs to more than 70mph in the UK.

I don't really understand this need for "flash" cars for the young.

I started with a second hand 850cc mini van, it got me to college,then work and anywhere else I wanted to go. What more do you need.
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Street cred for many?
 
Not to mention being able to keep up with traffic on dual carriageways without pushing the car to its limit.
 
Nod said:
Not to mention being able to keep up with traffic on dual carriageways without pushing the car to its limit.
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I always thought that the point of all dual carriageways is to drive safely at your chosen speed. by allowing faster vehicles to overtake slower vehicles safely.
 
talking about insurance iv'e just gone from a Jaguar XF to a Tesla
insurance on the Jag £960 with Hastings Premier which considering my age and full no claims is not cheap
insurance on the Tesla ( Hastings wouldn't insure it ) through Admiral £2,172 which is eye wateringly expensive but if i want to drive it it's what i have to pay

a quote for a BMW I3 came back about the same as the Jag and Hastings would insure one of those

my Daughter now 24 passed her test 2 years ago and is now paying about £2,000 on a 2016 diesel Cactus
2 years ago when she first passed her test her insurance was £4,500 on a 2007 Kia Picanto

i should move it would save me a fortune on insurance :(
unfortunately for me ( and my daughter ) we live in the crash for cash postcode area and it's never recovered
 
Delphin said:
Why do people think they need a car that will do 100mph or more, no car needs to more than 70mph in the UK.

I don't really understand this need for "flash" cars for the young.

I started with a second hand 850cc mini van, it got me to college,then work and anywhere else I wanted to go. What more do you need.
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In 1996, I was driving this :) My second Escort. I was aged 20, the car was 25.


WhenIGotIt by Lee, on Flickr

Nod said:
Not to mention being able to keep up with traffic on dual carriageways without pushing the car to its limit.
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Even today, I don't have to worry about it keeping up with traffic ;) And street cred......?


*** by Lee, on Flickr
 
cosmicma said:
talking about insurance iv'e just gone from a Jaguar XF to a Tesla
insurance on the Jag £960 with Hastings Premier which considering my age and full no claims is not cheap
insurance on the Tesla ( Hastings wouldn't insure it ) through Admiral £2,172 which is eye wateringly expensive but if i want to drive it it's what i have to pay

a quote for a BMW I3 came back about the same as the Jag and Hastings would insure one of those

my Daughter now 24 passed her test 2 years ago and is now paying about £2,000 on a 2016 diesel Cactus
2 years ago when she first passed her test her insurance was £4,500 on a 2007 Kia Picanto

i should move it would save me a fortune on insurance :(
unfortunately for me ( and my daughter ) we live in the crash for cash postcode area and it's never recovered
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Shhhhhhh...... The EV people won't want you to say how much more expensive they are to insure!! :oops: :$ :eek: :facepalm: ;) :ROFLMAO:
 
JonathanRyan said:
Why only electric cars?

AEB works and saves lives (also money) and is common on ICE vehicles. Estimates say manufacturers could fit it to every vehicle for less than £200. Which is less than an airbag.
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Yes in all new cars alternatively a large spike in the centre of the steering wheel in lieu of the airbag
 
As suggested by (?)Ralph Nader many years ago.
 
Weird, my EV insurance was less than £100 more than the 10 year old Kia Soul, for a much bigger car.
 
cosmicma said:
talking about insurance iv'e just gone from a Jaguar XF to a Tesla
insurance on the Jag £960 with Hastings Premier which considering my age and full no claims is not cheap
insurance on the Tesla ( Hastings wouldn't insure it ) through Admiral £2,172 which is eye wateringly expensive but if i want to drive it it's what i have to pay
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Meanwhile I've just moved from Admiral to Hastings bc Admiral wanted like 5% more.

My Tesla costs £583 with Hastings Direct. Premier offered slightly more coverage for slightly more money.
 
JonathanRyan said:
Meanwhile I've just moved from Admiral to Hastings bc Admiral wanted like 5% more.

My Tesla costs £583 with Hastings Direct. Premier offered slightly more coverage for slightly more money.
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odd isn't it
Hastings Direct Premier wouldn't transfer the policy i already had with them for the jag to the tesla they said they couldn't give me a quote hence starting a new policy with admiral who were the cheapest of the bunch on the day

i think it's the area i live it's always been expensive when it comes to car insurance
 
If you're insurance quote cost the same as last year, you are being ripped off. Premiums have plugged in the last 12 months.

I very rarely renew, it's nearly always cheaper elsewhere.

For me Hastings was £265 last year, they wanted £298 this year (obviously a rip-off)

RAC for the exact same cover £207.
 
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cosmicma said:
odd isn't it
Hastings Direct Premier wouldn't transfer the policy i already had with them for the jag to the tesla they said they couldn't give me a quote hence starting a new policy with admiral who were the cheapest of the bunch on the day

i think it's the area i live it's always been expensive when it comes to car insurance
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They will also have a book to balance. If they had priced Teslas aggressively for a bit, it would have won them a lot of Tesla business. Then some bright person in actuarial says "oh, we're massively exposed to Teslas" and so it seesaws again.

It's also possible that Teslas don't fit their criteria for transfers but do for new quotes.

Insurance is weird. Also, complicated.
 
LeeRatters said:
In 1996, I was driving this :) My second Escort. I was aged 20, the car was 25.


WhenIGotIt by Lee, on Flickr



Even today, I don't have to worry about it keeping up with traffic ;) And street cred......?


*** by Lee, on Flickr
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That is a lovely car! Mk1 Escorts are worth serious money nowadays.
I wish i would have kept my Fiesta XR2i (from my less wise, boy racer days) partly for the nostalgia, partly because I would have the best part of 20 grand sat in my garage :LOL:
 
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