Electric cars.

I've drive hybrid buses and to be fair I was impressed with them - nice and smooth, nice and quiet, so despite being a luddite petrolhead, I also see the benefits. I just cannot afford what the money they are asking for EVs at the moment (bear in mind, I live in the 3-5 year old cars bracket)

 

I noticed the value of my old diesel car has gone up by about £2,000 over the last year, getting a quote from the likes of webuyanycar. No one wins if new cars are over priced too.

 

The idea is that you can do your small journeys - home to work and back for example - using the car as an EV, but then have the petrol/diesel engine for longer runs.

So for example, we do about 24 miles per day in city traffic - EV is ideal for that, but not really the best if I want to go a longer run (such as the run I did to Wales last year), so in theory we could use the car as an EV for the daily grind, plugging it in each night, but then jump in at the weekend and head off to wherever we want. If using the petrol engine, the battery can be charged, or with a full battery it will run in full hybrid mode where the petrol engine is 'assisted' by the electric motors which increases the fuel economy.

 

It is - just not ones that you and I can afford just yet. There are a couple of cars now that are game-changers, but they are brand new on the market - the Hyundai Ioniq5 and the Kia EV6 with maybe the Kia e-Niro a close third. They can do circa 300 miles on a full charge, can charge from flat to 80% in around 20 mins on a rapid charger, so you could easily go from one end of the country to the other and stop once for a brew, charging it whilst you are having a wee break.

The downside is that these cars are all circa £40k and more.

 

It will slow down - the pace of change is quite rapid at the moment because they are all trying to get themselves established as an EV maker; a lot of the mainstream manufacturers have been caught napping, whilst the Korean's have done their homework and are actually producing cars that do live up to their claims.
I also think the high prices are part of the drive to get us used to not owning cars, but rather renting them when we need them. You and I know that won't work, but those clever rich people think it would be better if we did... for the time being, they will get us used to that by having everyone in PCP deals or lease deals where you never actually own the car.

 

Out of curiosity, how does using the air-con in the car all the time during the summer affect the efficiency and range?

 

Badly. The opposite effect in the winter where you need the heater on also affect it badly plus the cold reduces the battery pack efficiency. Mine had a heater for the battery pack which of course uses more power. Mine had a bewildering set of modes from ultra eco to full on sports. In the ultra eco it was like driving a milk float, in sports mode it accelerated like a supercar.

 

Yes, but I'm a delicate flower and need temperature control all the time.

 

I use air-con in the winter to get rid of condensation. I hardly ever use it in the summer, my car comes with wind-down windows to let fresh air in.