Electric Cars

[NTECUK]

There's two types of onboard charges on the leaf and the rapid charger.
If you go second hand your need to look at the charge guage to check it's capacity .we had a 66,000 miles one that lost two bar's because of a bad cell.
Yes you can get the cells individually replaced.
Only other thing we have had are two brake pressure monitor sensors two drivers windows motor's and one heater.
They are very reliable tbh.

[NTECUK]

Originally Posted by Bibio

electric cars wont work due to the charging time problems. think about how many cars are on the roads. there will have to be massive 'charging parks' where people are going to have to sit for an hour while their car charges... ermm i dont think the public will be to happy about that. its a logistical nightmare.

the real solution is hydrogen powder. it would be exactly the same as filling up with petrol/diesel, like the public are already accustomed to. the by-product is ermm water which could be collected in a separate tank and taken while you fill up with the hydrogen. the water will be pure so can be circulated into the water supply. its a win win situation.

Most journeys the cars can easily do TBH.
We have sold lots of leaf model s.
Hydrogen is getting investment.but not very supported just yet maybe 5+ year's time.

[SV650rules]

Originally Posted by Bibio

electric cars wont work due to the charging time problems. think about how many cars are on the roads. there will have to be massive 'charging parks' where people are going to have to sit for an hour while their car charges... ermm i dont think the public will be to happy about that. its a logistical nightmare.

the real solution is hydrogen powder. it would be exactly the same as filling up with petrol/diesel, like the public are already accustomed to. the by-product is ermm water which could be collected in a separate tank and taken while you fill up with the hydrogen. the water will be pure so can be circulated into the water supply. its a win win situation.

Unfortunately Hydrogen is one of the fuels that takes more energy to produce than you get back when you use it, and the major source of hydrogen is cracking the hydrogen from hydro-carbon fuels (yes we are back to fossil fuels, oil, coal and gas, but carbon dioxide is released by this process duuuhhhhh !) but that will not bother the greenies as long as the tailpipe emissions are low. A small amount of hydrogen is produced by electrolysis using electricity and water, consuming approximately 50 kilowatt-hours of electricity per kilogram of hydrogen produced.

The one hour charge even for a 24Kw battery (remember Tesla have gone over 100KWh now) is over 28Kwh (batteries have a charging efficiency factor, which comes from converting electricity into chemical reaction to store it, the only device that actually stores electricity is a capacitor or inductor). This needs a power supply of 120amps at 230volts, this is more power than the average house is allowed to draw off the grid (which is between 80 to 100 amps total - protected by the main circuit breaker and the power company fuses to stop you frying their cable).

As for performance of electric cars, their range is calculated at steady 50mph, and just like a normal car or bike if you use more performance (faster speed or quicker acceleration) you use more fuel, a 300 mile range Tesla at a stead 70 or 80 on the motorway will probably give you just over 200 miles.

There is far too much hype over EV ( and AV autonomous vehicles) at the moment, and as a previous poster noted the depreciation is absolutely massive, spend £30K (less a £5K government contribution) today and in 18 month time get less then £10K back (a Nissan Leaf buyer in Sunderland) - just think how much petrol / diesel £15K would have bought the poor sod. Trouble is the £5k government 'grant' 'subsidy' 'bribe' call it what you will came out of UK taxpayers pocket.
http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/new..._in_18_months/

Wait for the early adopters to take all the pain and buy when everything is sorted seems a good idea to me because the technology is changing so quickly that if you buy today be prepared to take a big hit on depreciation because as soon as something 'better' is made your car becomes a white elephant and the price will reflect that.

[Talking Heads]

There are two Hydrogen production and refuelling facilities in Aberdeen.
No coal, gas or pollution in sight.
Hydrogen can be created 100% cleanly from the energy in the wind.
http://www.hydrogenics.com/hydrogen-...ling-stations/

The real problem lies in getting at the materials used in the construction of electric vehicles in sufficient quantities.
And that includes hydrogen fuelled vehicles because of the materials in the fuel cell and the batteries.

Depreciation of vehicles is really a non-issue.
We just need to change our thinking about owning a personal vehicle.
Instead of owning, pay a rental and be without a care in the world about depreciation.

If I could lease a Toyota Mirai for a reasonable monthly fee I would have one.
Same goes for the Zero S bike.

[L3nny]

Thanks for the info so far.
I'll probably be leasing so depreciation and long term reliability is not an issue.
If it means I can afford a brand new car with the performance of a hot hatch but with much lower fuel and servicing bills I'm happy.
I am under no illusion that mining a load of dangerous materials and shipping them all over the world to build a car in a factory the size of a small town is environmentally friendly.
If I were that bothered I would cycle everywhere and eat organic moss.

[SV650rules]

Originally Posted by Talking Heads

There are two Hydrogen production and refuelling facilities in Aberdeen.
No coal, gas or pollution in sight.
Hydrogen can be created 100% cleanly from the energy in the wind.
http://www.hydrogenics.com/hydrogen-...ling-stations/
.

Electrolysis is the most energy intensive way of getting hydrogen, just think how many uses that same electricity could be put to, including allowing an EV to do far more miles for the amount of power used.

Depreciation can never be a non-issue because user always pays, whether in increased lease cost or lower guaranteed value at end of lease. If money is draining away from a product every day it also reflects in the cost per mile calculation.

[Chris_SVS]

Northern Ireland can't have EV's en mass with the current generation capacity/interconnectors. More stations are closing in the next 10yrs than current plans to replant and replacec can cover.

[Dave-the-rave]

We're gonna go electric because the 'solution' has already been decided. Nuclear.
Blair passed a Bill to build five new reactors. Hinckley point is just the first.
France have around 58 reactors already.

[garynortheast]

Originally Posted by SV650rules

but that will not bother the greenies as long as the tailpipe emissions are low.

You need to stop generalising. Just because some of us have some concern for the future of the planet doesn't make us all a bunch of uncritical dullards.

[SV650rules]

Originally Posted by Dave-the-rave

We're gonna go electric because the 'solution' has already been decided. Nuclear.
Blair passed a Bill to build five new reactors. Hinckley point is just the first.
France have around 58 reactors already.

Blair has not been in power since 2009, and what has happened since then - diddley squat, zero, zilch - not one single brick laid. Even if we start building now it will be minimum ten years till any nuclear juice available. No sign of the other 4 stations yet either.

The moral of this story is - if you do buy an electric car just pray that the wind blows steady and strong, otherwise when your car is charging the lights in your house may well go out, together with your TV, fridge etc.

These articles will make sobering reading for anyone who may think wind turbines are the answer, annual output of wind turbines is a small fraction of their rated capacity, and the presence of wind turbines on the grid, with their totally unreliable and wildly variable output is a big headache for the people who have to make sure power is available when and where it is needed. Just imagine the chaos if someone made us go back to wind power for moving ships around the globe - the reason we stopped using it for ships is because it is so damned unreliable.

https://www.wind-watch.org/faq-output.php

https://www.spectator.co.uk/2017/05/...global-energy/

How much energy do wind turbines produce?


Every wind turbine has a range of wind speeds, typically around 30 to 55 mph, in which it will produce at its rated, or maximum, capacity. At slower wind speeds, the production falls off dramatically. If the wind speed decreases by half, power production decreases by a factor of eight. On average, therefore, wind turbines do not generate near their capacity. Industry estimates project an annual output of 30-40%, but real-world experience shows that annual outputs of 15-30% of capacity are more typical