It's the future! Once they roll out a decent charging network, we'll be sorted. I certainly won't complain if the performance is there.
How long do the batteries last and how much do they cost to replace though..? I thought fast charging shortened battery life.
I read something a few months ago that said the technology is now there that means quick charging only degrades the battery up to 5% over its life. I could live with that. Would would work best would be a subscription based servicing thing. I'd happily pay £50 a month for free battery replacements every 7 years. That means they have to get the battery price down to the £4K mark (as per this article) but it would be less than I spend on petrol a month.
If they get to recycle your old battery too, that would get costs of the new batteries down even further.
There is a widely accepted energy equivalence whereby 33.7 kiloWatt/Hours of electricity equals one (US) gallon of petrol, which is about 4 litres. 4 litres of petrol costs me about £4 (including tax and duty). 33 kW/h of electricity (at 10.7 p) costs me about £3.60 (not including the standing charge). On the face of it, buying your energy supplies in the form of electricity from the mains is only slightly cheaper (if at all) that buying it in the form of petrol. If anyone knows better, or can provide a different calculation, please go ahead. This means you @JH_1986 "couple of pence".
Based on the fact that charging points away from home are either free (and free to park in), or part of the £10 per year subscription, making it a "couple of pence" to charge. At home, charging overnight on a night tariff, the cost would be minimal. Also, charging at work, I can't see companies charging their employees to charge their cars, also making that a free refill everyday.
Oh I see, all becomes clear. By "free" you mean "somebody else pays the bills, so free to me". I agree that a few individuals can get away with this niche approach, but that does not make it a viable mass model for society as a whole.
Surely under the laws of thermo dynamics won't the amount of power required to charge a battery be equivalent to the amount stored in it? Therefore recharging a powerful battery (regardless of speed of charge) is going to make the metre spin. I'd be interested to know what the metered bill would be for charging this at home. One thing's for sure, what's subsidised with one hand will be more than clawed back with the other.
All London charge points... Niche? If charge points are free or available via a small subscription, the energy being purchased en masse by the charge point operators becomes a lot cheaper than the 10.7 pence you pay. Yes there are lots of situations whereby petrol wins hands down, but I'm talking about the future of electric vehicles. We're already realising we need to invest heavily in sustainable energy and in time a lot more of it will be "free" energy. As the article said, they charge the bike via solar. It's not costing them anything other than the initial outlay for the panels. Electricity isn't all doom and gloom you know [emoji6]
You may well be right. But if so it shows have much individual consumers are being fleeced for their electricity right now.
Now that, I'll happily agree on. We're fleeced for all our fuel. Presumably because they know the gravy train won't last forever.
I'm in. Ive got an electric car and that is ace. blisteringly quick to 40mph. No more issues with track day noise levels
Of the over 20 million vehicles in the UK less than 0.1% are battery electric. If that's not niche, what is?
Again... I'm talking about the future of electric vehicles. Did you bemoan this much when the typewriter was replaced?
Certainly you can only get out of a battery, or a petrol tank, the same amount of energy which you previously put in. Then you can turn that energy into movement of a vehicle with a certain level of efficiency, which will be less than 100%. And the energy will have a financial value which somebody has to pay, or forego. That's the starting point for comparisons. Governments may choose to subsidise some forms of energy or vehicles, and tax others. The discussion of how individuals can exploit tax/subsidy loopholes for their financial advantage is far removed from considering a way forward for the UK, and planet earth, for the future.
