cliveb
Head Pro
The only bit of the 303 I'm aware of that's being dualled is a 3 mile stretch near Sparkford. That's miles from Stonehenge. Every little helps, of course, but doing something at Stonehenge is the most urgent thing needed on the 303.
The all things EV chat thread
- Thread starter need_my_wedge
- Start date
jim8flog
Journeyman Pro
The hold ups on that section* are every bit as bad as Stonehenge, same as every section where dual carriageway ends such West and East bound sections of the A303 North of Salisbury.
*I once spent nearly an hour on the section of dual carriageway leading to that section got to the roundabout at Podimore turned round and went home.
cliveb
Head Pro
I guess that I must have never been there at a really busy time. Must have been lucky.
Tashyboy
Please don’t ask to see my tatts 👍
So the other weekend we went to Scotland and had a lovely time. However there was a couple of instances that massively turned me off electric.
1, so when we got to Oban, I shot off to Aldi and got my Scottish provisions that you cannot get in England. I then pulled into Tesco carpark and filled up with diesel. I parked my car at the side of the guy we went with. As he coupled his car up to the charging station. He thought it would be the same as when he goes to LIDL, IE contactless. Nope, down load the app, register and them plug in. By the time he had done that, I had done all my shopping, filled up, his wife came out of Tesco and he disconnected. He had downloaded 2%.
2, the day after we ended up in Inveraray, went straight to the charging stations. A guy was in the 1 fast charge bay. So my pal pulled alongside a 22kw per hour charger. Another guy was alongside. As soon as you have two cars you get 11 kw each per hour. Do the maths on 11kw per hour on a 110 kw battery. The guy in the fast charge was naughty, his car was charged, he hogged the pump til his wife came and then he dropped her car straight in. So my pal plugs in his car. He had to down load the Scottish what ever app. Then he had to download the 3rd party payment collection app. So off we went, No. he had to ring the company because it would not charge his car. 15 minutes he was on the phone being talked through it. His wife was then in a panic. My pal was using his wife’s card and she had 7 pending payments for £35 where he had put the charging cable in. The guy at the side was livid the fast charge had been hogged. His electric works van was trickling away and he had a 2 hour drive to the next job, then 3 hours to get home. He was very helpful. Eventually we got it sorted and the guy said “ keep an eye on your app that says it’s charging coz history has shown me they are temperamental”. We thanked him and walked off. Got five minutes round the corner and he had ran after us. It had stopped charging. We went back and after another 10 minutes on the phone it was sorted.
We stayed in Inveraray for about 2 1/2 hours and we saw a 30 wheel crane slowly drive by. We knew that was going to a big lorry that was on it side on the side of the loch we had passed going to Inveraray. That rd was going to be blocked off so we rushed back rather than do a 40-50 detour. We got back to the charging station. My pal had got about 24kw on his battery.The guy who had helped us was now plugged into the fast charge and said he would be there another 45 minutes. He was thoroughly bogged off.
Bottom line neither experience has convinced me electric is the answer.
1, so when we got to Oban, I shot off to Aldi and got my Scottish provisions that you cannot get in England. I then pulled into Tesco carpark and filled up with diesel. I parked my car at the side of the guy we went with. As he coupled his car up to the charging station. He thought it would be the same as when he goes to LIDL, IE contactless. Nope, down load the app, register and them plug in. By the time he had done that, I had done all my shopping, filled up, his wife came out of Tesco and he disconnected. He had downloaded 2%.
2, the day after we ended up in Inveraray, went straight to the charging stations. A guy was in the 1 fast charge bay. So my pal pulled alongside a 22kw per hour charger. Another guy was alongside. As soon as you have two cars you get 11 kw each per hour. Do the maths on 11kw per hour on a 110 kw battery. The guy in the fast charge was naughty, his car was charged, he hogged the pump til his wife came and then he dropped her car straight in. So my pal plugs in his car. He had to down load the Scottish what ever app. Then he had to download the 3rd party payment collection app. So off we went, No. he had to ring the company because it would not charge his car. 15 minutes he was on the phone being talked through it. His wife was then in a panic. My pal was using his wife’s card and she had 7 pending payments for £35 where he had put the charging cable in. The guy at the side was livid the fast charge had been hogged. His electric works van was trickling away and he had a 2 hour drive to the next job, then 3 hours to get home. He was very helpful. Eventually we got it sorted and the guy said “ keep an eye on your app that says it’s charging coz history has shown me they are temperamental”. We thanked him and walked off. Got five minutes round the corner and he had ran after us. It had stopped charging. We went back and after another 10 minutes on the phone it was sorted.
We stayed in Inveraray for about 2 1/2 hours and we saw a 30 wheel crane slowly drive by. We knew that was going to a big lorry that was on it side on the side of the loch we had passed going to Inveraray. That rd was going to be blocked off so we rushed back rather than do a 40-50 detour. We got back to the charging station. My pal had got about 24kw on his battery.The guy who had helped us was now plugged into the fast charge and said he would be there another 45 minutes. He was thoroughly bogged off.
Bottom line neither experience has convinced me electric is the answer.
bobmac
Major Champion
But you only have to register once
As far as I'm aware, there isn't a car on the road that has a 110kw battery
Did you notice how much the chargers cost?
PJ87
Journeyman Pro
I think their are some with that battery tbh. Seems to ring a bell
But again it's old way of thinking. You don't charge to full at these places , you charge what you need. Full tank is ice way of thinking
Also planning ahead never hurts, I always check for 3 chargers on zap map and have those apps ready or preferable use octopus which brings together a lot of the networks
That said all should have touch to pay by now
Arthur Wedge
Well-known member
It’s a perfect example of how much of a pain it is with an electric car
They are nowhere near the simplicity and practicability of a petrol car
It’s nice and simple - drive until you need fuel , pop into a garage - 5 mins later , full tank and away we go.
It’s also cheaper to own as well
bobmac
Major Champion
If EVs cost more to own, why are so many people buying them?
PJ87
Journeyman Pro
Only if people just public charge does an EV cost the same / possibly more if you use pure rapids
My servicing costs are lower on the EVs , the tyres last the same (despite some fake press reports) when I returned the Corsa I had done 30k miles and had 3mm front and 5mm back tyres
Fuel costs? Well since Feb my wife's Kona has done 484 miles costing £8.72
My Kia has done 5200 miles and cost £78
Both work out just under 2p per mile
Cheaper company car tax, fear caused by an imposed deadline.
Arthur Wedge
Well-known member
Multiple reasons
Why does someone buy a sports car when it’s more expensive
1. Tax purposes
2. Fear from the deadline
3. Eco warriors
PJ87
Journeyman Pro
Thing is Ice cars will be more and more taxed. EVs will be subject to tax and they will end up clawing the lost taxes back to make them the normal levels but then those levels will apply to ice cars on top of what tax is already applied to fuel to make it uneconomical to run one.
Neilds
Assistant Pro
Disagree with this comment. My 64 plate dirty diesel is only £20 a year to tax - unfortunately lose any benefit if I want to drive into most cities nowadays with the emission zones
PJ87
Journeyman Pro
£20 at the moment, they will adjust it I'm sure. I mean mine ATM are free , they will be £165 I believe it is from next April but that's not the tax I'm refering to. Fuel tax. Fuel duty can easily increase and price people off the roads by making it more costly to run an ice car.
Their is also no obligation to keep vehicle excess duty at the levels they are today. They are already linked to inflation now are they not.
bobmac
Major Champion
I admit EVs are still more expensive to buy new than they should be but in my opinion and experience of owning both, to say they are more expensive to own than an ICE car is just nonsense.
spongebob59
Journeyman Pro
We.went to Woolacombe in June, 8.5hrs there, 10.5 hrs back.
A303 on the way down, M4/5 back.
Friday to Friday
Nightmare
cliveb
Head Pro
The £20 road tax is a legacy of an earlier scheme, which ended in April 2017.
My petrol car is Jan 2017 and is £20 a year to tax. That figure has never changed over the years, while cars registered outside that scheme's period have gone up. (Example: my wife's previous car was a 2012 one, and her road tax went up every year). So I think perhaps the way the regulations were set up might include a guarantee that the road tax was fixed forever. If not, I cannot believe it wouldn't have gone up over the years.
But all this is a minor issue. What's almost certain to be introduced is some kind of pay per mile tax, which will apply to all cars - ICE & EV. And of course the fuel duty on petrol/diesel won't go away.
Arthur Wedge
Well-known member
Why is it nonsense?
Do you not include the cost of buying the vehicle when you package to cost ?
Is it also not about £1k to install a charger as well
Until all things are truely equal in terms of price , real life practicability then people will go for ICE cars
And there is no doubt that imo governments will find a way to find something to plug the financial gap when it comes to car tax and any fuel duty
PJ87
Journeyman Pro
Deals to be had aswell, lots of pre registered, the second hand market is a gold mine..my wife's Kona was 3 years old only 15k. Bargain for that car. She loves it. Prob run it until it stops working. Low servicing costs. Charge it up once a month. Because it's one of their first EVs it's 10,000 service schedule or yearly but my Kia is now 20,000 miles and 2 years .. that saves a lot.
Wife's car got a bargain service plan that covers her until 2026 with mots included. Including this year's service and MOT that's 3 services and 3 mots £720
I agree this 100% will happen.
PJ87
Journeyman Pro
A lot of cars come with the chargers as part of the deal. Dealer throw in a charger install.
The £1000 if someone pays it breaks even very soon In fuel savings.
The cost of the cars are getting closer. Auto trader is where to look not list prices as that's what the car actually are being sold for rather than the old RRP .. like when DFS list a sofa as X but nobody in the history of buying their sofas has paid that.
