Electric cars - to buy or not to buy?

kittylester

And electric cars are often heavier than 'ordinary' cars so cause more damage to the roads.

Interestingly the it is the tyres on EVs that cause more pollution than those on ordinary cars, as they are heavier the tyres break down.

Sorry, rushing a bit so haven't read everything, apologies if I am repeating what others have said.
I think that what people forget about is that the electricity that fuels EVs has to be generated, creating a carbon footprint of its own in addition to the huge one due to the manufacturing process of car and battery. There simply isn't enough electricity for us all to use EVs.
My son has an EV and finds charging difficult due to scarcity of chargers in some places, chargers out of use due to breakdown or already being used and so on. My DIL was two hours late the other day because she had to take a huge diversion as the charger she intended to use was broken.
We looked into them a couple of years ago but ended up buying petrol cars simply because we regularly travel 150 miles to an area with very few chargers. There is no possibility of installing a charger where we visit as the parking is on private land, too far from a house to install an electric line economically.
I personally think that EVs will not prove to be part of the solution to global warming unless people are prepared to accept paying much more for cleaner electricity. Windfarms and solar are not the solution for the large demand that would be created if we all drove them. Wave power would help here, but for some reason it is being ignored, though there has been a very efficient wave powered generator in France since 1966. And nobody wants a nuclear power station in their backyard.

I won’t be getting one for a long time (my civic is 3 years old and bought and paid for), I intend to keep it until it becomes uneconomical. The concern about insurance is the one that concerns me, as batteries are an inside insurance premiums have climbed high and some cannot even get insurance (I hear, though maybe this has been sorted out). Unless all our electricity is from sustainable as I don’t truly understand all the issues, but I don’t think we are there yet in the technology.

Georgesgran
For me - I look at Tesla which are from £40K to £130K. The battery life is 10-20 years and as the batteries are built into the chassis, (as told by my mechanic) replacement is £12K but once failed, the car is useless.
I didn’t know that about the batteries being built into the chassis of a Tesla car. Is that the same for all?
My US friends sing the praises of their EV, but they use a FF car in winter as their very cold weather affects the distance range and charging time of their EV, which they find inconvenient.

A very great deal. Unless you really MUST change your car NOW. Put it off - keep yours in decent repair and use it sparingly. Changing vehicles means the embodied carbon (and all the other materials/skills/labour) will likely go to waste. - Quite apart from the issues of new cars you mention. The greenest thing - reduce your use, reuse (can you get your old one in use by relative/friend who needs a vehicle), recycle - don't know how much of that really happens.

I might change mine in the future but not now. My car is 11 years old, in really goid condition and low mileage. If I traded it in fir an electric one, mine eould be sold on to someone eho ptobably woukd do more miles than I do so its overall better for the environment if I keep it. When/if I replace it, I will see what is around

My friend’s son works in haulage and has told her, (she’s 70), never to go down the electric route.
For me - I look at Tesla which are from £40K to £130K. The battery life is 10-20 years and as the batteries are built into the chassis, (as told by my mechanic) replacement is £12K but once failed, the car is useless. I stand to be corrected on that.
However, if that is the average battery life, then who is going to consider buying a used EV at 7 or 8 years old, knowing what might lie around the corner? I somehow can’t see garages replacing the batteries in trade-ins and suspect any warranty given won’t cover them.
Personally, I consider my carbon footprint has been fairly small in comparison to many others, so I’ll stick with my petrol car now.

granfromafar We don't know. We suspect we may have used the car seat heaters too much, although we don't know for sure. Talking to the garage tomorrow so hopefully they can tell us.

The recovery vehicle picked up at about 11 pm, five hours later, but we got a taxi home at about 9pm as by that time we'd been standing in the freezing cold for over 3 hours and I was beginning to feel ill. But it didn't delivery back to us till nearly 1 am, i think we woke up the entire street 😬 There was nowhere nearby to go other than a late night Sainsbury, so we spent half an hour in there getting warm and something to drink. We really didn't want to leave the car as we couldn't lock it and worried about it getting stripped.

Oh no, AreWeThereYet! Wonder what caused that. Did you get a recovery vehicle OK?

I loved our EV till yesterday. Driving home the 12v battery died and the car ground to a halt on a busy dual carriageway with no lights in the dark. We stood nearby for about three hours in the freezing cold. It was really scary watching all the idiots screaming up behind it and veering out into the other lane.

Had no problems charging it - usually at home but we just check for charging points wherever we are going. Charged it yesterday at the NEC while we were in the antiques fair.

Agree with Mamie and thanks for the links. There are so many myths and misconceptions surrounding evs, just as there were when petrol cars were first introduced, mainly through ignorance. We were pretty ignorant about them till we bought ours in March. Wouldn't ever go back to an ice (internal combustion engine) one now. Have done many road trips this year and never had problems with charging away from home. Lots of new charging hubs are being installed every week. Would recommend YouTube videos of 'Dave takes it on' and 'the fully charged show ' both very informative.

paddyann54

We'll wait until Hydrogen is launched,Its a much better alternative to fossil fuel than electricity,I have that from people who are working on hydrogen replacements already.Aberdeen has hydrogen powered buses and vans with none of the downsides of electric....and electric cars do catch fire and CANT be extinguished google the massive fires caused by them .
My OH and my SIL are very knowledgeable about this and I'd trust either of them over any government in the UK

Another article for you!
www.theguardian.com/business/2023/nov/20/do-electric-cars-pose-a-greater-fire-risk-than-petrol-or-diesel-vehicles
The Luton airport fire reporting was classic. News bulletins all reporting "believed to be an electric car", until the Fire Brigade said it wasn't and video showed it was an elderly Range Rover. 🤔
As to hydrogen, I thought I had read that whilst it was good for large vehicles it is currently too inefficient for cars?

We'll wait until Hydrogen is launched,Its a much better alternative to fossil fuel than electricity,I have that from people who are working on hydrogen replacements already.Aberdeen has hydrogen powered buses and vans with none of the downsides of electric....and electric cars do catch fire and CANT be extinguished google the massive fires caused by them .
My OH and my SIL are very knowledgeable about this and I'd trust either of them over any government in the UK

On a personal level i wont entertain having one. Far too expensive as we can only afford to buy older cars. Plus I cant hear them coming so i have to be extra extra careful crossing roads or when walking down country lanes with the dog none of which have pavements.

On a practical note:
We lease our car, because we knew that evolving battery technology would mean a loss of value long-term. We pay the equivalent of £300 pounds a month which includes all servicing, repairs and tyres. Insurance is cheaper than our last petrol car. It costs us about £4 a week in electricity to run.
We charge at home 90% of the time and our range is (not the best available) 250 miles. For long journeys it does help to plan charging stops. Our daughter has just been to see us and they stopped for one 30 minute charging and meal break in 320 miles.
If you don't have home charging and need to make regular long journeys under extreme time pressure an EV is probably not for you at the moment.
No process for manufacturing cars is going to be perfect, but EV technology is improving all the time and once on the road they are nowhere near as polluting as petrol and diesel. And as I said before the responsiveness makes them a joy to drive.

MaizieD

Thanks for that link, Mamie.

I was wondering where the OP got her information from. I might be entirely wrong but it looked like the sort of thing you see posted on facebook which isn't always quite accurate.

It is EV bingo. Like I said there is a powerful propaganda lobby at work.

Thanks for that link, Mamie.

I was wondering where the OP got her information from. I might be entirely wrong but it looked like the sort of thing you see posted on facebook which isn't always quite accurate.

kittylester

And electric cars are often heavier than 'ordinary' cars so cause more damage to the roads.

Yes and it has been mooted that some of the older multi storey constructed car parks eventually may not be able to support their weight.

Electric cars are around 10 times less likely to catch fire than petrol and hybrids.

I read that, but it doesn’t explain why we’re suddenly asked at the ferry port, whether our vehicle is electric.
Pro EV propaganda is widespread and has serious money behind it.
Incidentally I was grateful for the arrival of the heating repair man who was sent to us on a 70 mile trip late Friday afternoon but he had to wait for his van to recharge before he could do his 230 mile home run.

also second hand values have plummeted so overall annual cost is massive over the life of the car

there is the added distance stress, I have 2 relatives with electric cars btw. Having to drive in winter with minimal heating because the lights need to be on and no-where near a quick charging point.

MerylStreep

Added to what the OP has posted there is the tyre problem.
Particles from the rubber tyres.

www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jul/05/time-to-worry-about-car-tyre-pollution-chris-whitty-tells-mps

The tyres are manufactured to a different standard.
www.rac.co.uk/drive/electric-cars/running/do-electric-vehicles-produce-more-tyre-and-brake-pollution-than-petrol-and/

The Guardian is finally tackling some of the myths around electric cars.
www.theguardian.com/business/2023/dec/01/do-electric-cars-have-problem-mining-for-minerals
Those who don't have time to read it might be interested by this extract:
"Overall the mineral use for electric cars is much, much lower than petrol and diesel as soon as oil enters the equation. Transport & Environment (T&E), a Brussels-based thinktank, found that a petrol car will burn an average of 17,000 litres of oil in its lifetime – about 12.5 tonnes.p
And most criticisms of electric cars’ mineral use miss a hugely important point: the majority of battery materials used in cars are likely to be recycled. That will drastically cut down the amount of wasted material compared with fossil fuels which disappear invisibly, but harmfully to heat the planet".
Electric cars are heavier but a small to medium sized car is far lighter than a Chelsea Tractor or large SUV.
Before anyone says it, the brake dust does not pollute the environment because 90% of braking is regenerative and the brakes are not used.
Electric cars are around 10 times less likely to catch fire than petrol and hybrids.
Once on the road electric cars do not pollute the air our grandchildren breathe.
If you cannot charge at home it is more difficult but the charging network is improving all the time.
Anti EV FUD (Fear Uncertainty Doubt) propaganda is widespread and has serious money behind it.
Most of it does not stand up to scrutiny.
We love our electric car. Cheap to run, quiet and a joy to drive.

One of our cars had to go in for a service last week.
The garage gave us an electric courtesy car.
It was beautiful, however the retail price was over £100,00 and as the OP states what is the true carbon footprint of the car?

I think we are being scammed regarding electric vehicles.

Added to what the OP has posted there is the tyre problem.
Particles from the rubber tyres.

www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jul/05/time-to-worry-about-car-tyre-pollution-chris-whitty-tells-mps