Pros and Cons of Electric Vehicles

[WinterBorn]

I live in a UK city with a population of 100,000. I've just looked on a electric charging point map and the city shows 18 charge points. So if my maths is correct, charging will probably take a month because if road users all had EV's, there will be some mighty long queues.

I know that EV's will not happen overnight, but, charge point infrastructure is not following the green huggers enthusiasm speed. My mate lives in a street of terrace house. Cars parked on either side of the road with a space down the centre middle for one car to drive along. Your front door is on the pavement, so you would have to run an electric cable over the pavement to charge your car, assuming you managed to get parked outside your front door. But, hah hah, the answer is, "Charge from lamp posts". One side of the street has two lamp posts to service over 50 houses. So why not go to a charge point and.........oh, hang on.

So the main con is, reality is not keeping up with the EV dream. And the other con is, wait until you have to start paying tax per mile for driving these extortionate priced vehicles as tax revenue fades from ICE use.

There is a huge difference in the space required for gasoline pumps and the space required for electric charging.

Charging an EV can be accomplished by running a power line to a charger. They could be used in parking lot style setups, with dozens of chargers in the space required for just a few pumps. And there is no need for different types. There is no High Test and Low grade electricty, nor is there an equivalent of the need for a separate diesel pump.

 

[Rigby5]

There is a huge difference in the space required for gasoline pumps and the space required for electric charging.

Charging an EV can be accomplished by running a power line to a charger. They could be used in parking lot style setups, with dozens of chargers in the space required for just a few pumps. And there is no need for different types. There is no High Test and Low grade electricty, nor is there an equivalent of the need for a separate diesel pump.

Except that only the level 2, 240 volt AC plug is standardized.
The level 3 fastest charge, is DC and different on each model.

 

[odanny]

There is a huge difference in the space required for gasoline pumps and the space required for electric charging.

Charging an EV can be accomplished by running a power line to a charger. They could be used in parking lot style setups, with dozens of chargers in the space required for just a few pumps. And there is no need for different types. There is no High Test and Low grade electricty, nor is there an equivalent of the need for a separate diesel pump.

A local supermarket just put in 8 brand new Tesla chargers. They take up almost no space. The same width and thickness of a parking block. I was surprised to drive by there Saturday morning and see 5 Teslas backed in and charging. Usually I only see one or two.

 

[Papageorgio]

Don't worry dinosaurs, you'll be dead and gone, maybe even me too, before EV's are what most people are driving. But with fast charge times and long life batteries a near certainty, and no costly maintenance, EV's will, by consumer choice, be the most widely owned cars. Like I said earlier, when 4K big screen TV's first came out, few would spend that kind of money on one. Now everyone has one, cause they are affordable.

If the price drops I’ll probably get one however, the environmental damage caused by lithium mines will need to be addressed.

 

[JohnDB]

If the price drops I’ll probably get one however, the environmental damage caused by lithium mines will need to be addressed.

Oh the environmental damage of all those rare earth metals happens in PRC China.

 

[WinterBorn]

Oh the environmental damage of all those rare earth metals happens in PRC China.

I am sure that the technology will improve as far as the batteries go. It certainly has in recent years.

 

[JohnDB]

I am sure that the technology will improve as far as the batteries go. It certainly has in recent years.

Battery technology is at best a stop gap measure.
Mostly because fuel cell technology still isn't developed sufficiently to provide a stable and reliable alternative. Batteries just don't hold enough energy per kilogram that other fuel sources do.

On top of this...

Petroleum products are associated with cheap energy...and that is true to an extent. But petroleum products are in everything and most products on the market. From packaging to plastics and of course logistics there is not a product on the market that doesn't require the use of petroleum products in several forms. Even if we discovered a new, cheaper fuel source the production of petroleum products won't and can't stop. We still need tires, hoses, foams, plastics, paint, vitamins, fertilizers, cell phones, circuit boards, and lubricants.
Gasoline is a byproduct from creating the other products out of oil. It is a distillate.
That's the reason why it's called "RBOB"....

 

[Captain Caveman]

There is a huge difference in the space required for gasoline pumps and the space required for electric charging.

Charging an EV can be accomplished by running a power line to a charger. They could be used in parking lot style setups, with dozens of chargers in the space required for just a few pumps. And there is no need for different types. There is no High Test and Low grade electricty, nor is there an equivalent of the need for a separate diesel pump.

How do you have a parking lot full of charge points in a square mile of terrace housing?

 

[WinterBorn]

How do you have a parking lot full of charge points in a square mile of terrace housing?

Many of the terrace housing or row houses have designated parking for a home or even a garage attached or underneath.

If not, then the charging would be off site.

 

[westwall]

Don't worry dinosaurs, you'll be dead and gone, maybe even me too, before EV's are what most people are driving. But with fast charge times and long life batteries a near certainty, and no costly maintenance, EV's will, by consumer choice, be the most widely owned cars. Like I said earlier, when 4K big screen TV's first came out, few would spend that kind of money on one. Now everyone has one, cause they are affordable.

What makes you think there is no maintenance?

You clearly don't own a car.

 

[WinterBorn]

What makes you think there is no maintenance?

You clearly don't own a car.

There are no oil changes, tuneups, or the plethora of other scheduled maintenance of regular cars. Rotating tires and replacing wiper blades are your main concerns.

 

[westwall]

What you're likely seeing is resistance to EV's, they were broken because they were vandalized.

No one cares. They aren't being vandalized unless it's a mentally ill person. Your constant whining about EV bigotry is a fucking lie.

If you want an EV, go for it. Some of them are nice cars. I personally love the hybrid super cars, you get all the bang of a high performance engine, with the electric driven front wheel drive for less overall weight, and you don't have the mechanical linkages to fail.

Win, win.

Unlike you propagandists, real gear heads have no problem with EV's we simply don't care. We demand performance. We demand efficiency. When EV's are capable of delivering what we want we will buy them.

What we don't want, are moronic twats, who don't know how to drive, trying to force us into cars that don't give us what we want.

 

[westwall]

There are no oil changes, tuneups, or the plethora of other scheduled maintenance of regular cars. Rotating tires and replacing wiper blades are your main concerns.

And maintaining the suspension, and brake systems.

 

[Captain Caveman]

Many of the terrace housing or row houses have designated parking for a home or even a garage attached or underneath.

If not, then the charging would be off site.

There are some 33 million road users in the UK and one third are unable to charge from home. Unfortunately, the UK is much older than America and much smaller, so houses can often be packed in with narrow streets. So I don't know how 10 million+ motorists would manage. I know some believe you can just leave the car on the other side of town etc.. but that's not realistic. A terraced house with a garage is a rare terraced house indeed.

 

[westwall]

odanny

Just today I was watching the weather channel and they had one of their meteorologists there standing next to his electric car and talking about it. He was saying that he could only go about 25 miles on a charge! That seems impossible to me. One of the Tesla cars has a range of close to 300 miles on a charge. What kind of pile of crap electric car could he have that only goes about 25 miles on a charge. Maybe it was one of those hybrid cars that can either run off a battery or a gas motor. Though as far as cons go, the biggest con would probably be the price. They're just way too expensive.

There are some EV's targeting the short range commuter market with only 40 mile range.

 

[westwall]

Thats only if you fast charge everyday. A buddy of mine has had his for 5 years and no drop off yet. He hardly ever does fast charge. He charges at home.

No, you can only fast charge a set number of times and then Tesla prevents that ability because it kills battery life fast.

 

[Papageorgio]

What you're likely seeing is resistance to EV's, they were broken because they were vandalized.

I own an electric car and it has never been vandalized nor have I heard of other electric car owners having vehicles vandalized.

 

[westwall]

There is a huge difference in the space required for gasoline pumps and the space required for electric charging.

Charging an EV can be accomplished by running a power line to a charger. They could be used in parking lot style setups, with dozens of chargers in the space required for just a few pumps. And there is no need for different types. There is no High Test and Low grade electricty, nor is there an equivalent of the need for a separate diesel pump.

An electrician friend of mine just laughed his ass off at this post. He says that is an outright recipe for disaster, and no insurance company would go near a set up like that.

 

[toobfreak]

Wipe the spittle off your chin.

Wipe the cum off of yours.

 

[westwall]

I own an electric car and it has never been vandalized nor have I heard of other electric car owners having vehicles vandalized.

Car people don't vandalize cars. Progressive assholes, and the mentally ill, do.