Lithium ion batteries used in full EVs (not hybrids) are basically the same as for laptops, iPhones etc. We all know how laptop batteries start to lose the plot after only a year of daily use and are pretty much fooked after 2-3 years, right?
So it seems to me that, whereas a Nissan Leaf might have a range of 73 miles when you buy it,
http://www.nissanleafreview.net/nissan-leaf-range with spanking new batteries, this is going to be markedly reduced in a short period of time. It won't be that the battery is totally knackered as such, merely wearing out but still within what will doubtless be claimed as within serviceable life? So if your commute is 70 miles, then, don't buy an EV. And if it's even less than that, the savings in fuel costs will be negligible anyway, in comparison to the huge premium you're paying for the cost of the car in the first place. Seriously, why anyone would spunk £25k on one of these things, instead of £15k on a nice, 60mpg diesel that doesn't need massively expensive batteries every few years and ten grand in change towards fuel, is totally beyond my comprehension.
9000 miles/annum = 27,000 miles after 3 years
Assume 60mpg combined cycle (my 2 litre TDI Golf now manages 55mpg real world and has 140PS, and isn't even the latest Blu Tech); this gives 450 gallons of diesel
Assume £5/gallon, this gives a total 3-year fuel cost of £2250, which isn't even a quarter of the £10k premium when buying an EV over a normal car (ignoring £5k govt subsidy on top of that - WHY am I the taxpayer being made to subsidise Japanese electric cars instead of building new schools/hospitals etc??).
And at the end of 3 years, the diesel car doesn't have a knackered battery costing thousands to replace, it has unlimited range and isn't going to bin out on me in the middle of nowhere, and this example in any case ignores the cost of electricity also, which will not be zero, obv. Etc.
Alternatively, blow the whole £25k on a brand new BMW model 320ed that does 70mpg combined cycle, 109g/km CO2 and in considerable luxury and style, not to mention infinitely better performance, road holding, handling, driving pleasure etc. In short then, EVs suck balls IMO; maybe this'll change when they come up with an affordable, much more durable, higher charge density battery.
As for Quentin Wilson's remark that engines need replacing after 7 years? LOL, what a belmer. The average annual mileage is something like 9k/annum, so that's only 63k miles - diesel engines are barely even fully run in at that mileage and usually good for 150k, sometimes much, more more. (The VAG independent around here frequently sees diesel Passats etc. with 250k+, and they've been taxi'd at that). Anyway, I seriously doubt that an EV with a range of 70-odd miles between charges (at best), each charge lasting hours at at time and all the faff that goes with it, will ever be called upon to even do more than 9k miles/annum - it's hardly as though they're going to be hammering up and down motorways, since they can't do this for any length of time anyway.
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Dr Lave wrote:
Of course, he's normally wrong but
interestingly wrong