Talk Morgan Forums Community Vehicle Talk (non-Morgan) New car for the new year

Wish you the best with this. My previous car was a Volvo LPG which had a 200 miles range on a tank, similarly required going to a limited range of places to fill up but then took only 5 mins rather than 30. Once the novelty wore off, the range really used to irritate the hell out of me. Too much o9f my life spent refuelling.

Yes, but with an electric you can recharge it overnight whilst it's sat in the garage. This would cover 99.9% of my usage. On a long run, stopping at a motorway services and having a coffee for 20 minutes doesn't seem too daunting.

You'd bettr hope you're first in the queue at the services Tim. Imagine 2 or 3 in front of you..........

It'll probably be 3 years or so before I've got the necessary dosh saved up. Given the rates of expansion of the charging network, and the range increases from the batteries as the technology improves, I really don't see that as being a problem, especially as the cars are hooked up to the internet. I could use the last bit of charge surfing the internet or doing some work whilst waiting.

Thinking back over the last 10 years or so, the only times I have ever needed to cover more than 200 miles in a day was when we've been on holiday - which has always been either in the Morgan or the Motorhome.

Some of my delivery trips have been a lot more than 200 miles. Fancy a bi-fuel Volvo...

Blimey, they make you do that in one day with your own car? Now I can see why you moan about your employers!

If I have to go down to the Exeter office it's more than 200 miles round trip in one day, but they offer free charging points in the car park, so that wouldn't be an issue.

I tested the a Model S today. It's really rather incredible, its really not hype behind the thing - and I think it really should give the German premium saloons something to worry about. The silence is fascinating, then you find yourself getting excited about the whizzing and whirring from the motors. The traction off the line is phenomenal...

Tim, you'd better hope nobody buys them......if they get popular, in 3 years time those queues at the charging point will be several hours long. I mean really. However many new points they plan to build, just imagine your local petrol station with lots of pumps......if every filling took 30 minutes! And that 30 mins doesn't fill up the tank, it just lets you top up another 70 milesworth. It'll take a gigantic leap in battery technology before the electric car becomes useful for long journeys. Absolutely great for local work though. Funnily enough, I believe the Tesla uses old technology batteries to be the best in it's field.
Nick

The reason there are queues at petrol filling station pumps is because people can't refuel their cars at home every night...

I'm completely unconvinced by the range criticisms levelled at battery cars. There's no real reason why there could not be a charging point at every parking space in a motorway service area, solving the access issues. Within a few years initiatives like Ostler and/or the Tesla battery swap system will have solved the extreme range issues, and there's absolutely no reason to imagine there won't be significant advances in battery technology.

I admit was a bit sceptical when the first Priuses (Prii?) came out, but not now. Remember all the doom mongers saying the batteries wouldn't last 10 minutes and then they'd all have to go to landfill, poisoning the planet? But over the last 10 years they have conclusively proved it was all a load of tosh, the batteries are lasting longer than even the most optimistic forecasts.

Petrol will be around for years to come, but its days as the fuel of choice for private cars are numbered.

They have done more than just sort the powerplant. The interior. The user interface on the touchscreen puts so many established vendors to shame. The plant is impressive at the opposite end of the scale to Morgan. Not better in that comment mind you.

It is a contender. I just want a POWERPLANT noise to fill the other senses