Talk Morgan Forums Community Vehicle Talk (non-Morgan) Real world eV usage

All problems take to solve is time and the will to solve the problems.

Physics and chemistry laid down the fossil fuel reserves over millions of years to bind up the energy available in the various distillates, it didn't take man that long to work out how to use it.

One thing that needs to be learnt is to avoid a one cap fits all solution. There is no reason why a variety of energy sources shouldn't be sought to replace fossil fuels for transportation.

In some cases it does look like those in power don't like the idea of personal individual transport types and that we should all share some communal transport system, it won't work and would risk that very system being held to ransom by those that operate it for one reason or another.

Commercial vehicles should be the first vehicles that are forced to use alternate propulsion systems, sitting in your electric only driven car stuck in traffic with busses trucks and vans sat idling belching out fumes should have questions being raised.

I dipped my toe in the hybrid market and at first you play the eco meter game and they do work well as the ultimate stop start long distance transport, but when you are sat there at a stand still switching the cabin ventilation to recirculation to avoid breathing in the fumes and then when driving normally on the open road and the car returns less mpg than a cheaper diesel, it makes you wonder why you bothered. (and dynamically for me it was a very dull experience)

The one thing stopping me considering an all electric drive as well as the cost is the range - call it selfish if you like but I like to be able to cover large distances and know I can cover them easily without having to micromanage the vehicles performance to eke out that last mile, and although we know we need to take frequent decent breaks, I am not sure the elastic band recharging time scale on current chargers and vehicles would suit me. If the infrastructure was there for hydrogen where a fill up would be similar to what we have now with current ICE filling stations then I would consider a fuel cell or even Hydrogen ICE conversion. I know it's early days but I am watching this keenly.

If you drive into London then just look on the road next to you. Almost all cars are single occupancy. If there was a way of improving mpg then optimising this would be the biggest of all.

I tried to car share here, but due to cycle of shifts, only one I could do from my town to work, worked out at a compatibility of 2 days in 3 weeks. There is a guy from my building at work nearby but although he is on sort of the same shifts he starts and finishes an hour later than me.

As for public transport 3½ hours to do 20 minute journey in car (nevermind trying to tally with my shifts)

Is there a single company developing all the battery recycling etc. stuff mentioned above, is there a single one not funded by enormous government grants....I include all solar panel deals as well. I accept that some don't consider themselves "over wealthy" but, in fact, we (Morgan owners) are indeed very much more wealthy than average. Here in Hampshire there are many thousands of people on 15/20T a year and they are all forced to support the installation of the solar, wind and electric car buyers, when they are in no position at all to avail themselves of these products. Not one of which is a financially viable proposition relying as they do on gov support.
And to say 1/3 of our power comes from renewables is speaking very "broadly" indeed, isn't it?
Nick

Yes, they all are. No-one is getting any subsidies from Government, it's the other way round. The Feed-in Tariff is designed to persuade consumers to install micro generation and get a subsidy for going it. The Suppliers have to pay around £40/MWh to the Generator for the power they generate, but the wholesale price of Electricity at the moment is only about £30/MWh, so it's the suppliers who are suffering.

It's true that consumers have to pay the 'green tariff' as part of their bills, it's all about reducing carbon output, and for an average family with an electricity bill of around £1200 a year, it's around £130.

They can offset this by installing micro generation and energy conservation measures, it costs around £50 to have your house checked over by a professional who will then advise on the most appropriate measures to reduce your bills. Purchasing the necessary insulation, solar panels, triple glazing or whatever can then be funded either by the consumer themselves, or through the 'Green Deal' arrangement that is funded by the Supply companies. If you can't afford to install high-grade insulation, for example, you can get your supplier to pay for it and then pay it off at very low interest rates through your electricity bill.

Average overall savings that can usually be achieved by getting it from a D average to a B ratings are int he region of £300 or so a year, so there's plenty of scope for people to save more than their green tariff costs.

As for people with solar panels, storage batteries, and EVs there is considerable scope for them to monetise their investment by participating in VPP arrangements, which are being offered by loads of companies. This enables them to sell the power they have generated and stored at times when the spot price is very high. If they can't afford the investment themselves there are plenty of companies able to help them in return for a cut of the profits.

£1,200 a year for electricity that's crazy we pay £384 with eon - our electricity and oil bill doesn't come to £1,200 pa. It's a thermally efficient 3 bedroom 40 year old house but no solar gizmo's.

Sorry, my typo - that's the average for dual-fuel. The green levy is 9%, or £112 on the average. The £112 splits out as follows:

£47 goes on the ECO scheme which helps householders install energy saving measures, and the 'Green Deal' financing

£30 goes to subsidise large renewable energy generation schemes

£11 goes to support the Warm Home Discount which helps low-income pensioners pay for heating in winter

£8 goes to run the EU emissions trading system

£5 goes to pay for the Carbon levy

£3 goes to pay for the Smart Meter rollout

I'm on my second Tesla. 20 months old, clicked over 60,000 miles today on this one, did 53,000 miles on the first one.

Drove to Edinburgh from Ludlow yesterday, drove back this evening. No range/charging issues.


Drove to Geneva, no range/charging issues. Drove to Bergen with the kids for a week long break. No range or charging issues.


The first one for me was free if I allow for the petrol costs saved. The second one will have some cost as the tax break lower but probably not going to be too much.


The Kona looks like a nice option in the £20-£35k range

Well said Nick. I understand what Tim says....well most of it, but at the end of the day most families on low incomes will not be able to afford EVs or energy saving mods to their houses, grants or no grants, when they need every penny.
Converting us fully to renewable energy is going to be a long and tough haul.

I have made a start....I have a very effective solar panel topping up the battery on the boat!

It's always the poorest in any society that are hit hardest, not only are they less able to take advantage of technology that reduces carbon emissions, but they are also disproportionately affected by the results of the rest of society not doing so, through exposure to air pollution or heatwave temperatures. I don't however see that as an argument for not trying to reduce carbon emissions through the use of EVs.

There is absolutely no doubt that if we are going to prevent runaway climate change effects, the costs on all of us are going to be massive. There are people out there who are arguing that the cost of doing so is so great that we might as well just accept that it's going to happen and live (and die) with the consequences - and I'm afraid they might well be winning the argument.

I'm really quite glad that I don't have any children or grandchildren, they are the ones who are going to have to live with the results of the actions we take now, we'll all be dead anyway in 20 years or so.