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

My EV always has a full tank in the morning, my 2 V8's generally don't nor do any of my other cars or bikes.

So in reality for most peoples usage on a day to day basis there is no need to stop at a fuel station to fill up. Much more efficient! Of course if a quick cuppa or comfort break is needed then a 10 minute top up will add 60 to 100 miles to the tank with my EV.

However, in my own circumstances I do a higher than average annual mileage and am happy to trade off the extra hour charging to save around £9-10,000 of petrol cost. The hour can be utilised having a bit of lunch or dinner or making a few calls, email catch up etc.

I, like you, do a fair few miles in a year i.e. 35k +. I am getting closer to getting an EV, however I cannot make it quite work for me...yet!

What model of vehicle are you driving (if it OK to ask?) - thanks

Mark

Mark I have a Model S 90D. Previously I had the S 85.

If I were buying one today I would go for the S 100D. The Model S P100DL whilst it's a supercar beating dragracer not worth the extra. I find the regular model is only marginally slower than a standard Aero 8.

The Roadster 2 is a different story and if it ever gets made will be in my garage!

Thanks for that - impressive vehicle

New study on EV from Germany....wow it is getting confusing now

A German automotive consultancy Berylls Strategy Advisors:
"As we know electric cars do not release carbon emissions, but the problem lies in the production of their lithium-ion batteries. The energy required to make the cells results in a high carbon footprint. It is so high that the automotive experts have estimated that an electric vehicle in Germany would take more than 10 years to break even compared with an efficient combustion engine’s emissions.

Dr. Jan Burgard, managing partner at Berylls said in a statement, “Electric cars appear to be the panacea and reduce emissions by 35 %. After all, electric vehicles do not emit any carbon dioxide while driving – at least that is a widely held opinion. EV might not be as eco-friendly as the industries think it is. Unfortunately they do not improve the situation. After all, electricity generation – including for electric cars – is still strongly dependent on fossil fuels in many EU countries. The climate does not care whether carbon dioxide comes from the exhaust pipe or whether it is released when lignite is burned to generate electricity or in energy-intensive battery production.”

The study states that building a 500 kilograms EV car battery or bigger in a fossil fuel-powered factory will result in 74% more carbon emissions than producing a traditional vehicle. Burgard says that it is time to re-consider the diesel approach if the world wants to reach the environmental targets of 2030 EU CO2"

All arguably true, but there are two key facts that they seem to neglect to take into account:

1. It may be true that total emissions are as bad with EV production as with ICE, but what's killing people is the high density of tailpipe emissions in cities. This is where EVs score very heavily over ICE vehicles

2. There is a considerable amount of electricity required to refine gasoline, models as to exactly how much vary, but a figure of 8KWh/gallon of gasoline is credible. Which means that a gasoline-powered car needs more electricity to drive 100 miles than an EV does!

The other key point is fossil fuel powered factories. The long term plan to reduce emissions also includes tackling these. There's no magic wand and things cannot change overnight.

Tim do you have more little shockers like point 2 ?

Thats a real mind bender for me.

I agree about tailpipe emissions in cities....not just diesel but many modern direct injection petrol engines as well.....but also micro particles from tyres etc. But the focus seems to be on reducing CO2 and global warming and we have had the wool pulled over our eyes regarding the “purity” of EVs in this respect never mind the environmental cost of building and installing wind and solar farms.

This suggests that if all the electricity used to refine fuel was simply used to charge vehicles instead, there would be sufficient generation capacity (on a global basis) to power electric cars and that all emissions directly from cars would in effect be eliminated.