Talk Morgan Forums Community Vehicle Talk (non-Morgan) Time for Electric Power?

When I was in Bristol, I used City Car Club several times - hiring by the hour, with several cars available near my home at the time. I think the company is now Enterprise Car Club, and there is also Zipcar.

There is no service requirement or service schedule for a Tesla and certainly no annual service. There are only 200 moving parts - unlike 2,500 in most petrol cars. Screenwash and tyres are required - the same with any vehicle. I guess brake fluid every few years - again, the same for any vehicle. I don't anticipate having a service bill within 50,000 miles, but will undoubtedly need tyres.

In terms of reliability, the Model 3 comes with a four-year warranty, with the battery and drive unit (the main components) covered separately for eight years or 100,000 miles. I've done 8,000 miles in mine without a problem - I think this beats the brand new (and more expensive) Morgans I've owned along with Astons and Bentleys too.

There will always be 'I have a friend who had an unreliable Tesla' - same with all cars. Last time I went to B&C there was a McLaren that had been sitting there for 6 months waiting for parts. I have 5 mates with Teslas at the moment, non of whom have had a single issue. One drives regularly from Switzerland (where he lives) to Spain (where his business is). No range issues/anxiety and no reliability issues, despite huge mileages. Interestingly he had a Morgan 3W for a short while - it was so unreliable, he sold it.

I can't compare my usage to a 500 mile range diesel Audi - nor would I buy such a car in the first place. Nor have I considered the planet when buying any car previously - and I doubt many have here either. My V8 petrol cars are around 35p (36p if I drive quickly) a mile to run on petrol, compared to 3p in an EV. I don't think I've owned a car that could do 50,000 miles for £6,500 - I can only compare with what I've owned.

I'd have a Tesla in a flash if I could afford it. My mate has one, he says he gets 'software updates' which often will improve his range!

If you ever fancy a very economic 2002 Vauxhall Corsa 1.2 I'll swap

Ultimately it's a very boring tool, that gets me to work and back. Traffic means I very rarely get above 55mph, and often bimble along at 40mph for the entire journey. It's fairly comfy, has a roof, a heater and a radio so infinitely better than the bikes I used to commute on.

The money I save in fuel/running allows me to have my toys like my Morgan and collection of bikes. If I want speed/thrills I have my old trusty ZX10, which despite being 35 years old will still spank most stuff on the roads.

That said, when the Corsa eventually dies, I think I'm going to treat myself to an MGB GT. Will be a little worse for fuel, but I'll make savings in tax and insurance. Servicing will be a lot easier as I have all the tools ( I changed the pads/discs on the Corsa last weeked and had to buy a set of TORX sockets) and won't need to remove four ton of plastic before I can get to anything. And will be a lot more fun for the commute. Reckon I can pick up a reasonable 'fettler' for about £4 to £5K.

An EV would be perfect for the commute, but can't ever see them dropping into my price range.

Lack of use of EV brakes can lead to premature failure and issues depending on the road environment, you should still use the brakes periodically rather than one pedal driving all the time, given some of the donkeys on UK roads you will find you use the normal brakes on occasion though, VW have fitted drums on the rear of the ID.3 to reduce environmental wear and tear that occurs on lightly used rear discs.

We are currently debating getting a 2 seater Smart EV, which seems a big contrast to my usual V8 appetite, but for going to the local shops, to the allotment, my wife works 4 miles away, driving into Bath or Bristol and being able to park, it sort of makes sense and will cost next to nothing to run.

Has anyone got any experience of these ??

I've spoken to an owner. Apparently brilliant fun to drive. Low mileage range (70 ish miles) but that won't worry you in your context. Plenty of room for shopping and spades. It looked great to me.
Nick

Nick

Thank you for taking the time to speak to someone about it - much appreciated.

It is very logical for the use it will get and 70-80 mile range won't be a problem.

We will test drive one next week


Martin

A friend of mine runs one and has always a smile on his face talking about it.
It must be absolute fun in the city... (perfect turning circle as well as parking)

Never the less he thinks about a Fiat 500 as a potential next one...

The workshop building my MGB said that due to the environmental cost of producing steel etc. that I can drive my MGB once finished for 90,000km before it catches up to a new petrol car, or about 150,000km for an electric car. Not sure if he is right but the cost of manufacture must be fairly high, plus the light MGB with a modern Mazda engine should be fairly light on damage to the environment.

https://www.theguardian.com/environ...ric-cars-after-allegra-stratton-comments

If she rides her bike most places , only drives 3000miles a year and is happy with her old car then surely it is better for the environment for her to keep the car she has for trips than buying a new electric car. But that doesn't sell electric vehicles.

When it comes time to change the family car I hope the cost has dropped and range has increased that an electric car make sense. But for now I expect to keep using the Skoda Octavia and Skoda Rapid that both generally gets 5L/100km is less damaging to the environment than replacing the cars with new ones.

Note I said less damaging, I find it annoying how people say I bought an electric car to help the environment. To help the environment people need to learn that the best thing is to not buy anything and walk everywhere.

We used to have a saying at work "Never let Perfect be the enemy of Good". Sure, the *best* thing might be not to buy anything and walk everywhere, but the fact that we can't do that is no reason to carry on as we are regardless.