Talk Morgan Forums Community Vehicle Talk (non-Morgan) buying an EV

Of course money is the big thing with EVs. Affordability is not taken into account by any dogma driven net zero pipe dream. Most of the UK private buyers are not enthusiasts, and want simple transport. They don't want supertech, they don't want touch screens and auto transmission, and I doubt many even consider depreciation, because the initial cost is what matters.

Discounts and incentives won't cut it because the headline cost is way too high for the majority, even the cheapo Chinese stuff.

I can understand where you are coming from Dave, but then do you imagine that in general UK citizens are so verry different in our priorities than Norwegians....? My guess is that financial incentives overcame the expected resistance to change in Norway as I suspect it could well do so here if similar incentives might be applied....?

Dave's picture is where I lie. Initial cost new is way too high. Too much tech and gadjetry, infrastructure still lagging.
Last night I watched avreview of the Tesla3. Too much tech, over reliance on computers, emergency braking not good. Several positives but not enough for me. The Tesla charging system was looking good.
A lot of manufacturers seem to be suffering from slower than expected uptake versus the politically imposed sales targets of EV/ICE ratio.
My guess is increased penalties for ICE ownership plus adding them for EV owners. There's ££££££ to be made!
It's a similar pattern to solar/ feed in tarifs and the diesel promotion for CO2.

Too true. I remember when I lived in Bavaria there was a reduction on road tax to buy a car with a cat. In 1986 son #1 had arrived so bye bye Audi Coupe hello Audi 80s.

The thing is that the population of Norway is about 5.5 million. I have no idea what the cost of electric is there, or whether EV sales are shown by numbers or by a percentage of 5.5 million.

But either way, The UK is very different to Norway. You have to see the poverty in the North of England to understand this, and this tranche of the population is a big number. I suspect poverty in Norway is significantly less than the UK, but even if it's the same percentage wise, it will be a tiny number.

Then factor in the hundreds of back to back houses (in Leeds for example) and tens of thousands of terraced houses, and already you have thousands who can never embrace EVs. When I used to walk to the station at the time we still had tax discs, there's a street of terraced houses I walked down each day, and I would estimate that 50% of the cars were without a tax disc, or with a tax disc two to three months out of date.

Small population in a big country with lots of natural resources and a massive sovereign wealth fund courtesy of oil.

They can afford to use a fiscal stick and carrot to incentivise EV uptake which would be problematic in more populous European countries reliant on suckling from the ICE tax teat.

sospan, too much tec, as a disadvantage works for an old Luddite such as I, but in reality we live in an age where simple selection via on and off switches has been long since disappeared in so many aspects of life for the last 20 years or more, it seems the menu system of operation is everywhere from domestic appliances of all sorts and also in ICE vehicles as well as EV`s. For sure there are hoards of folk who do not want or who have given up on trying to keep up with technology in the home let alone their car...I am one such, but then for so many of us there is a need to adapt and adopt so much to get by from day to day as the world around us evolves...? Over reliance on computers... (-: You are singing my song...BUT... try living without anything digital today, I suspect you would find that close to impossible. I wonder how many years you would have to go back in time to find a vehicle without reliance on digitisation...

Dave money is the big thing with everything, in terms of guiding a population in one way or another, I suspect Norwegians are no different in their average decision making processes, just that financially things are different for them.. As for affordability, for sure I can remember when cars were few and far between, but the roads seem jam packed with them and have been for more than a couple of decades, so much so that parking on the pavements is the norm in so many streets, even those on minimum wages or not in work seem to have vehicles these days.. such is "progress." While the initial cost of an EV is high, if for any reason that changes then I suspect adoption might increase, and if the charging infrastructure improves in time, I suspect there may be a further increase in adoption, primarily because they have so many driver aids, mechanically more efficient devices than an ICE and likely to be easier/cheaper to maintain long term.... Time will tell..

As I have ever typed, I see my EV as an ideal personal transportation device for the old man I have become, and if I were forced to have only one car, the Tesla would be it..

As ever each to their own.

Should you have any real interest in EV thinking in Norway, you might find interest in this vid...?

Go back to the history of mobility. Who could afford a car in the beginning? It was a very small minority. It took over 50 years from Carl Benz's first vehicle in 1886 to VW's first mass production in Europe. The first Tesla was sold in 2008. That was just 18 years ago. At that time, the ICE car had already been around for over 120 years. Now a new technology is to replace an old one that is affordable for almost everyone in Europe. This will take longer on the timeline than the introduction of a technology that did not exist before. It is logical to me that with the current state of technology, an EV vehicle is expensive to produce and, as was the case back then, only affordable for a small proportion of the population. But that will change. It's only a matter of time before an EV is cheaper to produce than a ICE. The Chinese are just making a start. Because of climate change, the spread of E-mobility is not happening fast enough for green politicians and they are trying to do this with subsidies for a wide variety of models in different countries.
I am not a friend of EV vehicles although I drive one myself. I simply lack the emotion. But sooner or later we will all drive EV cars at affordable prices.

Here's the video I mentioned earlier. A bit long winded in parts

I just watched a Tesla (model Y?) reversing into a neighbour’s drive.
There was the most almighty scrape!
It appears that it bottomed out over the downhill lip of the drive!
I didn’t go across and look closely, but it sounded expensive.
I wonder what damage was caused?
Bud
4/4 - Stanley