Potholer 54 delivers an excellently researched video, as usual. I have just watched it and since I have nothing better to post at the moment, here it is.
Unfortunately there is still one big hurdle in the way progress here. I wanted to actually buy an electric car, but unfortunately the upfront costs are still to prohibitive for me. No matter how much the prices of electric cars have fallen, the purchasing cost of an electric equivalent of my current car are three times higher. Whic means I would have to save up money for three years to get that car. And in the mean time I would not have any car whatsoever.
That video is excellent, just like his others. In my 41 years of driving I’ve never owned a new car so an electric one will have to wait it’s turn for me too. Fortunately for me rust isn’t a big problem in our country so I can continue to maintain my current ride, a 24 year old Mercedes, until an electric conversion becomes feasible.
Yep, that’s one of the issues.
As Charly obviously knows and many others probably know, Germany is still struggling with the Diesel scandal, where big German car manufacturers cheated, resulting in much higher emissions. In turn many cities ban certain diesels from their city limits, while the manufacturers are not really held reliable. Our sorry excuse for a transportation minister says that the current offers of the car industry to give you a discount when you buy a new diesel are enough and they wonder why the car industry is currently not making any sales.
I mean, why wouldn’t you go back to somebody who cheated you the last time you bought a car and spend money you don’t have on a new car without knowing whether you will still be allowed to drive it in a few years time?
Anyway, transportation is an issue that needs to be solved socially, not individually. Which is, btw, an issue where I’m often annoyed by and with people who think that the solution is to just ban the diesels and make the fuel expensive. They#re usually people who live in large cities with functioning public transport.
Do they think I enjoy spending the better part of an hour each morning and afternoon in the car?
I like the idea of electric cars, but their downfall for me living in a country of wide open spaces where I think nothing of driving to and from Adelaide -- Melbourne is the fuel issue. It is so quick to pump petrol, so slow to recharge.
The industry needs to settle on a standard battery size and connectors so drivers can pop in to a servo and quickly swap out the battery and continue the journey.
David, 25 years ago I used to regularly drive from Adelaide to Melbourne and back. On my own I would sometimes drive 7-8 hours without a stop, so a shorter range vehicle would not have suited me. In later years I would break the trip in half with a wee stop and a good half hour walk at the Boardwalk in Nhill. If there had been a supercharger and I was driving a suitable EV I would not have noticed much difference.
As for battery swapping, I doubt that it will take off other than in strictly controlled fleets, such as delivery vans in the city. The diversity of vehicle types would preclude common battery units. Standardising a fast charge plug would be a better deal. I read that Tesla are moving that way with the release of the Model 3 in Europe.