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[ChrisJC]

All of these 'complaints' about electric cars, e.g. toxic chemicals, battery raw materials, etc. is just failing to understand that engineers will solve the problems.
There will be a replacement to Lithium Ion. Lead Acid is old tech, we've had NiCad, and NiMH. Hearing aids use Zinc-air. There will be a new technology for that.
Petrol and Diesel cars are hardly free from 'toxic' materials. Just look at the volumes of old lubricants that have to be dispensed with.
We will develop new electricity generating technologies, or perhaps more likely the views of NIMBYs will be overruled and we get wind-farms on-shore, and new nuclear power plants. The pity is that it will take market forces rather than government visionaries to achieve that.

If you think hydrogen is the future, see this video:
https://youtu.be/vJjKwSF9gT8

BMW have had hydrogen engines for decades, and they've never made a viable car yet!

And the requirement to tow a caravan is ludicrous! what proportion of cars have a tow-ball? Very very few. It matters to almost nobody really.

We have 4 cars at the moment, and could easily use an electric one for most of our journeys. We could recharge it from our solar panels for nowt in the summer. And just use the big Diesel or petrol vehicles for when we need to do a long journey or tow something.

We also have to note that in 10 years you will call a driverless car via App. You won't own it, and it will always be very nice. No need for maintenance or parking. Easy.

Chris.

[DogDave]

Arguably in 10 years you won’t leave the house - drones will deliver your food, robots will do physical tasks and your job and any socialising will be done by virtual reality headsets - the meta verse or whatever could overtake driverless cars before they ever happen at scale.

Actually none of us have a clue what the future holds with technology, the only safe bet is all the projections will be wrong - that’s why we are not all living on the moon and in cities under the sea by 1990 or whatever. I’d still bet beer money on people driving series 2s long after Nissan leafs and teslas are all on the scrap heap. (Fully accepting that my projection could be as wrong as everyone else’s)

[Alan Drover]

I suspect people are very wary of buying used electric stuff because of worries with the battery. The cost of replacement will far exceed the value and a vehicle probably about 8 or so years old will be consigned to the scrap heapas it becomes uneconomical to replace the battery and another will be purchased with about the same life span. That's a large carbon footprint compared with a petrol or diesel engine vehicle which if properly maintained will go on for considerably longer.
We're being brainwashed just as with diesel engines on the 90's.

[Old Hywel]

All of these 'complaints' about electric cars, e.g. toxic chemicals, battery raw materials, etc. is just failing to understand that engineers will solve the problems…………..

Quite possibly, given time.
Unfortunately we are being steamrollered into adopting a particular technology by political decisions, rather than technological advances.

[Ian F]

Just an interesting point for everyone to chew over:

My daughter and husband are just over visiting from Vancouver, and we talked about energy costs.
Over in BC electricity is hydro generated and very cheap - circa 7p/kWh I think (?). This makes electric cars extremely attractive, and there are many Tesla's and similar on the streets. I believe Norway is in a similar place regarding electricity and electric vehicles.
UK electricity prices are ridiculously high - tied to gas price I think, for which we all suffer.
For the record I have 4 petrol vehicles, 1 diesel, and no intention of going electric. Might be different if I lived in Vancouver though.......

Ian F

[Gareth]

I have a VW E-Up! It is great for my needs most of the time. It now costs about £4 to recharge, and does about 130 miles on that. It used to cost £2, so the benefit has decreased, especially now petrol is getting cheaper. Still a lot cheaper to run than equivalent petrol model though.

As for the battery wearing out, not a problem for me. It’s guaranteed for 8 years.

I wish Land Rover had an 8 year guarantee on their TDV6 engines! I wonder what costs more to replace- a battery pack or a tdv6?

Still have my trusty S2a though, for when the electric grid melts down … and it’s free to drive … the Up! will cost me next year. Oh, and the Up! will need an MOT test. I can’t wait to see how they test the regenerative braking system!

[Worf]

I have a VW E-Up!

Are they made in Yorkshire?

[Gareth]

Are they made in Yorkshire?

Wish i had a pound for every time I heard that one! I could have a good night out!

[LN11AAB498A]

If you think hydrogen is the future, see this video:
https://youtu.be/vJjKwSF9gT8
Chris.

Hi Chris,

I don`t have a problem with electric cars in principle, a hydrogen fuel-cell powering an electric motor seems like a good idea.

JCB have made it work, and if you don`t mind me saying, they`re also more impressive/believable than Jason 

https://www.jcb.com/en-gb/campaigns/hydrogen
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fWmQgXcdqA

[YM LD]

I would be genuinely interested to hear people's thoughts on the New Monroe that's being produced in Scotland especially the non electric converts.

This video paints a very familiar story and vehicle in my opinion

Please watch this video. My opinion is that it looks amazing.

https://youtu.be/MfNDkvGyoFM

[Mycroft]

I would be genuinely interested to hear people's thoughts on the New Monroe that's being produced in Scotland especially the non electric converts.

This video paints a very familiar story and vehicle in my opinion

Please watch this video. My opinion is that it looks amazing.

https://youtu.be/MfNDkvGyoFM

Looks like a kit car version of the recently canned Bollinger off-roader. Suspect it'll suffer the same fate, once they've figured out final pricing vs demand.

[timfoster]

Just another "me too" for electric cars:

We have a 2nd hand Corsa-e which does 180 miles on a charge, a bit less in the winter, but is now our main family car (my wife's 17 mile round trip commute 5 days a week + run-around after kids, shopping, trips up to Belfast, etc.)

In our 2 years of ownership, it's not far off overtaking the mileage on the 4yr old 520d, and generally hasn't missed a beat. It's pleasant to drive, albeit a bit boring, but is comfortable, quiet, easy to park and has more than enough poke when you need it. And that's a 2 year old car now, I'd imagine newer cars are better still.

Now, I wouldn't be without the diesel just yet for the occasional longer journey we do, given the state of the charging infrastructure in Northern Ireland, but I'm confident that will get better, but would guess that I won't be replacing the BMW with another internal combustion-engined car when the time comes.

Of course, I'll be keeping the 2A too

 - tim

[YM LD]

I didn't declare my position

I am a "me 2" as well. I have driven a Nissan leaf since 2020. It's a 2019 production. I can't fault it. The selling point for me was that as the mechanics are so simple there is nothing to go wrong. I never use the breaks. There has been no wear on them. The battery so far has shown no degeneration.

I understand the concern about the mining of the raw materials but if looked after this car should last me a very long time. Unlike my previous BMW ICE which always broke down.

The selling point for me was the potential longevity of the car.

[Bbrian66]

Electric vehicles are here to stay as they provide the perfect solution to inner city air quality which seems to be seen as a vote winning issue at present. They also work very well in an urban environment where shorter trips are the norm.
Aside from concern about the source of some of the elements needed for electric vehicles, as far as cars are concerned the issue of range anxiety and lack of charging points is already causing the sales of new electric cars to level of dramatically.

The answer to the future of transport is likely to be a mixture of all the technologies out there. I also predict the availability of petrol and diesel at the pumps for many years to come, and that synthetic fuel will become much more widely available in time.

Bbrian66

[Craig T]

I had a look on Autotrader earlier.
Some earlier electric cars available from around £5-£6k. There is a really ugly Peugeot thing but some of the Leaf's and Zoe's are not bad looking machines and with around 50k miles on some, they must still make sense to buy?

I notice some of them though say "battery lease" on the adverts so I assume as well as the purchase cost you need to continue paying to rent the battery from the manufacturer?

Craig.