What will make you switch to an Electric Car?

[NRW 2,461]

In a rather Slow. a news week, a major government announcement about No sales of Petrol or Diesel engined cars after 2030 got me thinking.

As owners of Mk7 or 7.5 R cars - which we are finding a very hard act to follow when considering our next purchase......I think I’ll be keeping my 19 plate R for a while.  
 

I know everybody’s circumstances are different.  I’m retired, don’t need to travel for work.  We have 2 vehicles and I’m unlikely to travel 5k per year. But what is it that will force people to change to an Electric?  Road Tax at £1000, £2000 per year? Petrol at £5.00 per Litre?  There’ll be triggers for us all.

[Chris7.5R 175]

4 minutes ago, NRW said:

In a rather Slow. a news week, a major government announcement about No sales of Petrol or Diesel engined cars after 2030 got me thinking.

As owners of Mk7 or 7.5 R cars - which we are finding a very hard act to follow when considering our next purchase......I think I’ll be keeping my 19 plate R for a while.  
 

I know everybody’s circumstances are different.  I’m retired, don’t need to travel for work.  We have 2 vehicles and I’m unlikely to travel 5k per year. But what is it that will force people to change to an Electric?  Road Tax at £1000, £2000 per year? Petrol at £5.00 per Litre?  There’ll be triggers for us all.

 

Clearly the government isn't going to wait until 1 Jan 2030 to order us to stop buying ICE cars. The 'nudge' will start well before then, with way above inflation rises in VED and fuel duty. When people really stop needing liquid fuels then 'petrol' stations will gradually change to being charging points, and finding petrol will become as difficult as finding electricity is now. What is really unclear is the future of diesel for commercial vehicles. HGVs with 20-ton batteries or Zeppelin-sized H2 tanks?

[rbel5553 293]

Great questions in your post. I think a lot about that decision of eliminating petrol cars by 2030. It’s unimaginable to me but who am I but a lowly petrolhead. We all have to make an effort to save the planet though.
I’m well up on the E revolution I think and look closely at the developments. I would by an E car for sure but the real problem for now is do you have the courage or real desire to 1. Sell your R and go over to the “ other side”. 2. Keep your R ( as it is IMO the most phenomenal - in terms of technology, performance, safety, cross country ability, production Golf ever made) and go over to the “ other side”.
The trouble is that while I think the Golf Mk7R. Is a keeper it’s also a car that you will still want to drive and put a lot of miles on. I had a Mk1
Golf (KVV170Y) and put 150k miles on it and I’d drive it to my bedroom if I could. I did 100mph everywhere in it everyday- even going to work!But that was 1980. My Mk7 is the same to me but I’m not a lunatic and I know that cannot and should not be done these days on the public highway. It would be really hard to keep mileage low on the R that you keep.
I watch with interest for the rise of the E car tuning specialists. I hear rumblings already. Do you recall quite recently Chris Harris testing an E Aston or an E McLaren and when he brought it back into the pit lane the pit crew slid out the battery pack from the underside and slid a new charged one into its place? Done. That’s where we need to go.
Meerkat seeeeeemple! 48kWh out and 200kWh in....( I’m sure it’s not really that simple but let’s go with it for now. ) These are just musings...


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[camelsac2002 2,569]

 
Clearly the government isn't going to wait until 1 Jan 2030 to order us to stop buying ICE cars. The 'nudge' will start well before then, with way above inflation rises in VED and fuel duty. When people really stop needing liquid fuels then 'petrol' stations will gradually change to being charging points, and finding petrol will become as difficult as finding electricity is now. What is really unclear is the future of diesel for commercial vehicles. HGVs with 20-ton batteries or Zeppelin-sized H2 tanks?

I don’t think they will tbh - there will be plenty of people and families in minimum wage jobs etc who can’t afford a switch to an EV so they will still soldier on with 12 to 15 year old cars with “proper” () engines. As for hgvs, quite a few are now running on cng. Batteries won’t be an option especially for trucks like this designed to pull 500 tons. Incidentally, this truck was designed, fabricated and built in house by the company’s own engineers. It has a Volvo Penta marine Diesel engine developing 700 BHP and 3220 Nm of torque at 1200 rpm and weighs 72 tons - they built six
in total and are really good tools! Who said British engineering was dead?


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[rbel5553 293]

I don’t think they will tbh - there will be plenty of people and families in minimum wage jobs etc who can’t afford a switch to an EV so they will still soldier on with 12 to 15 year old cars with “proper” () engines. As for hgvs, quite a few are now running on cng. Batteries won’t be an option especially for trucks like this designed to pull 500 tons. Incidentally, this truck was designed, fabricated and built in house by the company’s own engineers. It has a Volvo Penta marine Diesel engine developing 700 BHP and 3220 Nm of torque at 1200 rpm and weighs 72 tons - they built six
in total and are really good tools! Who said British engineering was dead?


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Oh! If there are people awake on this Sunday a.m. I think you kicked a hornet’s nest... albeit two sides to every argument...
Lamborghini... Italian or German?
Aston..... British or German?
Rolls Royce. ... British or German
Bentley.......British or German?
Jaguar....... British or Indian? And finally : This MegaTruck .......British or Swedish?
Let’s go........


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[TechieAli 387]

Someone has to dig up the shared drive way to my Garage that has no Electricity and install a meter and charge point, after doing that say 10k, you then have to buy an EV. Cheapest is 18k (maybe more now). so after spending 28k I get to pay 14p a mile for my travel to work.

 

I'll do the maths on that one:

50 miles per week

50*52 weeks in a year = 2600 miles per year. Humm let round it up to 5000miles just for the sake of it.

@25mpg 5000/25 = 200 gallons of fuel a year.

200*4.55 = 910 litres of fuel per year

900*1.50 (at £1.50 a litre) thats £1350 per year.

£28,000 / £1,350 is 20.7 years.

 

I don't think anything will make me switch in a hurry. Never mind the UK power grid will not cope with everyone returning home from work and plugging in their cars.

[Raiden 1,270]

Unless a gun is held to my head I’m not changing!!!!!

Electric cars are boring and have no soul. Long term they are not that eco friendly. If Boris is insisting we all can only have electric cars in the future then does that mean will have electric only planes as well? They pollute a lot more than cars and once air travel is back to normal we are back to square one again.

Even when people went on and on about how good diesel cars where I was not changing to the devils fuel.


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[Chris7.5R 175]

I'm not in any way agreeing with or believing 2030. It's in the same class as the farcical promises we've had about carbon reduction, Covid testing and (until now) vaccines. But they're in a comfortable position to punish any stubborn (or poor) petrol user. With the massive tax increases we're going to see to cover the current financial shambles, who's going to notice what happens to the motorist?

[Kevmoz 75]

I’m only 18months in my R, and third Golf in a row - previous 2 were GTD-s, but I’m looking at the next car to reside on my drive and electric is on the list. However, I believe that there will be a jump in both battery performance and miles per charge so think I may buy my current Golf at the end of the 4 year PCP deal as it does everything I want, but doesn’t hurt to keep an eye on what’s coming and some of the performance figures are insane with full electric - Tesla Model S plaid is sub 2 seconds to 60! Ok it’s the price of a starter home but the performance will trickle down.

[rbel5553 293]

Somebody mention electric aircraft? They’re coming too!


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[goodbadboy 3,315]

18 hours ago, NRW said:

In a rather Slow. a news week, a major government announcement about No sales of Petrol or Diesel engined cars after 2030 got me thinking.

As owners of Mk7 or 7.5 R cars - which we are finding a very hard act to follow when considering our next purchase......I think I’ll be keeping my 19 plate R for a while.  
 

I know everybody’s circumstances are different.  I’m retired, don’t need to travel for work.  We have 2 vehicles and I’m unlikely to travel 5k per year. But what is it that will force people to change to an Electric?  Road Tax at £1000, £2000 per year? Petrol at £5.00 per Litre?  There’ll be triggers for us all.

In needs to look decent for one thing.....have decent range and most important of all be affordable and practical...(charging-wise)....

[Kevmoz 75]

Interesting bit on the move to better battery solutions - solid state, whatever that means - but looks like we are a few years away (here in the sticks anyway) from the full conversion to electric.

 

Tech Tent: Will better batteries persuade us to go electric? https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-55016147

[Hewittjamie1 106]

My current thoughts are, and have been for a while that I will keep the 'R' for quite some time as it's only just over a year old and paid for. Not sure it will ever become a classic to everyone, but It does everything I want so well when I do use it rather than my wife's diesel fiesta 🤣.

My decision will come in the next 3-4 years time when the fiesta needs changing, what then??? It might seem strange at that point to pay a large chunk of cash out on another petrol/diesel car? But what will be available electric wise in another 3-4 years time?

And if I do keep the 'R' indefinitely, what will be the cost implications? Some people I speak to think fuel may become cheaper or stay a relatively similar price due to supply and demand? But then as others have pointed out I'm sure the government will want to claw back some cash when a large percentage of the population have stopped paying road tax as they have gone electric?

What about all the people who have older classic cars?? My neighbour has two mk1 GTI's, are they just going to become expensive garage artwork?

So many questions..................☹️

[Cranester83 12]

I know it's PHEV and not pure EV but - I'm just handing back a G20 BMW 330e MSport+ this week - it's my company car and I've got a new job next week.

I've just bought a Golf R Estate as I won't be doing much mileage and want some fun.

But - I tell you this - the 330e MSport is a fantastic car - and with Xtraboost function on it brings the car really to life! Great to drive, interior features and standar spec list is impressive - only downside is the reduced boot size due to batteries in the boot.

 

But I get 30+ miles on all electric when i need it - the company car BIK tax rate is miniscule and the one benefit of EV power is instant response acceleration off the line. Only thing you really need to get used to is the regenerative braking which takes a little getting used to!

Edited November 23, 2020 by Cranester83

[Dollyman 349]

59 minutes ago, Hewittjamie1 said:

What about all the people who have older classic cars?? My neighbour has two mk1 GTI's, are they just going to become expensive garage artwork?

My 2 Triumph classics are from the early 70's and ran on 100 octane fuel, must have 98/99 today or they fart and burp and generally drive like a pig on standard unleaded;  I fear for their future.

 

Call me a cynical old git if you like but I believe the zero VED on electric cars is just a short term sweetener, I can see VED on these being phased in as numbers grow.