EV general discussion

I am in the situation where I could theoretically use an electric vehicle for my daily commute in and out of Canberra. I currently drive a supercharged RRS to do those duties but there would need to be some serious compromises:

I don't want to drive a corolla sized vehicle - this limits my choice somewhat and negates most of the concessions such as FBT exemptions that only apply to vehicles below the LCT limit. (and to people who live in Balmain)
I don't mind Volvos so a polestar might be a contender, the Polestar 3 has a 600KM range but isn't available until maybe 2nd quarter 2024 and is listed at 145,000 to order now. Following the rule of thumb of don't charge over 80% and don't discharge below 20% from the Tesla owners that I work with that leaves you a range of 360KM, I still have range anxiety...
Using it every day means charging it every night, so I would need to look at a solar battery for $20K so I don't have to use mains to charge it. Alternately that charging comes out of my already exorbitant electricity costs because we are on a "regional" tariff.
There is a significant risk that the current road use charges that EV's are not charged would get added to the running costs as well.

Unlike the Rangie I cannot tow a car trailer
Unlike the Rangie I cannot buy a second hand EV and expect a reasonable lifespan from it
Unlike the Rangie I cannot do a day trip to Sydney without significant planning and waiting around for the car to recharge

We're not there yet from my point of view.

Regards,
Tote

This is bizarre, I usually make just one single post on electric car threads.... And absolute nutters usually come out of the woodwork to scream and rave at me like absolute crazies. Do we only have normal sensible people on here? Where is all the loopy greenies?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by DoubleChevron

Where is all the loopy greenies?

---

Waiting for a full charge? :whistling:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by DoubleChevron

I'm not anti-electric car .... I'm just anti-stupidity. Anything that can't be driven for at least 15years without major repair is just nuts. 15years sounds like a long time, but that's only a 2008 model car. I don't even own a car that is that young.

---

Yep, you only need to look at the thread I have about a replacement for my Daughters 97 Camry - it will probably be around 2005 to 2008 model of something - which is more than she can afford and I’ll be chipping in a bit to make it happen. She works full time but doesn’t have a spare cent these days and they want to try and get 10 year plus cars off the road and have everyone in shiny new EV’s? They’re dreamin’

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Homestar

.............................. and they want to try and get 10 year plus cars off the road and have everyone in shiny new EV’s? They’re dreamin’

---

Modern governance!

Attachment 185577

I hope oz keeps it sanity in some way for quite some time to come, here is hoping...

As I just posted in another thread I finally got to see a list price including taxes for the absolute base model grenadier and in this completely mad tree hugging hippy part of europe that car would ens up costing 280K AUD. That's right, the price difference is CO2 tax. By that same token a range rover costs twice as much to buy as well. I do not foresee ANY grenadiers to be sold in this country whatsoever except for a happy few. Also, the tax deduction on tradie vans is going to be cancelled in 2025 so can you imagine having to buy a ute or van or anything at that price?! This country has lost it's marbles in a big way.

Now, we are basically one big urban area/city here, certainly for down under standards but even here EV's don't really work and don't get me started on public transport, it doesn't work either. The funny thing is where the EV WOULD shine, is on the cusp of where public transport fails. That's a small range of operation but hear me out:

When you live in outside of the city centre of one of our bigger cities and you have a job to commute to in an adjacent city, also on the outskirts, public transport is woefully inadequate since you need to hop from bus to tram to train and whatever. I have discussed this with a mate of mine and he has timed it at 1 hour and 15 minutes. This includes all the discomfort of public transport and walking time. That same trip, through morning traffic with a car takes him about 20 minutes. Still twice as long as on a sunday morning but that's congestion ;) A trip like that can easily be made with a smaller EV like the honda E for example without the need to charge at the office, even in winter or summer. Once back home it has a whole night to recharge slowly. This also means you put a smaller and less heavy car on the road that does not eat up the bitumen and there is less waste overall. The problems are clear of course, that car would not be useful for pretty much anything else.

And for the fans, there is no way to solve that public transport conundrum either. In my puny little country it is probably better organized than most countries and it still sucks. It is never going to be the answer and neither are cycling lanes but :) we digress.

I agree with doublechevron, although I am certainly not a fan of the double chevron brand :) that this is not EV bashing, it's stupidity bashing.

Cheers,
-P

Something we all knew but no one was wanting to talk about - EV batteries pose big risks — and new figures reveal how much hazardous waste they could create - ABC News

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Homestar

Something we all knew but no one was wanting to talk about - EV batteries pose big risks — and new figures reveal how much hazardous waste they could create - ABC News

---

If I owned an electric car, it would also be parked in its own structure. In the event of a battery fire ... (I know, the equivalent of winning tattslotto). I don't want the damn thing torching my house... The boss women and kids could be asleep inside that :o ) Same deal with a house battery. I don't want that thing attached to the house.

Hurricane Ian flood damage to EVs creating ticking time bombs in Florida - ABC News

We are having lots of areas flooding. Imagine if we had house batteries being flooded.... weeks down the track after everything has dried out the damn things will be going up and torching entire neighborhoods (they can't be put out remember .... a battery fire would be an absolutely terrifying event to witness -- that is if you survived it).

We are getting close, but we just aren't really there yet IMO.

Well Ive daily driven my EV Landy for over 5 years now . ( Local trips only) And love it .
Though the 2-1/4 is/was probably the worlds most dependable engine , swapping it for Electric was one of the best things Ive ever done.

For longer trips obviously I don't have the range and have 4 other ICE vehicle to chose from, that rarely get driven.

For multi vehicle households one EV for local trips is a sensible idea, Don't need a battery capable of 500km, why cart around 500kg of battery and pay a premium when you hardly ever need it.

ALL those anti EV propaganda articles are paid for by big oil / Koch brothers etc . People can believe what they want, theres aways extremism on both sides on an argument, don't listen, don't care, it dosent bother me at all. Just do what's right for you.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by goingbush

Well Ive daily driven my EV Landy for over 5 years now . ( Local trips only) And love it .
Though the 2-1/4 is/was probably the worlds most dependable engine , swapping it for Electric was one of the best things Ive ever done.

For longer trips obviously I don't have the range and have 4 other ICE vehicle to chose from, that rarely get driven.

For multi vehicle households one EV for local trips is a sensible idea, Don't need a battery capable of 500km, why cart around 500kg of battery and pay a premium when you hardly ever need it.

ALL those anti EV propaganda articles are paid for by big oil / Koch brothers etc . People can believe what they want, theres aways extremism on both sides on an argument, don't listen, don't care, it dosent bother me at all. Just do what's right for you.

---

If you read the messages. Nothing said here is anti-electric car. If you have one that works for you ... Go for it! I reckon an old Citroen DS for example would be brilliant as an electric car (it has a dated wheezy 4cylinder motor that is crude and noisy ... that also spins backwards and has inboard gearbox mounted brakes). So to repower this would be very difficult.... excpet for electric. And electric motor will not care which way it spins, and it can bolt upto the existing gearbox :arms: You would end up with the what is probably the smoothest, quietest most comfortable car ever made.