Thread: EV general discussion

Originally Posted by goingbush

If they had a 450-500km range then why do you need to charge in 15-30 min. plug it in at home and let it charge overnight.

Realistically how often does anybody drive 450-500km in one shot (unless on holidays) , if your daily commute is 50-100km your paying for & carting around 250extra kg of batteries that you rarely , if ever going to use .

Buy an electric as a local runabout / commuter & keep ICE for Long distance . Problem Solved

My EV Landy has a Range of about 80-100km I daily drive it & rarely need to charge any more than every 5-6 days .
We also have 4 x ICE cars, I normally probably drive one of them once a month for an out of town appointment or to go to Aldi etc , honestly cant remember last time I bought fuel, maybe 6 months ago. The Iveco still has one full tank , hate to think how much diesel will cost next time I need to fuel up.

Because a LOT of people can’t charge at home - most of the inner city for a start - I’m in the burbs but also wouldn’t be able to as the lead would need to cross a footpath - we can’t all keep cars in the garage or driveway or want to uproot out entire existence to be able to do so. If I look at my street about half of the vehicles get parked on the road with no way to charge them. This alone is a massive hurdle to entry for many. It’s just not that simple.

I did 1300KM last weekend and there was only one charging station along my entire route - and it was for Teslas, not the great unwashed - but plenty of service stations - in and out in 5 minutes tops at the ONE stop I needed for the whole trip. I would have had to add an extra 200 plus KM and hours to my trip to do it in an EV. I wanted to see specific sights on my travels not waste half a day sitting around waiting to go the next few hundred KM - I wouldn’t have got to see half the things I wanted to in an EV.

You also make it sound like everyone has so much spare cash they can just buy an EV as a second car - I’m not sure if you keep up with the news but a lot of people are doing it tough at the moment - spending 50% more on their next car isn’t high on their list of priorities. So we all need to go buy a car that only suits part of the time and has to sit in or next to the garage so the weekend holiday car/ute sits out in the weather when it really should be the other way around. EV prices are heading up as well so no end in sight to an ‘affordable’ EV - still a pipe dream of the industry.

So is that enough of a reason? I, and many like me just can’t make an EV work as they are now - pretty simple really.

Originally Posted by Homestar

Because a LOT of people can’t charge at home - most of the inner city for a start - I’m in the burbs but also wouldn’t be able to as the lead would need to cross a footpath - we can’t all keep cars in the garage or driveway or want to uproot out entire existence to be able to do so. If I look at my street about half of the vehicles get parked on the road with no way to charge them. This alone is a massive hurdle to entry for many. It’s just not that simple.

I did 1300KM last weekend and there was only one charging station along my entire route - and it was for Teslas, not the great unwashed - but plenty of service stations - in and out in 5 minutes tops at the ONE stop I needed for the whole trip. I would have had to add an extra 200 plus KM and hours to my trip to do it in an EV. I wanted to see specific sights on my travels not waste half a day sitting around waiting to go the next few hundred KM - I wouldn’t have got to see half the things I wanted to in an EV.

You also make it sound like everyone has so much spare cash they can just buy an EV as a second car - I’m not sure if you keep up with the news but a lot of people are doing it tough at the moment - spending 50% more on their next car isn’t high on their list of priorities. So we all need to go buy a car that only suits part of the time and has to sit in or next to the garage so the weekend holiday car/ute sits out in the weather when it really should be the other way around. EV prices are heading up as well so no end in sight to an ‘affordable’ EV - still a pipe dream of the industry.

So is that enough of a reason? I, and many like me just can’t make an EV work as they are now - pretty simple really.

I may have got this wrong but I'm sure I read about the use of WiFi to charge in those over the footpath scenarios.

Dunno.

Wireless Charging For Electric Vehicles: How It'''s Done

Originally Posted by 4bee

I may have got this wrong but I'm sure I read about the use of WiFi to charge in those over the footpath scenarios.

Dunno.

Wireless Charging For Electric Vehicles: How It'''s Done

Yeah - nah… 🤣

If they had a 450-500km range then why do you need to charge in 15-30 min. plug it in at home and let it charge overnight

Because my wife plays golf at various clubs around NSW and a few times a year wants to do say 300-400Km to and from the clubs.
My son lives in Kellyville which is about 220Km return from Avoca, and the M1 is notorious for accidents causing halts for up to 2 hours regularly and maybe 4 hours occasionally.
I would hate to be caught in a traffic jam at 35-40C for 2 hours with a lesser range than 450KM running aircon flat out.
Also a car with certified 450KM range may do that empty on a coolish day but add a couple of passengers and something in the boot on a very hot day is completely different.
Regards PhilipA

Originally Posted by Homestar

I just think it’s ridiculous to on one hand encourage people to buy EV’s then smack them for it because they have. Yes, the fuel excise isn’t there but it’s crappy way to go about this - particularly this early on when there aren’t that many on the road in comparison and it’s just another hurdle to overcome with people psyches to get into the market.

Well................excise was put on LPG for the same kinda RUC, even though the Feds were actively encouraging petrol to LP conversions via a subsidy.

cheers, DL

The key difference is that excise (whether on petrol, diesel, LPG or alcohol or tobacco) is a Federal tax that does not go to roads (goes into consolidated revenue), and the RUC is a new State tax that is specific to EVs. And has to be seen as a money grab by the state "these people are avoiding spending money on fuel, and can afford an EV, so clearly have money to spend, let's get some of it".

The commonality is that both taxes are conceived as taxes on "luxuries" that are imposed on the wealthy on the basis that they can afford it. Of course, it is not only the wealthy that pay these, and in fact almost any tax that is worthwhile will affect most people whether directly or indirectly.

Up to now road costs have been recovered from motorists via a fixed annual charge by the state government, in NSW I think it is called a "Motor Vehicle tax" (which strangely applies to trailers as well even though they are not a motor vehicle). Some pundits see a usage charge based on mileage as a better system - but the major issue with it is that it is much more complex to collect and much more likely to gamed. And probably not justified for cars, as most road damage is from heavy vehicles - road impact rises roughly as the square of axle weight.

And imagine the outcry in outer Sydney when their $120 per week tolls turn into $150 to include a road user charge.
I confidently predict that no government would be game to do it.
Regards PhilipA

The only reason governments are introducing the RUC is that it only affects a tiny minority on introduction, but is guaranteed to grow substantially without enough voters noticing before it becomes "established practice".