Thread: EV general discussion

Originally Posted by Captain_Rightfoot

So, "it will be required to be turned over" after 5 years? What's happening to the car then? Just shot into space? ...........

From what some people seem to be saying on here, EV's will soon depreciate so rapidly they will be almost giving them away, so you'd be absolutely mad not to buy one and then hire an ICE vehicle for towing, holidays, extended family outings, etc.

Originally Posted by NavyDiver

At the time I assumed incorrectly that the hybrid camry would not be very helpful in long country runs that thier next door neighbor swears it does..

I think you assumed correctly. Partner has a 12 month old Hybrid RAV4 as a company car, she does a good mix of City and Country driving - including towing a small frame trailer with a light blow moulded base on it (work stuff). She keeps weekly and trip data on fuel usage. The hybrids shine around town going as low as 5.2LPH but averaging 5.7 and Highway driving averaging 8.2 and towing (280kg all up) 8.8. Given they are quite a decent sized vehicle and there’s always a bunch of work stuff in it it’s pretty good and Yotas hybrid system is very smooth and well integrated but I see nothing in their design and operation that makes them any cheaper to run on the highway. Tiny battery and electric motor as designed for start stop motoring.

Maybe they had something a bit thirstier last time so they think 8’s are good but the engine runs all the time above 40KPH so there’s no saving when on the Highway.

A bit of the placebo effect maybe. But if they are happy and think that’s the case that’s fine as well.

Originally Posted by RANDLOVER

From what some people seem to be saying on here, EV's will soon depreciate so rapidly they will be almost giving them away, so you'd be absolutely mad not to buy one and then hire an ICE vehicle for towing, holidays, extended family outings, etc.

Problem with that is that the simple fact that in the Australian context, demand for holidays, towing etc is concentrated on public holidays and school holidays. For these rentals to be available when needed, they would need to be idle most of the time. So if you depend on renting your tow vehicle, 4wd etc, you can expect it to be either "book a year ahead", or "pay through the nose". Or both.

Tow vehicles are generally unavailable for short term rental as they all go to long term projects and outside these vehicles, rental companies don't fit tow bars or allow towing with any of their other vehicles. We used to try and book 3 each year at the same time for a project - 1 months hire - and pretty much every rental company in the end told us we were dreaming and they could do it if we'd pay a 3 month minimum. We outsourced that part of the work a few years back because of this so good luck renting a dual cab for the holidays.

Originally Posted by Homestar

Tow vehicles are generally unavailable for short term rental as they all go to long term projects and outside these vehicles, rental companies don't fit tow bars or allow towing with any of their other vehicles. We used to try and book 3 each year at the same time for a project - 1 months hire - and pretty much every rental company in the end told us we were dreaming and they could do it if we'd pay a 3 month minimum. We outsourced that part of the work a few years back because of this so good luck renting a dual cab for the holidays.

And try to rent something to go on a dirt road,or off road,very difficult to find as well.

And dont think of just taking it there,as most hire vehicles have trackers on them.

Just keep your current Land Rovers people (or what ever other 4WD floats your boat).

Petrol and diesel will be around for another 20-30 years.

Originally Posted by DiscoDB

Just keep your current Land Rovers people (or what ever other 4WD floats your boat).

Petrol and diesel will be around for another 20-30 years.

I think diesel will be around a lot longer than that to be honest. I can’t see agriculture being able to transition away from diesel without 3/4 of the world starving to death.

Originally Posted by Homestar

I think you assumed correctly. .... .....
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but I see nothing in their design and operation that makes them any cheaper to run on the highway. Tiny battery and electric motor as designed for start stop motoring.

While it is true that hybrids are best in stop/start driving, I don't accept that they offer no benefit on the highway.

My own experience with a 2016 Camry indicates that there is sill some advantage on the highway and several articles I have read explain why that should be the case. There is something in their design.

The Atkinson Cycle engine is more fuel efficient than an Otto Cycle. The loss of torque at low revs is more than compensated for by the electric motors.

So even though highway travel doesn't offer much opportunity for energy recovery through regenerative braking, the Atkinson Cycle is more fuel efficient.

I can only compare my current fuel consumption with what I used to get in my previous SV21 Camry. 400km trips from the South Coast to the Central Coast involving mostly highway travel in the SV21 used about 8.25 litres/100 km. The Hybrid Camry is about 5.4 or if I have a canoe on top about 5.6.

I would expect that a RAV would suffer a greater reduction in the benefit on the highway because it is less aerodynamic than a Camry, so suffers more at higher speeds.