Turboman
Mab An Gov
MOT as well. Prices of older vehicles are rising to reflect that.
MOT as well. Prices of older vehicles are rising to reflect that.
dag019
Well-Known Member
I agree with the power and torque, but whats not to like is the fact that range is limited and charging time is slow, and charging network is limited!
I know I might be an exception here but I have driven down to Morrocco a couple of times now, 1500 miles in 36 hours, which would not be possible in an electric, and I did not see a single charging point anywhere I went in the country. Even if you ignore Africa, I have several times driven cross country through Europe, down to Italy, northern Spain, Austria, all of which would see significantly increased journey times if I had limited range and refueling took more than the 5 min it does currently. If all you do is a daily commute then electric can work, but any serious cross country driving until the recharge time is equivalent (range now is on top spec models) I will continue to dislike them.
dag019
Well-Known Member
And long may it continue, rolling 40 year exemption, only another 2 for the series and 10 for the 110!
As to the op's original question: get galv, the price difference will be minimal and most of the cost is in labour if you do not do it yourself, and other parts will add up to about the same price as the chassis!
discomania
Well-Known Member
On the face of it, electric is great - it's seemingly clean, it's quiet and better performance should be possible (not all cars will have Tesla motors I don't suppose!), but the whole thing is a massive gimmick. 2 types of people get electric cars, someone who just wants a car and it happens to suit their needs, then the Greenies - Greenies must be some of the most naive, ignorant, ill educated people I have ever had the misfortune of meeting. They are usually art students and think the world will work on water and love - ooo electric is clean, lets have electric - eh - where do they think this electricity comes from? I thought you lot hated nuclear, coal, oil and gas? What filthy compounds and chemicals do you think go into making battery packs and carbon fibre components?
The Germans did a report last month, they have worked out that an electric car will have a higher carbon footprint than a petrol/diesel equivalent within the first 10 years and 100,000miles! People think because there are no pollutants coming out of the exhaust that all is nice and clean - I think of it all as emission displacement - I'll note pollute my local town, but some people 6000miles away can choke. What this doesn't take into consideration is many of the component carbon costs, the Bolivian lithium mines are not exactly renowned for their environmentally friendly credentials. They also use ancient old trucks and still have high sulphur content diesel so moving everything about locally for these people is a disaster. Then a great dirty big ship moves all the bits about, then the batteries only last so long and it repeats and we have the issue of disposing of the old battery sets. However, at this point the original owner has got a new lease car and cares not about their 3 year old electric car that is now a troublesome pig and will probably last 10 years tops.
The VED is an interesting one, the treasury needs VED, as soon as they start to loose money because of low taxation on electric cars that will soon change, however, just how do they plan on taxing an electric car? Traditionally it was done on engine cap then it was emissions - larger engines and higher capacity was typically synonymous with performance or large cars, so there are talks of them going by vehicle classification and weight. In other words a battery Range Rover will still get its pants taxed off it.
Charging power, UK grid doesn't have the capacity at present. If the government said look, everyone have an electric car, we will buy it for you, it wouldn't work the grid would be knocked out within hours. Most of our nuclear generation is currently offline, so they would shovel more coal into Drax, renewables, great if it is a breezy sunny day, what about the middle of calm night, or a stormy night when they must shutdown the wind turbines.
I will go electric, however, I don't really see it any greener than diesel or petrol, so I am only doing it because that is what we will be expected to do.
I do about 10,000miles a year - on the face of it, I am most environmentally friendly in a ICE vehicle.
We should have carbon tax, scrap everything else in terms of fuel taxation and give people X carbon credits a year basic, you get more if you are for example a travelling salesman or live in the Highlands and Islands etc, you can also buy credits. Fly to the USA - loose 100 credits. Drive your Land Rover 10,000miles - loose 100 credits - see where I am going here? I have thought about it long and hard, I know there are issues: how do you police it, how do you implement it, yes all hurdles, but with modern tech we can do these things. We could have a Carbon Card or something.
Turboman
Mab An Gov
The electric charging points will spread over time, in the same way as they have in the UK.
Vast amounts of renewable electricity are now generated in the Middle East, and increasingly, on the continent of Africa. Panels are now cheap, and there is a lot of strong sunshine.
In the meantime, there are various half way houses. Hybrid technology is now quite well developed, and has also become cheaper. And an array of panels on the roof of your vehicle, and also possibly on a small trailer, could provide quite a useful addition to battery power.
Some overlanders, when stopped and camping, now erect a small wind turbine at their campsites. The primary function of this is to charge computers and provide powers for lights, but in the event of surplus power being generated overnight, there is no reason that power could not be used for additional battery top up.
Turboman
Mab An Gov
I am just waiting until the electric cars are available cheaply second hand, and I will be getting one.
The Carbon Cards are one idea that is being considered, another is Road Pricing, electronic tolls, which are fairly easy to implement using existing roadside technology.
I do not go under stones
Turboman
Mab An Gov
Not that expensive for what they are, and fitting them is not as bad as some make out.
It is more a boring tedious job than technically difficult. Take the time to take lots of clear photographs, and label all the wires and cables first as to what they are.
Attach the tub to the chassis before the bulkhead, and use the doors to align the bulkhead properly before bolting everything up.
Worth replacing the wiring loom at the same time, they are not that expensive either, and most are in poor condition by now.
