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Cont: Electric Vehicles II

The discretionary tolerance here is 10% plus 2 mph. But it's up to the local police whether or not to allow that. One guy on the MGEV forum reported that his wife had been nicked for doing 21 mph in a 20 mph zone in Wales, which seems absolutely ridiculous. She protested but the cops said they didn't allow any leeway at all.
 
I recently had my first EV experience, when I had a Porsche Taycan as a courtesy car while my (petrol) car was in for a service. Here's what I observed:
• the instant urge is exciting, and eery (silent).
• the Taycan handles superbly, especially given its mass of ~2200kg.
• it's a big ol' thing at nearly 5m long yet the interior room and luggage space aren't brilliant, is this due to packaging of the batteries and leccy gubbins, I'm not sure.
• the displayed remaining range seemed to track well with actual use (contrary to what I've heard about this being optimistic / inaccurate); IOW, I covered about 110 miles and the remaining range dropped by about 110 miles.
• the nav system displays EV chargers, and there are loads of them - I thought that this immediately addressed any 'range anxiety'.
• the electric range of the model I had was 'only' 200 miles or so; but, thinking about it, that's 3-4 hours of driving by which time I'd be happy to take a break to recharge myself!
• I plugged it in at home 'just to see'; plugged in to a standard UK 13A outlet, was adding about 2 miles of range for every hour of charging; now, this is not a typical use case (a dedicated charger would be more typical), and it seemed hopeless, until I realised that plugging in overnight would add maybe 24 miles of range, and that would actually cover a worthwhile chunk of my daily commute.

On returning the Taycan and picking up my ICE car, it felt like stepping back in time :(

I wouldn't want an EV as my sports car. But as a daily driver, it would be excellent and would suit me just fine.
 

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Crikey, who is giving out Taycans as a courtesy car? Even first gen ones, as that is - the second gen ones have a much longer range and are overall much better designed.
 
Fixed, mobile and 'average speed' cameras are VERY common in Australia- in driving down from my place to my mums place, about 4-5 hours trip- went through three 'average speed' cameras, at least a dozen fixed speed cameras, probably several dozen red light/speed/mobile phone use cameras- practically every red light intersection has the 'triple use' cameras on them these days...
How Orwellian!

Does this not bother you?
 
I recently had my first EV experience, when I had a Porsche Taycan as a courtesy car while my (petrol) car was in for a service. Here's what I observed:
• the instant urge is exciting, and eery (silent).
• the Taycan handles superbly, especially given its mass of ~2200kg.
• it's a big ol' thing at nearly 5m long yet the interior room and luggage space aren't brilliant, is this due to packaging of the batteries and leccy gubbins, I'm not sure.
• the displayed remaining range seemed to track well with actual use (contrary to what I've heard about this being optimistic / inaccurate); IOW, I covered about 110 miles and the remaining range dropped by about 110 miles.
• the nav system displays EV chargers, and there are loads of them - I thought that this immediately addressed any 'range anxiety'.
• the electric range of the model I had was 'only' 200 miles or so; but, thinking about it, that's 3-4 hours of driving by which time I'd be happy to take a break to recharge myself!
• I plugged it in at home 'just to see'; plugged in to a standard UK 13A outlet, was adding about 2 miles of range for every hour of charging; now, this is not a typical use case (a dedicated charger would be more typical), and it seemed hopeless, until I realised that plugging in overnight would add maybe 24 miles of range, and that would actually cover a worthwhile chunk of my daily commute.

On returning the Taycan and picking up my ICE car, it felt like stepping back in time :(

I wouldn't want an EV as my sports car. But as a daily driver, it would be excellent and would suit me just fine.
Crikey, who is giving out Taycans as a courtesy car? Even first gen ones, as that is - the second gen ones have a much longer range and are overall much better designed.
Out of Spec Motoring held a race from Seattle to Boston pitting 14 different EVs and single ICE car. 3 man teams. All the cars were limited to no more than 10mph over. It was more about range and charging speeds. The ICE car came in first. But nobody really drives like that.

The Porsche Taycan came in first among the EVs and the Tesla Model 3 came in second. The Taycan also holds the EV Canonball race record.

This is more about range and charging speeds.
 
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The problem has always been the stops. As I have said, from putting on the turn signal to exit the freeway, to resetting the cruise control back on the highway takes us less than 15 minutes. This includes finding the gas station, filling up, potty breaks, and hitting the drive through for bad food.

How long does this take in an EV? Can you be choosey, like we are, and only stop at charging stations with adjacent quick food restaurants that are clearly visible from the road, with easy egress and ingress?
The thing is, with my EV, I almost never have to stop to "fill up." The car basically has a full tank every time I leave my driveway.

In about five years of EV ownership I have only charged away from home maybe seven or eight times.

Recently I went on a road trip in our EV. Our car charges 20 to 80% in under 20 minutes, so it took maybe 25 minutes at each stop and we usually spent that time eating, walking the dog, or running into Walmart for something while the car charged. The stops and overall time weren't noticably longer than when I drove the same trip in an older ICE car. And the trip was much more pleasant in the EV (but mostly because our newer car is overall much nicer than the previous ones rather than because it is an EV).
 
I love the way, in this fictional scenario, the driver of an open top vehicle has to consume his hamburger while driving, to make the imaginary difference in driving time, between his stink box and an electric vehicle.

In reality, he sits down with his wife, and has a meal, and a cup of coffee, and uses the facilities before driving on.
 
@jadebox,

How many miles did you travel?

What was the total cost of recharging during that trip?

Do you have any guess at what fuel would have cost if you were driving a comparable (size and weight) ICE vehicle?
 
How Orwellian!

Does this not bother you?
On the contrary- the Australian public DEMANDS greater safety- unlike the US viewpoint of 'dog eat dog, and man eat man'- most countries have a much different attitude to 'public safety'- it wasnt 'da ebil gubbermint taking away our guns' and 'putting in orwellian cameras'- these are things the general public demanded happen- and any politicians who refused to listen (like some who opposed the original gun 'ban' here and things like reduced speed limits in towns, and speed cameras and the like- WILL lose their jobs and not be re-elected....

The fact is that if you don't speed- then you have nothing to worry about- and as speed is the major contributing factor in many fatal crashes- and the public wants LESS deaths in general- well most people have no real issues with them....

The only ones that seem to have major problems with them are the ones that seem to have ball bearings in their ankles lol

Same with crashes in general- red light runners cause a lot of added expenses and increased injuries and fatalities- so most have no issues with them at all- it really is very simple to not get a fine- DONT DRIVE THROUGH RED LIGHTS!!!!!
Those too impatient to bother waiting for greens/ too inattentive because they are texting/instagramming/whatever- well- they get to learn that they are criminals breaking the law- and as such, pay the price....

Better they pay $$$ than me getting clobbered and having the risk of injury or death- screw them lol
 
On the contrary- the Australian public DEMANDS greater safety- unlike the US viewpoint of 'dog eat dog, and man eat man'- most countries have a much different attitude to 'public safety'- it wasnt 'da ebil gubbermint taking away our guns' and 'putting in orwellian cameras'- these are things the general public demanded happen- and any politicians who refused to listen (like some who opposed the original gun 'ban' here and things like reduced speed limits in towns, and speed cameras and the like- WILL lose their jobs and not be re-elected....

The fact is that if you don't speed- then you have nothing to worry about- and as speed is the major contributing factor in many fatal crashes- and the public wants LESS deaths in general- well most people have no real issues with them....

The only ones that seem to have major problems with them are the ones that seem to have ball bearings in their ankles lol

Same with crashes in general- red light runners cause a lot of added expenses and increased injuries and fatalities- so most have no issues with them at all- it really is very simple to not get a fine- DONT DRIVE THROUGH RED LIGHTS!!!!!
Those too impatient to bother waiting for greens/ too inattentive because they are texting/instagramming/whatever- well- they get to learn that they are criminals breaking the law- and as such, pay the price....

Better they pay $$$ than me getting clobbered and having the risk of injury or death- screw them lol
Nah. They just need more revenues.
 
The thing is, with my EV, I almost never have to stop to "fill up." The car basically has a full tank every time I leave my driveway.

In about five years of EV ownership I have only charged away from home maybe seven or eight times.

Recently I went on a road trip in our EV. Our car charges 20 to 80% in under 20 minutes, so it took maybe 25 minutes at each stop and we usually spent that time eating, walking the dog, or running into Walmart for something while the car charged. The stops and overall time weren't noticably longer than when I drove the same trip in an older ICE car. And the trip was much more pleasant in the EV (but mostly because our newer car is overall much nicer than the previous ones rather than because it is an EV).
As multiple people have said- there really isnt much difference at all lol...

The older slower charging EVs (like the Atto) 'do' take about 40 mins to get from 20% to 100%- which is why you dont do THAT on long trips- do the 20%-80% (which in the Atto gives you about 350km per 'tank' and each recharging stop (at the very same 'travel centers' the ICErs use lol) takes about 20 mins per charge, needed every 3 1/2 hours or so...
The newer ones that can handle a lot more current coming in (the Atto is under 90kw on DC charging, many newer ones are double or triple that)- the Dolphin for example can do the same charge in 10-12 minutes!!!!
So it could do the 20-80 cycle with a ten minute break every 3 1/2-4 hours....

And that is a 'cheap Chinese brand' lol
 
Nah. They just need more revenues.
BS....

Hell if people didnt break the law- then they would have ZERO revenue....

(red light runners in particular- them and drink drivers- I have lost several mates over the years to both (as well as a near miss myself quite recently with a bloody texter running a red light- literally a second faster coming through my green, and she would have rammed my drivers door!!!!)
 
The discretionary tolerance here is 10% plus 2 mph. But it's up to the local police whether or not to allow that. One guy on the MGEV forum reported that his wife had been nicked for doing 21 mph in a 20 mph zone in Wales, which seems absolutely ridiculous. She protested but the cops said they didn't allow any leeway at all.
Unless this "discretionary tolerance" can be demonstrated to be documented in law, I wouldn't trust it to exist. People always seem to assume that they can go a certain amount above the speed limit, but show me the legal evidence.

How Orwellian!

Does this not bother you?
Not in the least.
 
As multiple people have said- there really isnt much difference at all lol...

There is a difference in my car, because it only has a practical range on the motorway of about 150 miles (that's doing 70-75 mph). Less in winter, maybe just 120 miles. So I do stop more often than I would in a petrol car. Even so, though, I've usually been driving for a couple of hours before I stop. Then, the car's maximum charge rate is only about 80 kw, again less in winter. (I only saw 69 kw this evening.) So I do have to stop for 40-45 minutes each time. More if I want to shove the charge up to 85% or 90%, which can be worth it in terms of extending the next leg.

I say to people, if you do a lot of long trips, and especially if time is important to you, don't get my car. Get the longer-range, faster-charging model. Hell, it only cost £2,500 extra at the time I bought mine, I just wasn't especially interested. Nowadays they can be had for much less, as MG are offloading stock in preparation for the launch of a new model. I can see that even in that car, with maybe 50 miles extra range and a charging rate of up to 140 kw, my stops would be fewer and shorter and probably as few and as short as anyone could reasonably want.

But if you're a real freak about touring as far in a day as possible, there are Teslas and Mercs and the new Taycan (that charges blisteringly fast) all there for the taking. In the real world they're probably faster than most ICE cars.

The "requirements" people are coming up with to justify dismissing EVs these days are getting sillier and sillier. Driving 600 miles without stopping. Being able to refuel, go to the toilet and buy horrible fast food to eat with one hand while driving on, all to be accomplished in 15 minutes. It's absolutely mental. All for a theoretical saving of maybe half an hour in a full day's driving, which wouldn't even happen in the real world.
 
Unless this "discretionary tolerance" can be demonstrated to be documented in law, I wouldn't trust it to exist. People always seem to assume that they can go a certain amount above the speed limit, but show me the legal evidence.

It's good to read all the words in a post, you know.
 
BS....

Hell if people didnt break the law- then they would have ZERO revenue....

(red light runners in particular- them and drink drivers- I have lost several mates over the years to both (as well as a near miss myself quite recently with a bloody texter running a red light- literally a second faster coming through my green, and she would have rammed my drivers door!!!!)
"If" is a condition contrary to fact.

People make mistakes. Honest ones at that. Creating revenue off of small human errors is of questionable value. You are making the police the enemy of the ordinary citizen. Especially anyone living paycheck to paycheck.
 
I love the way, in this fictional scenario, the driver of an open top vehicle has to consume his hamburger while driving, to make the imaginary difference in driving time, between his stink box and an electric vehicle.

In reality, he sits down with his wife, and has a meal, and a cup of coffee, and uses the facilities before driving on.
In my "fictional scenario", we will be driving the Nautilus, leaving Las Vegas around 0600. The only time my wife and I will stop for a sit down meal on the trip will be at exit 66 on Interstate 40, just east of Kingman, for Dunkin Donuts. While only 125 miles from home, it somehow gets the trip off to a good start.

From there we imagine heading south to Interstate 10 and driving to Pensacola to visit the National Naval Aviation Museum. Next is the Don Garlits Museum of Drag Racing in Ocala Florida (heaven for a piston head like me). Then Daytona for the races. We have been going to the Daytona 500 for more than a decade.

We will typically drive each day until 6:00 PM, after traveling over 800 miles.

On the fictional return trip we will divert to Myrtle Beach, SC, to visit a friend for a couple of days. We will then then drive home, about 2400 miles, in three days.

Several years ago I considered an EV but came to the conclusion that the US EV infrastructure was not adequate for the type of driving my wife and I prefer.

I have spent some time reconsidering an EV and, again, I just can't justify it.

In the summer of 2027, we are considering driving to Alaska. I am not convinced an EV could make the trip to Alaska in a safe and reasonable manner.
 

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