Rising Energy Costs and Electric Vehicles

[Raj]

In 2015 I planned for Nissan Leaf and did all the calculations. I never drove more than 60 miles per day so thought a Leaf makes sense but calculations are just to satisfy guilt of being spontaneous, irresponsible money burner. Still didnt get a EV but got a Cruiser instead. Be it Tesla or Leaf or Qtron get it if we like no rationale there but would say there is nothing like Landcruiser
For the EV battery life, my Lexus hybrid is now 14 yrs old and 136K miles, battery is still good and now Lexus extended their warranty to 15 yrs so these EV batteries should be good for atleast 15 years. I didnt notice any drop in mpg yet. Its always been between 28-34mpg (winter and summer).

 

[karl2000]

Planned for a Nissan leaf ended up with an LC200 - I like it @Raj

 

[Mick W]

What happens if (as Apple did with their iPhone) Tesla or other EV manufacturers decide to make characteristic changes to the vehicles performance and so 'drive' owners to buying replacement battery packs and that's without the normal depreciation of a battery over time. Easily done by software upgrades which all the cars are managed by. Buying a new phone is one thing but with an EV?

 

[Raj]

Mick I don’t think they ll do like that. It’s business for them and they might not squeeze customers beyond affordability n breaking point. We can use i phone for 6-7 years and beyond. After that software won’t support, battery weakened, customer gets bored of it and dumps it but that price spread across 6-7 years is affordable for majority. I guess even EVs will do similar but the overall cost of buying n owning might be more than current ICE cars

 

[Rob Cowell]

Trouble is; successive British governments keep introducing oppressive new laws like this, where [beforehand] I think "Surely no-one is going to stand for this!" and then the Great British public meekly rolls over and takes it. Say what you like about the French but those feckers will start burning the place down if their government even looks at them in a funny way.

«On ne renoncera pas à la zone à trafic limité» : Emmanuel Grégoire et David Belliard dévoilent le projet de Paris pour 2024

EXCLUSIF. La Ville de Paris a présenté ce jeudi les contours de sa future «zone apaisée» dans le centre de la capitale, attendue pour 2024,

www.leparisien.fr

My French isn't great by arrondissiment 1-4 car free by 2024.

 

[Raj]

Since the beginning of this whole thing for some reason France was the most enthusiastic player.
Is France selected as experimental ground before all these new rules are implemented elsewhere?

 

[Rob Cowell]

What whole thing? I imagine they like electric cars because they are good at generating electricity and seem to dislike air pollution in cities. Grenoble had low emission zones years ago. Also see very few big 4x4s about, in the countryside anyway. X3 is a big SUV in most towns. Always struggle to park my Land Cruiser because nearly all the car parks have 1.9m height restrictions.

 

[karl2000]

The main thing you need to park in France is good bumpers

 

[GeekOKent]

Paris is so contrasting. Its full of the old 70 series parking enforcement trucks. And much of the underground is buses on diesel. ( Was in 2019 anyway )

 

[stuzbot]

We can use i phone for 6-7 years and beyond. After that software won’t support, battery weakened....

...and, if you try to extend the lifecycle by repairing it yourself, Apple will disable it:

‘Error 53’ fury mounts as Apple software update threatens to kill your iPhone 6

It’s the message that spells doom and will render your handset worthless if it’s been repaired by a third party. But there’s no warning and no fix

www.theguardian.com

See also the furore about John Deere tractors in America and the whole 'Right to Repair' movement:

A right to repair: why Nebraska farmers are taking on John Deere and Apple

Farmers like fixing their own equipment, but rules imposed by big corporations are making it impossible. Now this small showdown could have a big impact

www.theguardian.com

I think this 'Right to Repair' struggle is going to get even worse, with the move to EVs. It's getting increasingly difficult to repair your own recent motor, without the appropriate [and expensive] diagnostic & calibration equipment --which usually means taking it to the official dealership. . And, in many cases, problems with EVs are only 'fixed' by a software update which, again, is only available from the manufacturer.

EVs are going to kill the backstreet garage and ruin the weekend mechanic's tinkering hobby and I do suspect this may be one of the reasons that older vehicles are holding their value so much, of late. Maybe more people are waking up to the idea that what we've got at the minute may well be the last generation of vehicles where you can actually have a go at doing some repairs yourself.

 

[Towpack]

TV's are a prime example. I can remember numerous times, as a kid, waiting for the TV repair man to come and fix the telly or my Dad taking it into any one of numerous repair shops when it would come out as good as new. Nowadays they're regarded as throw away items. Ditto the twin tub washer and the cooker!

 

[karl2000]

Most things aren't made to last now, and there's not enough people prepared to pay for repairs to keep the repair people in business. Everyone wants cheap new sh*te from China, even if it only last a few years.

They only make new cars to last 7 years now don't they?