Random EV thoughts.....

eagerv

MJohnston wrote: »

ICE driving is just ****ing tedious once you've gone to an EV.

One thing I keep thinking about is how much easier learning to drive will be for my son — I reckon learning the gears at the same time as everything else was about 80% of the hard part of learning to drive. Without gears, you can just focus on getting the actual driving right.

Much safer and easier for everyone.

I have a young lad, who like thousands of others, is waiting for his test. While he has little interest in cars, he knows the future is not in ICE. But he still wants to do his test in a manual gearbox car.

the_amazing_raisin

fits wrote: »

I’ve driven automatic ice cars for years now and they are fine . It’s the manual transmission that’s the truly tedious bit.

True, but you can't beat an EV for smooth driving. Even automatics need to spend a bit of time figuring out which gear they need to be in

One thing that always bugged me was the fake revving and gear changes on the Prius and other hybrids. They use CVTs anyway so surely the engine RPM is generally the same

innrain

eagerv wrote: »

I have a young lad, who like thousands of others, is waiting for his test. While he has little interest in cars, he knows the future is not in ICE. But he still wants to do his test in a manual gearbox car.

I won't say driving manual won't give you an edge over automatic restricted drivers. But how many will use it. I personally can think of when I need to rent a van I might need to drive manual. My wife has automatic restricted driving license since 2012 and does not bother her a bit. We own an automatic ICE and she's pushing me to sell it as it does not compare with the EV

MJohnston

fits wrote: »

I’ve driven automatic ice cars for years now and they are fine . It’s the manual transmission that’s the truly tedious bit.

I mean, sure automatics are better than manuals, but there's still a massive gulf between a good automatic (of which I've driven many) and an EV for driving pleasure imo.

Now, this could be skewed by the fact that my i3 has essentially one-foot driving for the most part, as well as basically instant power whenever I need it no matter the speed.

I'm never going back to gears on my cars, automatic or not! The only ICE we have now is an automatic campervan (can't wait until those go electric!) which is by definition a bit of a pig to drive.

innrain

Just looked for fun on carzone.
excluding commercial reg
All cars 38.2k from which 14.2k auto 23.8k manual so automatic 37.17% or nearly 1:2
Filtering for 2020 and newer 9.1k total from which 4.5k auto 4.6k manual so basically 1:1. I wonder how it will look in 2 years time

liamog

Does anybody make a manual hybrid? Anytime we've rented a car recently it's ended up being an automatic because it was some form of hybrid.

MJohnston

We'll know the sea change for EVs has come when Carzone, or insurance companies websites, don't try and put cars into "automatic" or "manual" categories only.

slave1

liamog wrote: »

Does anybody make a manual hybrid? Anytime we've rented a car recently it's ended up being an automatic because it was some form of hybrid.

Don't think so, the nearest are those bloody "mild" hybrids, called such as they cannot travel on electric alone, mHEV

ELM327

Honda made a manual Civic and Insight hybrids

Nekarsulm

One problem of increasing numbers of EV's on the road, and of people taking their test in them, is that any job involving driving a van etc will require you to sit the test all over again..

kanuseeme

slave1 wrote: »

Don't think so, the nearest are those bloody "mild" hybrids, called such as they cannot travel on electric alone, mHEV

Whats the problem with them?, any increase in fuel efficiency should be welcomed.

A slight decrease in time spent at a charger because of a better charging curve is hailed as a great success.

Most people are delighted with their fuel efficient hybrids and would probably encourage their next choice to be a phev or ev.

Hybrid sales are at nearly 19% while EV at 6.18 % and phevs at 6.12%:D:D:D:D

liamog

Nekarsulm wrote: »

One problem of increasing numbers of EV's on the road, and of people taking their test in them, is that any job involving driving a van etc will require you to sit the test all over again..

Won't be very long till we see hybrids proliferate through the light commercial vehicle market. A lot of European cities are introducing low emission zones, van manufacturers will need to ensure their vehicles are suitable.

cannco253

Ireland needs water charges to meet environmental targets, OECD warns
via The Irish Times
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/environment/ireland-needs-water-charges-to-meet-environmental-targets-oecd-warns-1.4560401
“
This should, the OECD added, “gradually increase the diesel tax rate so it at least reaches the petrol tax rate [and] phase out the price cap for diesel used by road hauliers”.

Given the likely shift to electric vehicles over the coming decade, it said the Government should prepare to shift the focus of road transport taxation from fuel use to road use through road use pricing based on geographic information systems.”

ELM327

cannco253 wrote: »

Ireland needs water charges to meet environmental targets, OECD warns
via The Irish Times
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/environment/ireland-needs-water-charges-to-meet-environmental-targets-oecd-warns-1.4560401
“
This should, the OECD added, “gradually increase the diesel tax rate so it at least reaches the petrol tax rate [and] phase out the price cap for diesel used by road hauliers”.

Given the likely shift to electric vehicles over the coming decade, it said the Government should prepare to shift the focus of road transport taxation from fuel use to road use through road use pricing based on geographic information systems.”

Yeah good luck with that.

ELM327

kanuseeme wrote: »

Whats the problem with them?, any increase in fuel efficiency should be welcomed.

A slight decrease in time spent at a charger because of a better charging curve is hailed as a great success.

Most people are delighted with their fuel efficient hybrids and would probably encourage their next choice to be a phev or ev.

Hybrid sales are at nearly 19% while EV at 6.18 % and phevs at 6.12%:D:D:D:D

mhevs are just petrol engines with 48v as opposed to 12v circuits and a big alternator. Stop Start tech.

slave1

kanuseeme wrote: »

Whats the problem with them?, any increase in fuel efficiency should be welcomed.

A slight decrease in time spent at a charger because of a better charging curve is hailed as a great success.

Most people are delighted with their fuel efficient hybrids and would probably encourage their next choice to be a phev or ev.

Hybrid sales are at nearly 19% while EV at 6.18 % and phevs at 6.12%:D:D:D:D

No problem with them but they are not required as there are plenty of PHEV's out there so why this additional step to pure BEV.
BEV are now here with the range everyone was whinging about 3/4 years ago, now the whinge is price of them.

Used BEV's are now available with 400kms range below €30k.

What will the next whinge be I wonder?

ELM327

slave1 wrote: »

No problem with them but they are not required as there are plenty of PHEV's out there so why this additional step to pure BEV.
BEV are now here with the range everyone was whinging about 3/4 years ago, now the whinge is price of them.

Used BEV's are now available with 400kms range below €30k.

What will the next whinge be I wonder?

"I need to get to cork" has now changed to "I need to get to cork and back without charging".


200 became 300 became 400 became 600+km range "needed".

the_amazing_raisin

ELM327 wrote: »

"I need to get to cork" has now changed to "I need to get to cork and back without charging".


200 became 300 became 400 became 600+km range "needed".

Yeah I saw some dude recently saying because the ID.4 can't get from Dublin to Dingle non-stop he won't consider an EV

"I couldn't be stuck in Barack Obama plaza for 30 mins" was his explanation

There'll always be naysayers :rolleyes:

eagerv

the_amazing_raisin wrote: »

Yeah I saw some dude recently saying because the ID.4 can't get from Dublin to Dingle non-stop he won't consider an EV

"I couldn't be stuck in Barack Obama plaza for 30 mins" was his explanation

There'll always be naysayers :rolleyes:

What always makes me laugh is when people tell me they would hate the hassle of having to plug in and charge. The same people would probably only have to charge once a week while they sleep...

mfceiling

the_amazing_raisin wrote: »

Yeah I saw some dude recently saying because the ID.4 can't get from Dublin to Dingle non-stop he won't consider an EV

"I couldn't be stuck in Barack Obama plaza for 30 mins" was his explanation

There'll always be naysayers :rolleyes:

I have a holiday home at inch beach. With a full charge and the car packed with kids, clothes etc I could maybe do it on a single charge but by Jesus would the moaning be unreal.

It will be a stop in birdhill, plug into the supercharger, get a coffee, stretch the legs and use the facilities. Then it will be an easy run the rest of the way. Car will be plugged into a wall socket and by the time we've eaten, showered and had 10 hours sleep I should have close to 300kms range again.

Can't understand any single person who would gladly take on a 4 hour journey without a single rest break. Doesn't make sense.

MJohnston

People who drive for more than 300kms in Ireland without stopping are psychopaths, I'm willing to say it. Don't trust them with kids, let alone a driving machine.

the_amazing_raisin

MJohnston wrote: »

People who drive for more than 300kms in Ireland without stopping are psychopaths, I'm willing to say it. Don't trust them with kids, let alone a driving machine.

They're basically the reason car manufacturers have to put in systems to keep an eye on the driver and make sure they haven't fallen asleep

the_amazing_raisin

eagerv wrote: »

What always makes me laugh is when people tell me they would hate the hassle of having to plug in and charge. The same people would probably only have to charge once a week while they sleep...

Same folks who probably went from a Nokia 3310 which they plugged in once a week to a smartphone which has to be plugged in once a day and are happy with that :pac:

markpb

MJohnston wrote: »

People who drive for more than 300kms in Ireland without stopping are psychopaths, I'm willing to say it. Don't trust them with kids, let alone a driving machine.

I've done it several times when I'm by myself. 4-5 hours would be my limit, I don't feel the need to stop if it's any shorter than that. I'd never do it with kids in the car though.

I'm not saying I'm not a psychopath

RandomViewer

liamog wrote: »

Won't be very long till we see hybrids proliferate through the light commercial vehicle market. A lot of European cities are introducing low emission zones, van manufacturers will need to ensure their vehicles are suitable.

Ford call it "Last Mile" basically a low cost electric van with minimal distance, probably be speed limited, sort of 21st century milkfloat

liamog

Not sure why you'd bother with the low cost EV vans when you can just see use a BEV such as An Post use, for last mile deliveries you've got the e-Bike rickshaws such as UPS are using.

I'm talking about more general hybrid or PHEV vans to suit users like ELM where a dedicated BEV would be too much money, but some level of electrification is still required for operation within city limits.

RandomViewer

liamog wrote: »

Not sure why you'd bother with the low cost EV vans when you can just see use a BEV such as An Post use, for last mile deliveries you've got the e-Bike rickshaws such as UPS are using.

I'm talking about more general hybrid or PHEV vans to suit users like ELM where a dedicated BEV would be too much money, but some level of electrification is still required for operation within city limits.

The Ford plan seems to be the van acting as a mobile base and the couriers running up the streets with the deliveries, they say one van and a few people on foot or cycling can replace 5 vans

https://www.ford-mobility.eu/business-solutions/last-mile

the_amazing_raisin

markpb wrote: »

I've done it several times when I'm by myself. 4-5 hours would be my limit, I don't feel the need to stop if it's any shorter than that. I'd never do it with kids in the car though.

I'm not saying I'm not a psychopath

To be fair if you spent the day driving around Dublin city centre, you could probably cover less than 100km in 5 hours

You'd definitely be a psychopath after going through that

the_amazing_raisin

liamog wrote: »

Not sure why you'd bother with the low cost EV vans when you can just see use a BEV such as An Post use, for last mile deliveries you've got the e-Bike rickshaws such as UPS are using.

I'm talking about more general hybrid or PHEV vans to suit users like ELM where a dedicated BEV would be too much money, but some level of electrification is still required for operation within city limits.

There's a bit of greenwashing going on with An Post. They've done a lot to adopt EVs, but I've noticed a lot of postmen around Swords use their own cars to deliver the post

And they often use a rental van for parcel deliveries

I suspect since those aren't An Post vehicles they're not counted towards carbon emissions

MJohnston

the_amazing_raisin wrote: »

There's a bit of greenwashing going on with An Post. They've done a lot to adopt EVs, but I've noticed a lot of postmen around Swords use their own cars to deliver the post

And they often use a rental van for parcel deliveries

I suspect since those aren't An Post vehicles they're not counted towards carbon emissions

I'd imagine those are due to the massive upsurge in internet orders during the pandemic.