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I'm not currently looking for a new car, but I do like the idea of an electric car (not so much now, but seems like a good choice in 5 or 10 years the rate fuel is going up).

Would love to hear what people have them think of them, what they like, what sucks, how costly they are to run, how easy it is to get them filled up on the go etc.

I made a wooden car once.

Wooden body, wooden wheels, wooden seats, wooden engine....


Guess what? Wooden go.

Shouldnt you should be showing an interest in your wifes shopping ?  :)

Sigh...

Whooshed again.

You see the recent Top Gear episode ? Interesting comparison of the Mercs.

The problem with electric cars is the range.  They just aren't practical unless you're only doing short journeys and live in a city.  The beauty of the car is that you can jump in it whenever you want, and get wherever you want in the country.  If you run low of fuel, can can fill up INSTANTLY, and then continue with your journey. You can't do that with an electric car.

If they can sort this issue out, then they make a lot of sense.  Electricity is far cheaper than petrol (it's certainly not taxed as much), and there are zero emissions from the actual car itself when it's driven.

In the meantime, there are the hybrids that try to give the both of best worlds, which they achieve to a degree.  However, they also provide the worst of both worlds as well.  The cars tend to be heavy, and offer poor MPG on longer runs compared to standard diesel cars. 

Also the batteries are so expensive and only have a certain life.  When the Prius was launched it was said to be 10-12 years before they would massively detoriate. In the real world tho it's 5-7 years.

Get a small diesel.  I have a heavy 2.7TDi that gives me 37avg with upto 48 on motorway cruising,  some of the polo/golfs are 70mpg and will be pushing 100mpg soon.

I saw a programme once where they basically plan to put something in the road akin to cats eyes which charges electric cars as you drive, until that time comes they are pretty much useless to me.

I've heard SofaKing is back if you want a private plate for it!!

The charging and the range issues are only temporary, I'm sure they'll be able to sort these out within the next 10 years, electric is really the way forward

Sir Clive was ridiculed for the C-5, I believe he was ahead of his time

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinclair_C5 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinclair_C5)

Think you are right, I noticed several places where you could charge electric cars in California.  Quite a few companies have charging points too for their employees to use.  Only a matter of time before it catches on a bit more over here.

What's the attraction of electric cars anyway? Surely the electricity comes mostly from burning fossil fuels anyway? Pretty sure the govt will zap us for big tax at the 'electric pump' also if it ever takes off.

Less local pollution compared to combustion engines, less less greenhouse emissions, less moving parts... Lowered need for foreign oil, so maybe we'll see less worldwide debt, more options with shapes (not constricted by large combustion engine) etc etc

I'm no expert but surely burning coal or whatever to make the electric is not such a good idea either?

Running costs are less, zero road tax, London Congestion Charge exempt and you can get a 25% credit up to £5k  from the Government to get one (or 20% up to £8k for a van).  

Hence why I used the word Local..

Yes at the moment, there was a time when diesel was cheap too. You don't think the govt are going to let you get off that easy do you? lol

I agree with this, think we're gonna see an increase in government run toll roads due to this.. 

Well I don't know how they will get it back, but for sure they aren't going to let all that lovely cash from fuel duty disappear into thin air!

I don't think that they're going to lose that much in fuel duty, certainly not in the foreseeable future.  Sales of petrol and diesel cars will outnumber electric cars for some time to come.  Unless 10m people or so go and buy an electric car in the not to distant future, I think you can enjoy the savings for a while.

Say if we have a fall of 7% on fuel taxes due to Electric cars, as in the U.S, the government will certainly look at plugging that hole fairly quickly.

I was going to defend it but actually I guess you are right.  Money will be recouped one way or another, road tolls seem to be mentioned a bit on the net.   I just don't think it's likely to happen overnight.   The US is a bit more further down the road than we are isn't it?

Electricity is produced on an industrial scale, far more economical than the internal combustion engine in a car in terms of the amount of energy being produced from each 'unit' of fossil fuel (as well as nuclear, wind, hydroelectric, etc., being options for the production of electricity).

So the cost to the end user is lower.

Now there's the question of tax. We expect the government to maintain the road network for us to use. It's obviously also needed by industry to ship stuff about. If they're the revenue from petrol suddenly vanishes, then of course the government will need to generate (pun intended) money from elsewhere. If a lot of this is then ring fenced, the investment in the country's infrastructure can be maintained. Of course, it'd be better for allif it wwasn't taxed as heavily as fuel is currently so that the poorer aren't disadvantaged disproportionately.

Going back to another point that was made about charging points. They're not really the issue. The problem is the time it takes to charge the cells. In a petrol car you can effectively drive non-stop across any distance. With an electric car you simply can't do this. Which is why hydrogen powered cars might be the solution further down the line.

It'd be great to reduce our dependency on oil though.

I like the idea of Hydrogen powered cars, but with my limited understanding on how this would work, I would say the only immediate draw backs would be, where are we gonna get hydrogen from? Fueling stations? Hydrogen and all gases expand as well as being highly flammable, will this not cause a risk? (I know petrol is no better, but still is a liquid so pours and doesn't expand as much as gas)

I do like the idea of having our cars fueled by the most abundant energy source in the world though...  

I remember they discussed it on Top Gear, and I think they said there are some filling points in LA. I assume they'll be at petrol stations (they're already in the right place and deal with flammable stuff), but it's only Honda who have a car that runs on this (I think).

If the scientists and engineers can create a viable engine to run off hydrogen that can be effectively sourced, then this has to be a winner.

Apple are now getting into the game...

What a brilliant partnership, this could be about the batteries although Elon Musk (Iron Man) would fill the void that Steve Jobs left...   

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/apple/10643373/Apple-exploring-move-into-electric-cars.html (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/apple/10643373/Apple-exploring-move-into-electric-cars.html)

 The San Francisco Chronicle newspaper is reporting that Apple's merger and acquisition chief Adrian Perica met with Elon Musk, CEO of electric car manufacturers Tesla last spring.

In October last year German banking analyst Adnaan Ahamd urged the company to invest in Tesla to "radically alter Apple's growth profile".

“In Elon Musk, you could strike up a partnership and obtain a new iconic partner to lead Apple’s innovation drive,” he added.

It was also reported Apple is looking to move into the world of healthcare technology, specifically devices used to predict heart attacks.

Audio engineer Tomlinson Holman, inventor of THX and 10.2 surround sound, is aiding the company to study the sound blood makes as it flows through arteries.


As part of its quarterly financial results released last month, Apple revealed it had spent $525 million on deals- almost double the amount it spent the entire previous year.

The reported moves into automobiles and healthcare appears to mark a desire for Apple to expand beyond the design and production of consumer devices.

Apple has previously shown its hand in this market and announced deals with BMW, Daimler, Mercedes and Honda to produce smart dashboards featuring iOS, the same operating system used by iPads and iPhones.

It has also collaborated with Tesla in the past by supplying its map technology, alongside Audi and Toyota.