Electric Cars:what's available?

[bobins]

Yep, I watched that earlier and he makes many valid points. The most interesting bit for me is from about the 19 minute mark onwards where he covers human traits and the actual reality of people and public. You can't really force people to do something that they really don't want to do - well...... not at a government/nationwide level. If people DO NOT want to buy an EV, then they won't.
I think he (and a lot of the commenters below) miss the mark a little regarding what the manufacturers have been doing and building. The various manufacturers have to make an effort at building EVs so they can then turn 'round to whichever governemnt is in power and say: "We tried, but the public aren't buying it...... Your move !" This isn't just a UK thing, it's an EU thing as well.

As for the government's position (and for clarity, I'm not being political, it matters not who is in power), they are in a bit of an awkward spot. For a long time, 'EVs and electrify everything' has been the mantra - this will somehow "Save The Planet"......... spoiler alert : It won't ! How does any government back out of this position successfully ? How does any governemnt say: "Yeah, about this elctrification thing.... it's all a load of cobblers actually". It's an impossible position. They've set their agenda - rightly or wrongly - and they have no option but to front it out. I'd guess that the accepted move is to wait for another political party to gain power so the new lot can blame the previous regime and reset the agenda.

I've said it before, and I'll say it many times again - EVs have their uses, but they're not a universal solution.

[MattBLancs]

Having "never seen a new Renault 5" this week I'm up to three so far!

Monday: drab grey one with, I think GTS written on the rear - wasn't hanging about, flew past me cruising along at 70,

(Edit: Google suggests no such thing as a new 5 GTS, so I'm not sure what I saw!)

Yesterday one parked up with Alpine on the back (a drab black)

Alpine A290

Just now one in the lovely rich yellow has rolled in the traffic running past my window (sat down for breakfast in the hotel)

[Skull]

R5 TURBO 3E

Renault UK webpage

That looks nice ….

[myglaren]

How is an electric car a 'turbo'?
Marketing nonsense.

[Skull]

…..I'd guess that the accepted move is to wait for another political party to gain power so the new lot can blame the previous regime and reset the agenda.

That’s what ‘they’ all do …. ….

[myglaren]

Chinese car making giant BYD says the UK has become its biggest market outside China, after its sales there surged by 880% in September compared to a year earlier.

Not seen a great many of these yet but it looks like there will be lots of them soon.

[PaulC5]

Our local Pentagon Lincoln dealer stopped selling Citroens and sells BYD cars instead. UK not putting tariffs on cheaper electric Chinese cars helps the government achieve their environment targets to help people afford electric cars but at the cost of our own industries disappearing.

According to the BBC, exporting stolen mobile phones to China seems to be one of the UK successes. About 40k of the 80k stolen in London last year went to China.

[RichardW]

I saw a Kia EV 3 in white the other day. Holy cow, what an ugly thing!!

Mrs W immediately said it looks like a Storm Trooper

[Hell Razor5543]

I saw a Kia EV 3 in white the other day. Holy cow, what an ugly thing!!
Mrs W immediately said it looks like a Storm Trooper

But less likely to hit the mark!

[mickthemaverick]

The lights are electric!!

[MattBLancs]

Has this become "breathtakingly ugly cars: what's available?"

[Gibbo2286]

A podcast with Robert Llewellin

[Hell Razor5543]

The Chinese have come up with a very clever, counter-intuitive way of dealing with a burning battery pack in an electric vehicle. They eject it about 20' to the side. That seems reckless (and, in an unlucky situation, could go badly wrong), but think about it. A fire in a confined area is always more difficult to manage. If there are several battery packs in close proximity and one goes into a thermal runaway it will, inevitably, set off the others as they are heated up by the faulty pack. The vehicle itself will also catch fire, and that fire will be quite ferocious.

If a battery pack has been ejected it is now in the open, where it is more manageable. I can see transport fire brigades developing a simple setup where a suitable vehicle has a large water tank and a fire proof forklift truck (fire brigades are already putting EVs that have caught fire into large water tanks for a minimum of a fortnight to deal with the thermal runaway effect.). It picks up the burning battery pack and lowers it into the water (which will eventually cool it down enough to cancel the thermal runaway). The other battery packs should not be affected (although for safety reasons they should be thoroughly tested before returning to use), and the vehicle should not have been damaged (OK, the battery pack 'container' might have been, but this should be a simple item to replace).

People may say that battery manufacturers should develop batteries that do not catch fire. One of the problems there is the speed of charging and the loads placed on the batteries. It is not possible to produce perfect components; you will get a rogue component every once in a while that passes all of the factory tests but later fails when it is in use. What the Chinese appear to have done is to accept that battery pack fires are inevitable, and have worked out how to start dealing with them.

[CitroJim]

I have a very easy solution to the EV battery problem: run cars on petrol...

There, problem solved

[Sloppysod]

I have a very easy solution to the EV battery problem: run cars on petrol...

There, problem solved

You're probably right, as petrol doesn't explode/burn, It's the fumes, now we just have to find a way to stop the fumes.
I'm surprised you didn't say ride a bike, they don't catch fire, often!