Electric Cars Going Forward And Thoughts

[admiral51]

Disclaimer this is only a personal view point and in no way will it be 100% factually correct

If i buy a brand new petrol/diesel/hybrid car from a dealership i will be 99% sure of getting a discount on the listed price regardless of spec. I will not bet my house on it ( i do not own it so maybe i could ) but most dealerships do not make money on sales of vehicles, they make the money on service plans tied into the sale.
So how often would you need to change the oil/fuel/air filter on a pure 100% electric vehicle?
Cambelt changes get replaced by a drive belt, drive belt goes what damage does it do,either vehicle is stranded but what is the damage ?
So what role do dealerships play, how will they make money.

Major vehicle manufacturers have stopped buying steel, not for 1 year but 3 years+

Think we as individuals need to keep our vehicles running if nothing more than to keep history available

[NewcastleFalcon]

Even the traditional role of Franchised dealers selling, or more accurately PCP ing new vehicles could be a disappearing role. Tesla have had many battles with some states, peservering with a legal requirement for new cars to be sold through franchised dealers.

If they aren’t just now I predict that Amazon will be selling new cars, Do you really need dealers and showrooms these days.?

Of course car manufacturers imagine their products are very special, and like the idea of wooing customers with the hands on buying experience and the products nicely presented in expensive showrooms.

Electric vehicles should be a major disruptive technology, it’s not happening that quickly yet. But equally there are other disruptive developments in the way we buy goods and services, which will impact the traditional way of selling new cars.

Regards Neil

[Hell Razor5543]

I used to work for a service provider who had Makro as one of their clients. For a while Makro tried to sell cars.

[bobins]

I'm not convinced that the good old fashioned concept of buying and owning a car has a great long term future. Self driving cars are, as we're all well aware, already being tested. It is but a small and not very imaginative hop to a scenario where you dial up an energy efficient and very comfy car and it arrives at your home and takes you to your destination, then it departs to pick up the next fare. No human drivers needed so it'll mean safer roads (stop laughing at the back ! ) with more energy efficient driving styles, and no large investment by you in a car that sits on your driveway or in a parking space for most of the day, no maintenance cost, no insurance cost, etc. Need a car for your holiday ? No problem, you can rent one by the week / day / month.
Future 'events' may dictate the slow demise of car ownership : there'll be a gradual whittling away of disposable income as most of the working public find that - as they now have to save like mad for their retirement (at age 75+) and pay now for the things that were once considered 'free' or already paid for* - they just can't justify the purchase and running costs of a car. Quite where this would leave the traditional car manufacturer's, I'm not sure. Their only hope would be to be the ones who run the autonomous car networks.

* - Want your bins emptying ? You'll pay per kilo. Want street lighting ? £2 per night per light. Want to play football on the recreation ground with your kids ? Just provide details of your third party liability insurance and then you can purchase a permit to play. Want the police to patrol your neighbourhood ? That's been outsourced to various private companies as the police are too busy dealing with online threats and abuse - the companies will tender for the contract to patrol your area, just fill in the details of all crimes committed in the last 10 years and they'll get back to you. And so it goes.

[Subsonicnat]

Hi,Regarding Electric Cars in the Future..
My GUESS is that unless you are rich you will never own one.
Would you Buy a Second Hand Parachute,NO..
You Will Either RENT or the battery will be LEASED MONTHLY otherwise after 3 years and
MOT, The Battery will probably be SCRAPl...
2/3rds the price of the cost of the new car,Second hand car market will not be there..
Cradle to the Grave I shouldn t wonder.

[GiveMeABreak]

I’m with the other side. Since the time when we only had horses, people still wanted to own their own beast and have the freedom to go where they wanted when they wanted on their own. If that wasn’t the case, why bother at all when you could have a stage coach as a taxi?

Try asking a biker why he doesn’t get a taxi or rent a bike - nah, not going to happen for a long time yet. People want their freedom.

[bobins]

I totally agree that people want their freedom, the issue is whether people will be able to afford their freedom. If the government of the day taxes private car ownership starting at £2500/year so they can deal with congestion and pollution and any other noxious issues they care to come up with, then will the car using public start to understand that they can still have their freedom.... just not their own car ?
Don't assume the future will be just like the present.... (Only with spandex jackets, one for everyone © D Fagen )

[GiveMeABreak]

I don’t think it will ever happen, just look at the Yellow vests in France! That was just on fuel increases. People will only accept so much before they flip.

And just look at the rail fares that have gone up again.

[Subsonicnat]

I think Mark the diesels will all be off the road by 2030.
the planet will dictate that question,perhaps we have already crossed the line.
What I Would like to know is airports expanding uaing thousands of gallons just to get off the ground then flying miles in the stratosphere to dump it higher than ever a car would.
plus the fact aircraft fuel has no fuel duty tax as far as I am aware,never used to have anyway.
Perhaps the horse will come back into fashion eh Marc..lol..

[bobins]

Ummm...... Fuel tax increases... correct me if I'm wrong, but weren't the yellow vest protests partially/mainly motivated by the increase in fuel tax.... which brought them more in line with our fuel prices ? It would seem we accepted high fuel prices some years ago

And as for rail fares.... these would be the rail fare increases that have basically been accepted by the public because there's naff-all they can do about it ?

Bear in mind, the usual way a governemnt tries to get it's way is to highlight or leak a problem, let the media run with it for a while, then give it the usual: "Vote for me and I'll set you free" as in : 'there's a terrible problem threatening our very existence, but we have the solution'... and here it is: <insert random taxation or restriction or warfare plan here>.

[NewcastleFalcon]

Nice IGY reference bobbins....big DF/WB/Steely Dan fan here.

In 1957/58 the IGY outlook was optimistic!

"The future looks bright
On that train all graphite and glitter
Undersea by rail
Ninety minutes from New York to Paris"



Regards Neil

[GiveMeABreak]

I think the French have a history of being a bit more revolutionary than we are over here. But the point is the so far people go before they hit breaking point.

As for aviation fuel they’ve been taxing them for years. Are used to fly abroad twice a year every year and I do recall the extra tax increases, can’t remember if it was airport duty or something else but I certainly remember there being a fuel tax of some Levied.

[Subsonicnat]

Got me going this one bobin,
I for one am struggling with electric home bills ,Let alone leaving a car on charge with a massive battery all night..
as for previous post on street lighting, There are NON in my road at all for 1 mile either direction,
I still pay for them though,,good ennit.????.

[Subsonicnat]

Yes Marc airport taxes did go up to increase runway lengths and more runways,but if the fuel duty was anything like car fuel the cheap holidays would never have got off the ground,,,,Excuse Pun.lol.

[bobins]

I think the French have a history of being a bit more revolutionary than we are over here. But the point is the so far people go before they hit breaking point.

Absolutely agree with you about there being so far that people will go, but governments are well equipped to deal with this and will play the long game if it suits. Remember when eye tests were free ? You didn't have to pay for dentistry ? You didn't have to pay a charge to drive into central London ? Rail fares were cheaper ? The council didn't restrict you or charge to dump certain types of rubbish at the dump (OK, Household Waste Recycling Centre) ? Council car parks were free ? Social care was easier to access ? I could go on, but my point is that there have been - and will continue to be - increases in demands on our earnings. If a person ends up where they haven't actually got enough money to run or own a car, will they still insist on owning one, or will they use the second best freedom of a 'hailed' autonomous car that goes where they want and does (more or less) what they want ?