Apologies for reopening this thread, but I have just heard on the news that Ford are going to discontinue their Fiesta to be replaced by all-electric cars.
I heard not long ago that VW also have decided to discontinue their Golf, and to also go all-electric.
As we know, the government has decided to ban the sale of new ICE cars in 2030.
Thinking about this, I have several questions about their practicality.
Their range. I believe that the best you can expect from most electric cars is around 250-300 miles, and that's without heating or air conditioning running. Our Golf can manage over 500 miles.
Charging/refuelling. It takes about 5 or 10 minutes to refill our car. An electric car will require an hour or more to fully recharge. Perhaps less time, but with the penalty of less subsequent range.
Electricity supplies. Already, we are being told that there will be power cuts this winter as our electricity generation provision will not be able to maintain constant electricity supplies. As more and more electric cars are going to require even more electricity, are we going to find even more power cuts? Nuclear power is a long way off, and other forms of generation: coal, gas, oil, etc., are also running into shortage of supply.
Cost. An electric car of equivalent size to our Golf would cost at least £1500 more than ours.
Batteries will need replacing within a few years (5 or more?) and a replacement will cost possibly half the original purchase price of the car. Can many of us afford this, and the consequent resale value of a used car of this age would plummet compared to ICE cars.
Hybrid cars, of course, suffer less from these restrictions, but even then, they are to be banned in 2035.
I'm sure there are other drawbacks to 'going electric', but I don't want to go on and on about it!
I'd be really interested to hear others' views. How many of you are seriously considering an electric car within the next 7 or 8 years, or are you going to buy second-hand ICE cars instead after 2030?
