Electric Vehicles (or EV's) - We'd love to know what you think!

@Jukebox

I recently sold my 24Kw Leaf (I had no choice with the job). I was really upset to let it go and would really love to get back in an EV but as you mention, the prices are too high at the moment for me to be able to afford even the 40kw Leaf. No way in hell am I purchasing a "Self Charging" Hybrid..... (Quotes for Hybrids are not self charging, all really bad marketing... Think otherwise? Come at me bro!) So I guess I will just wait for the 40kw Leaf to be in my price range.

EVs are in short supply because manufacturers are not ready to sell them whilst ICE models sell at their present rate.
They can’t afford to drop ICE production, they need the money to move to EVs.
The powerful German metal workers unions are a real challenge to companies like BMW, VW, Mercedes etc and they will not allow thousands of workers to be laid off because the numbers of workers needed for EV production is far fewer than those employed today.

In the U.K. there will need to be lots of job losses and many present day distributors will go out of business.
Just look at the difficulties that Pentagon group is in because JLR have failed to plan and invest for electrification. They have sold off branches of Stratstone and are moving away from new car sales to concentrate on large sites selling just used vehicles.

As for demand of EVs being high if JAGUAR sales are an indicator the evidence suggests the contrary.
Just check out the number of new and nearly new iPaces being offered on sites like eBay and Autotrader.
Then only this week we had Nissan state that they plan to cut back production by around 20%.
Things are far from rosy at the present time 😞

@Peetee

It is a shame manufactures think this way. But EV's are the future and unfortunately, such as life things change. In a previous job of mine, I had automated account creations for when new staff and students started which kind of made the admin person job redundant and unfortunately the school saw money saving and let go the admin person (I guess this is why people hate IT guys?).

But what I am trying to say is times change and the world adapts and unfortunately, it is sometimes never good. As far as I am aware most of Tesla manufacturing is automated with robots but final production is handled by humans?

But just think, this is the future and it's exciting that we can be apart of this transition from ICE vehicles 🤢 to amazing zero emission vehicles 😍

@Tim_OVO Posted this video showing the production of a Tesla Model 3
https://forum.ovoenergy.com/owning-an-ev-87/tesla-fans-watch-this-model-3-assembly-from-start-to-finish-5511

@Peetee



It is a shame manufactures think this way. But EV's are the future and unfortunately, such as life things change. In a previous job of mine, I had automated account creations for when new staff and students started which kind of made the admin person job redundant and unfortunately the school saw money saving and let go the admin person (I guess this is why people hate IT guys?).

But what I am trying to say is times change and the world adapts and unfortunately, it is sometimes never good. As far as I am aware most of Tesla manufacturing is automated with robots but final production is handled by humans?

But just think, this is the future and it's exciting that we can be apart of this transition from ICE vehicles 🤢 to amazing zero emission vehicles 😍




@Tim_OVO Posted this video showing the production of a Tesla Model 3https://forum.ovoenergy.com/owning-an-ev-87/tesla-fans-watch-this-model-3-assembly-from-start-to-finish-5511


You are quite correct, times change and the world adapts but it will be painful for many.
Presently corporate heads are being buried in sand.
Huge, billions, of £s are needed to be invested by U.K. car manufacturers to develop electric car platforms, the IPace utilises a modified Range Rover platform, and dare I say it if we stay in the EU any request by JLR to the U.K. government for financial support , Tata their owners haven’t done it, will not be allowed.
They have been losing money for the last three quarters and are having to peddle diesel vehicles in order to avoid massive fines being imposed for exceeding their carbon targets.
Petrol engines will exacerbate their problem and they haven’t invested in electrification sufficiently. Perfect storm !

Anyway on the bright side when I first read your post I was watching the range in my car slowly creeping up to the magic 300 mile range.

This is a difficult site ☹️
I just wanted to post one image !

@Peetee Sorted...... 🙂

Thank you. Issue may have been a network issue.
First upload simply didn’t respond. Tried again and same. Third go and I see that they did upload but were not visible until I switched network.

I hear what you're saying @Peetee

I think there is another factor to consider when evaluating the future infiltration of EVs into the UK market. The Government and society seem to agree that it's the right way forward!

A. We shouldn't underestimate the gathering effect of the Climate Change Crisis on UK culture. In the last fortnight, headline news is being made by David Attenborough, Greta Thunberg and Extinction Rebellion.

Whatever the statistics say about pollution also being caused by (some) electricity production, it is nevertheless the case that people in large cities are no longer prepared to put up with inaction over exhaust emissions on their streets. They simply won't support politicians unless they see real action being taken.

B. It is crucial that we also evaluate the use of EVs as storage devices, capable of feeding energy back into the Electricity Grid and balancing the load.

Technical losses in the Distribution Grid (33kv and below) have doubled to 10% in the last 20 years. This is unsustainable, and we're all paying for it. Relatively few Storage Devices are actually needed per sub-station in order to recover this recent 5% rise in losses.

Once that is factored in, we won't need to build a couple of power stations. That in turn reduces pollution which means that the Government continues to meet its CO² targets.


You rightly point out the major international car manufacturers as being reluctant to invest. They want stability for their long-term financial strategies.

But you should also be looking at the smaller UK companies who are taking the lead in making positive contributions towards a more energy-efficient future.

Amongst these are Arrival Ltd. in Oxfordshire, whose electric vans are being trialed by Royal Mail, and OVO itself. OVOs Kaluza Division is developing innovative technologies which have recently attracted investment from Mitsubishi, who have taken a 20% stake in the company.

Hi all
I have had Hyundai Ioniq PHEV for over year. Next year I would like to go electric only.
But will have to wait 12 months. I think the problem is not car maker's its the Battery makers.
Until new battery factories come on line we will have shortage of ev's. Ev's are like gold dust and command high price. Also charging networks needs to improve with fare prices per kwh not £0.35 kwh. I charge at £0.09 kwh overnight on green elec.

Your observation may well be correct @k1ms But the solutions are within our grasp.

This country is a hot-house of innovative design. We should be taking the lead in

• Lithium cell production
• Next generation storage beyond Lithium

We need more engineers and technicians. Dyson has resorted to running his own engineering sciences university in order to plug the shortfall.

And we need to start educating our children with the right skill sets at an earlier age. Instead of playing computer games, they require hands-on experience of building devices using embedded controllers like Arduino and Raspberry Pi.

(photo shows touch-sensitive dimming control being developed for a 3D printer)

Too few school science lessons now have practical experiments. The most you can hope for is a teacher-led demonstration from the front of class. Out of school clubs are a better way to go; with hands-on soldering and access to 3D printers, laser cutters etc

OVO has run such clubs for Bristol children in the past. @Darran_OVO does this still happen?

In my area of the UK we have a surplus of renewable energy and too few workers to pick crops in the fields. There's a gap in the market for autonomous electrically-powered robots to meet the demand for such monotonous tasks.

It's not just road-based EVs we need to consider!