[tintin]

Ok, I'll happily give you my views on each of these recent comments - from smoggy Kathmandu, where there's lots of diesel fumes, people wearing face masks, and zero sign of EV adoption!

Hope this helps...

Originally Posted by briang9

(1) The biggest issue with EVs IMHO is the charging: Most of the (local) accommodation is in the traditional Glasgow tenement, where the average street can’t cope with the simple parking requirements of existing ICE vehicles.

(2) Also until EVs can cover a similar "real" range (see recent What Car tests) and can be refuelled as quickly as ICE cars I can't really see the appeal.

(1) That's been a problem for years in London, and the solution is already being rolled out there: lamp post chargers - plentiful and already in place

(2) Not really an issue for 95% of miles covered - the great majority of drivers don't cover anything like the range of a good EV on a daily basis, so "refuelling" really isn't an issue. For longer drives, rather than "range" anxiety, it's more likely that the drivers (especially some of the, ahem, more "mature" ones on here... ) will have another more basic anxiety related to their need to relieve themselves on the trip . And/or recharge whilst recharging.

Oh, and I wouldn't regard What Car as objective, seeing as it's basically funded by ICE manufacturers - the reason it took them years to even mention Tesla. So of course the recent What Car article picked the Tesla with the lowest capacity and still managed to achieve a lower range than anyone who I know with one of those. Quell Surprise!

Originally Posted by tonupkid

Yep, EV's are not a shoe horn in for everyone. But then why would they be. EV's are a new way of achieving mobility, and just like with the replacement of horse drawn transport, adaption will occur. There will be answers even for issues like charging at apartment buildings with on street parking. After all its not beyond us to have on street chargers, chargers at work and chargers everywhere else.

As for cable trailing around. Here you go, complete with an S8 parked on top of it

Increased power demand. Again adaption. We're not in a fixed system, it evolved this way over time to suit the demands and requirements of our society. It will continue to evolve. Glass half full here

Spot on: as soon as the key players realised there was money to be made, the enablers to adoption started to come: For example, oil companies have started to install charge points at service stations. And in the new "car sharing" world we (well, "people"...) will be less attached to personal car ownership.

Originally Posted by steamship

This is one of the areas that intrigues me, with regard to the charging of EVs, as I once saw a programme about electricity distribution and how they control it. One specific example they gave was that they monitor what is on TV, so that they can determine when there will be a mass demand by millions boiling the kettle, whether it be after Coronation Street, the World Cup or whatever programme likely to have a large audience.

Are they going to be able to cope with thousands or tens of thousands of people plugging their cars in after returning from work?

This one I can definitely agree with, and anyone running LPG would probably agree. Whilst LPG has its advantages (cost being the best), it does take longer to fill them. It may only be a few minutes more, but it's still a case of waiting. The idea of waiting at a service station for a hour or more is daunting.

This assumes several things, such as a binary and one-way relationship between charging point and car: for example a lot of EV owners also own battery storage and solar panels, which is likely to increase, and some industry players (BMW for example) are talking about the cars themselves being assets in load balancing, with owners "selling" their energy back to the grid when surplus to the vehicle and needed for wider demand - sounds a bit far fetched? Maybe, but perfectly possible.

The thing that is key to this is thinking (and sometimes) acting a bit differently - but as Nick pointed out above, just as people did when horse-drawn carriages were replaced. And that happened far quicker than anyone expected at the time.