Are we still convinced that electric vehicles are the best way forward?

Roscobbc

Moderator
I copied this off a thread on Rods 'n' Sods relating to an electric Ford Pop hot rod. Whilst most of the content is challenging to follow IMHO it makes you realise perhaps how very 'fragile' our energy (and specifically electric) network is and really shows that we are not longer in control of our own power supplies. The fire a couple of weeks ago at a 'converter' station in south east england seriously reduced the UK's capacity to 'import' power via cable from France and will seemingly take months to repair and come back on-line. That's OK you might say - we're told that at times we are self sufficient in power generation. That is true - but only when there is a wind blowing and a 'summer' demand. A winter demand and the future increased loading on the system with people charging cars overnight will be a challenge - especially with a number of fossil fueled and nuclear generating stations being de-commissioned and plans for the Chinese to build more stalled.


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#14 · 2 d ago
I've a lot to do with EVs and charging networks day to day. The projects are quite challenging in terms of getting CANBUS data networks to talk to each other, the packaging of which isn't very aesthetically pleasing.

You'd question the weight increase, safety in terms of what happens if you hit something without the energy absorbing zones around the battery packs as they will short and start a nasty fire the fire brigade can't extinguish.

I'm also involved with energy networks and grid technology. The cost of transmitting energy is going to be up to 100 times higher, (and is about a third of your bill currently), coupled with brexit severing the access to the EU balancing market, where we used to buy energy at rock bottom prices, (£34 a MWh... £14 per MWh to import it over the PEG Nord inter connector), you can see my daily trading data below, it's now £261 per MWh and PEG Nord inter connector is £94!!!!. And this is only the beginning as the thermal fleet goes offline, (coal, nuclear), we're loosing terrawatts of generating capacity. Add EV's to this and you're looking at a disaster. You are being protected from these price rises by the cap.

Without this, (and it will go...), you'd be paying 37p a kWh at present plus network costs of 12p rising to 25p at peak demand times on smart metered industrial contracts. That's 49p kWh to 62p kWh..... we were paying 8p to 17p tops.

This is before the effects of Brexit really kick in, before the balancing costs rise, and before the gas supply issues being at the end of a long Russian pipeline have fed through, (they cut 50% of our supply last week for no reason). I have already seen prices of £4000 per MWh on the spot market. Remember, it was £35 prior to Brexit.

Finally, justification for a V8 o_O🤣

So the data from just before Brexit, which already almost doubled prices on the UK power, (but you can see the cost of the PEG Nord inter-connector were low - B*rris had not then refused the offer of the EU to continue to participate in the cross boarder energy market - they never bothered to negotiate a deal for energy transfers...).


Azure Rectangle Font Screenshot Parallel


And after. Lol. Unless you want to use electricity.... in which case solar panels and battery may be a good idea. EV's less so.

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Forrest Gump

CCCUK regional rep
Have we not got massive capacity overnight though? No appliances, machinery running or lighting etc domestically and commercially
 

antijam

CCCUK Member
I don't follow everything in your extract either, but overall it seems to reinforce the fairly self-evident point that with the progressive elimination of fossil fuel energy to supply power stations and with a big increase in demand to power electric vehicles, future supplies are going to be potentially unreliable and more expensive. This is certainly a reason to debate the viability of future electric only travel, but given the need to drastically reduce carbon emissions, there don't seem to be many suggestions of currently viable alternatives, .
There are certainly a great many hurdles to be overcome before society can have the quality and convenience of travel from electric vehicles that it currently enjoys from the internal combustion engine, but the increasingly imminent threat of Global catastrophe is a significant spur.
Even if technology comes up with completely clean combustion, sooner or later fossil fuels are going to be exhausted and perhaps some ideas of what should replace them are going to be useful.
 

Roscobbc

Moderator
Have we not got massive capacity overnight though? No appliances, machinery running or lighting etc domestically and commercially
Theoretically Andy there should be spare capacity - I mean its not like there are really that many people using off-peak (night time) electricity for storage radiators is it?...........currently........but hang-on.......HMG are planning to phase out gas fired central heating by the mid 2030's - five years after we stop manufacturing fossil fueled cars. Yes, in theory heat pumps will have much smaller loading than storage systems - but air sourced heat pumps don't work in certain weather conditions and cost up to five times as much to install as 'old school' gas fired..........
 

Chuffer

CCCUK regional rep
What happens when the battery dies or explodes? Are they safe or even recyclable?
There are very real and serious issues around recycling EV`s as well as fire risks and road traffic incidents . Emergency services will need special training and I have heard of incidents where EV `s batteries have smoldered for two days after a fire ! Claims that EV`s will save the planet is totally delusional as the long term carbon footprint will be colossal . Government is kidding joe public into believing it but they are only selling the immediate short term policy of reducing carbon emissions from internal combustion engines .
 

Stingray

CCCUK Member
The only certainty is pistons that go up, stop, go down, stop, go up again are hopelessly inefficient. If anyone's got a "round and round" solution that isn't,
a) Electric (heavy and environmentally questionable)
b) A gas turbine (high noise, low torque, poor response)
c) A wankel (tried that, didn't work)
I'm sure the planet will be pleased to hear about it!
 

Chuffer

CCCUK regional rep
The only certainty is pistons that go up, stop, go down, stop, go up again are hopelessly inefficient. If anyone's got a "round and round" solution that isn't,
a) Electric (heavy and environmentally questionable)
b) A gas turbine (high noise, low torque, poor response)
c) A wankel (tried that, didn't work)
I'm sure the planet will be pleased to hear about it!
How about this ?? Eco friendly and produces manure for the organic gardening brigade . :LOL: Cycloped_horse-powered_locomotive.jpg
 

James Vette

CCCUK Member
Do electric cars get better MPG? When most of the population has an electric car will electricity skyrocket in price and end up as expensive or more expensive than petrol? The thing I'm most worried about is electric cars making barely any noise in car parks and especially on roads without zebra crossings leading to accidents but I also fear that every electric car will make a horrible buzzing noise when in operation and we will be cursed to hear it every single day of our lives. Also apparently electric cars will only make a very small impact on "saving the planet" so it's not worth wasting resources making them but obviously it's a great marketing campaign to make money. Thoughts?
 

Roscobbc

Moderator
People who have electric vehicles but have no means of home charging (living in flats or houses with street parking) are already complaining that it is currently costing them more to use an 'on street' charger than using an ICE petrol/diesel car. Come October when the current electric 'cap' comes off and the companies who run the respective chargers apply these increases to on-street parking meters the price differential against electric will presumably be even more marked. Wouldn't surprise me if the cost benefits of home charging your electric car vs running a petrol/diesel vehicle will no longer be in favour of electric.......
 

teamzr1

Supporting vendor
California's energy officials issued a sobering warning this month, telling residents to brace for potential more blackouts as the state’s energy grid faces capacity constraints heading into the summer months.

In Sacramento, officials said California’s grid will face a potential shortfall of roughly 1,700 megawatts, which would affect the power supply of between 5 million and 12 million people this summer.
That number would likely be exacerbated by an additional shortfall of 5,000 megawatts in the case of extreme heat and further from countless EV vehicles charging and causing electric rates to skyrocket for all customers

And since the state has committed to phase out all new gas-powered vehicles by 2035 well ahead of federal targets, the additional load from electric vehicle (EV) charging will add more strain to the electric grid.

“Let’s say we were to have a substantial number of [electric] vehicles charging at home as everybody dreams,” Ram Rajagopal, an associate professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Stanford University, who authored a recent study looking at the strain electric vehicle adoption is expected to place on the power grid

“Today’s grid may not be able to support it. It all boils down to: Are you charging during the time solar power is on?”

evcrap.jpg
 

CaptainK

CCCUK Member
I also noted on the interwebz that all new home chargers now have to be "smart" and know when the car is connected and pulling electricity etc. Their idea being is that the power people can then turn on and off your charging if needed to control the electricity supply.

Oh and they then know exactly how much electricity is supplied to your car, and the electricity supplied to your house for normal house stuff. And they have pinky promised they won't in any way charge you more for the electricity supplied to your car than the electricity supplied to your house..... honestly.... they weren't even thinking of that.... ever......
 

antijam

CCCUK Member
Isn't getting it right difficult? In 2010 driving a diesel was the way to save the planet........


I'm not sure the video is even funny anymore.
 

Roscobbc

Moderator
I also noted on the interwebz that all new home chargers now have to be "smart" and know when the car is connected and pulling electricity etc. Their idea being is that the power people can then turn on and off your charging if needed to control the electricity supply.

Oh and they then know exactly how much electricity is supplied to your car, and the electricity supplied to your house for normal house stuff. And they have pinky promised they won't in any way charge you more for the electricity supplied to your car than the electricity supplied to your house..... honestly.... they weren't even thinking of that.... ever......
Even though your dedicated car charger is on a separately monitored and smart metered supply. And we are supposed to trust them lol! - I see the power companies (with the continued aid of a faux Albert Einstein in thier 'ads) are still continually pushing smart metering even though so many expert authorities have disproved the enegy companies claims.......another 'con allowed to run unchecked!
 

Oneball

CCCUK Member
There’s a difference between the smart meters for cars and the “smart” meters for your home. The home ones are a government policy, they believe by letting you know when you use electricity you will adjust your usage, they’re not smart though, they don’t make decisions.

The smart car ones work like the old Economy 7 so they charge the car when electricity costs are lowest.
 

Chevrolet

CCCUK Member
I learnt something this week, reading a WhatCar review of the new Nissan Juke Hybrid, That's a non plug in Hybrid like the Toyota CHR. According to the article, Nissan saying they will never build a plug-in hybrid , unlike some of its competitors. Why? Because it believes that people with plug-in hybrids don' actually plug them in.
 

Roscobbc

Moderator
I learnt something this week, reading a WhatCar review of the new Nissan Juke Hybrid, That's a non plug in Hybrid like the Toyota CHR. According to the article, Nissan saying they will never build a plug-in hybrid , unlike some of its competitors. Why? Because it believes that people with plug-in hybrids don' actually plug them in.
I ran a plug-in BMW hybrid for 3 years and 60k miles. The only time I plugged it was during Covid when my employers said that being as all of with company cars (and working from home) were not to put petrol in the cars (and charge to the company credit card). So with a supposed batter range of 23 miles, 18 miles according to dash display and a 'real' range of 15 miles it didn't go too far for a 5 hour charge off a 13amp 3 pin plug. Was the cheaper that petrol.......now? Perhaps not?
 

antijam

CCCUK Member
It's alleged that many PHEV's (Plug in Hybrid Electric Vehicles) are chosen as Company cars because of the tax advantages - and then never plugged in; resulting in fuel consumption - and therefore emissions - no better than conventional petrol engined cars. My everyday driver (not company owned) is a non-plug in hybrid Toyota that returns around 47 mpg. I bought it because it's a useful estate, it's very easy for my handicapped wife to drive (no gear changes, manual or automatic) but best of all it incurs zero road tax. The government tax incentive to buy 'green' has worked on me, but the fuel consumption I'm achieving is doing nothing to reduce emissions.
 
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