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Who's bought their last tank of petrol?

My point is, people always jump on the battery life bandwagon while ignoring the hundred and forty years of problematic ICE cars.

Anyone else find it comical that, after years of threads containing tales of woe about car reliability, suddenly everyone has incredibly reliable petrol cars that will have to be prised from their cold, dead hands?

Yes we've suddenly gone from "I had XYZ, bloody big end went every three months" to "I've had it 20 years and only put two tyres on it".

Funny that.
 
True, but some poor owner down the line will be caught with the suspension and brakes servicing bill to pull off that trick. Surely the car doesn't need to be that heavy - WTF is in it?
Batteries. Very poor energy density compared to gasolene.

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I've no idea, doubt it cause right now there's very few electric cars on the road relative to petrol cars and certainly think the last I read there has only been about 40,000 EV vans sold.

https://www.nextgreencar.com/electric-cars/statistics/

Vans are a very different matter though, they have to do decent mileages whilst loaded which kills range. You're one of the few tradies I know that does such low mileage, no wonder your van has needed nothing! You'd easily get by with an EV van, I'm not in a too dissimilar trade to yourself but I do between 40-45k a year with a half loaded van, an EV equivalent is miles of for me for a while I think. I'd love one though if I had access to home charging.

The Sky installer over the road from me has an electric Transit, Sky put him the charger in, he reckons it is the best van he's had but again I think he has a very local patch so does barely any miles, some nights I've noticed he doesn't even put it on charge.
 
Here's one pensioner who thinks it's a very poor deal, paying more p.a. than depreciation costs, by and large, but not owning the vehicle. Worry free? I'd worry a heck of a lot more driving someone else's car, Tony. Last year I did 1000 miles, my MOT cert. says (2000+ prior to Covid). A small electric reincarnation of the bubble car (and no, not the Smart Four-two) would suffice as I could get it into my garage; however, I need an estate. Snookered !
If I did 1-2,000 miles per year I’d use taxis and hire cars. Simple as that.
 
I thought you meant the RS6 petrol that weighs 2 tonne.
Ah sorry. No idea. As it's a hybrid (ahem), I guess there's a battery, but apart from that, there's quite a big lump of engine under the bonnet. And rear-wheel steer, and towbar, and.......whatevs, it doesn't matter :)
 
That EV6 does look interesting and the likes of Kia do seem like they'll get where I need them to be pretty soon, but it's got a starting price of £40,895 which seems a lot. The longest term they'll give figures for on PCP is 37 months and with 15,000 miles per annum you're looking at a deposit of just over £4K and monthly costs of £643 plus a final payment of £17,700. That comes to about nearly £28K to have it for 3 years, which is £9,300 a year - makes the iPace look relatively cheap by comparison i.e. 10K per year for an iPace or 9K per year for a Kia?
 
Liking the look of this, KIA are really on top of this EV game at the minute.



If Kia, etc. play it right, they could really dominate the EV market. It's like a fresh playing field in some respects as NO brands really have legacy in EV's in the same way the Germans and Japanese have (had) in the ICE market.
 
I think the relevance of OTR price will dwindle as the years go by, only the wealthy will be able to afford to buy a car out right and they won't be too bothered how much they cost. Young people will just rent them like they will everything else as wages fail to keep pace with inflation - houses, cars, phones, TVs, furniture etc. all rented and swapped for the new version at a whim when you're bored of it or it is out of fashion.

They'll have to come a time when a cheap EV is a no-brainer even for the stubborn ICE car owner hanging on to their 20-30 year old car, they won't be forced by the government so much as social stigma as I can easily see the time coming that doing anything seriously polluting like burning petrol/diesel will be like drink driving/smoking.
 
Vans are a very different matter though, they have to do decent mileages whilst loaded which kills range. You're one of the few tradies I know that does such low mileage, no wonder your van has needed nothing! You'd easily get by with an EV van, I'm not in a too dissimilar trade to yourself but I do between 40-45k a year with a half loaded van, an EV equivalent is miles of for me for a while I think. I'd love one though if I had access to home charging.

The Sky installer over the road from me has an electric Transit, Sky put him the charger in, he reckons it is the best van he's had but again I think he has a very local patch so does barely any miles, some nights I've noticed he doesn't even put it on charge.

I checked my mileage today on the back of this thread.

I bought the van May 2014 via an online dealer, it was delivered early June 2014 with 100 miles on the clock and I’ve done just under 48,000 miles and that includes a trip to west Wales, Argyle and a few times to Keswick and around the Lake District for holidays.

Since Coronavirus/Lockdown my mileage & diesel purchases are well down, last financial year I spent just under £300 on diesel, pre coronavirus it was around £800.

Even getting back to ‘normal’ post coronavirus (if that ever happens) I doubt it would be worth my while getting an EV van regards fuel costs the only way I’d lease one or buy one outright would be to reduce my tax and NI liability for a particular financial year.

The van is paid off now and has been since 2019 so it’s just costing me fuel, insurance, maintenance & road tax.

Last financial year vehicle costs were less than £2000 or about £40 a week.

I’m actually needing to fill the van tomorrow with fuel and that’s the first time this financial year which started on July 1st.

I get about 450 miles from a full tank or £50.
 
I think the relevance of OTR price will dwindle as the years go by, only the wealthy will be able to afford to buy a car out right and they won't be too bothered how much they cost. Young people will just rent them like they will everything else as wages fail to keep pace with inflation - houses, cars, phones, TVs, furniture etc. all rented and swapped for the new version at a whim when you're bored of it or it is out of fashion.

They'll have to come a time when a cheap EV is a no-brainer even for the stubborn ICE car owner hanging on to their 20-30 year old car, they won't be forced by the government so much as social stigma as I can easily see the time coming that doing anything seriously polluting like burning petrol/diesel will be like drink driving/smoking.

It’s certainly the way manufacturers of pretty much everything want it take it. Maintain customer control and sell more stuff more often. Govts love it too for obvious reasons. Trouble is, the disposable culture is more expensive for the consumer overall and I’d suggest more harmful to the environment.
 
Wouldn't work and would be totally inconvenient as I'd have to wait for taxis (and order one for a return) and a hire car would cost a packet; far more than current costs.

I’ve actually considered hiring a van rather than owning one or leasing one as I’ve about £2000 a year to spend on a vehicle but it’s the inconvenience of doing that that’s put me off I’d end up just keeping the hire for months and that would cost me more than buying or leasing.

Some weeks my van doesn’t move but I’d need to be really organised to hire something having said that though I’ve access to my wife’s car which would be fine for boiler services etc.
 
That EV6 does look interesting and the likes of Kia do seem like they'll get where I need them to be pretty soon, but it's got a starting price of £40,895 which seems a lot. The longest term they'll give figures for on PCP is 37 months and with 15,000 miles per annum you're looking at a deposit of just over £4K and monthly costs of £643 plus a final payment of £17,700. That comes to about nearly £28K to have it for 3 years, which is £9,300 a year - makes the iPace look relatively cheap by comparison i.e. 10K per year for an iPace or 9K per year for a Kia?

If it’s for business use then you can discount that amount by about 25% I think.

Might be different for cars but vans go through the books as a cost so they’re effectively discounted by about a third to a half depending on your tax status plus even less if you’re registered for vat plus there’s grants available to buy an EV van not sure if there’s grants for cars though.

There’s a really cool EV retro van out now, looks right out of the sixties but it’s £60,000.
 
Wouldn't work and would be totally inconvenient as I'd have to wait for taxis (and order one for a return) and a hire car would cost a packet; far more than current costs.
I just wouldn’t care. A car isn’t only expense, it’s hassle too. I’m no club cyclist, but I cycled well over a thousand miles last year. Still, it’s nice to have the choice :)
 
I just wouldn’t care. A car isn’t only expense, it’s hassle too. I’m no club cyclist, but I cycled well over a thousand miles last year. Still, it’s nice to have the choice :)
Don’t forget buses and trains, with a bit of patience and planning they can be part of the solution too.:)
 
Don’t forget buses and trains, with a bit of patience and planning they can be part of the solution too.:)

Not if you live in a village that only gets 2 buses a week, and only then in school term time. And where the nearest train station is 30 miles away, with no realistic public transport option to get to it.

It was different when I lived in London of course.
 
Train here is hourly and there is no bus to Manchester.
I can only get a bus to Macclesfield or Stockport.
 


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