Which electric car to buy?

[GrumpyGranddad]

Surely if energy companies incentivise people to consume electricity during the night, then more and more people will do so. Wouldn’t that then result in night time rates increasing over time?
Energy companies know that the ever increasing number of people with an EV will charge it whilst they are asleep. People will also set timers on power hungry devices like dishwashers, washing machines and tumble dryers. Nighttime demand is only going one way.
The financials around cheap off peak power just won’t stack up in the medium/long term will they?
Just asking.

 

[GrannyJen]

You can sign up to this today, fixed rates, with Oct and future predicted price rises built in. Why anyone would be paying 56p/kWh at home I just don’t know. Away from home is a different story and already discussed elsewhere.

View attachment 98487

You beat me to it. The screaming headlines ignore the fact that people ae allowed to shop around for low tariff charging rates.

 

[GrannyJen]

Surely if energy companies incentivise people to consume electricity during the night, then more and more people will do so. Wouldn’t that then result in night time rates increasing over time?
Energy companies know that the ever increasing number of people with an EV will charge it whilst they are asleep. People will also set timers on power hungry devices like dishwashers, washing machines and tumble dryers. Nighttime demand is only going one way.
The financials around cheap off peak power just won’t stack up in the medium/long term will they?
Just asking.

The reason why Octopus offer deals such as "Octopus Go" and "Octopus Agile" is that they only source green energy and you can't stop the wind blowing just because no one wants the energy when it's being generated.

I would think demand may now increase dramatically but it's unlikely to be at the point where it equals current peak time. Not many people put the kettle on at 3am.

 

[andyinluton]

You can sign up to this today, fixed rates, with Oct and future predicted price rises built in. Why anyone would be paying 56p/kWh at home I just don’t know. Away from home is a different story and already discussed elsewhere.

View attachment 98487

Having just read the meter & paid our extortionate electricity bill - I've just calculated what it would be if we were on that "Cheap" Octopus tariff.

It works out at almost exactly an extra £1800 per year on the usage of our ordinary electricity just to get a cheaper rate on 4 hours worth of charge per night.

You would have to be doing an awful lot of miles & managing to fully charge the vehicle in those 4 hours of cheap electricity to make it worth paying the £0.409/kwh for the daytime usage.

As our family SUV does 8000 miles per year at 50mpg when you do the maths it just doesn't make sense financially to swap it for an electric vehicle even if the electricity was free for those 4 hours.

 

[blondebier]

You beat me to it. The screaming headlines ignore the fact that people ae allowed to shop around for low tariff charging rates.

I've not found an electricity supplier that doesn't have a big disclaimer on their website saying "you'd be better off staying with your existing supplier".

Here's Octopus' as of this morning...

 

[Kernowboy]

ou would have to be doing an awful lot of miles & managing to fully charge the vehicle in those 4 hours of cheap electricity to make it worth paying the £0.409/kwh for the daytime usage.

Depends on usage of course in the cheap window as you say, and 8k per year vs the c.18k per year that our car will be doibg makes a massive difference.
But come October the price cap rate is £0.52 per kWh so from that point on all of your electric useage is going to be c.25% more expensive than the current Octopus offer unless you are lucky enough to already be on a long term fix. Your sums will look quite different at that point.
The problem I have is with scaremongering by throwing around headline figures without context. There’s lots of variables that make big differences.

 

[Kernowboy]

I've not found an electricity supplier that doesn't have a big disclaimer on their website saying "you'd be better off staying with your existing supplier".

Here's Octopus' as of this morning...

View attachment 98492

It says most, it doesn’t say all. Most people don’t own an ev.

 

[andyinluton]

You beat me to it. The screaming headlines ignore the fact that people ae allowed to shop around for low tariff charging rates.

Have you actually tried to change recently? A quick trawl of the market this morning & I am unable to get a quote anywhere.

Tried 6 companies & get the same response at all of them:
"
We don't recommend switching right now.
Whilst we'd love to have you, with energy prices at record highs, it might be better for you to stay with your current provider.

However, we can drop you an email when prices fall, so you get the tariff that's right for you."

 

[GrumpyGranddad]

The reason why Octopus offer deals such as "Octopus Go" and "Octopus Agile" is that they only source green energy and you can't stop the wind blowing just because no one wants the energy when it's being generated.

I would think demand may now increase dramatically but it's unlikely to be at the point where it equals current peak time. Not many people put the kettle on at 3am.

With respect, the wind turbines can be stopped even when the wind is blowing. You’ll have seen wind farms where only a subset of turbines are rotating.

 

[Ch1pbutty]

With respect, the wind turbines can be stopped even when the wind is blowing. You’ll have seen wind farms where only a subset of turbines are rotating.

When they generate too much power they adjust the blades to stop generation, as it’s instant power.

They have recently completed a large Tesla battery bank in West Sussex; it stores excess power from the offshore wind farm to help balance the national Grid.

 

[GrannyJen]

Have you actually tried to change recently? A quick trawl of the market this morning & I am unable to get a quote anywhere.

Tried 6 companies & get the same response at all of them:
"
We don't recommend switching right now.
Whilst we'd love to have you, with energy prices at record highs, it might be better for you to stay with your current provider.

However, we can drop you an email when prices fall, so you get the tariff that's right for you."

I changed my tariff, not my supplier, a week ago.

However, to be clear, I am now mostly an exporter so yes, I do not see the same picture as someone who is not as fortunate as me by having 18 PV panels fixed to a south facing roof. I do have though a knee-jerk to any form of screaming headline of gloom and doom.

A painful subject with me right now, a nephew as depressed as I've seen or heard anyone, just crushed by increased tariffs, but that is another discussion sadly. As I said earlier, my main motivation with having an EV in my drive is independence. I will not have my life, or specifically someone else's life, put in peril just because someone wants to glue themselves to a fuel tanker.

 

[Wildcamper]

I changed my tariff, not my supplier, a week ago.

However, to be clear, I am now mostly an exporter so yes, I do not see the same picture as someone who is not as fortunate as me by having 18 PV panels fixed to a south facing roof. I do have though a knee-jerk to any form of screaming headline of gloom and doom.

A painful subject with me right now, a nephew as depressed as I've seen or heard anyone, just crushed by increased tariffs, but that is another discussion sadly. As I said earlier, my main motivation with having an EV in my drive is independence. I will not have my life, or specifically someone else's life, put in peril just because someone wants to glue themselves to a fuel tanker.

Unfortunately the entire UK economy is tied to fossil fuel tankers. Something like 40+% of the UK's electricity comes from gas plus oil. If this gets turned off, or just becomes soooo expensive, then the lights go out and industry closes down. You may well be able to do the odd 100 miles in your PV powered car but nowhere will be open or worth going to. Then when you need a spare part, there won't be any. I think one needs to look at the big picture and not just "my bit". On the plus side there will not be many vehicles on the roads and "wild camping" will be a breeze - until you need to top up your gas cylinder or diesel heater.

 

[GrannyJen]

Unfortunately the entire UK economy is tied to fossil fuel tankers. Something like 40+% of the UK's electricity comes from gas plus oil. If this gets turned off, or just becomes soooo expensive, then the lights go out and industry closes down. You may well be able to do the odd 100 miles in your PV powered car but nowhere will be open or worth going to. Then when you need a spare part, there won't be any. I think one needs to look at the big picture and not just "my bit". On the plus side there will not be many vehicles on the roads and "wild camping" will be a breeze - until you need to top up your gas cylinder or diesel heater.

You don't have to lecture me about the "big picture". When the supplies did get drastically cut off with the 1973 OPEC oil embargo I was sent to sit at a desk at a major oil terminal with instructions to eke out what supplies we had to try and keep over 270 businesses alive. At that time the price of crude also rose by 300%. Neither do you have to lecture me about the lights getting turned off, I lived through that the following year with the 3 day week and planned energy shutdowns.

I will be quite happy to do the odd 200 miles in my EV, I only needed to do 40 last time to be able to get to someone in quite desperate trouble.

 

[pjm-84]

It suits a narrative.

Its interesting to note that my PVs generate far more than my PHEV uses. So car is circa 1400kWh whilst the PVs are about 1800kWh.

I also buy my energy from China and ensure that it is offset against 100% coal

 

[pjm-84]

Have you actually tried to change recently? A quick trawl of the market this morning & I am unable to get a quote anywhere.

Tried 6 companies & get the same response at all of them:
"
We don't recommend switching right now.
Whilst we'd love to have you, with energy prices at record highs, it might be better for you to stay with your current provider.

However, we can drop you an email when prices fall, so you get the tariff that's right for you."

Need to call them

 

[pjm-84]

Do you think if the lights are turned off that driving 100miles in a EV is a requirement. LMAO!

 

[andyinluton]

Need to call them

Tried one, on hold for 20 minutes gave up.

 

[Ch1pbutty]

Unfortunately the entire UK economy is tied to fossil fuel tankers. Something like 40+% of the UK's electricity comes from gas plus oil. If this gets turned off, or just becomes soooo expensive, then the lights go out and industry closes down. You may well be able to do the odd 100 miles in your PV powered car but nowhere will be open or worth going to. Then when you need a spare part, there won't be any. I think one needs to look at the big picture and not just "my bit". On the plus side there will not be many vehicles on the roads and "wild camping" will be a breeze - until you need to top up your gas cylinder or diesel heater.

You could say that those fitting solar panels are already looking at the bigger picture. Excess solar energy goes to the National Grid for distribution to other households during peak periods. The capital cost is paid by the individual, the only tax break is no vat on the install (at the moment). The fact that you can also use some of that energy to power a vehicle is an added bonus, and in turn reduces the reliance on fossil fuels.

 

[pjm-84]

Plenty of people exporting solar capacity back to the suppliers at 50p + kWh.

However PVs are a great idea. I installed them in 2012 and so far they have produced 39MWh

 

[soulstyledevon]

That Hydrogen stuff is a bit problematic…..

 

[WelshGas]

That Hydrogen stuff is a bit problematic…..

View attachment 98578

Not the Hydrogen, but the pressure vessel. I don’t think ground vehicles would be using light weight pressure vessels.

 

[soulstyledevon]

Not the Hydrogen, but the pressure vessel. I don’t think ground vehicles would be using light weight pressure vessels.

Sorry, it was a bit of a tongue in cheek post

 

[Ch1pbutty]

Saw this company on the TV last night, they are already converting EV's to campers:

Electric Campervans - A Guide for Converting an Electric Van < Love Campers

Electric van conversions as featured on Million Pound Motorhomes. We have years of experience in building electric campervans.

www.lovecampers.co.uk

Interior maybe not to everyones tastes, but good to see someone giving it a go.

 

[soulstyledevon]

Saw this company on the TV last night, they are already converting EV's to campers:

Electric Campervans - A Guide for Converting an Electric Van < Love Campers

Electric van conversions as featured on Million Pound Motorhomes. We have years of experience in building electric campervans.

www.lovecampers.co.uk

Interior maybe not to everyones tastes, but good to see someone giving it a go.

£75k Citroens….

 

[Ch1pbutty]

£75k Citroens….

haha...but it does comes with a non rusting manual roof!

My father did all his training with Citroen, and then set up on his own specialising in Citreon DS and would laugh at the technology found on modern cars.."Citroen were doing this years ago"...height-adjustable hydro-pneumatic suspensions, hydraulic servo brakes, semi-automatic gearbox, power steering, front wheel disc brakes and steering headlamps etc.

Citroen DS

Citroen DS

www.autozine.org