When do you expect to buy your first electric car?

[JohnB]

They seem to be making huge progress, but I'd not want one until range anxiety has gone, and their lifetime cost (more expensive to buy, cheaper to run with cheaper electricity/servicing) was comparable to fossil fuels. But still I think many people have already bought their last petrol car.

[kiloran]

I'm almost 70 so I don't see me ever buying an electric car. Need to get better range (300 miles absolute minimum), faster charging (15min max) and far more charging points before I would consider it. I might consider a petrol hybrid. If I was still working and needed to commute, I might have considered a second (electric) car with a real car for other uses.

As an aside, I wonder what the statistics are for the roadside assistance organisations having to recover vehicles which have run out of juice? I don't see them doing a roadside fix, unless they carry a potent charger which can transfer a lot of energy very quickly. Transferring a gallon of petrol from a can is much easier.

--kiloran

[jackdaww]

not in my lifetime.

i tow a small caravan , which probably rules it out.

having to stop and spend half an hour charging up every 100 miles or so does not appeal at all .

fine for short regular commutes with charging points at work and home .

hybrids (petrol please) much more practical.

[tjh290633]

I don't think that I ever shall. A pure electric would make sense for the smaller one, which seldom strays more than 7 or 8 miles from home. It would have to cost less than £10k to make economic sense, and last 10 years minimum. I don't anticipate that the current vehicle will ever be replaced.

My car has to be capable of 400 miles in a day, with only a short time parked at the intermediate destination, not long enough to be fully charged. A plug-in hybrid might be feasible, but I don't see any advantage on the long runs. You need perpetual motion to achieve that. On motorway cruising there is little scope for energy recovery, with little if any braking and power needed to maintain speed on most downhill sections. I might have one more vehicle before I have to give up.

TJH

[tea42]

I reckon in 2 years. Most journeys are close by, the electric car will deal with those as they often travel to or through town or cities. I will keep my 40 year old tax free petrol powered VW Camper for the odd long journeys. I am looking for an electric car with a real range of at least 250 miles.

[EssDeeAitch]

I expect my 2016 car to last another six or seven years and would imagine, and hope, that Mr Musk has managed to forge ahead and drag the whole automotive sector towards electric and hybrid cars (not least because I have through various holdings, a fair bit of cash tied up in Tesla).

The battery technology has to improve significantly as does the charging network. Technology moves space and I can imagine that nut being cracked in the next few years. Ever hopeful me!

[jackdaww]

not in my lifetime.

i tow a small caravan , which probably rules it out.

having to stop and spend half an hour charging up every 100 miles or so does not appeal at all .

fine for short regular commutes with charging points at work and home .

hybrids (petrol please) much more practical.

=========================

i will add that i dont want to run TWO cars , with all the attendant extra tax , MOT , maintenance , and space issues.

[jofc]

As we run 2 cars (one each) the only reason not to replace one with electric would be the cost.
I'm not in a position to buy new.

But then the problems would be:
1) is the car tied in to a battery lease - which by my calculation makes it more expensive than diesel at the moment
2) if 2nd hand - how long would battery last & what would be cost of replacement.

To be honest, if I take a "world view" of electric transport, the real big win is in electric bikes & mopeds.
Much cheaper to begin with.
Better power/weight ratio.
More likely to be used on shorter distance trips where you don't have battery capacity problems

But thats not going to happen in cold & rainy Blighty.

[BobbyD]

not in my lifetime.

i tow a small caravan , which probably rules it out.

Otherwise known as an inhabitable battery pack...

[tea42]

What Car? The current issue has a big feature "Every Electric Car Rated"

[Ashfordian]

I voted Other because my answer is never to buy/own an electric car.

I fully expect in the next 5-10 years that I will be using some sort of on-demand driver-less car service which may run as an electric vehicle but it I will order it like a taxi via an app (eg how Uber works now)

I currently drive an 11 year old car and if it requires replacing, it will be with some sort of cheap stop-gap car(petrol or diesel) until the above service is available. As I currently do less than 5k miles a year I suspect I'll be able to get a lot of trips out of an on-demand service for around £1k, which it roughly what my current car is in fixed costs(MOT, Tax, Service, Insurance, wear & tear) every year.

[DrFfybes]

I voted Other because my answer is never to buy/own an electric car.

I fully expect in the next 5-10 years that I will be using some sort of on-demand driver-less car service which may run as an electric vehicle but it I will order it like a taxi via an app (eg how Uber works now)

I currently drive an 11 year old car and if it requires replacing, it will be with some sort of cheap stop-gap car(petrol or diesel) until the above service is available. As I currently do less than 5k miles a year I suspect I'll be able to get a lot of trips out of an on-demand service for around £1k, which it roughly what my current car is in fixed costs(MOT, Tax, Service, Insurance, wear & tear) every year.

This pretty much matches my expectations. Our cars are 12, 12, and 27 years old.

We may go Hybrid in a few years when the Toyota dies, but probably not fully electric unless charging infrastructure matches that of fossil fuels. As we tend to keep cars a while then at our next change in 25 or so years we will be well into old age, and by then I hope I can get a self driving car to ferry me around without terrorising the other road users like a lot of the 90 year olds in Devon

Paul

[DrFfybes]

What Car? The current issue has a big feature "Every Electric Car Rated"

You mean they tell you how big a fuse it requires?



Paul

[swill453]

I fully expect in the next 5-10 years that I will be using some sort of on-demand driver-less car service which may run as an electric vehicle but it I will order it like a taxi via an app (eg how Uber works now)

Personally I'm not so optimistic. I still think we're a couple of decades away from an autonomous car that could deal with the average British high street.

Scott.

[Slarti]

I fully expect in the next 5-10 years that I will be using some sort of on-demand driver-less car service which may run as an electric vehicle but it I will order it like a taxi via an app (eg how Uber works now)

Personally I'm not so optimistic. I still think we're a couple of decades away from an autonomous car that could deal with the average British high street.

Scott.

While I love the idea of not having to drive at all, I suspect that what we will get first are sections of motorway for autonomous vehicles only, with the drive having to take control on exiting the motorway. Probably with auto parking for when the "driver" doesn't take back control. Would allow much faster traffic flow, with even fewer accidents.

Slarti

[richlist]

What a truly awful vision of the future you guys are painting.

I love owning, polishing and driving my cars.......I wouldn't want some some fully autonomous robotic taxi ferrying me to the local afternoon Derby and Joan dancing club.....I prefer to drive myself.

Don't you guys enjoy driving ?....top down, wind in your hair, 356bhp, terrorising your local neighbourhood.......how many of you are retired oap's.......perhaps it's an age thing.

Better to ask peoples ages before their opinion on using lectric/driverless cars !

[scrumpyjack]

As I'm 70 I'm hoping that my next car will an autonomous self driving one, so that as I become ever more doddery, it will take me where I want to go even if my licence has been revoked!

I suppose such a car is certain to be electric

Friend of mine has just bought the new Nissan Leaf with much longer range. His last car was a Caterham and a Ferrari before that!

[richlist]

Well good luck if that's what you want.

I'm objecting to having this new vision of the future thrust on me even though I don't want it. I'm not ready to give up the fun of driving for a long time yet.

My intention is to grow old disgracefully.......I'm actually quite looking forward to that. Difficult to see how that can be achieved in a driverless taxi from hell designed and signed off by the Government of the day.

If this is progress can we pause so I can step off the roundabout please ?

[jackdaww]

Well good luck if that's what you want.

I'm objecting to having this new vision of the future thrust on me even though I don't want it. I'm not ready to give up the fun of driving for a long time yet.

My intention is to grow old disgracefully.......I'm actually quite looking forward to that. Difficult to see how that can be achieved in a driverless taxi from hell designed and signed off by the Government of the day.

If this is progress can we pause so I can step off the roundabout please ?

========================

maybe the roundabout driver also wants to grow old gracefully .

hope he gives you a rough ride.

[Ashfordian]

What a truly awful vision of the future you guys are painting.

I love owning, polishing and driving my cars.......I wouldn't want some some fully autonomous robotic taxi ferrying me to the local afternoon Derby and Joan dancing club.....I prefer to drive myself.

Don't you guys enjoy driving ?....top down, wind in your hair, 356bhp, terrorising your local neighbourhood.......how many of you are retired oap's.......perhaps it's an age thing.

Better to ask peoples ages before their opinion on using lectric/driverless cars !

The fun left driving years ago, driving is now just functional. On the vast majority of journeys, attempting to drive faster just means you wait in the next queue of traffic for a few seconds longer because you got to it quicker. The roads are too crowded for what you describe. Not to mention how irresponsible those actions are as well.

Then there is the quality of the roads....

Driverless cars will be the beginning of the end of poor, irresponsible driving on our roads. While these drivers are in a minority, it only takes one idiot to create knock-on problems for others and if you drive a lot you encounter the effects of these idiot actions far too regularly.

For you age profile, I am just starting middle-age.