Electric vans

[bigspark17]

Any body have or thinking about getting an electric van?

im considering the vivaro e. The 50kw battery will do 143 miles which is more than enough for me. With the goverment grant of 20% off zero emmisions vans up to £8000 its coming out at onlu a few grand more than a new vivaro diesel. British made and also a good usefor the BBL. any views?

 

[Ian Mills]

This looks like a good option and think it is the sort of thing we will all be driving in 10 years

View: https://youtu.be/G508L0swhNk

 

[freddo]

This looks like a good option and think it is the sort of thing we will all be driving in 10 years

Interesting, but too small and I still can't get past the price, well out of my reach. I was surprised at the weight too, though that should have been obvious as it's filled with the batteries. I get the feeling I'd be using the engine more than the batteries alone to save the hassle of finding somewhere to charge it and then waiting for it to charge.

 

[bigspark17]

Glad to see my op has generated alot of responses in the subject. However i have decied to go with a bran new vivaro L2 120ps diesel as i feel more comfortable than taking a risk in the unknown market. Hope next time i buy new in 4/5yrs i will have enough confidence to buy electric.

 

[freddo]

However i have decied to go with a bran new vivaro L2 120ps diesel

Let us know what you think, I drive a 19 reg 1.6L vivaro and it's junk. One of the poorest designed vehicles I have ever operated. They have got so much wrong it's unbelievable, I get the feeling the designers have never driven a vehicle before. The 1.6L engine is a bit small, it struggles with hills. Uphill means dropping down 2 gears, and downhill there is no engine braking like you would get in a normal vehicle so you need to use the brakes a lot. When driving you need to change gears far more often than my car or the previous 3 vans I've had. At 50MPH it demands you drive in 6th gear. And the less said about the hill start 'assist' feature the better.

 

[Mike Johnson]

Most modern (normal) cars do not have engine braking it improves the published consumption figures, in fact my current (sorry) vehicle disconnects the drive train on the overrun.

 

[Ian Mills]

Interesting, but too small and I still can't get past the price, well out of my reach. I was surprised at the weight too, though that should have been obvious as it's filled with the batteries. I get the feeling I'd be using the engine more than the batteries alone to save the hassle of finding somewhere to charge it and then waiting for it to charge.

I do like the look of it and think it will last a long time but like you a bit small and expensive, I can not understand why has it got a max range on the engine option or is that just that you will need to refill with petrol. But saying that I think maybe not this but the same sort of hybrid is what we will all end up driving after 2040 when straight petrol and diesel are band, Top gear some years ago had a bit about electric cars where they built something up with a diesel generator in the back (as a bit of a joke) but looks same idea is being used on this

 

[Zerax]

Glad to see my op has generated alot of responses in the subject. However i have decied to go with a bran new vivaro L2 120ps diesel as i feel more comfortable than taking a risk in the unknown market. Hope next time i buy new in 4/5yrs i will have enough confidence to buy electric.

I'm still wavering towards an electric one... but I think that's more driven by personal motives and the marketing angle of installing EV charging whilst using an EV.

 

[nicebutdim]

Sorry to ressurect an old thread, but Youtube thought I should watch this and couldn't help thinking back to the EV discussion here.

 

[pc1966]

Just looked on the Zap-Map here:

Understanding electric vehicle connector types | Charging guide - Zapmap

How long does it take to charge an electric car? Learn about charging standards, compatibility, and make informed decisions for your EV charging needs.

www.zap-map.com

Looks like there are at least 7 different connectors in use. WTF, would anyone accept needing 7 different types of petrol at each petrol station?

 

[Mike Johnson]

Evangelist of electric cars/vans will never admit there may be a problem with what they have bought ?, but then that applies to all of us with something we have paid a lot for.

 

[Zerax]

Yes... there is definitely an issue with standardisation of connector... similar to VHS vs Betamax... as well as several other issues. However, things are changing in this new industry... the same as every other new industry.

But to address the specific query here... you need to remember that at present, only 5% ish of EV charging will happen at public chargers... the rest is done at home where different connectors are not an issue.

As I'm sure I've said frequently... you need to look at what works for the 80% of cases... not what works for the 1% of cases... 'low hanging fruit' or 'Pareto' principle.

 

[nicebutdim]

It's inevitable that we'll all have to drive Electric Vehicles in the near future - at least until a better option becomes viable. The rights and wrongs are as important as the fact that politicians are moving in this direction and they make the laws.

I see an untapped niche in the market for double insulated jerry cans.

 

[Mike Johnson]

It's inevitable that we'll all have to drive Electric Vehicles in the near future - at least until a better option becomes viable. The rights and wrongs are as important as the fact that politicians are moving in this direction and they make the laws.

I see an untapped niche in the market for double insulated jerry cans.

In the future we will not be able to drive anywhere the whole world will be covered in wind farms and solar panels.

 

[pc1966]

But to address the specific query here... you need to remember that at present, only 5% ish of EV charging will happen at public chargers... the rest is done at home where different connectors are not an issue.

Unfortunately I think the majority of households do not have the option of home charging as they have no driveway. If you live in a block of flats, or even on a typical street of terraced houses where you have no reserved parking space (and every fsker seems to have 2 cars per household so finding a space is a lottery), you are out of options.

Just now the "early adopters" are in the upper income range and have home charge options, how to scale that to the majority remains to be seen.

Sure EV will be the future one way or another, but for now it is simply not an option for me and others in my position as (a) I have no home charge option, and (b) my main long-distance destinations don't either (as well as the round-trip being worryingly close to a typical EV's range).

 

[nicebutdim]

In the future we will not be able to drive anywhere the whole world will be covered in wind farms and solar panels.

I note that a recent Dutch study concluded that powering their country solely by means of wind and solar would require a land area 1.8x greater than Holland.