Nömenlōony

Meanwhile on #Facebook some old boomer climate denier challenged me to drive my EV to Europe and see who wins.

Fully charged my #EV will do around 270 miles. My chosen driving route would be via Hull and the North Sea Ferries; however let's see... Dover is 232 miles away. Even on a very cold day with heaters running I'd make the terminal with about 5% energy left.

That means I can drive quite a few miles into France and even make it into Belgium before needing a charge - and that's if we go #Eurotunnel.

You see, that's the problem. They don't actually have the slightest clue what they're on about. They believe the #dailymail , #telegraph and the other right wing papers, meanwhile I drive around in a 285bhp van which will quite happily 0-60 most cars and takes me to Wolverhampton and back without me even thinking of charging.

The world has moved on. They haven't, and soon it's going to be embarrassing.

Jan 22 at 7:31amWeb
Show threadJaime VisserJan 22
@nomenloony Even worse, they now get upset they have to pay more road tax, repairs are more expensive and fuel is taxed so much. You'd think at a certain point they'd get it, but no. EV range anxiety disproportionately holds them back.
Show threadStewart TolhurstJan 22
@nomenloony The reason I don’t drive an EV is structural rather than technological. Charging infrastructure is spotty (but getting better), but expensive. If you’re not in a position to charge at home the cost of running an EV is a concern (especially with inequitable per-mile charging coming in). I’m also concerned about insurance and servicing. A decade of mealie-mouthed government ‘policy’ on EVs has left us in a position of uncertainty rather then giving the ecosystems around EV ownership the confidence to grow and support the transition away from fossil fuels.
Show threadNömenlōonyJan 22

@foxbasealpha we have plenty of charging infrastructure around here; the problem is (for them) I hardly use it. I set off every morning with a full battery.

Now for someone who can't charge at home a PHEV or HEV is a far better decision. Your choice if vehicle should not be someone else's burden and if it's a case of cables across pavements then perhaps an EV is the wrong choice.

Personally I'd love to see low power lamp post chargers in every lamp post - they only need to be 6 amp; enough to trickle a car overnight - but imagine if everyone on every street had access to at least a means of giving them 30 miles range overnight it would be amazing.

For they record - they do exist and they're very cheap (comparatively) to retro fit to most existing lamp posts and bollards with a power supply.

The big concern then, of course, is if someone starts to think they have the right to say "you can't park there because I need to charge my EV" - that's just entitled and wrong.

Dedicated EV chargers, yes, protect them; but not this.

Show threadWorld Basement ClassicJan 22
@nomenloony It'd be pretty cool if Eurotunnel offered on-train EV charging...
Show threadNömenlōonyJan 22
@diffrentcolours apparently they can't because of the risk of charging an EV in a confined space. Honestly though, most EV charger fires are caused by very high speed charging of an non conditioned battery.
Show threadCuriousJan 22

@nomenloony I've had similar discussions in Australia. "Oh I'd like to see you drive to Melbourne in that!"
Its 2 x 35 minute charges for the ~900 km.

Then asked him him when's the last time he drove to Melbourne anyway? his answer: dont be stupid, it's been cheaper to fly there for like 15 years

Yup fairly reliable IQ indicator I'd say.

Show threadNömenlōonyJan 22
@curiously yeah - same. Plus when was the last time anyone drove 200+ miles without at least a 15 minute break?