Electric vehicles, pros and cons. Have your say.
Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2023 9:29 am
Personally I think that electric vehicles are perfect for some people's uses/positions, but are completely useless for others.
Here's an example of being useless.
I met my mates brother for the first time yesterday. During the conversation he told me he was a PH driver, who exclusively does airport runs. He's an independent, who doesn't advertise, but has relied on word of mouth for bookings. He had just picked up a Zoe for his wife, and I commented that it wouldn't be very good for his work.
Well, the floodgates opened on the most incredible rant.
He runs a diesel Merc van based people carrier that seats 8, and still has enough space for luggage. He is based in Herefordshire, but will drop of and pick up to/from any airport in the UK but Northern ones are rare.
He said he usually does between 3 and 6 deliveries a day, and covers 100k a year. Each van gets replaced after 3 years with the latest model. He said Mercedes have an all electric normal van (eVito), but don't have an equivalent to his people carrier. The eVito is designed for local journeys only, with a max of 160miles battery life, and just over 1000kg load allowance.
He says he that 8 people and luggage is always over 1000kgs, plus the weight of the seats and interior that the van doesn't have.
His concerns are -
Availability of chargers.
Range being reduced as he always either has the AC or heating on for his passengers.
His journeys usually have at least 6 people in the vehicle, plus associated luggage, further reducing range.
He believes that the above concerns may mean that he will spend an extra couple of hours on each job, reducing the number of jobs to no more than 3. This will mean that he will lose customers, as he will not be able to be as flexible with them about times he can pick up/drop off.
So he said he will continue with his diesel Merc. I asked about 2030 when diesels will no longer be sold. Reply was - If there's not a decent Merc hybrid that can do the job by then, he's going to buy 3 of the people carriers he already has new just before they are no longer sold. Mothball 2 and drive one for 3 years, get the next one out, another 3 years, final one out, and drive until it can no longer get a PH license. He reckons by then, he will be ready to retire.
He did say the Zoe is perfect for him and his wife to use around Herefordshire. 2 year lease for roughly £300 a month he said, and gets cheap night time electricity from octopus.
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Here's an example of being useless.
I met my mates brother for the first time yesterday. During the conversation he told me he was a PH driver, who exclusively does airport runs. He's an independent, who doesn't advertise, but has relied on word of mouth for bookings. He had just picked up a Zoe for his wife, and I commented that it wouldn't be very good for his work.
Well, the floodgates opened on the most incredible rant.
He runs a diesel Merc van based people carrier that seats 8, and still has enough space for luggage. He is based in Herefordshire, but will drop of and pick up to/from any airport in the UK but Northern ones are rare.
He said he usually does between 3 and 6 deliveries a day, and covers 100k a year. Each van gets replaced after 3 years with the latest model. He said Mercedes have an all electric normal van (eVito), but don't have an equivalent to his people carrier. The eVito is designed for local journeys only, with a max of 160miles battery life, and just over 1000kg load allowance.
He says he that 8 people and luggage is always over 1000kgs, plus the weight of the seats and interior that the van doesn't have.
His concerns are -
Availability of chargers.
Range being reduced as he always either has the AC or heating on for his passengers.
His journeys usually have at least 6 people in the vehicle, plus associated luggage, further reducing range.
He believes that the above concerns may mean that he will spend an extra couple of hours on each job, reducing the number of jobs to no more than 3. This will mean that he will lose customers, as he will not be able to be as flexible with them about times he can pick up/drop off.
So he said he will continue with his diesel Merc. I asked about 2030 when diesels will no longer be sold. Reply was - If there's not a decent Merc hybrid that can do the job by then, he's going to buy 3 of the people carriers he already has new just before they are no longer sold. Mothball 2 and drive one for 3 years, get the next one out, another 3 years, final one out, and drive until it can no longer get a PH license. He reckons by then, he will be ready to retire.
He did say the Zoe is perfect for him and his wife to use around Herefordshire. 2 year lease for roughly £300 a month he said, and gets cheap night time electricity from octopus.
Sent from my EML-L29 using Tapatalk