Hi OneFoot, yes most public charging in England you have to pay for. But about 15% of all public chargers are free. In Scotland most public charging is free. Dunno about Wales or N/Ireland.

The good news is that most free public charging is of the fast charge type. Bros' car shows him where the chargers are, which ones are not in use etc etc.

Some folks on here keep saying it's expensive to run your EV. But the fact is, it isn't! Service costs for an EV are very low compared to an ice car. But the biggest difference is in the cost of fuelling it. The AA & various other motoring sources has discovered that if you don't use the free chargers & have to pay for a charge, then on average this will cost you £21.98 to charge from 20% to 80 at a public fast charge point. Of course, you can pay more than that on a motorway. Bro once paid £39 for a full 20% to 100% charge near Birmingham. That was still very much better than the £80 he would have normally paid for petrol to cover the same miles in his ice car. That was in June this year. So far in the two years he's had the EV car he has saved over £12,000 in fuel costs & £1,100 in car service costs. There are other savings also but can't go into them just now. Even actually buying an EV can work out quite a bit cheaper compared to an ice car equivalent depending how you buy it & what deal you do. Bear in mind they don't wear out as quickly as an ice car either.

Careful with the 'EV Servicing costs are far less than ICE vehicles' claim...manufacturers gaily claim that 'all'' you have to worry about on an EV are tyres and brakes, but I have 10 times more hassle with tyres and brakes than anything else!!!!!! Petrol engines are easy....put new oil & filters in and change spark plugs & coollant every so often and modern engines will run faultlessly!
And general car/bike electronic systems are far from bang proof either!

Data wrote: Thu Aug 25, 2022 11:54 am Just an aside note. Bro has been to Edinburgh & back in the EV. He meandered to various cities on the way up & on the way back. He covered 835 miles. Total cost to charge the EV was £10.40 for the entire journey. This was the cost to fully charge it before leaving home. All other charging was free. His best range from 100% down to 5% was 289miles travelling mostly at 60mph. I must say he was travelling light, by himself. No shortage of charging facilities on the main routes he said. Sounds pretty good to me!

You said he meandered to various cites. Herein lies the problem. If you don't have the time nor the inclination this would be a massive pain in the arse. Some people just want to get where they are going without fuss. EV's can't really do that. When you find a charger you're plugged in for ages compared to topping up the fuel tank. A simple trip to Whitby for me, for example would be around 200 miles. The smaller EV cars that are ''affordable'' would struggle to do this without recharging which would be a pain. For now I'm well and truly out of the EV loop. In fact I've ordered a brand new small petrol car to see me to my dotage. I'm hoping for c55-60 mpg, that'll do.

smeghead wrote: Thu Aug 25, 2022 3:54 pm

You said he meandered to various cites. Herein lies the problem. If you don't have the time nor the inclination this would be a massive pain in the arse. Some people just want to get where they are going without fuss. EV's can't really do that. When you find a charger you're plugged in for ages compared to topping up the fuel tank. A simple trip to Whitby for me, for example would be around 200 miles. The smaller EV cars that are ''affordable'' would struggle to do this without recharging which would be a pain. .

Exactly - at the moment, I have to do regular trips to Essex which are around 260 miles each way and take around 4 hours to do. Stopping for a recharge would seriously lengthen the journey. So, Elec Cars are not for me at the moment. However this situation won't be forever, and EV tech will undoubtedly progress.

Incidentally, I was just reading a test of the Energica electric touring bike - serious performance, 140 mile open road range so would meet most of my normal requirements (though touring will still be difficult) - but £30k!

MrGrumpy wrote: Thu Aug 25, 2022 3:45 pm Careful with the 'EV Servicing costs are far less than ICE vehicles' claim...manufacturers gaily claim that 'all'' you have to worry about on an EV are tyres and brakes, but I have 10 times more hassle with tyres and brakes than anything else!!!!!! Petrol engines are easy....put new oil & filters in and change spark plugs & coollant every so often and modern engines will run faultlessly!
And general car/bike electronic systems are far from bang proof either!

Yes petrol cars have reached a pinnacle of near perfection. It's quite ironic that we are now in the process of banning them. But it has to be.

If you get ten times more trouble with tyres & brakes than anything else then I suggest something must be wrong with the way you drive it. Petrol engines are not easy by comparison to electric vehicles. As a tech I can confirm that. Every study shows this. But of course preference for petrol can distort how we see things.

smeghead wrote: Thu Aug 25, 2022 3:54 pm

Data wrote: Thu Aug 25, 2022 11:54 am Just an aside note. Bro has been to Edinburgh & back in the EV. He meandered to various cities on the way up & on the way back. He covered 835 miles. Total cost to charge the EV was £10.40 for the entire journey. This was the cost to fully charge it before leaving home. All other charging was free. His best range from 100% down to 5% was 289miles travelling mostly at 60mph. I must say he was travelling light, by himself. No shortage of charging facilities on the main routes he said. Sounds pretty good to me!

You said he meandered to various cites. Herein lies the problem. If you don't have the time nor the inclination this would be a massive pain in the arse. Some people just want to get where they are going without fuss. EV's can't really do that. When you find a charger you're plugged in for ages compared to topping up the fuel tank. A simple trip to Whitby for me, for example would be around 200 miles. The smaller EV cars that are ''affordable'' would struggle to do this without recharging which would be a pain. For now I'm well and truly out of the EV loop. In fact I've ordered a brand new small petrol car to see me to my dotage. I'm hoping for c55-60 mpg, that'll do.

I think the issue here is two fold. 1. Lack of knowledge concerning current ev charging times & rates. 2. How far we all tend to drive in one go without a quick break. Let me explain.

Firstly, bro's car goes on average 283 miles on a near full charge. That includes mixed motoring. If you stick with a steady speed it can go further. It goes 400 mile's on one charge around town & in urban conditions. At a continuous steady 70 it'll go around 255-260 miles but that can vary slightly like in any ice car. But here's the thing. A 10 to 15 minute free fast charge puts anywhere between 140-160 miles in the tank. The exact mileage depends to some extent on ambient temperature at time of charging. But in this country it doesn't vary much.

Secondly, generally few people drive more than two hours or 150 miles non stop these days. It's not recommended & frankly we all need a coffee & a wee. That takes anywhere from 15 to 30 mins for most of us to have that break. In that time the car has fully recharged again because after 150 miles & 2hrs driving you've added those 150 recharge miles to the remaining 140 miles already in the tank. So it's no wonder the biggest buyers of EVs are high mileage long distance drivers & firms.

We have to get over this old money way of thinking & making direct comparisons with ice cars. It's the wrong way of thinking about EVs. It's clear too that most folks still lack knowledge of so many things EV. But it's understandable as most folks have never driven one, don't understand the considerable advantages of EVs, don't understand the charging regimes, & often don't actually know anyone who owns one.

There is one other point to make. Some folks make the mistake of thinking you must buy an EV with huge range. When in fact most folks don't require or need a huge range. The smaller EVs are very capable. An EV with a 200 mile range is more than adequate for 90% of people. They charge up very quickly, faster than bigger battery longer range models which can give them a considerable advantage even on long runs. Charging points are expanding faster & faster across the country making smaller EVs even better value & very useful. But make what you will of it.

PS. I respect everyone's opinion on this but can see some flaws in some ideas being presented.

I'm currently having fun writing this from my hospital bed. I had a heart attack yesterday! Currently loaded with free drugs & feeling a little strange, but ok I think. Thanks guys.

Sorry you're poorly; I hope you're being looked after properly and get well soon.

Hope you’re ok Ian? Get well soon.

Bloody hell Ian, don't raise your blood pressure reading this shite lol. Get well soon.

Thanks so much guys. Yes I'm being looked after in a fantastic hospital. I don't know what the damage is yet, if any. Last attack was 8 yrs ago & although that took me 3 months to recover from, it didn't do any permanent damage. My arteries appear clear so they are giving me a good probing! Lots more tests to come. Really didn't expect this. But hey ho...

By the way, it's always a pleasure talking, debating & even outright arguing with you lot. None of us ever gets shitty so it's all good.

Love you all (especially Smeg as he has a GTS ). Hope to speak again tomorrow.