Engine coming on on startup on new SR.

[John Ratsey]

When my driving ambitions reduce due to age then the need to use charging points will diminish and the attraction of an EV will increase.

Why would your driving ambitions reduce with age, (assuming relatively good health)?
I turned 85 last week and still intend keep on motoring as long as possible. (the mileage quoted above is for about 11 months)
Hell, if I could no longer drive, you might as well finish me off now.

I enjoy driving at a leisurely speed on an empty road but these are hard to find. In January I did a 320 mile round trip on motorways / dual carriageway roads to attend a funeral and I don't want to repeat the experience (the weather didn't help). Perhaps I'm being influenced by a brother who is 5 years ahead of me and has just bought a Nissan Leaf on the basis that it's sufficient for his travel needs (which probably means that he won't be able to vist my house and get home without looking for a charger).

[Neil Ives]

What would be needed to achieve the total EV goal would be a nationalised, (paid by Central government, from our tax's) system of power generation and charging points. That is not going to happen is it?
Imagine, at the next general election a political party manifesto calls for tax increases to pay for massive investment to support the move to electric vehicles. Good luck with that. It certainly is not going to be the incumbents.

Government are whistling with their hands behind their backs, hoping for an easy answer.

If such an investment were available, timescales would be far longer than 8 years, (how long does it take to bring a nuclear power station online?). I predict that unless hydrogen or some other magic fuel becomes available, conventional vehicles will be around for 20 years at least.

[Jazzyone]

My daughters partner is an electrician. At the moment he is travelling all over fitting charging points and all the associated electrics to DWP offices. No doubt paid for by all of us. I wonder if they will have to pay to use them?

[Jazzik]

...fitting charging points and all the associated electrics to DWP offices. No doubt paid for by all of us.

I suspect that DWP saves a lot of money with this https://www.pcs.org.uk/campaigns/stop-dwp-office-closures-job-losses and that they invest it in charging points...

[Expatman]

There is going to be a continuing problem with charging EV’s until they become as basic as petrol pumps. Kw/Hr price advertised along side per litre petrol and diesel prices. Pull up, plug in and pay for charge taken. No Apps or membership needed just a credit card to pay after filling up. It has worked for petrol and diesel for over 100 years so why have electric charging points become so elaborate?

[sportse]

There is going to be a continuing problem with charging EV’s until they become as basic as petrol pumps. Kw/Hr price advertised along side per litre petrol and diesel prices. Pull up, plug in and pay for charge taken. No Apps or membership needed just a credit card to pay after filling up. It has worked for petrol and diesel for over 100 years so why have electric charging points become so elaborate?

The Shell electric ‘pumps’ are contactless and don’t need an app I believe.

All charge points should be like this.

I’m curious about EVs so have an app on my phone that lets me check on chargers and what they cost & the speed - huge areas with hardly any chargers at the moment.

It shows a slow charger 20p/kw or fast charger 80p/kw - these should be shown on the charge point screen itself rather than having to use an app.

[Expatman]

You've got to ask why high speed charge is 4 times price of slow speed. The cost per Kw/Hr is the same from the energy company.
At 80p it is bordering on petrol prices per mile.

[Lord Voltermore]

Will householders start complaining their  lights are dimming because too many high speed chargers have been installed locally.

[peteo48]

Will householders start complaining their  lights are dimming because too many high speed chargers have been installed locally.

It's a point that needs addressing. I'm thinking of when the 35% (ish) of the population that don't have off road parking finally get EVs. They will almost certainly charge at peak times (those who charge at home can charge overnight using a timer either on the car or on the charger) and this is going to add to the load on the grid.

These owners also won't be able to participate in vehicle to grid arrangements (the grid takes power from your car when it's plugged in at home and puts it back in the small hours). There is also a plan to cut off rapid chargers at times of peak demand (early evening etc). Another barrier to ownership for those with no off road parking.

So many questions and so few credible answers.

[Neil Ives]

This thread has rather drifted off topic;  sorry for my part in that 

[Expatman]

This thread has rather drifted off topic;  sorry for my part in that 

I always think it is one of the plus points of this forum that threads tend to drift and cover a range of topics. Bit boring otherwise!