Electric Cars 2030 What Will Yours sound Like?

[thebrighton]

Range will also need to be massively improved to make them viable. I've a mate in Bristol who came to visit at the beginning of last year and he had, I think, a ZOE. Being winter battery drain was worse so he had to stop for over an hour on the way and a quick top up about half an hour from here and then again on the way back to recharge.
Sorry, I can drive to Bristol and back on less than a tank of petrol and don't need to stop. Stopping 3 times and not just for a couple of minutes a goo will never sell electric to me. Sure petrol may cost more but not when you factor in the cost of an electric car. Things need to advance quickly or people will just keep their old petrol cars going for ever!

[Karhedron]

I want mine to sound like the HSTs used to sound. Proper valenta scream! 

[Newportnobby]

I can recall dear old Clarkson debunking the myths about electric cars, not least that when the battery required replacing it was about £7000 at the time and, as he pointed out, by then the entire vehicle wouldn't be worth that.

And then, of course...................

[stevewalker]

Unless battery and charging technology improve dramatically or Hydrogen takes off, then plug-in hybrids seem the best bet. I could certainly make the majority of my day to day journeys on electric only (charging at home overnight), with no more than a 50 mile range,. However, I also need the flexibility to make longer journeys when required - even very long ones, at zero notice and with tight time constraints, making lengthy stops for a charge impossible.

[chrism]

Unless battery and charging technology improve dramatically or Hydrogen takes off, then plug-in hybrids seem the best bet. I could certainly make the majority of my day to day journeys on electric only (charging at home overnight), with no more than a 50 mile range,. However, I also need the flexibility to make longer journeys when required - even very long ones, at zero notice and with tight time constraints, making lengthy stops for a charge impossible.

To tempt me to buy an electric car (unless I'm forced to), it would have to have a minimum 300 mile range on a cold, wet winter's night and a decent topup, say to 70-80%, recharge in 15-20 minutes maximum - plus, of course, a good network of charging facilities that can provide that charge rate without excessive waiting for a charger to become available.

It would need to be of similar size to my present car and, preferably, not look naff. Hopefully the latter wouldn't be an issue, since a lot of the latest offerings are much the same as their petrol/diesel equivalents. The manufacturers seem to have stopped letting the designers have such a free hand to come up with abominations now.

Oh, and the price would have to be similar to that of the petrol/diesel equivalents.

[The Q]

What will my next car sound like?
A diesel.
Why?
1, Since 2010 all new cars have been fitted with filters so particulates are not a problem.
2, Due to the way petrol cars are tuned to reduce other things and suit their catalytic converter some produce more NOx than diesel.
3, Better, MPG
4, As ICE are phased out diesel will be around longer, as there is not yet any proposal to get rid of Diesel lorry's.


I retire in 2 years, at that point a new car will be bought, which will probably be our last or second to last car, our last car we had 15years, this one by then will be 13. Unless prices come down a lot, it won't be a hybrid either.

An electric would require the following.
A 300 mile range, in mid winter with the heater on, at motorway speeds, with being able to charge to at least 75% within half an hour and that's at the end of my ownership not just when new..

[njee20]

This is the oft cited reason for not getting an electric car, but how many people really do lots of spontaneous 300 mile journeys in winter? I've done 300 mile journeys twice in the last 15 years. Neither were spontaneous. It feels like people just want an excuse.

That said, I did look at hybrids when I bought a new car, but honestly I wanted something a bit quicker than most of the standard models, not that I'll ever use the performance!

[Karhedron]

To tempt me to buy an electric car (unless I'm forced to), it would have to have a minimum 300 mile range on a cold, wet winter's night and a decent topup, say to 70-80%, recharge in 15-20 minutes maximum - plus, of course, a good network of charging facilities that can provide that charge rate without excessive waiting for a charger to become available.

That is pretty much what the Tesla Model 3 Long Range version can do now with a superfast charger. Granted that is a top-end car but it is still under £50K. Give it 5-10 years and that sort of performance will be standard, not premium.

[Karhedron]

That said, I did look at hybrids when I bought a new car, but honestly I wanted something a bit quicker than most of the standard models, not that I'll ever use the performance!

Plug-in hybrids are a compromise. Depending on your PoV, they are either the best of both worlds or the worse. On the one hand you can do full battery power on short trips with the convenience so switch to ICE at a moment's notice when needed. The downside is that whichever power system you are using, you are lugging a dead engine and fuel/battery around.

[njee20]

Yes, of course. But the options for full EVs are too limited at the moment IMO. Conceptually I'd have Tesla, but they're still bloody expensive with crazy waiting lists. Other options are principally based on small city cars like the Renault Zoe and BMW i3. They're the perfect use for EVs, but I want something more akin to a normally family hatchback with a bit of interest, a "hot hatch" if one can stomach the marketing!

The new Audi e-Tron GT looks great, but they start from £81k!

[chrism]

This is the oft cited reason for not getting an electric car, but how many people really do lots of spontaneous 300 mile journeys in winter? I've done 300 mile journeys twice in the last 15 years. Neither were spontaneous. It feels like people just want an excuse.

No, I want the option to be able to do that if I wish.

I'm already prepared to compromise to achieve that requirement, since that's still less than I get out of my current car - 450-500 miles and only 5 minutes to fill up.

[Fardap]

What has to be remembered is that Tesla started off selling high end sports (Roadster 2008) and Luxury Sedam (Model S 2010), their first 'affordable mass market' car the Model 3 was produced from 2017 which was just four years ago.

There are another 8 years until the current 2030 deadline, something is likely to change be that better batteries/storage/range or a new technology so I am not sure it won't happen but probably not with the tech we currently know.

There was a point mooted that if all batteries were replaceable in minutes (power pack) then you would just pull up at a 'fuel' station and swap out a depleted battery for a fully charged one, range would be around 250 miles which I think would be the point to be aiming at for most people other than long distance lorries.

[Mr Sprue]

Given the hidden dangers that are under the bonnet, one being there is up to 600 volts running through those orange cables. If involved in a shunt there should be an automatic recording that sounds off like the B-9 robot from the 'Lost in Space' program in the sixties!

These cars are not exactly liked by our fire service when they are involved in road accidents either! If the battery is exposed to excessive heat, or the battery case gets damaged there is a high risk of an internal short circuit, which could cause Joule heating.

Lithium-ion batteries can store a huge amount of energy in a very small space, the sudden release of this electricity causes heat that you cannot get rid of easily because a chemical reaction takes place which generates more heat.  This then causes the chemical reaction to go even faster! known as a thermal runaway it can lead to ignition or even explosion!

[Karhedron]

I can recall dear old Clarkson debunking the myths about electric cars, not least that when the battery required replacing it was about £7000 at the time and, as he pointed out, by then the entire vehicle wouldn't be worth that.

Actually it is a myth that car batteries need replacing at all. Look at some of the stats from companies in the US that are using them as taxis. One of the cars mentioned has done 330,000 miles and still has 77% of its original battery capacity. Most ICE's will be completely worn out after 330,000 miles so arguing that you need expensive battery replacements just is not born out by experience.

Not to mention the fact that an electric vehicle will save you a huge amount in both fuel and maintenance costs over that time. Electric cars typically save 75% on the cost per mile compared to petrol cars. Maintenance savings are even bigger typically saving around 89% per year simply because EVs have far fewer moving parts.

This means that over the lifetime of a battery, you will have saved far more than the cost of the battery and EV price premium put together thanks to the lower running costs.

https://cleantechnica.com/2019/11/23/500000-miles-in-a-tesla-whats-the-result/

And then, of course...................

Now you are just being provocative. Tar sands facilities look more like this.

[Karhedron]

Lithium-ion batteries can store a huge amount of energy in a very small space, the sudden release of this electricity causes heat that you cannot get rid of easily because a chemical reaction takes place which generates more heat.  This then causes the chemical reaction to go even faster! known as a thermal runaway it can lead to ignition or even explosion!

Just like what happens when fuel in a tank catches fire?