Tips and Takeaways from My First 800-Mile EV Road Trip in Scotland

[woody1]

So for me, it's the battery range and charging speed that will make the difference.

Wouldn't the charging speed be a bit of a non-issue if the range was say 1000 miles? Most charging, even for very long journeys, could then be done from home.

[woohoo]

Wouldn't the charging speed be a bit of a non-issue if the range was say 1000 miles? Most charging, even for very long journeys, could then be done from home.

That's a very good point. I was thinking if it takes 24 hours to charge to 600 miles range (think thats the distance claimed by Toyota) then that's an issue.

Or if it takes 1 minute to charge to 300 miles then thats still a game changer.

[d000hg]

Even if the range only improved by 5% a year, that would still be nearly 30% higher in 5 years time. That would put 500 miles within reach.

I still reckon 1000 miles is not beyond the realms of possibility before the end of this decade.

Li-ion tech is incrementally improving and there is no great white hope around the corner for an alternative, certainly not for mass-manufacture. EVs have made big improvements in the last few years in terms of engineering which means the easy pickings are already gone for big gains. You can of course increase the size of batteries in the EV.

EVs are now in a fairly stable position, which means the transformational step needed is in the infrastructure not the vehicle/tech. A common charging standard, more rapid chargers for everyone to use, etc.
Of course if something like on-road charging or battery hot-swap came along that could be huge deal but neither seems to be on the cards right now.

That said, what % of journeys (or miles driven) are long-distance? I don't know if this data is accessible but surely it has been gathered. A lot of families maybe only do 1 or 2 long journeys a year and many probably do zero. Hiring a petrol car for those would allow me to use an EV, which I can't do now because I do need to drive the length of the country annually.

[woody1]

That's a very good point. I was thinking if it takes 24 hours to charge to 600 miles range (think thats the distance claimed by Toyota) then that's an issue.

Yes but if you stick it on charge every night, you'd be keeping it at full capacity all the time. (Or is that not recommended?)

The only time you'd have a problem is if you do two 600-mile round trips on consecutive days.

[woohoo]

Yes but if you stick it on charge every night, you'd be keeping it at full capacity all the time. (Or is that not recommended?)

The only time you'd have a problem is if you do two 600-mile round trips on consecutive days.

Depends on these new and improved batteries. At the moment they recommend keeping them charged around 85%. If you leave your car for a couple of weeks I've seen various recommendations for leaving the charge much lower, not sure why tbh.

But yes you could live with longer charging times if the range was massively extended.

[woody1]

Depends on these new and improved batteries. At the moment they recommend keeping them charged around 85%. If you leave your car for a couple of weeks I've seen various recommendations for leaving the charge much lower, not sure why tbh.

But yes you could live with longer charging times if the range was massively extended.

If you always maintained the batteries at 85% then, with a 600-mile range, you could still do over 500 miles which would cover most long journeys without having to use public chargers. I'm sure this is the way it's going to end up going.

The funny thing is I probably only average about 1000 miles a year, so in theory I'd only have to charge a couple of times a year.

On the other hand, with such low usage, I can't really justify lashing out £40k+ on an EV. This is why I've ended up keeping a clapped out old TT for so long.

[woohoo]

If you always maintained the batteries at 85% then, with a 600-mile range, you could still do over 500 miles which would cover most long journeys without having to use public chargers. I'm sure this is the way it's going to end up going.

The funny thing is I probably only average about 1000 miles a year, so in theory I'd only have to charge a couple of times a year.

On the other hand, with such low usage, I can't really justify lashing out £40k+ on an EV. This is why I've ended up keeping a clapped out old TT for so long.

sounds like you could get away with an e-scooter. ?

[DoctorStrangelove]

At a 1000 miles a year the batteries will die quicker.

It's chemistry innit.

[Mordac]

Li-ion tech is incrementally improving and there is no great white hope around the corner for an alternative, certainly not for mass-manufacture. EVs have made big improvements in the last few years in terms of engineering which means the easy pickings are already gone for big gains. You can of course increase the size of batteries in the EV.

EVs are now in a fairly stable position, which means the transformational step needed is in the infrastructure not the vehicle/tech. A common charging standard, more rapid chargers for everyone to use, etc.
Of course if something like on-road charging or battery hot-swap came along that could be huge deal but neither seems to be on the cards right now.

That said, what % of journeys (or miles driven) are long-distance? I don't know if this data is accessible but surely it has been gathered. A lot of families maybe only do 1 or 2 long journeys a year and many probably do zero. Hiring a petrol car for those would allow me to use an EV, which I can't do now because I do need to drive the length of the country annually.

All I can say for certain is that about 90% of houses in my corner of south-west London don't have driveways, but there are at least 3 lamp-posts which have been converted to EV charging points. Which means if everyone round here bought an EV, there's a chance they could charge their car once every 6 weeks or so. When you factor in the fact that their vehicle would be worthless after about 10 years, once the batteries become totally useless, the people who stick with petrol as long as possible are going to feel a little smug. And I'll be one of those smug bastards.

[woody1]

All I can say for certain is that about 90% of houses in my corner of south-west London don't have driveways, but there are at least 3 lamp-posts which have been converted to EV charging points. Which means if everyone round here bought an EV, there's a chance they could charge their car once every 6 weeks or so. When you factor in the fact that their vehicle would be worthless after about 10 years, once the batteries become totally useless, the people who stick with petrol as long as possible are going to feel a little smug. And I'll be one of those smug bastards.

Yep this is a wee bit of an issue. I've seen photos where people have rigged up a cable from an upstairs window to a makeshift pole next to their car but I bet it's not legal to hang cables across the pavement.