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

[dsc]

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.

You can just swap out the whole battery pack, so that's not a problem, what is a problem though is what the hell do you do with the used battery pack? recycle you say? sure, but it's an energy consuming, dangerous thing, so I can see this being another "all plastic is 100% recyclable" myth and us ending up with stacks upon stacks of old useless, huge battery packs from EVs that no one knows what to do with.

Also to efficiently and quickly charge you need a super charger and those are £££ and you really need a driveway.

[d000hg]

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.

Converting urban streets to support EV charging is really not a big problem. Look at FTTP roll-out, this sort of scale infrastructure is something that can be done fairly quickly once someone decides they want to. Look forward to your road being dug up at some point

Workplaces and car-parks are also prime candidates because charging at work is a great option for a significant number of people too.

[wattaj]

Converting urban streets to support EV charging is really not a big problem. Look at FTTP roll-out, this sort of scale infrastructure is something that can be done fairly quickly once someone decides they want to. Look forward to your road being dug up at some point

Workplaces and car-parks are also prime candidates because charging at work is a great option for a significant number of people too.

Hmm, ok... why would anyone want to dig up all the roads for charging infrastructure when one could repurpose the existing petrol/diesel filling stations for hydrogen?

Batteries are not a long-term solution. It's foolish (IMHO) to think that they are.

[d000hg]

Hmm, ok... why would anyone want to dug up all the roads for charging infrastructure when one could repurpose the existing petrol/diesel filling stations for hydrogen?

Because people are buying EVs, and there are no hydrogen cars on the roads or likely to be soon.
Realism vs idealism.

[Paralytic]

latest stats from the US are 50% of journeys are less than 3 miles.

Americans drive to take their trash out.

[wattaj]

Because people are buying EVs, and there are no hydrogen cars on the roads or likely to be soon.
Realism vs idealism.

Well, one of us is being realistic; the other not so much.

Batteries are not the long-term replacement of ICE. A charger at the majority of homes in the UK, and most of Europe if we're honest, is just not going to happen. It's too high-impact for such little return.

[dsc]

Hmm, ok... why would anyone want to dug up all the roads for charging infrastructure when one could repurpose the existing petrol/diesel filling stations for hydrogen?

Batteries are not a long-term solution. It's foolish (IMHO) to think that they are.

Hydrogen is a bit tulipe as well, you need to keep it at super low temps, it's expensive, transportation is expensive and complex and the two existing cars that use hydrogen are tulipe compared to modern EVs. And you still need a battery on board of a hydrogen car.

Still can't see chargers being installed on most roads in say London, and this is what you'd need for people to use EVs on a massive scale.

[malvolio]

Hydrogen is a bit tulipe as well, you need to keep it at super low temps, it's expensive, transportation is expensive and complex and the two existing cars that use hydrogen are tulipe compared to modern EVs. And you still need a battery on board of a hydrogen car.

Still can't see chargers being installed on most roads in say London, and this is what you'd need for people to use EVs on a massive scale.

No harder than LPG and we handle that regularly. If you mean H2 fuel cells then they are a battery. If you mean H2 ICEs then they're little different to normal cars.

[JustKeepSwimming]

EV = personal vehicles.

Hydrogen = commercial vehicles, planes/ships and probably trucks.

Hydrogen isn't viable for small vehicles, and EV isn't viable for big vehicles.

[woody1]

...what is a problem though is what the hell do you do with the used battery pack? recycle you say? sure, but it's an energy consuming, dangerous thing, so I can see this being another "all plastic is 100% recyclable" myth and us ending up with stacks upon stacks of old useless, huge battery packs from EVs that no one knows what to do with.

I wonder what happens to worn out batteries now? I guess there aren't that many at the moment to be much of a problem. But in a few years time...