Post
by White Exec » Wed Apr 03, 2013 4:20 pm
The second film (Revenge of...) almost brings things right up-to-date, and does include some coverage of the GM/Chevy Volt (also to be sold under the Vauxhall label, it seems!). The zeal with which Renault-Nissan are pursuing development is really heartening. Renault already have (IIRC) five all-electric vehicles in their current range: just go to their corporate website.
For something of an eye-opener, worth Googling 'electric cars China' to discover dozens (hundreds?) of companies involved in electric vehicle manufacture. Mind you, with their urban pollution problems and burgeoning population, it's an obvious route to go down.
Right, electric vehicles (with sub-300 mile range) are not for everyone, and for all journeys, but for second cars, doing the commute, the shop, the school-run, etc etc they are already more than capable.
Our daughter has just been faced with the need to replace her sporty petrol number with something more realistic for a short commute to work (and other local runabouts), and to avail herself of free-of-charge workplace parking. She looked at and very much liked the very affordable Renault Zoe, but rejected it because of (a) the totally unknown secondhand value of the car a few years down the line, and (b) uncertainty about battery life (£6k replacement cost?) and whether the battery warranty and/or lease arrangement is able to be passed on to a second owner. [Renault have been keen to remove this uncertainty by coming up with a "buy the car but lease the battery" option, with battery rental at c£70 per month. When it fails, you get a new one, and carry on paying. With the very low 'fuel' costs, something around £70pcm is, I would have thought, pretty good, and budgetable.]
As already stated, it's early days for all-electrics, but the best are already rather good. In Tesla's case, amazingly so, but also very expensive, and with a long waiting list. I guess many of Tesla's customers are not too bothered about depreciation or obsolescence, and probably have some other somewhat exotic hobbies besides. Like everything else, the price (particularly of the batteries) will tumble.
Many of the current hybrids seem to actually leave a lot to be desired so far as economy goes. Prius fuel consumption is knocked into a hat by many decent medium-sized diesels, at far less cost. Petrol hybrid????? Why not diesel hybrid, if you must? Why? Because it's got more to do with selling the idea of 'electric' to the public; of gentling them into something different; of getting the Americans not to dismiss it out-of-hand; and, of keeping the oil companies sweet. I recently looked at a GM hybrid offering (for the UK), and was staggered to find it had a claimed electric-only range of just a handful of miles! Words fail.
Chris
Chris
1996 XM 2.5TD Exclusive RP7165 Polar White
1992 BX19D Millesime RP5800 Sable
1989 BX19RD Delage Red Deceased; 1998 ZX 1.9D Avantage auto Triton Green Company car 1998..2001; 2001 Xantia 1.8i auto Wicked Red Company car 2001..2003
in here!
. 
