Electric Cars:what's available?

[Gibbo2286]

My daughter had a petrol Ford Explorer, she said it was the worst car she ever had, replaced it with a Subaru Forester which went everywhere even when snow wa too deep for most of the American 4x4s

[ChrisRobin]

@ Gibbo, Ford and VW CV also now together produce the new Amarok which is in fact a Ford Ranger, they also did it with VW, Seat with the Ford Galaxy, AKA the Sharan, AKA the Alhambra, VW CV also in With Mercedes for the Crafter, and years back Renault were in with Vauxhall for the vans Masters and Traffics, I think I said before it is quite an eye opener when you start delving and explains why most stock motor cars/vans these days look and sound pretty similar and I suppose as diesel and petrol dies away and the new generation comes through we will see more cross platform cars from the big names but that's not really new is it.
Individuality these days seems to have taken a back seat to the "safe option" for the big names.
They have always been a good seller in the states for some reason the yanks like them as they seem to like Peugeot or Pewgeot as like to call them but Renault never got a look in, they even tried with Nissan (another firm favourite in the States) Niesson as they call it, but still no market for Renault, strange they really do not like them at all, I stood behind a couple in Porto Airport last year at Sixt whilst this American couple moaned and moaned about the Renault Captur they were handed the keys for, they were NOT having it no matter what the agent said.

[ChrisRobin]

Years back when our dealership was being rebuilt completely they moved us and we got put up 20 odd mile away there was a Mitsu dealership there with us, and the Outlander I think it was an EV had just been released, the sales lads gladly told customers it had something like 230 mile range on one charge, what they didn't tell them it off road range, didn't even tell us but the techs did, seems once you switch it total 4X4 and went off road it dropped to between 80 and 60 miles dependant on terrain, the sales lads were told to deflect as much as they can from that, bit like our Portuguese built EOS don't mention the rain our sales lads were told.
Our EV vans are terrible as well, they are not battery designed but instead its a basic diesel transporter or crafter, taken off the production line and passed over to a company called ABT who then rip out all its innards and replace it all with battery packs and motors but they are very hefty as its was designed for a diesel engine, biggest problem is when it comes back into the workshop as its VIN number only shows it original parts so all we know is it is a diesel Transporter when in fact it is not, anything on the EV side we have send a ticket to ABT to get a part numbers so we can then order from VW, they are always booked in for oil and filter changes as front of house and us in parts see it has a diesel we have no way knowing it is not, not very good that is it!

[NewcastleFalcon]

I am always of the opinion if you want to know something find out. The BYD Dolphin spotted recently by Jim got short shrift from an instant reaction point of view. Bit over the top but everyone has their own reactions. To me its a fairly standard looking 2024 car, and I applaud giving different colours a try. We have been swimming around in a sea of blandness for a number of years, but colours are coming back.

Video starts of with with some old cliche's, there will be better or worse vids.



Neil

[mickthemaverick]

Harry talks a lot of sense in this video:

[CitroJim]

The BYD Dolphin spotted recently by Jim got short shrift from an instant reaction point of view.

It was the hideous colour of the one I saw that put me right off Neil... In that blue they look a lot better

[NewcastleFalcon]

Harry talks a lot of sense in this video:

Not one of my favourite pontificatiors on the subject. If you want horses mouth stuff follow bargain basement electric on the FCF, or try for yourself. The market for EV s will work itself out, as will the infrastructure.
Don’t know why Harry bothers himself with these things I certainly don’t need his opinion. This has been trailed for years boo hoo for the ones who have been left behind.

Neil

[mickthemaverick]

I understand that Neil but the bit I was driving at was more towards the end when he suggested letting the engineers sort out the way forward and keep the vote hunting politicians out of it!

[bobins]

Have you actually watched Harry's video, Neil ? It strikes me he makes a lot of sense about THE BIGGER PICTURE i.e. not what an indivdual person thinks of running an EV, but how the population reacts to the prospect of EVs and all that that entails. To have the view - 'I can run a cheap EV OK, so everyone else can' is akin to having the view - 'Rolls Royce's are great, everyone should have one'. Not all people are built the same.
The marketplace will define what happens to EVs, not a government. EVs should be manufactured to what the market desires - to think otherwise is foolish.

[NewcastleFalcon]

The marketplace will define what happens to EVs, not a government. EVs should be manufactured to what the market desires

L

The market for EV s will work itself out, as will the infrastructure.

That nicely covers that point.

The uk and harry don’t seem to realise how insignificant the Uk. Is in influencing the global automotive industry and its products.

Neil

[bobins]

But that's exactly part of his video - he says the UK Govt's ambitions should be reined in to sit alongside the EU's plans. The UK plans can't work, so we ought to look to something better - that's basically a big part of his argument.
Don't forget he's had heat pumps and solar and wind generation on his farm for years, he'll soon be installing a V2G point as well. This is a bloke who wants the tech, not shuns it !

[mickthemaverick]

I agree there bobins, and I follow Harry on both his garage and farm channels. He does usually take a very considered view of the facts about the subject before making his views known. Coincidentally another of the channels I follow, Just have a Think, has a more international view published today where Dave looks into the effect China is having on the global EV marketplace:



Also some valid and possibly concerning points made there!

[NewcastleFalcon]

Dave I like, Harry not so much although his farming is better than his Car stuff for me.

The cars appearing in this thread have expanded tremendously in the few years it has been going since 2017. Each of those vehicles is a manufacturers punt at gaining market share. Some manufaturers back the wrong horse, and some are too slow to make the necessary changes, cant match the productivity or scale of others and whinge about not being able to make EV s profitable.

Meanwhile for many reasons China have learned from partnerships with all the legacy automakers wishing to sell cars in China, and have now overtaken them, have an indigenous industry now which is more modern and productive. At the same time China and the Far East have the top 10 largest battery makers in the world including the giants CATL and BYD, and take new tech to scale production in a way which dominates the market.

Legacy auto has long depended on profits in China to sustain their global profitability, and currently are making the wrong thing in China, losing market share, and are unable to compete with Chinese EV makers in China.

China hasn’t even started cheap imports to Europe, they are happy to take profits from the inflated price European market, and can make better profits from exports than they can in their own market. That is even with the tariffs.

Neil

[ChrisRobin]

The Marketplace can easily be manipulated by anyone with enough money/clout get your EV's into enough films and we will all want one, Audi do it brilliantly as do BMW, you watch sny action film they will drive an Audi (S8/6 or 4 as they sound really throaty) or a BM.
Get them into some nifty adverts and the general public will buy them as we are really fickle and will feel like we are missing out if we don't buy one. like I said slip them into films so we don't feel you are selling it to us and you capture us even more.

[myglaren]

The very essence of advertising, sell us crap we really don't need but think we do.