Yes it's going to be a painful transition for some. Bound to be some turbulence. But the simple facts are as a society the demand for EV servicing isn't equal to the current level of providers. They require far less fettling. A direct marketing operation is perfectly feasible. So this is inevitable.

I'm waiting for specialist independents who can modify EVs to arise. Fix rather than replace batteries by replacing any single faulty cells etc. There are some in the states, we have one (Clevely iirc) I know of another in Holland but its wide open. In reality this isn't a disaster it's a massive opportunity to get in on the ground floor. I'm sure some will reject it. But history isn't on their side. Who remembers the Horse buggy repairers? Nobody.

As to the anti EV whining well it really doesn't matter. It's happening few years either way, no matter. It's happening.

Edited by Ethan Edwards on 24/12/2023 at 21:58

Even if they are sealed when new, I have to wonder at how water tight they'd be when the car is 5 or 10 years old. Do the battery compartments come with water ingress sensors?

I wonder if the manufacturers have taken the perishing of seals into account in their recommended maintenance schedules? It's not as though waterproof seals on watches last forever.

Give the sheer size of EV battery housings, that's a LOT of sealing up and potential inspection and potential replacement costs for older cars and ones involved in accidents.

I suspect the latter has contributed to the significant increase in insurance premiums - not just replacement of the battery cells themselves. One slight misalignment of the housing/sub-frame caused by a minor bump could lead to the who compartment being compromised from a moisture/water ingress pov.

This answer your question?

www.carscoops.com/2023/07/aussies-break-underwater.../

That's salt water which is terrible for electrics.

www.motortrend.com/news/motor-mythbusters-flooded-.../

Mythbusters used a specially built pool. -freshwater.

But to summarise, there's less problems with an EV with water than an ICE car. It won't get hydrolocked. They aren't submarines but they're fine in puddles / ford's etc.

Rumours that EVs explode on a slightly damp day are needless to say wild exaggerations.

Not sure its such a good idea people feeling confident crossing what could be deemed rivers simple because they have no running engine to ingest water and hyrdroloc, likely to encourage silly behaviour trying to emulate Roger Moore driving out of the sea in his amphibious Lotus.

There will still be umpteen computers relays sensors that won't exactly be improved by a good soaking and will likely fail in time just as happens with ICE cars that get flooded whilst stationary.

The idiocy from youtube videos of recent attempted flood crossings has to be seen to be believed, some of these fools need permanent carers.

On other hand, I wonder whether there is any higher risk of electrocution in EVs going thru water.

I wonder if there is a risk of driving an EV on a rainy day?

Or do the manufacturers test them?

At the end of the day they are cars not boats and anyone driving through deep water needs prosecuting.

Minus 7 Celsius , that's chilly. A balmy minus 4 when mine wafted me down the A12 this morning. Practically shorts and T shirt weather by comparison.

By my calculations it used around 8% more than usual this morning. Not a problem though.

ITN news at ten last night interviewed a small business owner who said that if the cold weather persists he will have no option but to hire a diesel van to complete his deliveries as he can’t rely on his EV van.

The RAC and AA are always on hand however with a charging facility in their specialist vans !

While car hunting yesterday I came across a row of 3yr old Audi e-tron 50 Quattro’s with low miles sitting at our local AC Vauxhall dealership at £24,000 - £25,000. A crippling drop from their list price of over £60k. They had loads of cheap Nissan Leafs too. To quote the sales manager at one branch, “the a*** has fallen out of the used ev market.”

And for the sake of some balance how much is a similar petrol 3 year old Audi on the forecourt? Well a Audi Q7 does look to be worth a few £'s more but to be fair the owner of the e-tron will have saved a small fortune if it was a company car both in tax and fuel costs.

And lets not forget that the sticker price is only paid by a fool, who knows what buyer actually pay.

Audi etron at AC 20k and up....

Not totally surprising, they're three years old and have at best 190m real world range. Which is less range than a Corsa-e. Probably ex Lease thoroughly used/ abused. There are better alternatives for the cash.

Edited by Ethan Edwards on 19/01/2024 at 14:16

‘ Most EV’s, particularly larger examples will have been leased to its first keeper who won’t give a toss about battery degradation. It’ll be fast charged regularly especially if used as a motorway hack.’ I don’t think that’d worry me because the cars have an inbuilt ‘charge curve’ that’ll only allow full speed rapid charging when boxes are ticked - state of charge and battery temperature. Arrive at a rapid charger with the battery at an amenable temperature and a relatively low state of charge and it’ll charge at as fast as the charger will output and the car can take. It’s looking after itself. As charge levels increase, the rate drops off - which is why regular users of rapid chargers either only take enough to get to their destination or to 80% and get going. It’s quicker on a long journey to charger to 80% and make another ‘volt & bolt’ than to wait for it to grind up to 100%.

Figures released by a Norwegian breakdown organisation are showing that EV’s are faring better in cold weather than ICE’s. 13% of breakdowns were for EV’s for a country with an EV share of 24%. www.independent.co.uk/tech/electric-car-snow-cold-...l

To be fair, I suppose it could partly be because EVs are far more likely to be a lot younger than ICE cars on the road. Unlike in the US, I also suspect that savvy Norwegian EV owners are far more aware of the need to keep their batteries over the 20% mark and to pre-heat them prior to charging, to avoid the problems experienced in Chicago.

It would be interesting had the report compared cars on a like-for-like basis for age and type, which would give a better comparison.

It would also be interesting to see the usage pattern variation as well, given how a good number of Backroomers advocate buying an EV as a second car for mainly local trips, rather than a (longer distance) commuter car or long distance car. It may be in Norway that there is less of a difference in this respect, as they probably have a better charging network.

In October 2023 apparently 84% of all cars sold in Norway were full EV + plug in EV at 9%.

Norway has a distinct advantage over most countries in that hydropower accounts for 88% of power output - I assume it is both green and very cheap.

The average mileage driven by an EV in Norway is 13000km pa - similar to UK.

In Oslo 5 months a year has average low temperatures below zero, compared to 3 months in Chicago - Oslo seems colder

It seems clear that even in demanding environments EV is capable of delivering!!