Didn't know the Prius was plug in. Always thought it was one of those pointless hybrids with a duracell in the boot. The Auris hybrid we had at work was a waste of space. All noise and no performance and if you drove normally on a long trip my Leon TSI did better mpg figures.

Someone (Probably on here now I think of it) pointed out that on anything like a motorway a hybrid is basically a petrol car lugging along ??? kilos of batteries and electric motors

For short commutes and city use electric cars are OK. I like the i3 and now I am retired I could run one. Its expensive and battery life is a concern. According to a US BMW site they lose about 5-7% battery capacity a year,depending on use. As a solution BMW will sell you new battery packs which can be sold in batches, you dont need to buy a complete new battery assembly. I havent heard about that option over here, until I do, I will keep away.

A survey of high mileage Tesla Model S cars concludes that they lose 2.3 miles of range for every 100,000 miles travelled. Interestingly this drop is the same whichever battery the car is equipped with.

www.teslacentral.com/worried-about-tesla-battery-d...n

So if your early Model S has a quoted range of 265 miles per charge, which for argument's sake might be a real-world figure of 250 miles, then after 100,000 miles its range might be 247.7 miles. After 200K miles it might have dropped to 245.4.

If the Tesla battery really only loses less than 1% of its range every 100K miles and the BMW i3 battery really loses 5-7% each year (maybe 15,000 miles), then BMW's battery technology must be somewhat deficient!

Edited by Sofa Spud on 28/02/2017 at 17:12

Seems to be a combination of journey type, driving style, when you use the car and where its stored (how you use the car/batteries) and a possible variability in the performance/specs of the batteries themselves, not so different from using household batteries. Some of mine have easily been refreshed back to their maximum and don't lose much charge sitting around in between uses, other seemingly identical sets are lucky to be able to take 50% of their charge (even after refreshing them in a decent charger) and self-discharge quickly, despite being used in similar ways.

Looks like battery technology has some way still to go, despite recent improvements. I suspect many people are still put off by the relatively short range, long (relative to the time they have [especially on long trips or when on work trips when they need to drive from one meeting to another in one day]) charging time and a lack of charging facilities about. Anyone living in a flat (unless its brand new and very up-market), working to tight schedules or needing the use of car at short notice just can't consider an electric car, even if they live in a built-up area.

To make them viable, facilities for every new home (or parking space in flat blocks), business premises car parks would need to be provided as standard, something developers and councils won't do because it is way too costly for the infrastructure and won't be a selling point or pay back the investment for decades. We really need to miniturise battery technology (i.e. make their energy density far higher) hugely so that they can be 'hot-swapped' when you arrive at your destination with another with you/at home so its immediately ready to go out straight away, and have a range comporable to fossil-fueled cars. That seems some way away to me.

A local authority near me have a condition that all new houses have to have an electric car charging point. Its only a three pin socket close to the car parking area.

It's national policy these days. I believe it came in for new housing in late 2012.

As you say, it only involves putting a normal socket either inside the garage (close to the door) or a fully waterproofed socket outside.

Here's my take on what is needed to get electric car sales moving.

1. They make an ideal second car, such as for short commutes, shopping, dropping kids off etc. So we need cheaper models without all the bells and whistles.

2 Manufacturers need to standardise on a single design of easily removable battery pack. There will then be an incentive for garages to hold stock in more remote areas ready for a quick swap. Bigger cars just need maybe 2 or 3 packs, but could still run on one if necessary.

3. They need to be reliable. Too much reliance on fancy apps gives scope for problems.

with the Tesla Model 3's clean, graceful lines that must be a big selling point alongside its technology.

A 200 mile range is now the benchmark for electric cars although not all models meet it. The Chevrolet Bolt, the long-range version of the Renault Zoe and, of course, all Tesla cars exceed the magic 200. Before long the benchmark will move to 300 miles, which would cover most peoples' motoring needs

In winter very few meet it. Or are you talking unrealstic makers' numbers which no-one achives are are meaningless?

Unleaded fuel starts to go off quite badly after six months, running a range extender model without actually using the internal combustion motor is asking for trouble.

The answer would be to add a fuel preservative, similar to one that that lawnmowers use to keep fuel fresh over winter, these also stop the ethanol in modern fuel attacking pipes e.t.c. although I would presume that modern vehicles fuel systems are made of materials that resist the effects of ethanol.