I just had a look at Tesla website and model y orders are currently showing as being fulfilled this month or next - which is hugely faster than they have been in recent months (not getting one - just seen a couple of comments about delays / quick deliveries and so was curious)
There’s very few cars available new that I personally find ‘good looking’ but the CX30 is one of those few.
1 Like
I just learned my EV6 is on the (very slow) boat from Korea. About 6 weeks to arrive, but at least it has been built.
Bruce
2 Likes
…and the EV6 is another one I like the look of. It’s a big car, too.
I’m still waiting for a solid state battery!
I’m waiting for when I can fill up in a couple of mins without having to drive more than 10 miles for a filling station and then go 600 miles without having to repeat 
3 Likes
Heres’ the thing, a typical modest EV such as the KIA EV6 has a 77.4kWhr battery, which KIA suggest is good for 328 miles range.
Keeping things simple, no losses etc.
You could, in theory charge this battery from flat in 1 hour if you have a 77.4kW power supply handy. (approx. 112A 3 phase) Nope my house doesn’t have one of these either.
However, if you want to do this as quickly as filling a petrol car, say 2 minutes, then you need 30 times this, so you would require dedicated access to a 2.32MW supply. Bear in mind that in the UK a whole housing estate may be fed from a single 0.3 or 0.5MW substation you can begin to see the issue.
Of course, not all cars will be completely flat when you charge them, but on the other hand lots of people will be looking to charge them all at the same time, overnight.
As you make the battery bigger to get your 600 mile range the charging issue just gets harder.
It isn’t just about the car or the battery technology, the electrical infrastructure and the simultaneous loading is going to be a challenge, not least because much of this infrastructure, which has to be funded might not be in use for most of the time.
The energy density of liquid fossil fuels is truly a marvel, (my source suggests that one litre of petrol is equal to 9.5kWhrs) and its a marvel that we have all got rather too used to and take for granted.
4 Likes
…but they do have a few snags too don’t they?
Anyway let’s not restart the EV Vs ICE debate. Most have pretty entrenched views.
Bruce
1 Like
I totally agree @BruceW what prompted my comment was the request for 2 min charge time. We are going to have to change our expectations for personal EV travel.
My thesis back in 1983-84 was on the topic of developing efficient regenerative electronic drive systems for EVs. I even got to build one. I am more aware than most at the staggeringly slow pace of development and take up of electrically propelled personal transport.
2 Likes
For those who currently drive electric, if you were doing a longish trip - say 300 miles or so - if you stopped for lunch (say) for an hour, what sort of charge could you get from the faster public chargers, please? I’m interested in an EV, want to think about its practicalities but equally don’t want to be in a VHS vs Betamax technology battle if better batteries are on the way.
Chargers vary, and the charging rates that cars can accept also vary as well as battery capacity. Faster public chargers are becoming more prevalent but they aren’t ubiquitous. All are quicker than a home charger though
An hour is a long time, most cars will be ‘full’ in less at a typical public charger. Initial charging up to 80% is faster than the last 20%.
Our i3 will add about 150 miles in 35 mins at an ‘average’ public charger. The EV6 will take higher voltages and at the fastest chargers could add up to 300 miles in about 18mins. There aren’t a lot of these superfast chargers around yet though.
For comparison, at home we add about 25 miles in an hour to the i3 on our wallbox.
Bruce
1 Like
Thanks. That’s pretty encouraging!
1 Like
You kind of need to adjust for the loss of most of the energy in a litre of petrol as heat though to make a comparison don’t you?
@CalamityJack The speed of charging and effective range added depends as Bruce has said on both the car and the charger. The EV6 is a particularly fast charging car (given the right chargers). I have had a Jaguar iPace (29k miles) and a bmw i3 (39k miles), and my wife has a Volvo C40 (6k miles so far).
I do up to 4 or 5 runs per month above 200 miles in a day - from Preston (university runs to Aberystwyth and Edinburgh, day trips to northern Lake District and Yorkshire dales, trips for meetings in Cheltenham and Birmingham) but have also been to various other places (eg, Essex for the weekend). Some places are a piece of cake - eg, for Essex in the ipace rugby services and Braintree charging forecourt are both excellent.
Edinburgh is painful. Usually needed two hours of charging for a day return (380-390 miles round trip) and once had to search for an hour to find a working and available charger in Edinburgh. The fastest charger is too near home (Burton in Kendal services is only 35 or so miles from here) to be useful - nothing with more than 50kW (the slowest “rapid” speed) available anywhere else
I now have a phev (Volvo xc90 T8) and have another on order (Range Rover sport latest model with 50 odd miles real world leccy range). Both are driven by needs for more space and the latter for my wish to have a full size spare wheel - (though on Saturday my Aberystwyth trip could be done with only a five minute break saving over an hour charging needed had I gone in the c40). Completely unavailable in any pure EV - in fact I think only the Jaguar ipace is even available with a space saver.
1 Like
Thank you Tim for such a considered response. I’d convinced myself years ago that I’d ‘never’ have an electric car - but then I saw the iPace and it is another of my short list of good looking cars. However, I look at it longingly but we also need more physical volume - for lugging animals and ‘stuff’ - so I empathise with your choices, and especially since we live rural and travel frequently to a destination with no charger (or parking even close to a plug) at the end point.
I’d not though PHEV yet. Maybe that’s the compromise for me.
2 Likes
I have been really missing the ipace since it went (didn’t expect to miss it at all) - so good to drive, though something a bit bigger with a full size spare wheel (I had a space saver which made the boot too small), faster charging (max was about 95kW), better efficiency and range (best I ever managed was 240 miles in perfect conditions, and average was about 2.3 miles per kWh but worse in winter and worse on motorways). Oh, and vehicle to home charging which isn’t yet a thing (some trials are happening but only with Nissans )
2 Likes
Hi Tim, you got the new Range Rover Sport PHEV already…
Oops no - let me go back and edit to add the words “on order” 
1 Like
Thought about and electric car and then though… It must be like watching po*n with the sound down….
Got this 2 days ago… absolutely awesome!
444BHP oh my gosh!
11 Likes
Hi Jack,
We’re stopping overnight en route from south west France to GB. Our Skoda Enyaq 80 claims 333 miles on a full battery which means 280 miles for us in the summer and 230 in winter.
All our charging en route is via the Ionity network of fast chargers. They are equivalent to Tesla Superchargers. Ionity chargers are in banks of typically 4-6 chargers every 50-70 miles along the French autoroutes at major service stations.
We drive for 2-2.5 hours (130-170 miles) then stop for tea/coffee, food, natural breaks etc. each stop takes about 30 mins during which time the car’s battery has accepted 30-45kWh of juice, enough for another 100-130miles of motorway driving.
The Ionity chargers are 350kW but the limiting factor is the car’s battery, which normally takes 65-100kW of charge. At 20% full today, we saw 115kW but at 70% full it was 65kW charge speed.
Over 18k miles, our Enyaq is averaging 3.5 miles/kWh, so more than an ipace but Tesla Model Y will be nearer 4miles/kWh.
In terms of space, the Enyaq is properly big inside, as in carrying a Bernese Mountain Dog with ease big.
Most UK fast chargers that we have found north of Birmingham (a non-exhaustive sample!) have been 50kW. South of Birmingham we normally use 150kW chargers from Gridserve, Instavolt or Ionity (150-350kW).
We have NEVER managed to find a working BP Pulse charger and managed to actually charge from it, despite a number of attempts. BP is just too complacent for us.
Hope this helps provide a couple of data points for you.
Best regards, BF
Or do both?
EV for the environment and low running cost plus a high octane car for fun?
2 Likes