Electric powered MH 2021

there is no simple solution for sustainable transport; it’s a question of the lesser of several evils.

Agreed, but I’d welcome more transparency about the implications of alternative technologies. For example, how long can you reasonably expect EV batteries to last, is replacement viable or, when the time comes, is the EV effectively trash? Is recycling and/or disposing of lithium batteries safe and viable or simply “kicking the can down the road.”

Hydrogen manufacture, distribution and storage on the scale necessary to fuel vehicles must present some safety and environmental  issues? 

What environmental problems does lithium mining present?  There’s a lot of excitement in Cornwall currently about the lithium potential in old tin/lead mines. Is it an economic boost or curse?

Estimates for battery life are several hundred thousand miles depending on driving style, recharging method etc. That would be to 70%/80% capacity after which there could be a secondary life as power storage which would work well in conjunction with, for example, solar panels.

Lithium batteries also contain Cobalt and Nickel. All of these elements are used in other applications as well. Lithium can be 100% recycled but is not economically viable at present. My car makes extensive use of GRP and plastics, some of which are from recycled materials.

The fact is, we use earth’s resources in many different ways. At least pollution can be minimised with EVs and with Hydrogen fuel cells when compared with petrol and Diesel engines.

I can't wait for the development of dilithium crystals to power motorhomes. Now that would be Stellar!

Hitchglitch and the Brues are running similar cars. We've had our EV three years, the batteries should last eight years and they are replaceable and re-usable for other applications. The cars themselves have a very high recycle percentage. We liked a hybrid we had on loan recently and even thought of buying a similar one but basically we pay very little to run our EV and it always comes as a shock to fuel up our motorhome and hear the engine noise. In our EV it's so quiet we can hear the birds singing. Personally, although I find the talk about E motorhomes interesting ( and the quirky designs) I'm hoping there will be innovative developments for cars first and maybe more people will decide to use them.

The fact that we've run our EV for three years now, on long and short journeys shows that we have confidence in this type of vehicle. The arguments about the costs to the environment in their production lessen when you think about the damage we are already doing to the air we breathe, IMHO. 

Interesting....

What about EV service/maintenance costs? Are they comparable (or cheaper) to petrol/diesel and are you limited to a relatively small number of specialist dealers, particularly if you live in the sticks?

My faithful diesel Golf is getting on a bit now, so I’ve been tentatively  looking at the Tesla Model 3. I’m what some would describe as a ‘petrol head’ so the performance aspects of the Tesla appeal to me. I know it’s not a very ecological disposition, but hey ho. Obviously times are a changin so question is, do I now take the plunge and go green or indulge my ridiculous desire to own a Golf R which would be quite a bit cheaper? Decisions.....

It is the infrastructure  for charging EVs that will be the expensive part especially where we live,  with multiple terraced houses,and no parking except in the roads and to access the vehicles across verges and footpaths, and no dedicated parking for multiple vehicles that each property has some up to five vehicles per house

Thankfully not a problem for me, but you’re absolutely right. My daughter had a Golf E and had to wrestle with that problem.

Problem #1 is can you readily park outside your own terrace house in central Exeter even with residents on-road parking? Only occasionally, if you’re lucky.

Problem #2 is will the council grant consent to run a charging cable across the payment - too complex a decision for them to deal with! Likelihood is that ‘offending’ resident is liable to prosecution if somebody trips on cable even if resident uses high viz cones and rubber channel to accommodate charging cable.

Problem #3 is does the Council/Government have a purposeful strategy to make charging points widely available e.g. using street lamp posts?  Council say not enough money, Government’s (Con) fault. MP (Lab) says Council’s fault, money allocated but not spending on the right priorities! 

That situation must be repeated hundreds and thousands of times across the UK. No wonder we’re struggling with climate change targets!

Even if lamp post charging points were made available in biult up areas the lamp posts are still not very prevelent, and would then need multiple points on each post and leads stretching along the paths

How would the extra power for the charging be fed to the lamp-posts? 

The present wiring is only sufficient for a string of fairly low power light bulbs, and is 240 volt in most places.  During daylight it might be possible to provide a singe trickle charge from each post, but not the high voltage/current required for the rapid charge that is needed for the idea to make sense.

To pick up on a couple of points.

Maintenance

No routine maintenance for motor, battery or electronics. No engine, no oil system, no cooling water system. That just leaves brakes really. EVs will be very cheap to service and maintain once garages become more familiar with them. MOTs ought to eventually be cheaper too - no emissions to test for.

Home charging

Many homes do not have adjacent parking and charging at home will not be possible, however, many shops, leisure centres, petrol stations (Shell, BP) etc. are now installing rapid chargers. It has to be said though, the biggest advantage to be gained is to be able to simply plug in  and “fill up the tank” overnight. I use a cheap overnight tariff so my electricity cost is just over 1p per mile. That’s about 650 mpg I think!