High cost for a few miles

JohnM20 replied on 28/10/2020 15:38

JohnM20

Posted on 28/10/2020 15:38

Did anyone else note the letter in the latest magazine from a guy who has bought a Mercedes EQC 400 Sport. This is an all electric car which costs in the region of £65,000. For that price it is possible to pull a caravan of 1500kg for all of about 100 miles before needing to be recharged ! It might be super quiet and well built but at that price I would hope it is.

For the life of me I cannot see diesels being phased out during my lifetime. There isn't anything at present that is a viable equivalent that could take the place of a diesel engine that most people would be able to afford.

Don't get me wrong, I've got nothing against electric vehicles, our milk used to be delivered in one every morning, but there are so many things that will need to be addressed before they can be universally accepted. I see a great future, though, for companies making very long heavy duty extension leads !!

4 people like this

34 replies

brue replied on 19/11/2020 19:08

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brue

Motorhomer

Posted on 19/11/2020 19:08

The batteries can last twenty years and can then be re-used and recycled on other projects.

EmilysDad replied on 19/11/2020 19:40

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EmilysDad

Caravanner

Posted on 19/11/2020 09:25 by cyberyacht

Even if swapped out batteries could be facilitated, would it be as good as the one you just had? Your new car's one replaced by a clapped out four year old one that only holds 70% of its new charge?

Posted on 19/11/2020 19:40

exactly! I've mention this before ..... I compared it to swapping fork truck batteries at work. Most now are well past their use by date some more so than others

EmilysDad replied on 19/11/2020 19:45

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EmilysDad

Caravanner

Posted on 19/11/2020 09:39 by brue

You have a floor load of batteries in an EV, I've mentioned before that they look like a flat box of dominoes. If ours need replacing (8 year guarantee) I presume the floor will need to be removed and new ones fitted I think the cost is around £2000 at the moment (but I may be wrong on that as I'm just the driver! ) We run the batteries down occasionally but mostly we don't need to, so a quick short charge at home keeps everything going. EVs and hybrids are very good for local journeys, I get a shock when I see fuel prices.

However the thread is about change, which is now coming faster than we thought and I hope developments for tow cars/motorhomes will speed up too. Will it be motorhomes or tow cars which take precedence?

Posted on 19/11/2020 19:45

As DaveCyn suggests, batteries will be way way more than that. I was given a lift a few years back in an all electric B Class Merc and asked about the replacement cost ... IIRC it was £4k or £5k

brue replied on 19/11/2020 20:14

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brue

Motorhomer

Posted on 19/11/2020 20:14

Battery prices have come down since the first EVs came out and some can be leased, maybe the merc batteries will cost less now? It's not easy to find the latest figures for replacements as most haven't reached that point yet. If ours are guaranteed for eight years we've got half way so far.

EmilysDad replied on 19/11/2020 20:21

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EmilysDad

Caravanner

Posted on 19/11/2020 20:21

maybe this is the way forward .....

davetommo replied on 19/11/2020 20:38

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davetommo

Motorhomer from Lancashire

Posted on 19/11/2020 13:39 by DaveCyn

According to Auto Express replacement batteries for the all electric Nissan Leaf are £4920!

I've never paid anywhere near that for a whole car let alone a battery!!

Posted on 19/11/2020 20:38

It’s to be hoped you save that amount on petrol diesel.