[MikEyV]

I’m sorry to be writing this but tonight I find myself all but decided to return to ICE. I‘m so heartily fed up of the lack of chargers, woeful reliability of the ones that exist, and now the prospect of rising electricity prices. I’ve really tried to make it work but I can honestly say there isn’t a single long-range trip when I don’t have issues and I see nothing tangible on the horizon to make it better. Tonight I am staying in a hotel which I chose only because of its advertised on-site chargers. Not a SINGLE ONE works. And this happens time after time.

 

[Harry6]

Sorry to hear of these issues.
What areas are bad for chargers!
I still think even with the electricity cost rising it has to reach 50p/kwh before its cheaper to run an ICE.

 

[MikEyV]

Sorry to hear of these issues.
I still think even with the electricity cost rising it has to reach 50p/kwh before its cheaper to run an ICE.

Not when you factor in all the extra overnight stays I have to make because it takes such an age to get anywhere

 

[Stinsy]

I’m sorry to be writing this but tonight I find myself all but decided to return to ICE. I‘m so heartily fed up of the lack of chargers, woeful reliability of the ones that exist, and now the prospect of rising electricity prices. I’ve really tried to make it work but I can honestly say there isn’t a single long-range trip when I don’t have issues and I see nothing tangible on the horizon to make it better. Tonight I am staying in a hotel which I chose only because of its advertised on-site chargers. Not a SINGLE ONE works. And this happens time after time.

Really?

Your story has a lot in common with articles I’ve seen in newspapers but nothing in common with real world experience. Which model of BEV? What journeys?

AC charging is very simple and reliable so if the destination chargers aren’t operational it is probably because they are switched off. However if the hotel is unwilling to turn them back on you can drive to a rapid charger in the morning. Many (most modern) BEVs can take on 200 miles in 30 mins, which should be enough to get you to the next rapid…

 

[MikEyV]

Are you saying I'm basing my experiences on newspaper articles?

 

[Stinsy]

Are you saying I'm basing my experiences on newspaper articles?

I’ve just had a look through your post history on this forum. You live a very interesting life. Reminds me of the comedy series “Chance in a Million”.

 

[madmodehead21]

I don't think most EV's are suitable for many long range trips. Bad choice in that respect I think.
I bought an Ioniq EV in December and couldn't be happier, even without a charger at home. I've done 2800 miles so far, using it daily and granny charging. Wife and I use it for work (I work shifts) Charger going in next week.

 

[Cheshirecat]

If it doesnt work for you, then it doesnt work

Hope you can return to the BEV experience when it dies 👍

 

[Tooks]

I’m sorry to be writing this but tonight I find myself all but decided to return to ICE. I‘m so heartily fed up of the lack of chargers, woeful reliability of the ones that exist, and now the prospect of rising electricity prices. I’ve really tried to make it work but I can honestly say there isn’t a single long-range trip when I don’t have issues and I see nothing tangible on the horizon to make it better. Tonight I am staying in a hotel which I chose only because of its advertised on-site chargers. Not a SINGLE ONE works. And this happens time after time.

What car are you using?

I think you’ve mentioned the eNV200 before, which is at the end of the day an early Nissan Leaf in van form…

I’m not surprised you’re finding it a challenge if so, making an EV work commercially is very different to making one work personally.

If you can’t make it work though, you can’t make it work, especially if it’s for work.

 

[Electrohead]

Tonight I am staying in a hotel which I chose only because of its advertised on-site chargers. Not a SINGLE ONE works. And this happens time after time.

Did you call the hotel before you left home to check their chargers were operational?

 

[Aberdeenleaf]

I'm toying with a return to ICE too.
I can get an ICE equivalent to my LEAF for £80-£100 a month easily enough.
That would cover my fuel.
I'm on 5p electricity until August, I'll wait until then and decide, if my kWh goes up substantially I'll be back to ICE.

 

[Tooks]

I think anybody moving from an EV they already own/pay for on the basis that electricity is going up in price, should also consider that it’s unlikely that petrol/diesel will stay where it is.

If anybody is yo-yo’ing between ‘I’ll get an EV as the fuel savings will pay for it’ and ‘I’ll sell the EV and get a cheap ICE as the savings will cover the fuel’ then make sure you do the ‘maths’ properly and not cut your nose off to spite your face. 🙂

 

[cah197]

Really?

Your story has a lot in common with articles I’ve seen in newspapers but nothing in common with real world experience. Which model of BEV? What journeys?

AC charging is very simple and reliable so if the destination chargers aren’t operational it is probably because they are switched off. However if the hotel is unwilling to turn them back on you can drive to a rapid charger in the morning. Many (most modern) BEVs can take on 200 miles in 30 mins, which should be enough to get you to the next rapid…

Yeah, I think it depends on which EV and where one is going.

I didn’t have too much bother doing business trips in a Model S in 2015.

However if you own an e205 or similar it’s going to be painful.

 

[idiotzoo]

Just over a year and over 15k miles in to EV driving... I don't share your experience, but if you're trying to work this out commercially doing long distances in a vehicle built for last mile use, I can see why this is a problem. I recently was running tech for a small band tour. Really wanted to get a electric van but in the end realised we couldn't make it work (also nothing locally available to hire). The big problem was going to be range fully laden on the motorway. I have absolutely no concerns using the e-Niro for long distance work trips but that's a different use case.

 

[Rooster-x]

I too was thinking of returning my EV, after failed AC chargers or slow AC chargers at Sandbach North and Knutsford North yesterday, however faith was restored at Charnock Richard North, finally a working AC charger and on free vend. Charnock was the first charger that ever let me down 3 years ago and I nearly ran out of charge but managed to find a 7 KW charger at Walton Summit. Things are a lot better these days than 3 years ago!

Still its tempting to trade my AC Type 2 charging Zoe in for a CCS version tomorrow when I go for my first MOT in 3 years of ownership, I will have to see how much Adam will quote me tomorrow at DSG

 

[donald]

I’m sorry to be writing this but tonight I find myself all but decided to return to ICE. I‘m so heartily fed up of the lack of chargers, woeful reliability of the ones that exist

Quite.

In answer to title; not sure. I don't think pure BEVs have a hope, I can only see REx as the way forward. If you get somewhere and find no chargers, just set the REx going and all charged up over night.

That is why I did exactly that, after 5 EVs. @cah has called it 'doing a donald', being when a strong BEV advocate feels compelled back to an ICE.

Of course! BEVs make total sense. But to drive off on a journey without enough energy on board to make it all the way back again is called 'a holiday' and you will have all the time in the world to burn. It cannot be practical for any other application.

Plus, not forgetting, there are no 'bargain' BEVs any more. That added to my difficulties in re-entering BEV ownership.

I had the Ampera for exactly that dilemma from 2015~17 but I decided the infrastructure had caught up a bit by then so went for the Soul. The networks did fine in that 2018~20 period, the rate of ownership was still a bit sluggish and all these new fancy networks were coming on board.

I have regrettably drawn the conclusion that there can NEVER be enough chargers for a national fleet of BEVs. There might just be enough for all passenger cars to be BEV, but that's forgetting light vans which will eventually fill all those en route chargers up and leave car drivers with no space.

No time soon, but I can easily predict that, if not a delay of the whole plan to ban diesels, at least a reprieve for diesel vans. I just can't see it happening, that we will ever have enough rapids once commercial vehicles go electric as well.

We need REx in the market. Not for everyone, but there has to be a percentage of EVs that don't need to stop at chargers else they'll be over-run. I don't understand why people can't see it yet, but, then, few understood my warnings about charger numbers in 2015. So, in another 8 to 10 years, maybe it'll be a bit more obvious to people.

I think this post will age well. Let's take a look back in 10 years time. There are those that disagree. We'll find out, won't we? The only thing we know about the future is that it is unpredictable.

So I am afraid I think you are right because it is the same conclusion I came to a year ago. I regret, for you, ICE prices (too) have shot up in the meantime.

Really?

Your story has a lot in common with articles I’ve seen in newspapers but nothing in common with real world experience. Which model of BEV? What journeys?

I think you have been lucky if you have not experienced this.

Or just more tolerant to misfortune.

I don't think the OP's experience is unrealistic. Maybe not everyone has such an experience, maybe, on a distribution of experiences, you are up at the 'satisfied' end and the OP and I have been at the lower end. But you cannot judge the experiences of one bell-end with another, if you see what I literally mean and without pejorative intent.

 

[BruceyB]

Thinking of going back to ICE too...its turning into a mass exodus. Very different reasons here though, just working from home so much, doing so few miles now that I can't justify keeping such a valuable car sitting on the drive, made the mistake of looking up the value of my Tesla on WeBuyAnyCar 🤑 Have loved the car and ...almost all of the EV experience but if I can get 95%+ of my money back over 2.5years after buying the car I think I'd regret not taking the cash.

 

[cah197]

Thinking of going back to ICE too...its turning into a mass exodus. Very different reasons here though, just working from home so much, doing so few miles now that I can't justify keeping such a valuable car sitting on the drive, made the mistake of looking up the value of my Tesla on WeBuyAnyCar 🤑 Have loved the car and ...almost all of the EV experience but if I can get 95%+ of my money back over 2.5years after buying the car I think I'd regret not taking the cash.

Well, we found we couldn’t justify a second ‘long range’ Tesla sitting in the garage, so took the money.

We did put some more money into a newer BEV that could do more things, not just the school run and local trips.

At this point I can’t see any compelling reason to go for an ICE.

 

[Thomas carter]

I have to admit, I am always surprised to read someone is considering a return to ICE - not so much that I don't think there are problems with the charger network (there is!) or if driving an EV and stopping for 20-40 mins multiple times is for everyone (it isn't) - but surely the solution is to switch to a PHEV rather than an ICE? Or is that what is being proposed

PHEV's basically work almost everyone, since they have the EV range for 90+% of drives people do but you have the ICE backup for long range driving - yes they are more complicated for repairs/reliability but its a good stepping stone for most going up to BEV or coming back down

 

[Tooks]

Well, we found we couldn’t justify a second ‘long range’ Tesla sitting in the garage, so took the money.

We did put some more money into a newer BEV that could do more things, not just the school run and local trips.

At this point I can’t see any compelling reason to go for an ICE.

Me neither, unless I suddenly have to start doing hundreds of miles a day again, and even then I think I’d just change jobs than go back to a life of driving and service stations.

I can drive everywhere I need to go without stopping, I have reliable charging at those destinations, and I can drive back again without stopping.

Would I close my eyes and jump into the world of BEVs without understanding what the picture was and whether it was likely to get prettier or uglier? Not a chance.