Electric, Hybrid and Alternative fuelled vehicles - News and Discussion

[boxbrownie]

50 minutes ago, PenrithBeacon said:

I was behind a learner yesterday and the car was a Leaf. Times are changing. 

That worries me somewhat, when the poor person passes the test and gets into an ICE and suddenly finds out they have to actually use the brake pedal to stop 

[PenrithBeacon]

Presumably they're only qualified to drive an EV?

[Guest]

1 hour ago, PenrithBeacon said:

Presumably they're only qualified to drive an EV?

 

Counts as an automatic licence.

[298]

3 hours ago, rocor said:

The high price of electric cars appears to extend into their second hand market. I had considered buying a preowned Renault Zoe until I realized that the stated price was with batteries not included.

 

 

 

 

You now have the option of buying the battery, but there are good reasons why people (including ourselves) haven't done so.

[boxbrownie]

3 hours ago, 30801 said:

 

Counts as an automatic licence.

Exactly, not EV specific......

[Ron Ron Ron]

3 hours ago, 30801 said:

 

Counts as an automatic licence.

 

Convenient pigeonholing by the DVLA or whoever?

No specific category perhaps?

 

Slightly bizarre though, as EV's are not actually "automatics", on account of having no gearbox, manual or automatic.

 

 

.

[Guest]

6 minutes ago, Ron Ron Ron said:

Slightly bizarre though, as EV's are not actually "automatics", on account of having no gearbox, manual or automatic.

.

 

Not really, the controls are the same.

I took my test in a Mini Metro and that qualifies me to drive a seven and a half tonner with a trailer.

[boxbrownie]

9 minutes ago, Ron Ron Ron said:

 

Convenient pigeonholing by the DVLA or whoever?

No specific category perhaps?

 

Slightly bizarre though, as EV's are not actually "automatics", on account of having no gearbox, manual or automatic.

 

 

.

Well I suppose you couldn’t get much more automatic at gear selection than not having the option 

[boxbrownie]

2 minutes ago, 30801 said:

 

Not really, the controls are the same.

I took my test in a Mini Metro and that qualifies me to drive a seven and a half tonner with a trailer.

I imagine that was more than just a few years ago though? 

[johnofwessex]

7 minutes ago, 30801 said:

 

Not really, the controls are the same.

I took my test in a Mini Metro and that qualifies me to drive a seven and a half tonner with a trailer.

 

Having passed his driving test a year or so before - he was one of the first people to take one, my late father then joined the Army in 1940 and started driving Articulated Lorries.  He built a model in Meccanno and practiced reversing it round the dining room first!

[Enterprisingwestern]

11 minutes ago, 30801 said:

 

Not really, the controls are the same.

I took my test in a Mini Metro and that qualifies me to drive a seven and a half tonner with a trailer.

 

I passed my test in an Austin 1100 and that allowed to me to drive/push a petrol powered lawnmower!

 

Mike.

[PenrithBeacon]

56 minutes ago, 30801 said:

 

Not really, the controls are the same.

I took my test in a Mini Metro and that qualifies me to drive a seven and a half tonner with a trailer.

So what controls does an EV have? I would have thought it was restricted to a steering wheel,  an on/off switch, an accelerating pedal, a brake pedal and a parking brake. Does it need more?

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, PenrithBeacon said:

So what controls does an EV have? I would have thought it was restricted to a steering wheel,  an on/off switch, an accelerating pedal, a brake pedal and a parking brake. Does it need more?

 

That's it apart from a thing to make you go backwards or forwards.

[PenrithBeacon]

2 minutes ago, 30801 said:

 

That's it apart from a thing to make you go backwards or forwards.

Which will be another switch? Complicated things these EVs must be the reversing switch which costs all the extra money vs ICE

Edited April 21, 2021 by PenrithBeacon

[Guest]

1 minute ago, PenrithBeacon said:

Which will be another switch?

 

It varies. Some have a lever like an automatic, some have a hockey puck thing to twiddle, some have a thing on the steering  column. Simple buttons are less common.

[Guest]

Well this seems laughable. Victoria proposes road pricing for EVs that appears to be based on writing down where you've been.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/apr/22/the-worst-electric-vehicle-policy-in-the-world-automotive-coalition-pans-victorias-ev-tax

Edited April 21, 2021 by 30801

[Stanley Melrose]

My dad picked up his first car (in the 1930s), drove it to the test and passed!  He'd never sat in the driver's seat of a car before then . . . 

[Joseph_Pestell]

19 hours ago, rocor said:

The high price of electric cars appears to extend into their second hand market. I had considered buying a preowned Renault Zoe until I realized that the stated price was with batteries not included.

 

 

 

 

There are huge numbers of Zoes on the forecourts of Renault dealerships. So this is clearly a problem. Still seem like quite a good deal.

[Ron Ron Ron]

12 hours ago, PenrithBeacon said:

So what controls does an EV have? I would have thought it was restricted to a steering wheel,  an on/off switch, an accelerating pedal, a brake pedal and a parking brake. Does it need more?

Most, if not all, have electronic parking brakes, but some are totally automatic in this regard and don’t even have a separate button or switch from the “park” drive mode.

 

The on/off switch isn’t even needed in a couple of cars. The car switches on when it either detects someone sitting in the drivers seat, or when you get in and touch the brake pedal.

Unlike an ICE car, switching on doesn’t start the motor(s) , but powers up the “system”, ready to drive.

 

 

.

[PenrithBeacon]

So the on/off switch might be under your bum, great.

[Nick C]

1 hour ago, Ron Ron Ron said:

Most, if not all, have electronic parking brakes, but some are totally automatic in this regard and don’t even have a separate button or switch from the “park” drive mode.

 

How on earth is that legal? It's bad enough that most IC cars don't have a proper emergency brake these days, but at least those you could slam into reverse if you needed to (smashing the 'box, but at least stopping you) - impossible in an EV. 

[Guest]

1 minute ago, Nick C said:

 

How on earth is that legal? It's bad enough that most IC cars don't have a proper emergency brake these days, but at least those you could slam into reverse if you needed to (smashing the 'box, but at least stopping you) - impossible in an EV. 

 

I'm not aware of any that have no control at all for the parking brake although a few will operate it for you.

Zoes, many Leafs & VW eUp! (et al) all have manual ones.

[Ron Ron Ron]

Two of our ICE cars have electronic parking brakes.

There’s no manual brake lever, only a button.

They’ve been around and commonplace on cars for years.

You’re meant to release the parking brake before driving off, but if you select drive and move the car forwards or backwards without releasing it, the parking brake is released automatically.

The same with stopping. The parking brake is applied automatically in some cars.

There’s a facility, or process for manually releasing it for towing etc, 

The new EV’s are using similar systems, or just fully automating the process.

 

 

.

Edited April 22, 2021 by Ron Ron Ron

[Reorte]

What real advantage does any of that have over a straightforward, simple handbrake?

 

[Ron Ron Ron]

1 minute ago, Reorte said:

What real advantage does any of that have over a straightforward, simple handbrake?

 

A good question.

 

There are benefits, such as removing archaic mechanical linkages, that wear, or stretch and become costly to maintain or repair.

Freeing up much need space for other purposes, both in the cabin and under the floor.

Reduced manufacturing costs, etc, etc,

...but at the end of the day, it isn’t really necessary.

 

Bring back the wash board and mangle. 
Why do we need automatic washing machines?