"Theo" wrote in message
...
Roland Perry wrote:
I'd seriously consider something like an electric Kia Picanto, as long
as it wasn't significantly more expensive than a petrol one. Let's say
£12k.

A used ~2012 Nissan Leaf or Mitsubishi i-MIEV (Citreon C-Zero, Peugeot
Ion)
start at about £5K.

Obviously whether they're suitable for you will depend on your use case.
(in particular the range of 60-100 miles means they're not ideal for long
journeys)

There's also the Renault Zoe in that price bracket, although the battery
leasing makes them less attractive unless you do a lot of miles.

surely a 7 year old car's going to have knackered battery

tim

"MissRiaElaine" wrote in message
...
On 09/09/2019 23:43, Recliner wrote:

Certainly, hydrogen is better at the consumer level: the cars are
lighter,
quicker to fill, and have more range. They also don't need so much exotic
materials as batteries do.

But the industry would need to crack the problem of producing and
distributing clean hydrogen, probably from solar or wind power, on an
industrial scale, at an affordable price. I really hope that happens, but
it's obviously not imminent. So, in the mean time, low emissions cars
will
have to use batteries.

When hydrogen does become viable, it'll probably come first to heavy,
long
distance vehicles, like trains, tracks and high performance highway cars.
Short range city cars will probably stick with batteries, but they'll get
a
lot quicker to charge than current ones.

Here in Aberdeen, we have a local car club, where people can hire cars for
short periods from an hour upwards.

so do we

they work well if you want a car for a few hours (provided that you use
them often enough to justify the membership fee)

not quite so well for you fortnights holiday

In message , at 12:48:26 on
Tue, 10 Sep 2019, Recliner remarked:

I was spoilt for a long time by being given brand new company cars
(never met a company prepared to buy a used car) although that often
restricts the choice to something I might not have bought with my own
money.

I always chose my company cars, including the model, colour, options,
etc.

Most companies have policies, which even if they aren't "this model,
whatever colour they have in stock this week", can include parameters
such as insisting on 4+ doors (so customers can be taken out to lunch in
relative comfort), specific makes, and a non-negotiable ceiling price.

I even had an Alfa Romeo once

Sometimes it's possible to play the system, so with the constraint once
of "Any Astra this garage has in stock", I got away with a red GTE.
--
Roland Perry

On Tue, 10 Sep 2019 13:26:40 +0100, Roland Perry
wrote:

In message , at 12:48:26 on
Tue, 10 Sep 2019, Recliner remarked:

I was spoilt for a long time by being given brand new company cars
(never met a company prepared to buy a used car) although that often
restricts the choice to something I might not have bought with my own
money.

I always chose my company cars, including the model, colour, options,
etc.

Most companies have policies, which even if they aren't "this model,
whatever colour they have in stock this week", can include parameters
such as insisting on 4+ doors (so customers can be taken out to lunch in
relative comfort), specific makes, and a non-negotiable ceiling price.

Those policies applied early in my career, but later, the rules that I
had to follow were much more flexible for senior staff.


I even had an Alfa Romeo once

Sometimes it's possible to play the system, so with the constraint once
of "Any Astra this garage has in stock", I got away with a red GTE.

All my company cars were ordered for me, built to my spec.

On Mon, 9 Sep 2019 22:40:06 +0100, MissRiaElaine wrote:
On 09/09/2019 14:58, David Walters wrote:

There are lots of people who can't easily have an electric car, they
include my parents who live in a street of Victorian terraces with
narrow pavement. However I think more than half the population could
charge at home.

So what do the other half do..?

Something else. There doesn't need to be one solution for everyone.

On Mon, 9 Sep 2019 23:32:27 -0000 (UTC), Recliner wrote:
BEVs are most commonly used in urban areas, where their lack of emissions
is a clear benefit, and their short range less of a problem. So I wonder
what proportion of inner city homes have private, off-street parking where
a charger could be installed?

It's certainly lower but then so is car ownership. Apparently 74%
of households in Islington don't have a car and I believe that number
is increasing.

It's obviously better in the suburbs, but I'd still espect a relatively
small number in London.

It's the suburbs where all the car owning households are.

On Tue, 10 Sep 2019 13:57:30 +0100, David Walters
wrote:

On Mon, 9 Sep 2019 23:32:27 -0000 (UTC), Recliner wrote:
BEVs are most commonly used in urban areas, where their lack of emissions
is a clear benefit, and their short range less of a problem. So I wonder
what proportion of inner city homes have private, off-street parking where
a charger could be installed?

It's certainly lower but then so is car ownership. Apparently 74%
of households in Islington don't have a car and I believe that number
is increasing.

It's obviously better in the suburbs, but I'd still espect a relatively
small number in London.

It's the suburbs where all the car owning households are.

London suburbs have plenty of flats and terrace houses. And the
majority of them have at least one car.

In message , at 13:19:06 on Tue, 10 Sep
2019, tim... remarked:

Here in Aberdeen, we have a local car club, where people can hire
cars for short periods from an hour upwards.

so do we

they work well if you want a car for a few hours (provided that you
use them often enough to justify the membership fee)

And as long as you want it for something fairly neat and tidy - not for
example picking up a bale of hay for the pet rabbits from the garden
centre.

I wonder, do they allow pets at all (a lot of hire cars don't).

not quite so well for you fortnights holiday

Nor (to bring in a railway theme) if the objective is to pick someone up
from the station, and the train turns out to be three hours late.
--
Roland Perry

On 10/09/2019 13:04, Recliner wrote:
On Tue, 10 Sep 2019 12:18:46 +0100, MissRiaElaine

Distribution shouldn't be that
much of a problem, we already have a large fleet of petrol tankers, they
would just need adapting.

The tankers would need replacing, not adapting. Hydrogen needs new
high pressure tanks and all-new piping.

Fair enough. But it's possible.



--
Ria in Aberdeen

[Send address is invalid, use sipsoup at gmail dot com to reply direct]

On 10/09/2019 13:51, David Walters wrote:
On Mon, 9 Sep 2019 22:40:06 +0100, MissRiaElaine wrote:
On 09/09/2019 14:58, David Walters wrote:

There are lots of people who can't easily have an electric car, they
include my parents who live in a street of Victorian terraces with
narrow pavement. However I think more than half the population could
charge at home.

So what do the other half do..?

Something else. There doesn't need to be one solution for everyone.


So give me an alternative. I've already suggested hydrogen, but that
seems to have been generally pooh-poohed. According to our wonderful (!)
government, battery-electric is the best thing since sliced bread.

--
Ria in Aberdeen

[Send address is invalid, use sipsoup at gmail dot com to reply direct]