bjg625: I would guess you are the perfect target candidate for an EV (not to say you want one or should buy one).
With such low mileage and living in an urban area with a warm climate, an EV might actually do the job!!
But, speaking as a person who likes to drive a lot and lives in a relatively rural part of the Northeast, I do not think they are ready for prime time.
I need 500 mile range, fast charging and lots of charging locations in urban and extreme rural areas, before I will switch.
I had a 2016 eGolf that I leased in December of 2015. For about the first 18 months, it was very near ideal for its intended role: Commute to work and back, 25 miles each way. It got me a carpool sticker so I could user the carpool lanes and when I hit downtown traffic, the benefits of the regenerative systems really came through. I would see the range increase dramatically when I was in stop and go traffic. There were 9 chargers at my work and when I started commuting with the eGolf, there was only one other EV. 12 months later, there were 13 EVs and the first 9 would get spots, the other 4 would hope for someone to be polite enough to move at lunch. Finding a new parking spot could be a challenge and many people just camped their cars out all day. This highlighted the first of a few problems.
When I first got the EV, I could drive beyond the range of the car and count on a charging spot somewhere along the way. After a year or so, most of these spots were already taken, many by plug in hybrids who would use the EV spots as up close reserved parking. I switched jobs to a new one where there was only one charger and I had to switch 100% of my charging to home. This on its own was not a big deal, until I had a day where I had to drive to work and there was no charger available, then drive to my son's school pick him up and take him to Auburn. Going up big hills really kills the range. I then drove him back to school, then me back to work and needed to head downtown after work. I got downtown and all the EV spots were taken in the two garages that had them. I got home with 4 miles to spare, driving 55 mph in the slow lane with everything turned off. After that experience and then when I had to pass on a weekend trip because it was going to be beyond my range and my wife needed her car, I know I was going back to ICE.
As a side note, she now has a plug in hybrid and that works very well.
The notion that Western people are going to give up convenience just doesn't fly. Even the woke-folk are abandoning this idea that was never properly thought out [as government subsidies made acting prudently superfluous]. Billions have been pocketed by the scam artists so it's on to the next brilliant idea...how about a vaccine that has never been tested that almost nobody really needs? I bet people will love that!
Now apply this same logic to all the other projects these ideology-tainted morons are pushing down our throats and you see why human progress is often characterized by fits and starts. There IS good reason why you want the best and brightest to lead the way [the only requirement being that they are the best and brightest].
I think it will be goodbye Jaguar. Already not a strong seller, and currently the EV market overall is Tanking. Like others, I bought my SVR with the thought in mind that this will be one hell of a last HURRAH! I hope they make it and make a new Electric F-type equivalent. But I am not sure they will survive "current" conditions. :-) Seems that the market is missing an electric sports car, especially if you toss in a convertible.
Seems that the market is missing an electric sports car, especially if you toss in a convertible.
If you like sports cars the idea of a silent (albeit powerful) electric motor isn't really that appealing .... especially with limited range and slow fill-up times.
Just my two cents: I believe the new chassis will be versatile enough to support internal combustion engines (strengthening the partnership between BMW and JLR, potentially offering an inline-6 or V8), plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, and fully battery electric vehicles...
I think part of the issue, at least here in the US, is one that I read in a Dealer publication, while waiting for service on my F. We usually buy things that fit with our lifestyle.. not going to buy a watch with a tiny face/numbers if you can't see them, or a watch at all if you use another 'device'. Buying an EV entails, for some, major shift in thinking and accommodation. "Where are you going? and how far?", "Are there charging stations along the way?" Right now, with ICEs, we don't think too much about that.. Gas stations in some form or fashion are just about everywhere. Buying an EV, however, requires us to make CHANGES in our lifestyle... simply can't jump in the car and take off.
Not opposed to EVs, but where I live, the infrastructure to support them is slow in coming. I probably would consider a hybrid, until charging stations' availability becomes a bit more widespread.
Then, what do we do with all the 'dead' batteries? Are we substituting one ecological issue for another?
Not opposed to EVs, but where I live, the infrastructure to support them is slow in coming. I probably would consider a hybrid, until charging stations' availability becomes a bit more widespread.
That sounds reasonable.
Adoption of new technologies (and indeed abandonment of old ones), like many things, tends to happen "gradually, then all at once".
I.e., logistic growth/decay.
I just don't think throwing all your eggs in one basket is the best Idea, especially when the basket isn't quite done yet. And it doesn't look to be reliably viable for quite a while. Again Just my thoughts.
I just don't think throwing all your eggs in one basket is the best Idea, especially when the basket isn't quite done yet.
And the shells are very fragile. From what I've seen, EVs don't last as long as ICEVs, need far more resources to build and, in spite of supposedly being simpler than ICEVs, are far from reliable.
Being a sports car enthusiast and really enjoying the sound of a high performance engine aside, whatever makes the most sense [in whatever endeavor] should prevail. EV's were brought to market too soon because of ideological reasons, not because they were attempting to solve any practical issues [other than for the climate apocalypse morons running around with their hair on fire].
This is why you must allow markets to work. Get governments and other organisations involved [other than for prudent safety concerns] and you end up with massive mal-investment and thousands of bureaucrats enriched via payoffs, kickbacks, and all the rest of the corruption that parasitises a free economy.
climate apocalypse morons running around with their hair on fire
I agree that panicking (running around with hair on fire) doesn't solve anything; however we cannot deny that this is a real problem:
As a sport car driver and enthusiast, I accept that I am a part of the problem, albeit a small part.
As most do, I balance the nagging of my conscience against the whims of my hedonistic tendencies, among other things.
I comfort myself by recalling the "green" things that I've done and am doing. I could surely do more, but at the moment I feel subjectively "balanced".
I also tell myself that my F-Type will be my last ICE vehicle. Whether or not that ends up being true; I won't know unless/until I'm actually faced with the choice.
