EV opposition in the media is ramping up

[Rolfe]

Some of the effects of scaremongering/ ignorance:

The Real Reason EV Repairs Are So Expensive

Insurers are demanding perfectly good EVs be scrapped, or hiking repair bills from $1,000 to $15,000 for seemingly no good reason. There’s a solution, and it’s in the hands of car companies.

www.wired.co.uk

I've realised this for a while. I do hope it gets sorted soon. I've seen videos showing how these batteries can be repaired, but there are so few workshops that can do it.

 

[Archev]

I know a couple who had a short list of three or four EVs they were going to test-drive. They went to test-drive the one that was top of the list and were so smitten they bought it on the spot without even looking at the alternatives.

Me, I had a short-list of one, because the MG4 was so competitively priced, and came back from my test drive so starry-eyed that the dealer was able to sell me an over-priced type 2 charging lead and floor mats as I more or less drooled over the car.

Yep my dealer caught me twice. Once with the initial launch of the original ZS and then again when the five estate (my preferred vehicle body type) was launched. Both times I must admit the MG badges were a clincher.

 

[Rolfe]

The Guardian have started myth bustingfor EVs!

Do electric cars pose a greater fire risk than petrol or diesel vehicles?

The first in a series exploring the myths and realities surrounding EVs

www.theguardian.com

Well, that's a welcome change. Although it's not a very good article. It doesn't highlight that LFP batteries are very unlikely indeed to go on fire, or that the incidence of EV fires appears not to be rising in absolute numbers even though the numbers of cars on the road is increasing.

It doesn't mention that there is in fact less energy stored in an EV battery than in a car's fuel tank by a large margin, so fires are inherently not so destructive. Fire officials in Scandinavia have said that the presence of EVs in car park fires doesn't make the fire any worse. And has anyone seen an ICE fire that wasn't a "furious inferno"? It seems mostly to be inexperience in fighting battery fires that's the issue, and as firefighters get the experience and know how to tackle them they probably won't be a bigger problem than ICE fires.

But the article still seemed to be looking for reasons to be pessimistic.

Yep my dealer caught me twice. Once with the initial launch of the original ZS and then again when the five estate (my preferred vehicle body type) was launched. Both times I must admit the MG badges were a clincher.

It's true. Those of us of a certain age associate that badge with nippy sports cars of the 1960s. Two of my cousins had MG sports cars (before I was old enough to drive). Yes we know it's SAIC and Chinese, but that badge did it for me regardless.

 

[Grriff]

A friend, who has had an electric car (BMW i3) for several years, made the point that EV's are so quiet that you arrive much more relaxed. I would add that the acceleration is very useful, especially when joining a busy motorway.
Our first long distance test comes this weekend - Nottingham to London; London to Portsmouth; Portsmouth to Nottingham.
@Rolfe My wife had a cousin with an MG sports car. I think that helped persuade her to buy the MG4.

 

[EVsince2016]

A friend, who has had an electric car (BMW i3) for several years, made the point that EV's are so quiet that you arrive much more relaxed. I would add that the acceleration is very useful, especially when joining a busy motorway.
Our first long distance test comes this weekend - Nottingham to London; London to Portsmouth; Portsmouth to Nottingham.
@Rolfe My wife had a cousin with an MG sports car. I think that helped persuade her to buy the MG4.

That's not long distance . Now my drive all the way to Portugal is.

Look at my signature!

Media success for Stop Burning Stuff!​ ​

We are very pleased to share that the myth-busting campaign from Stop Burning Stuff is beginning to have an impact on the media! We have been working with Jasper Jolly at the Guardian to support the publication of a series of myth-busting articles on EVs, the first of which was published today. Members of the Stop Burning Stuff team including Ben Kilbey and Colin Walker worked closely with Jasper to ensure he had sources of factual information for his piece on EV fires and put him in touch with the relevant experts for his research. If you would like to read the full article, you can do so here: Do electric cars pose a greater fire risk than petrol or diesel vehicles? We understand that this is the first of 4 myth-busting articles that the Guardian will be publishing and we'll continue to support them as these are written. Thank you to everyone in this community, your ongoing support is enabling us to make this positive progress! I'll continue to keep you all updated when we have more myth-busting news. Kind regards Claire​

 

[Corindikev]

Negative press will be around as long as there are dinosaurs wanting something to reinforce their erroneous beliefs. They are frightened of change and leap out with irrational, irrelevant and ignorant hyperbole like a cornered rat.

The most authoritative information seems to come from the UKs Fully Charged team and their shows have had an impact all around the world.

The formation of offshoot "Stop Burning Stuff" and their launch only a month or 2 back is a video well worth a look to dispel the myths still coming from some of the mainstream media.

 

[GaryMG4]

I had a hilarious conversation with a couple yesterday. It started with, don't you get range anxiety? When I pointed out my cost per mile, 'but how much will your new battery cost', 'how far can you go', 'what about when it catches fire', 'what about all the new tyres you'll need'. All questions were answered with facts, he then said 'I've never been in one', so I said come on then I'll take you out for a drive. 'Ooh no'. I gave up after that.

 

[Archev]

That's not long distance . Now my drive all the way to Portugal is.

Look at my signature!

I think you both have commendable journeys ahead and wish you very safe, happy driving with all the watts you require. I’ve run out of oatcakes so simply must set off in the MG shopping trolley It’s balance charged at 100% with 250 miles on the guess gauge. (I may be gone for some time)

 

[Rolfe]

A friend, who has had an electric car (BMW i3) for several years, made the point that EV's are so quiet that you arrive much more relaxed. I would add that the acceleration is very useful, especially when joining a busy motorway.
Our first long distance test comes this weekend - Nottingham to London; London to Portsmouth; Portsmouth to Nottingham.
@Rolfe My wife had a cousin with an MG sports car. I think that helped persuade her to buy the MG4.

I also found out about the "arriving relaxed" part. I think it's multi-factorial. Quiet, as you say, and you can hear the stereo, but also you're not riding a piston engine. The car is not making a big performance of it. Also, where there might be a temptation to skip breaks, or even if you take a break to be sitting fretting that you should be getting on, the car makes you do it, and because you know you can't leave just yet, you relax.

There's also the ACC and TJA, which aren't specifically an EV thing, but those of us getting our first EV now are also often getting our first experience of these driving aids.

The thing about the acceleration is fairly amazing. My previous cars were a Golf GTi Mk6, a Peugeot 306 GTi6 and a Fiesta XR2. All of these could go like a bat out of hell. I was amazed that the basic MG4 didn't feel significantly slower than these hot hatches. I suspect that if the X-Power had been around when I was looking at the car back in April I might have been very tempted, but quite honestly the SE SR is so close to the GTi in everyday driving performance that I seldom notice any less power there.

If I hadn't been able to accelerate at a similar speed to the GTi I would have looked elsewhere or maybe waited for the X-Power. But I have pretty much the same overtaking capability as in the GTi. It's a mystery.

 

[Grriff]

@EVsince2016 I hope you have a good trip to Portugal, you've obviously much more experience than us. We're still in the learning, and getting more confidence, phase.
Next year? Who knows - Anglesey?

@Rolfe I'm wary of driving aids. In a previous ICE with cruise control I found I 'switched off' from driving. May try TJA though, if (when) we get stuck in a jam.

 

[Rolfe]

I had a hilarious conversation with a couple yesterday. It started with, don't you get range anxiety? When I pointed out my cost per mile, 'but how much will your new battery cost', 'how far can you go', 'what about when it catches fire', 'what about all the new tyres you'll need'. All questions were answered with facts, he then said 'I've never been in one', so I said come on then I'll take you out for a drive. 'Ooh no'. I gave up after that.

That's nuts. I have an elderly neighbour, a widow in her 90s whose husband owned the garage in the village for many decades. I drive her to church. She'd never been in an EV before. She was kind of oohing and ahing, and I think it was the second week of this I said, want to go for a wee spin?

There's a seven-mile triangle here taking in another village, with twisty country lanes and a section of A701 where you can open up for a short stretch. She was massively impressed, and also by the toys and the bells and whistles. But at the end of it she said, "I think Bill (her late husband) went at the right time!"

I said that every technology has its day and the ICE has had a pretty good innings - over 100 years. But everything moves on, and here we are.

@Rolfe I'm wary of driving aids. In a previous ICE with cruise control I found I 'switched off' from driving. May try TJA though, if (when) we get stuck in a jam.

I found ACC very helpful on the motorway. I use it mostly where there is a speed limit so I can keep to that without constantly watching the speedometer. Without it on the motorway I was shooting up past 90 mph without realising it.

I don't switch off when I'm doing 75, at all, but I found it very useful to regulate my speed while I chose whether to follow another car or to pull out and let the car do its thing in a lane with nothing in front.

 

[Corindikev]

I've been using cruise control for 30 years & it is the only way I can avoid speeding tickets. The MG4 is my first with adaptive control. I use it all the time, even in town, not just on motorways

 

[Rolfe]

This is the first car I have had with the feature. I could never understand the utility of setting a particular speed, I mean what happens when you need to slow down? I think it was an optional extra on my Golf but I didn't take it. The ability of the car to slow down when you come up behind something else makes all the difference.

Yes I have had my share of speeding tickets. Not long after I got the XR2 I went nearly a year with 11 points on my licence. I was never disqualified.

 

[GaryMG4]

That's nuts.

Absolutely, so people are so narrow minded. He is in his 70s and a fan of MacTwat which probably says it all.

 

[Shrink Proof]

The Guardian have started myth busting for EVs!

Do electric cars pose a greater fire risk than petrol or diesel vehicles?

The first in a series exploring the myths and realities surrounding EVs

www.theguardian.com

Well, yeah... but....er... yer can prove anything with facts, can't yer?

 

[Gomev]

...

The thing about the acceleration is fairly amazing. My previous cars were a Golf GTi Mk6, a Peugeot 306 GTi6 and a Fiesta XR2. All of these could go like a bat out of hell. I was amazed that the basic MG4 didn't feel significantly slower than these hot hatches....

Isn't the out of the box MG4 official 0-62mph, (0-100kph) similar to the Peugeot and faster than the XR2, the Golf obviously is a bit quicker?

 

[Tweed98]

I also found out about the "arriving relaxed" part. I think it's multi-factorial. Quiet, as you say, and you can hear the stereo, but also you're not riding a piston engine. The car is not making a big performance of it. Also, where there might be a temptation to skip breaks, or even if you take a break to be sitting fretting that you should be getting on, the car makes you do it, and because you know you can't leave just yet, you relax.

There's also the ACC and TJA, which aren't specifically an EV thing, but those of us getting our first EV now are also often getting our first experience of these driving aids.

Very much this! I can do the 5 hour journey up to my Dads (slow roads rather than distance) on the Yorkshire coast without swapping with the wife. We have an hours break somewhere between Newark and Grantham so the boy can stretch his legs (he gets very vocal if we leave him in the car for too long) and a bite to eat with a coffee. I can get out of the car as fresh as if my wife had done half the drive in our old Leon.

If I can get her confidence up to have a drive it will be even better!

Isn't the out of the box MG4 official 0-62mph, (0-100kph) similar to the Peugeot and faster than the XR2, the Golf obviously is a bit quicker?

My 5LR has a paper figure slightly slower than my old Focus ST but I think it is as fast if not faster as there isn't a numpty using the gear stick.

 

[johnb80]

Well, yeah... but....er... yer can prove anything with facts, can't yer?

You can indeed - A reliant Robin is a safer car than a Ferrari - no Reliant Robin's have been involved in a high speed crash.

My 5LR has a paper figure slightly slower than my old Focus ST but I think it is as fast if not faster as there isn't a numpty using the gear stick.

Probably the first part will be a good deal quicker 0 to 30 or 0 to 40 than the ST, it's after that that the ST will make up for lost time hence why the MG feels quicker. Rear Wheel drive also helps to put the power down, my BMW i3 romps all over my sons Focus ST from the lights but he's back with me at about 65 mph and then he's off in front. Ditto with BMW M3 v i3. The instant 100% torque from electric is very apparent.

 

[Tweed98]

Probably the first part will be a good deal quicker 0 to 30 or 0 to 40 than the ST, it's afetr that that the ST will up for lost time hence why the MG feels quicker, Rear Wheel drive also helps to put the power down, my BMW i3 romps all over my sons Focus ST from the lights but he's back with me at about 65 mph and then he's off in front. Ditto with BMW M3 v i3. The instant 100% torque from electric is very apparent.

Quite agree, the EVs don't have the legs to keep up the whole time, my ST had a top whack oof 140 according to the book the 5 is only 115mph.
I also don't get the extreme torque steer in the 5 that the ST did. Although the 5 is front wheel drive and the traction control leaves something to be desired.

 

[jackois]

The Guardian have started myth busting for EVs!

Do electric cars pose a greater fire risk than petrol or diesel vehicles?

The first in a series exploring the myths and realities surrounding EVs

www.theguardian.com

I was just going to post that article myself... nice change.