Skip to content

Vauxhall Mokka Electric

December 11, 2021

By Paul Homewood

 

 

I looked at the range of the Audi e-Tron the other day. Audi’s figures suggested 162 miles for motorway driving – unlike normal cars, EVs have lower efficiency on motorways than urban driving.

However the Audi’s battery has capacity of 95 KWh, much bigger than typical mid-range cars.

The Vauxhall Mokka, for instance, has capacity of just 50 KWh. According to Vauxhall, you might get 124 miles at motorway speeds:

 image

https://www.vauxhall.co.uk/cars/new-mokka/Electric/range-calculator.html 

In the real world, of course, you would be likely to get much less. For instance, they assume a fully charged battery; manufacturers usually quote recharging times for upto 80% full, for the very good reason that charging after that is painfully slow. This is because the chargers are designed to prevent battery damage.

If we assume an 80% full battery, that 124 miles dips to 99 miles.

And, of course, a family of four with a boot full of luggage, window wipers going etc will knock down this range even further.

As I keep pointing out, nobody waits till there is a teaspoon of petrol left before they stop at the service station. Equally, EV drivers are going to err on the safe side.

What all this means is that, if you have a Mokka, you can forget about a trip of more than 50 or 60 miles, unless you are prepared to queue up for hours to recharge.

The Mokka, by the way retails at £33685, £12000 more than a petrol version.

66 Comments
  1. Thomas Carr permalink
    December 11, 2021 2:13 pm

    In many ways EVs make less sense than Smart cars. Then there is the effect of cold on battery driven range.

    Not a peep of acceptance of the Greens about EVs likely to prove to be the province of well-off fashionistas with space and power for their own chargers. No such luck for those in terrace housing or high rise blocks lacking the pavement space for secure chargers or the parking slot in the communal residents parking area. I did see that street lamps can be used for a connection — perhaps for 1 in 6/8 cars in the same street.

    I can’t help thinking that there will be a good deal of ‘rowing back’ when the sums start to sink in for EVs, new boilers , the real cost of renewables etc. Should PM exit then reality may be accepted although he is more than capable of 180 degree turns himself.

    And now we have the prospect of windless January nights – starting at 5pm as the load demand rises to 42 GWs.– to see how that may better educate the political economists.

    • Ray Sanders permalink
      December 11, 2021 3:29 pm

      Hi Thomas. An interesting issue that often gets overlooked is that overall electricity demand is NOT what is shown on the likes of Gridwatch. Sites like that only show demand and generation connected to the national high tension grid. Over the last 10 years there have been reductions in grid connected generators and a large increase in “embedded” generators that are only connected to the District distribution networks typically solar and wind. These latter units only suppress demand locally but any surplus is not transmissible around the country. Overall peak demand can go well over 42GW.
      This switch to embedded generation can have very worrying effects particularly in terms of frequency management, voltage control. and reactive power management This site is obviously more complex but displays the point. I have set the default to the south east UK Power Networks and my local substation of Canterbury North but you can subsequently change the parameters..
      https://dsodashboard.ukpowernetworks.co.uk/d/jnTAkg7Gz/ukpn-dso-dashboard-grid-supply-areas?orgId=1&var-GSP=CANTERBURY%20NORTH&refresh=15m
      You can see the generation of local supplies by type. Whilst Canterbury is presently supplying 75MW real power and 21MVAr reactive power, if you switch to Braintree there is virtually no local generation and there is, critically, 50MVAr having to be absorbed out of the system. Hopefully this link helps with reactive power.
      https://energyinnovationproject.com/understanding-the-basics-of-reactive-power/
      The ability to charge an EV on demand is hugely more complex than simply meeting gross national real power requirement. I have very serious concerns that the imposition of political ideology is overly influencing the engineering management to try and make things work out. The real people on the ground know full well it will not but are not being listened to.

      • Thomas Carr permalink
        December 11, 2021 3:55 pm

        Ray – above and below
        Much appreciated. I may be good at cynicism but I need to improve as regards the real weaknesses of what we are told will be good for us.
        The green industries seem to be based on disingenuousness and with the general level of public understanding of the practical issues I foresee little improvement. You would think that the power supply industry would have more to say on this subject or are we looking at ‘biting the hand that feeds’ etc ? I wonder how much longer political ideology can resist engineering reality

      • Graeme No.3 permalink
        December 11, 2021 8:41 pm

        Ray Sanders:
        The same applies in Australia where household solar is popular. In South Australia there are times when the ‘demand’ drop close to zero. This is brief, typically less than 2-3 hours in the middle of a sunny day** but it means conventional generation has to be throttled back – it cannot stop for frequency control purposes (as you mention) so has to be ‘exported’ to Victoria.
        With the rising electricity prices the authorities have successively reduced the Feed in Tariff (down from the original $440 per MWh to $45), introduced subsidies (no interest 6 yr. loans approx. 40% of cost) for household batteries, followed by legislation allowing solar panels to be switched off remotely. (This replaces the unofficial practice of letting the local area voltage to rise and activate the built-in ‘over voltage’ switch (255V) in areas with high levels of panels – up to 270V in my previous residence).
        (All figures for household solar output in Australia are merely guesses).

        **really hot days the demand for cooling is high is less of a problem as the output of panels drops and more gas-fired generation can be used.

      • Ray Sanders permalink
        December 11, 2021 10:47 pm

        Hi Graeme No.3, re the South Australia issue, I recall this came up in a trade magazine a few years back. https://www.engineerlive.com/content/synchronous-condensers-south-australia
        Basically SA is having to install what are effectively large generators that do not actually generate real power just to control everything else. These do not come cheap and are only trying to cure a problem caused by the supposed “cure”. Big batteries are only ever a partial fix,
        Here in the UK we have taken to truly desperate measures of retiring real generators and then repurposing them as synchronous condensers, a huge expense to then pay for things that largely came free before.
        https://www.power-eng.com/coal/converting-existing-synchronous-generators-into-synchronous-condensers/#gref
        The GB grid has abut 3GW of Open Cycle Gas Turbines that normally run as back up at times of grid “stress.” This stress is now becoming so frequent that many of these OCGTs are being paid to be continuously spinning unpowered as Sync Cons and thus able to power up dramatically quickly when real power is needed. Right now a few people are making a fortune keeping a dysfunctional system together here and I suspect in SA as well.

    • Ian PRSY permalink
      December 11, 2021 3:40 pm

      “Not a peep of acceptance of the Greens about EVs likely to prove to be the province of well-off fashionistas with space and power for their own chargers.”

      Or public bodies like my council. I wonder if such organisations ever check their assumptions when they’ve had some experience of use.

    • Terence Carlin permalink
      December 11, 2021 7:17 pm

      Thomas think you are underestimating both the scale and the nature of the problem the current narrative is that Boris is driving the Agenda being led by the nose by Carrie however, the real problem is tat the the Climate Change Act became law some 12years ago It was introduced by a Labour government and was supported by the Conservatives who were in opposition at the time , the CBI and the TUC. In 2019 the act was amended again supported by all parties to make a zero target legally enforceable. So the key question is lets for one moment imagine that as an individual Boris became convinced that the net zero target was a nonsense and the science behind it flawed how would he or any PM change the act , if both his party and the opposition were for it, a significant and vocal body of quasi scientist were adamant it was necessary. Unfortunately, I am of the view that too many careers have a vested interest in pushing the Green Agenda and that it will only be undone when economic reality starts to bite.

      • Ray Sanders permalink
        December 11, 2021 7:34 pm

        Seconded!

    • jimlemaistre permalink
      December 19, 2021 9:58 pm

      To one and all ‘The Big Green Propaganda Machine’ needs a push back at the hands of Scientific reality.

      Basic High School physics teaches us OHM’s Law. Resistance is released as HEAT . . . The Grid, transmission and storage of Electricity ALL have a cost.

      Fact . . . Electric Cars produce at least 15 % more CO2 at source than Gasoline Cars . . .

      https://www.academia.edu/62574334/Tesla_Versus_Toyota_Camry

      https://www.academia.edu/64085546/Electric_Cars_The_Untold_Story_

      Scientific Fact . . . Nah . . . Can’t be true . . . He musta missed something . . .

      On N On it goes . . .

  2. Peter Yarnall permalink
    December 11, 2021 2:19 pm

    We have an apartment in South Devon which we visit about half a dozen times a year. With a full tank, my petrol Mazda 2 has a range of 450 miles. We top up at Morrisons, Cribs Causeway, Bristol. This is easily sufficient for our time in Devon so we also top up there on the homeward journey. On arrival home in Lancashire, we still have over 200 miles range left.
    Our summer holiday drive to Bordeaux and the Landes in my wife’s deisel Range Rover Evoque – range 540 miles – involves top ups at Morrisons, Gravesend and Total Access, Etampes, but can be achieved with one top up north of Paris.
    EV’s are only a substitute for local public transport, but are still nowhere near feasible as a form of regular travel.

    • Gamecock permalink
      December 11, 2021 3:10 pm

      “EV’s are only a substitute for local public transport”

      OMG! Where that’s true, it completely destroys the environmentalist whackos case! Not replacing petrol vehicles, but reducing use of public transport!

      Here in suburban U.S., there is no public transport, so it’s not true in my area. Could be true in cities.

      • Russ Wood permalink
        December 11, 2021 3:44 pm

        “Could be true in cities”? But in cities, one is going to have REAL trouble in charging your EV!

      • Peter Yarnall permalink
        December 14, 2021 9:28 am

        Precisely what I meant, gamecock!!

    • Aaron Halliwell permalink
      December 11, 2021 5:06 pm

      I shouldn’t eorry. You won’t be allowed to have a wasteful second home in Devon or travel as far as south-west France. These are Green Crimes!

    • Paul H permalink
      December 11, 2021 9:59 pm

      Entirly off topic Peter, but I yearn for the days we used to travel the Péage to Bordeaux and onwards to Marmande, having alighted at St Malo. Our mileage from Preston to Portsmouth was 269, and from St Malo to our then French home was 470-ish. Those wind turbines south of Rennes, that as you approach them would appear to be on the roadside, but are in fact set back a bit are fascinating. I stopped by once, travelling South for a closer look, but was baffled by a total lack of a breeze, and yet there they were, spinning merrily away. Whilst I did top in France en-route, it was purely for the cheaper French diesel. My 2.5 TDi Audi could make the entire journey on a full tank without too much fuss. To ramble on further, my chain saws and lawnmower struggle to run on English Premier petrol, which was never a problem in France. I have defaulted to ‘Aspen’ fuel – at a cost! – which has reset the performance.

      • Ray Sanders permalink
        December 11, 2021 11:14 pm

        “was baffled by a total lack of a breeze, and yet there they were, spinning merrily away.” This is actually not unusual and is becoming increasingly frequent. The blades are being electrically driven (i.e. consuming power) when there is no wind. If the rotor comes to rest for even a short period, a effect known as “brinelling” can occur. https://www.rexnord.com/blog/articles/bearings/what-is-brinelling
        The static bearings can start “bonding” together and cause all manner of serious premature wear and failure. Large ships in dock do the same keeping their propellers slowly rotating to avoid this effect.
        Other problems are potential rotor warp – if static for two long a three bladed unit will always come to natural rest in only three possible positions and can risk bending at those points.
        When there is a major wind lull not only is no power being produced but they are also adding to the shortage by using power that is seemingly not being metered.

      • Paul H permalink
        December 12, 2021 12:21 am

        I did suspect that Ray but you have filled in the deeper technical reasons. Thanks for your reply. Paul H

      • Gerry, England permalink
        December 12, 2021 12:54 pm

        Interested in your fuel problems, Paul. Are you saying that they won’t run properly on the new standard pump fuel? I haven’t needed any petrol as yet but intend to use the super grade. I add a bit of Castrol R to my mower fuel. The smell is wonderful. You could be mowing with a Manx Norton, 7R, G50 etc.

      • Paul H permalink
        December 12, 2021 9:24 pm

        We came back in 2013. First attempt to mow the lawn with Shell V-plus, the simple little mower I brought back would only run on ‘Start’ – Choke if you like. If the fuel control lever was pushed to ‘Run’, the engine just cut out. I twice stripped the carb without finding any blockage, certainly not the idle jet blocked, and no adjustment of the idle jet made any difference. Similar problem with the chain saw and strimmer – which were all impeccable in France when running on 98 Sans Plombe. Once I started with Aspen, they were like new machines, or, if you like, ran like they did in France. This next bit is scarcely believable. I always topped our vehicles up to the brim, and reset the trip, With the known Litreage of fuel put in to top up, and the mileage from the last top-up, it’s pretty easy to calculate a very accurate MPG. Our Rover 25 1.6 five speed went from 33 MPG in England to 44 MPG in our rural French location. Easily explained I thought because once in top, it stayed that way for mostly the entire journey, and of course I wasn’t doing the speeds I was in England. No traffic lights. Now there is an element of truth in that, but it’s only part of the reason. Of late, the opinion I’m drifting toward is that it was better fuel in France that was a major factor.

        I’ll be checking out Castrol R, it’ll be a bit cheaper than Aspen I should think, not that I’ll be using Aspen full strength next season. I’ll start at 50:50 with V-Power and see how things go.

      • Micky R permalink
        December 13, 2021 7:07 am

        Would be interesting to know what the “hotel” costs are for wind turbines i.e. the cost of the energy input into a wind turbine when wind is low or non-existent.

  3. December 11, 2021 2:19 pm

    The Mokka, by the way retails at £33685

    And doesn’t go very far without recharge. Can the lawmakers and motor industry not see the problem here?

    • December 11, 2021 2:51 pm

      Somebody can see it, if they’re trying to ‘speed up’ the search for better batteries. As usual there are snags…

      Machine Learning Could Speed Up Search For New Battery Materials

      The study could accelerate designs for solid-state batteries, a promising next-generation technology that has the potential to store more energy than lithium-ion batteries without the flammability concerns. However, solid-state batteries encounter problems when materials within the cell interact with each other in ways that degrade performance.

      Machine Learning Could Speed Up Search For New Battery Materials

      ‘could’…’potential’…’problems’ — sounds vague, they’ve been at this for many years already,

    • Dave Andrews permalink
      December 12, 2021 5:46 pm

      Plus I believe if you use rapid chargers all the time it can degrade the battery life.

  4. Ray Sanders permalink
    December 11, 2021 2:59 pm

    For many readers of this blog, the imposition of EVs is damn irritating but I would suggest we are mostly a demographic that is reasonably well off and has off road parking to allow home charging. But how do we get the message across now to those for whom such an imposition could be quite devastating? No off road parking (estimated at over 8 million vehicles) equates to much higher fuel costs from rapid chargers and the necessity to be incessantly re-fuelling.
    My approx once a month fill up takes about 4 minutes pump time and is good for just over 600 miles carefully driving. This Mokka would likely turn that into a twice weekly event taking over two hours providing there is a charge point available. And imagine the situation of low renewables – “sorry you cannot charge at the present moment as the grid is under stress, please try later”
    When the inevitable road pricing comes in to replace fuel duty/VAT revenue the additional costs become eye watering.
    Surely rational people can see the problems but what can be done to motivate people into action?

    • Sceptical Steve permalink
      December 11, 2021 3:28 pm

      Ray, I sense that the official narrative changed significantly with a speech given yesterday by Trudy Harrison, a Transport Minister and a former PPS to the Prime Minister. Her view was that the principle of car ownership was “outdated, 20th centure thinking”, so I think we can see which way the argument is going. Senior politicians and VIP’s will continue to justify private aviation etc. because of their special circumstances, but the rest of us will have to depend on low carbon public transport or shanks pony.

      • Ben Vorlich permalink
        December 11, 2021 5:35 pm

        No need for Zil Lanes in that scenario

      • Mack permalink
        December 11, 2021 7:36 pm

        Ah yes, private car ownership for the masses is just ‘so 20th Century’. The little people, if they are really, really good and don’t buck the new system, might just be able to share a car once in a while but they’d better be very grateful, or else. The Great Reset, what’s not to like?

  5. GeoffB permalink
    December 11, 2021 4:02 pm

    The calculator they show is honest, the range drops by 100 miles if you go from 30mph to 70mph, I never realised it was so much, it just goes to show that battery electric cars are really only useful as a second car about town run about. Charging at home is not going to work as the local electricity distribution system does no have sufficient capacity, it is designed for an average use per home of 2kW per hour say 50kWh per day. It assumes a diversity factor, that not everyone is using their 7kW electric shower/cooker at the same time. The local urban substations are1MW rating and serve 500 homes average. So 500 electric cars to be charged for 10 hours at 7kW per hour (70kW hours) Now that needs 3.5MW over 3 times the rating of the sub station and the cables will fry a bit. So apparently all new home electric car charging sockets will have there own smart meter controlled by the substation to deliver power when it is available!!! Do not forget your air sourced mandatory heating system taking 5kW per hour (to give you 10kW of heat about a third of a typical gas boiler) they have to run 24 hours per day to keep us warm, so that is another 2.5MW continuous load, so the heater will have to go off while you charge the car! Of course there is the small matter of actually generating all this electrical power. (OK the greens may argue you do not need heating all year, the car battery may not be fully discharged or you just need enough to get to work, but I have no mentioned the problems of phase balance and reactive power needs of the supply system) IT IS NOT GOING TO WORK

    • H Davis permalink
      December 11, 2021 4:28 pm

      Please, kw is already a rate, the rate at which you are using energy. There is no useful unit of kw per hour.

      • Ray Sanders permalink
        December 11, 2021 5:09 pm

        You are misunderstanding Geoff”s comment. Firstly though a kW is a unit of power NOT energy.

        The Great “Power vs. Energy” Confusion


        Geoff is simply referring to use of a fixed amount of power vectored over a defined time. So whilst the kWh is the correct unit of energy, in the context of the comment the meaning of continuous power over time it is perfectly understandable whilst conversely stating the overall energy consumption would not convey that point.
        Oh and by the way I can assure you Geoff knows what a “kW” is rather than your incorrect “kw”

    • Ray Sanders permalink
      December 11, 2021 4:30 pm

      Geoff, I have posted about this before as an indication of how worrying the situation is becoming. When I was still working (self employed subbie) I was in discussion with a colleague about VAR controls. (SVC units to be precise) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Static_VAR_compensator
      Overhearing our conversation a chap asked why we were talking about football. At first we laughed but it then dawned on both of us that he actually did not know what we were talking about. He was the sub station site manager!

      • Jordan permalink
        December 11, 2021 4:59 pm

        You should have told him you were talking about “imaginary power” Ray. That would have brought another dimension to the discussion.

      • GeoffB permalink
        December 11, 2021 6:39 pm

        I have been hearing an “advert” on the local radio station warning about meter tampering and asking that you report anyone doing it, so it must be a growing problem. Now that there are few actual meter readers it must be easy to get away with. I envision a society in the future that has electricity speakeasys, where you can go to charge your car up with stolen electricity for half price. You can use it in your book, no acknowledgement required. In fact as a student, I used to bypass landlords coin in the slot meters or reset them to a lower rate (less obvious), good way to meet girls, geeks need help.(I also had a pirate radio station in the halls of residence, that also worked with the girls.)

    • In The Real World permalink
      December 11, 2021 6:22 pm

      GeoffB , not sure where your figures come from , but the average household use of electricity is just 10KWh per day.https://www.ukpower.co.uk/home_energy/average-household-gas-and-electricity-usage
      And most 20th century housing is supplied at the rate of about 50 homes on 1 substation ,,https://www.eaton.com/content/dam/eaton/products/design-guides—consultant-audience/eaton-secondary-unit-substation-design-guide-dg022017en.pdf,
      which have a rating of a max of 250KW at end user voltage .This was all done on the principle that not many of them will be using much energy at the same time .
      It is possible to manufacture higher rated transformers , but they cost a lot more money because they require much heavier materials to cope with the higher current ratings and the local sub mains would all need rewiring .

      But none of it will work as the total generation capacity of the country is not enough to charge more than a tiny percentage of the total number of cars if they change to EVs .

      • GeoffB permalink
        December 11, 2021 6:58 pm

        yes you are right its about 12kWh per day I just multiplied the 2kW by 24 hours, but failed to take the diversity into account. I suppose the rating of the substation depends a lot on the population density. I live in a new town(50 years old now) huge estates of new builds, each designated area has about 1000 homes, school and a few shops and a pub, although most of the pubs have shut and shops reduced to one now, there are 2 substations in each area. My argument still holds though. I wonder if you will have to bid to get electricity in the future, an internet auction at consumer level for power. but that is how the balancing mechanism works, DRAX makes a fortune in times of shortage, bidding at the last minute to save the day.

    • December 12, 2021 10:20 am

      GeoffB,

      you mention in passing that the greens say we don’t need heating in the summer. Should the powers that be get their desire that very large amounts of heating comes from heat pumps, extra generating capacity to feed them increases the difference between winter and summer demand. Essentially any extra generation capcity installed will be redundant for a large part of the year?

  6. sid permalink
    December 11, 2021 4:05 pm

    And what about the development of “charging rage” ie bullying of the weak by the young males at charging points

  7. John Peter permalink
    December 11, 2021 4:06 pm

    “Surely rational people can see the problems but what can be done to motivate people into action?”
    My answer is a series of grid failures with serious consequences. They will arrive. The answer is when.
    A quick retreat is no longer possible. Look at the way Longannet was flattened the other day to cheers from the Greens.
    It is going to become ugly.

    • Ray Sanders permalink
      December 11, 2021 4:55 pm

      Hi John, you may not have seen my posts on this subject before, however, I am currently trying to write a novel about a group of disaffected people who deliberately conspire to crash the grid to bring the problem to a head. Technically it is theoretically quite easy to collapse a grid by many different means but they are all illegal…except possibly one way.
      The grid has protections against sudden loss of generators as well as sudden (but predictable) increase in demand typically TV pick up.
      https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › TV_pickup
      What the grid does not bank on is a sudden and completely unpredictable large demand surge. Although it may seem to be the same effect as a sudden generation loss (imbalance between demand and supply) there are many very subtle but hugely important differences particularly in respect of reactive power and the ability of the grid to transmit power.
      Reactive power imbalance has lead to some of the world’s biggest power outages
      https://www.drax.com/power-generation/silent-force-moves-electricity/
      Essentially if enough people, simultaneously, in the right places and at the right time were to switch on the right type of heavy power load then the system could well suffer a cascading collapse. Ironically it does not have to be in winter, in fact a low loaded grid with a high percentage of asynchronous wind and solar generation and with little spinning inertia on the system is a better time – the three major GB power outages this century occurred in either May or August.
      The tricky bit is the covert coordination of the action which is a large part of the plot development. But then again the book could just be the guide to how (and when) to do it simply hiding in full sight! It starts with a poem to introduce the theme.
      https://www.poemhunter.com/poem/i-have-changed-the-numbers-on-my-watch/

      • Tim Spence permalink
        December 11, 2021 5:54 pm

        For example if some big news event happens suddenly, millions of TV’s are switched on immediately and people start recharging their phones or calling friends to get information etc. Not to mention Switch Mode Power Supplies which power TV’s and charging devices.

      • Nial permalink
        December 12, 2021 11:23 am

        Ray, to what time resolution would you need people to start equipment?

        Internet servers keep a pretty accurate timestamp, I’m sure if you knew what you were doing you could write software for eg the raspberry pi that would toggle an output at a certain programmable time.

      • Ray Sanders permalink
        December 12, 2021 7:21 pm

        Nial, with regard to timing, it really needs to done in almost perfect unison, if not, over a period of no more than say 20 seconds for maximum effect. In addition it helps to do it it in more than 1 step separated by no more than 1 minute. The biggest issue is that it must be completely covert and not specifically trackable to individuals who could be charged with conspiracy.
        My proposed options (not telling yet!) revolves around a time delay from a “normal” trigger event. The code for the delay time is actually set by the same normal event. Part of the outline is that action is coordinated outside of normal modern surveillance of the internet or mobile phones.

  8. Frank permalink
    December 11, 2021 4:28 pm

    Don’t forget that in May 2022 new UK legislation will prevent electric cars charging at peak times. Excerpt from report. “The United Kingdom plans to pass legislation that will see EV home and workplace chargers being switched off at peak times to avoid blackouts.
    Announced by Transport Secretary Grant Shapps, the proposed law stipulates that electric car chargers installed at home or at the workplace may not function for up to nine hours a day to avoid overloading the national electricity grid.
    As of May 30, 2022, new home and workplace chargers being installed must be “smart” chargers connected to the internet and able to employ pre-sets limiting their ability to function from 8 am to 11 am and 4 pm to 10 pm.”
    Link: https://insideevs.com/news/537120/ev-chargers-switched-off-uk/

    • Ray Sanders permalink
      December 11, 2021 5:55 pm

      ” new home and workplace chargers being installed must be “smart” chargers connected to the internet”
      On this thread I have posted about ways to collapse a grid. Here is one that a Dutch student researched for his masters. Simply transpose “solar panel grid tie inverters” to “smart chargers” and a you potentially have a computer hackers dream.
      https://horusscenario.com

    • MikeHig permalink
      December 19, 2021 5:07 pm

      Those pre-sets can be over-ridden by the user.

      • Frank permalink
        December 19, 2021 6:22 pm

        Hi MikeHig That is an interesting comment, it would seem to negate the whole purpose of the controls as everyone would over ride them. Where did you see that information?

      • MikeHig permalink
        December 20, 2021 8:52 am

        It’s stated at the end of the 3rd para in the link you posted 🙂

  9. Keith Holland permalink
    December 11, 2021 4:58 pm

    Hey guys, there is no problem here, haven’t you heard a Transport Minister has just said owning and running a car just so twentieth century.

    • December 12, 2021 10:23 am

      Keith,

      I believe it is a shadow transport minister?

      • Sceptical Steve permalink
        December 12, 2021 1:07 pm

        No, Iain, it was Trudy Harrison, currently a junior transport minister in the Conservative government and former PPS to Boris Johnson. That’s what makes it so scary – how could someone with such views find her way into a Conservative government? (She obviously considers that local public transport in her constituency in rural Cumbria can replace car ownership, or perhaps she simply doesn’t expect to be re-elected!)

      • December 12, 2021 10:20 pm

        Trudy Harrison biography. https://www.gov.uk/government/people/trudy-harrison#biography
        She seems to have had a rapid rise to a position of some great responsibility in the Ministry iof Transport
        Career outside politics
        Trudy worked at Sellafield for 5 years as a technical clerk before setting up and running a childcare business. Following a career break, Trudy was employed by Copeland
        Borough Council, first as a Locality Officer and then as Community Regeneration Officer. Trudy left Copeland Borough Council in 2013 to work as a Programme Manager
        for “investors specialising in renewable energy” and sustainable community projects. However she has no declared earnings from previous companies she worked for.
        https://www.parallelparliament.co.uk/mp/trudy-harrison/financial-disclosure
        Most comments on her Facebook page regarding her attendance at COP26 are critical of Net Zero and Climate Change plans.
        https://www.facebook.com/1163262443793280/posts/4489854791134012. I can’t remember any positive comments about the subject from any member of the Public at all.
        I am sure there is a massive untapped silent majority in the UK worried about the whole issue. How do we get them to vocalise en masse….?

  10. Jordan permalink
    December 11, 2021 5:14 pm

    “In the real world, of course, you would be likely to get much less.” Another factor will be wintry conditions, when more lighting and in-car heating will be used.
    I gather batteries have an optimal operating temperature, and performance will reduce in hotter or colder conditions. I don’t know how significant this is.
    To my recollection, winter months increases the number of broken down vehicles standing at the roadside. Especially when there is snow. Maybe it’s poor maintenance or lack of preparation, but it just seems to be the case that something happens to catch-out more drivers.
    When an EV driver is accustomed to a certain range and performance, I wonder how many will get caught out in extreme weather conditions, and unexpectedly find themselves standing at the roadside with an empty battery. Without doubt, EVs will have range indicators and alarms, but something tells me EV drivers will get caught out in cold and snowy conditions.

  11. John Hultquist permalink
    December 11, 2021 5:34 pm

    EVs in the $130,000 price range (£98,000) are quite nice; not that I want or can afford one.
    Anyway, here is a review of the Mokka:
    https://www.topgear.com/car-reviews/vauxhall/mokka-0

    They write: Ford’s Puma is a better steer
    https://www.topgear.com/car-reviews/ford/puma

    • Gamecock permalink
      December 11, 2021 9:45 pm

      A friend recently bought a US$56k Tesla Model 3, after an 18 week wait. It’s interesting. Acceleration is great. Suspension is lame – body lean, wallowing, gross understeer. Electronics are seriously distracting.

      He has a 2-car garage, and was able to get a charger installed.

      He is enjoying the experience. Which is great, because the price is double what a low end car should cost.* It is a rich man’s toy. I have my rich man’s toys, too, so I don’t begrudge him. I’d give him grief if the thought he was saving the world. He knows he’s not.

      *My son is a Tesla expert. When I started to tell him about my friend’s Model 3, he cut me off. Among the Teslarati, the Model 3 is a cheapass model which no one cares about.

  12. David permalink
    December 11, 2021 5:36 pm

    The trouble is the average person has no means of forestalling this disasterous prospect. This stupid government have just told us not to own a car but borrow one and cycle and walk more and the labour opposition’s policy is obviously even more extreme. Most people seem to think this is all OK because it’s “Green”. Nothing will change until we get massive power cuts and everything grinds to a halt. We will then be told it’s all our fault for using too much electricity!

  13. jimlemaistre permalink
    December 11, 2021 6:08 pm

    EV’s Burn MORE CO2 than conventional internal combustion Cars . . . just Not where you drive them . . . Back where the Electricity is produced . . . regardless of the source !

    12 % is lost as heat uploading and transmitting the Electricity produced . . .
    https://www.nationalgrideso.com/document/144711/download

    !6 % is lost as heat Charging the Electrons in the Lithium-Ion battery on board . . .
    https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1098248_charging-an-electric-car-why-it-takes-more-energy-than-your-battery-holds

    0.92 LBS. of CO2, from All sources (including wind and solar) is produced per KWH of electricity . . .
    US Energy information. https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=74&t=11

    TESLA ‘S’ KWH per mile driven 0.333 KWH
    https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1090685_life-with-tesla-model-s-one-year-and-15000-miles-later

    0.92 LBS./KWH X 12% line loss = 0.11 LBS. + 0.92 = 1.13 LBS. up to charging station

    1.13 X 16 % charging loss = 0.18 LBS CO2 charge loss + 1.13 to station = 1.21 LBS. CO2

    1.21 LBS of CO2 per KWH X 0.333 KWH pre Mile = 0.40 LBS. CO2 per Mile Driven

    TOYOTA CAMRY – 98 grams per km. or 0.216 lbs. per km X 1.6 km to miles = 0.34 lbs. CO2 per mile Exprhttps://www.autoexpress.co.uk/toyota/camry/mpgess

    TESLA ‘S’ burns 0.6 LBS. More CO2 than the TOYOTA CAMRY . . .Same Size Car . . .

    About 15 % MORE . . . CO2 per mile . . . GREAT way to clean up the Planet Eh . . . ???

    I hope this clears up some Nonsense coming from ‘The Big Green Propaganda Machine’.

  14. Ben Vorlich permalink
    December 11, 2021 7:53 pm

    I’ve used up my free reads on the Courier and Advertiser so don’t know the details. But there’s nothing on BBC

    https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/business-environment/farming/2816250/seagreen-windfarm-pipeline/

  15. Steve permalink
    December 11, 2021 8:50 pm

    I had to laugh when driving to Bordeaux in September and a Muskmobile whizzed past at probably 100mph. 50 miles on and he was doing 50, looking for the nearest charging point and hotel on a Sunday. We drove 600 miles on one tank at an average of 55 with stops.

  16. December 11, 2021 9:03 pm

    Can we mock the Mokka? Or will Gaia be unhappy and smite us?

  17. HotScot permalink
    December 11, 2021 10:50 pm

    MOKKA FOKKA at 12 O’Clock Septic……SCRAMBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  18. Nial permalink
    December 12, 2021 11:17 am

    “The Mokka, by the way retails at £33685, £12000 more than a petrol version”

    Normally if you’re paying 1.5* the price of a ‘normal’ car you’d expect what you’re buying to be _better_.

    • Gerry, England permalink
      December 12, 2021 1:03 pm

      Ah, that’s the price of virtue signalling.

  19. Gerry, England permalink
    December 12, 2021 1:15 pm

    A couple of comments on their page. Being realistic, a lot of people cruise at over 70 on motorways. I am usually at 80 so I wonder what that does to the range. And you can’t help but notice the ambient temperature option. It is warmer today than it has been when the amber cold warning light flashed up on my dashboard, let alone the red warning last Tuesday. So it was way below 15C. And then there is the climate control. Now to me that means the aircon but of course I guess in your battery car that means heat as well. Going back to last Tuesday morning. It rained late the evening before so covering the screen was not an option and so I was greeted with the horrible frozen rain in the morning and not softer frost. So fire the car up – and it struggled a bit with that – to put the heated windscreen on and then finish getting my stuff together. Then lock up, start scraping to ice off the side windows as the screen is now nearly clear, get in the car, turn the heater on as it warms very quick and see the side windows clear off completely. Doing that in a battery car will give you quite a range hit I would think.

    I get a warning when the car thinks I have 50 miles left and depending on where I am going I would start to think about getting more fuel. There is also a gallon of diesel in the boot.

    • Gamecock permalink
      December 12, 2021 3:26 pm

      I get the “50 miles left” warning in my GT350R while I still have a third of a tank remaining (!).

    • MikeHig permalink
      December 19, 2021 5:15 pm

      One small advantage of EVs is that they can be programmed to warm up – or cool down – while still connected to the overnight charger. So the driver gets into a defrosted, warm car with a full battery.

Comments are closed.