Electric Mokka Now Costs £38K
July 28, 2023
By Paul Homewood
EV prices have risen sharply in the last year. A year ago, the cheapest electric Mokka, the GS, was priced at £32685, but it has since increased by 18%:
https://www.vauxhall.co.uk/cars/mokka/build-and-price.html
The petrol model has also gone up in price to £26685, but the differential is now £11950:
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The Mokka is not really big enough to be classed as a family sized car. And even if it was, very few families could afford the Mokka.
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NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT 
It is not going to work….
That is an expensive city runabout just like all the other EVs.
At least the petrol version has a manual transmission and does n0t need refilling as often as the EV needs recharging, but also still expensive for such a small car.
We have been told for years that as volume goes up, EV prices would come down. Be competitive, even.
Opposite has happened. A £11950 premium, plus a couple thousand for the charging station installation, sets a very high barrier to entry to the market.
Slightly deaf and walking with dog back from village shop on narrow leafy lane, young lady in EV behind me v had to toot horn to get me out of the way. Nearly jumped out of my skin.
And they said it was going to cost less / prices will come down. Tomorrow, pigs will fly.
Also, with the latest car transporter ship going up in smoke because of EV battery spontaneous combustion, shipment costs are going to greatly increase, or supplies stop as shippers will refuse to ship them.
As this is the most recent post I’ll put this here.
False claims that heatwave is bogus spread online
False claims suggesting that the BBC has been misreporting temperatures in southern Europe have been spreading on social media.
A clip of Neil Oliver, a GB News presenter, accusing the BBC “and others” of “driving fear” by using “supposedly terrifying temperatures”, has been viewed more than two million times.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-66314338
Perhaps a few complaints to the BBC are in order as the Jerzu temperature is quoted.
“But Sardinia’s Regional Agrometeorological Service makes clear on its website that its weather stations are operated according to WMO recommendations.
And the WMO also told the BBC that the temperature of 48.2C registered in Jerzu is consistent with data from other stations across Sardinia.”
I posted on the Sardinia record article that I have already posted a complaint.
I personally find it exceptionally offensive that a thick tw@t like Marco Silva (BBC Climate misinformation senior reporter) isallowed to arrogantly display his blind ignorance at our expense. Personally I feelthere is a good case forsuing him.
Well tha’s two
So two ships and about 6,000 cars have been destroyed by these spontaneous EV fires in the last year or so.
I’m sure the insurance companies actuaries are working out the chance per voyage of EV cars exploding – work out the odds, then work out the number of EVs per channel ferry – there about 10,000 vehicles a days from Dover alone. Hmmm. It is no longer an “if” it is a “when” – I’m off to France next month – I’ll let you know if I get back.
Unfortunately my actuary friend is an avid Tesla owner and climate worrier so we stay away from such conversations and calculations.
—–
What actually is a “Battery Electric 100kW”? It is quoted as having 54kWh battery storage capacity and delivers 156hp which is equivalent to 115kW. Am I missing something?
Using the wrong units in this sort of reporting irritates me no end.
The BBC response is we’re just quoting the source, when we checked that’s what they said. Proving the reporters weren’t paying attention in science classes
Not only the wrong units, but with “100KW”, the wrong case for the unit prefix in prominent marketing material. ;-(
That is very expensive for a 1.2 engine even with a turbo. Call me old fashioned but there ain’t no substitute for cubes.
A lot to pay to feel smug and special.
You need to be a bit careful with inflation. That increases nominal differentials in prices. Take £10,000 and £11,000. Differential of £1,000. Two years of inflation at 10% pay gives £12,100 and £13,310. The differential has increased to £1,210. But in real terms, it’s still £1,000.
In any event, a £12,000 difference over say 5 years of ownership is £2,400/year. At 10,000 miles/year, that 24p/mile cheaper running costs.
Paul reported an 18% increase in one year.
The BBC a couple of days ago did a piece on the Citroen Ami, as apparently the first one in the UK has been sold to someone who lives near Gloucester. This it seems is the future of city motoring.
It costs about £7750, has a top speed of 28 mph and has a range of about 48 miles on a sunny day. It does have a basic heater but that reduces the range. It takes 3 hours to recharge from a 3 pin domestic socket.
It can take one passenger, so 2 trips if you want to drop 2 kids off at school.
It does make parking a bit easier as you are supposed to fit two into a normal parking bay. (Can you share one ticket?)
I wonder how the performance statistics stack up against a golf cart with lead acid batteries?
A year or so back Forbes published an article saying that the only use for a battery car was as a city runabout but that the current offerings in trying to ape normal cars were just too expensive. A sub-$10000 improved golf cart type car was the answer. Seems Citroen were listening. By being small enough to fit on my drives alongside a normal car makes great sense.
What the market really needs is a new VW Beetle. Metaphorically.
Two seat car with a 1.2 diesel, weighing <1,500 pounds. Small, economical, efficient.
Vastly superior to an EV.
But as in the case of light bulbs in the U.S., freedom is gone and the government will choose for you. EVs it will be. Even if it kills you. Which it will.
IIRC using AdBlue additive in a diesel results in exhaust emissions next to zero, and the lighter weight of ICE cars results in lower particulates from tyres and brakes than with EVs.
The lighter weight would also have benefits on road wear and tear, and reduced load on multistorey car parks.
It looks like a no-brainer.
Exhaust NO2 emissions
Also metaphorically, what the market really needs is something like the Mark 2 Ford Cortina (petrol and diesel versions, but the original was only petrol). Slightly smaller than normal size, but still five seats and a boot and no range problems.
It is simply not practical (or affordable, let alone the space to put the ones not actually in use at any given time) to have a different vehicle for each type of journey. EVs are obsessed with being city runabouts and are deliberately ignoring all other uses.
>>What the market really needs is a new VW Beetle. Metaphorically.
Well, Realist, what we really need is a market.
Government won’t let anyone make a Cortina again. Nor my little diesel runabout. Safety, emissions, THE PLANET, whatever.
I wish more people would realise what is going on. It is not only cars. European politicians and the current President of the USA are ignoring what their own people need and want and are actively picking winners and losers.
>> what we really need is a market.
What did we do 50 years ago?
MGB
Fiat 124
The AMI was designed for a particular niche in the French car market. Providing one can obtain insurance anyone of 14 years and over can drive this class of vehicle without having a driving licence. Some are single cylinder 350cc ICE, often the engine is ‘tweaked’ to raise the max speed to more than the 45 kph allowed.
The AMI in France was about 6000€ when I investigated last year.
I looked into buying an AMI for shopping to replace my ancient Twingo, but the hills around here would be a problem. Also the 45 kph max (on a flat road, slower on the hills) seems, to me, a danger.
Ford’s EV division set to lose $4.5B this year.
https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/ford-electric-vehicles-loss/2023/07/28/id/1128865/
Play stupid games; win stupid prices.
Ford surely knew this was going to happen. I wonder why they jumped in. I guess government talk of banning ICE made them think they had to learn how to do EV. They have learned to fail.
Burning freight ship was carrying more electric cars than first reported, shipping company says
K Line says vessel was carrying more EVs than first reported by Coastguard
Initial list said 2,857 cars were on board including 25 EVs, but now revised to 3,783 vehicles, including 498 EVs
Officials now ‘looking at various scenarios to determine the next steps’
https://cardealermagazine.co.uk/publish/burning-freight-ship-was-carrying-more-electric-cars-than-first-reported-shipping-company-says/287582
And the fire burned down through 5 decks. The side of the ship is open to the elements and it appears that the metal has melted. One Indian crew member died jumping from the deck to the water.
On first read of your comment I genuinely thought the fire could not get hot enough to melt steel. So I checked, and was stunned to discover a claim that battery fires can reach 2,700°C which is well beyond steel’s melting point.
https://splash247.com/burning-car-carrier-too-hot-to-board-another-attempt-set-for-later-today/
I find that truly astonishing and staggeringly dangerous.
Ray, I don’t know if the fire burnt up or down the decks but I’ve seen a youtube vid showing about a quarter of the starboard side missing.
Go to any supermarket carpark, the average value of the cars is between £5-8k, …they’re not going to buy a new ev for £40k
Mock a Mokka.
I do like the name, though. Motorcar, as it were. With an accent.
The market is being managed by ships on fire with lots of lovely EVs aboard. Clever.
More curious than OT: Vauxhall is unknown in U.S. Is it a good brand? Will people pay £40K for a Vauxhall?
Vauxhall is the entry level GM brand in the UK. £40K for a small car is about twice as much as it’s worth.
“Vauxhall” is only used in the UK. Everywhere else, it is “Opel”
>>Vauxhall is unknown in U.S
Cool. Add Opel GT* to my list above.
*1968-1974