My neighbour has a brand new Renault Alpine electric car. A very nice car, which he likes driving, however he is not very happy with its tendency to take control in braking etc. It's also proving difficult to charge as its built in "brain" doesn't like working with his newly installed home OVO charging station "brain", meaning it won't allow it to charge when it's in "deep sleep" mode. Which is overnight, when most people would want it to charge...

Perhaps it wants a two hour lunch break?

I think electric cars are great! But my diesel gets just over half its normal mpg when towing so range may end up being a problem. Also, I’m not sure if it’s practical to charge without unhitching?

Not yet, although Instavolt have just opened a charging station on the A34 in Winchester that has charging stations specifically for cars/vans with trailers.

People I have talked to who are caravanning with an electric tow car all said their range had halved.

definition of reasonable please

Interestingly, the last campsite we visited (the rather loverly Shaw Ghyll at Hawes) had a prohibition on vehicle charging in big red letters. Clearly they have been stung at some point! I imagine that the infrastructure involved in bringing it to most campsites would be many thousands and unlikely to be recouped. On the other hand, the average electric car battery would power your fridge for a year or so!

Interesting article on"the race to better the electric vehicle experience" on the BBC News website:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/crr7w98qp4jo

The article says that "the barriers that studies show still deter motorists from making the switch are cost, range anxiety, charging time and infrastructure." Yet Government research concludes that range isn't important.

A Cambridge company, Nyobolt, have developed anode (internal battery plate) technology that will enable batteries to charge much faster ( currently from 10% to 80% in four minutes and 37 seconds - from a 350kW charger) and last longer (allow more charging cycles). But... "It is not producing batteries with long ranges, because government data suggests 99% of car journeys in the UK are within 100 miles (161km). The test car had a range of 155 miles (250km)." The vice-president of Nyobolt says: "Who needs a battery that will last 1000 miles... Why not have a smaller, lighter, cheaper battery which uses fewer natural resources to make?"

BYD (Chinese car company) have released a battery that charges at 1000kW, which also allows fast charging, BUT not in the UK, where 350kW charges are only just getting rolled out (Gridserve EV forecourts, for example).

So, it looks like towing range is not likely to be much of a factor for car companies. OK, faster charging times will help, but having to recharge every 100 miles (at most - based on the govt data) will make a caravanning trip rather tricky, as you'll need to find chargers that you can hook up to whilst connected to your caravan (only one forecourt allowing this in the UK at the moment). Or drop off your caravan in the car park, then go to charge up...

Tom Stacey, a senior lecturer at Anglia Ruskin University, has his doubts: he studies consumer attitudes to EVs. He says that "...drivers have spent decades using cars that are fast to fill up and last for three or four hundred miles, so it's hard for them to accept anything else."

Interesting times for caravanning...

I'm a little involved in this being a councillor responsible for our involvement in EV charging in our area. Government data may say that 99% of journeys are within 100 miles but the truth is that those 1% of journeys are vital! Holidays, trips to see family etc. Range is important and towing a caravan greatly reduces it. It's another of the challenges we need to meet!

The ‘1%’ argument must have been gold-dust for the government as it fits very well with their aim of forcing us down that path, but it still doesn’t stand up when you think about holidays Etc. Also, for a good number of ‘early adopters’ with company cars, lack of range is positively debilitating. The tax breaks to encourage going electric are at odds with the suitability for doing the job and have tripped up many of my associates.

I met someone with a 2024 Tesla model S recently, who works in and around Stockport and Manchester, except for one day a week when he drives all the way to Suffolk and back for a meeting. He definitely needs the range - the main reason he has a Tesla, he said, because their motorway charging network is so good.

Yes, I'm no fan of Elon Musk but the Tesla charging network has really shown the way to go.

I was reading an article in the Guardian today detailing some of the issues Tesla owners in the States are having. Apparently, there have been many crashes and some deaths involving Teslas, potentially due to the self-driving feature. Typically, Tesla has been vague about the cause of the accidents and resultant deaths.

Alan