I was talking to a car dealer yesterday because the time has come to recognise that my 13-year-old Volvo might have reached the end of its life, at least in my ownership. I have loved its reliability, but that is now open to question, and I can no longer rely on it.
Our discussion was about the options available to me when buying second-hand, of course. What amazed me was how many of the cars now available for sale have automatic gearboxes, regardless of the power system in use.
This change was not something I had considered before. Not being an avid car enthusiast or a keen follower of the car market, I presumed that, apart from full electric vehicles, manual cars would be as popular as ever, but I was quickly put right. Whatever power system they choose, it now seems that most people do not want to use a gear lever. The explanation that I was offered was quite straightforward. I was told that, as with everything else in life, people want their cars to be kept as physically simple to control as possible, whilst at the same time they demand every form of passive electronic information and entertainment system known to humankind to be packed into the dashboard.
There are occasional moments when I realise I am not as young as I once was. This was one of them. Why anybody would want to give up the opportunity to have as much control over the car that they drive as possible is beyond me. Why they also want to cram every conceivable electronic system on earth into that car is equally baffling, when the risk of something going wrong must rise exponentially as a result.
What was politely pointed out to me was that, whether I like it or not, I could no longer avoid the electronics and might even have to learn to give up using my left foot when it comes to driving.
My question is a simple one. It is this: how can this be good for our planet? The vast majority of this technology in new cars is not, by any meaningful definition, recyclable, but it will also condemn cars that have considerable life potential left in them to early scrappage, because whichever unpredictable part fails one day, with a considerable potential repair cost, will ultimately bring about its early demise.
Isn't this the whole crisis that we face? Ever-increasing technology, designed to reduce our capacity to act, is also killing our planet. That seems to be the situation I am being presented with if I wish to continue to drive. It has left me distinctly uncomfortable.
Thanks for reading this post.
You can share this post on social media of your choice by clicking these icons:
There are links to this blog's glossary in the above post that explain technical terms used in it. Follow them for more explanations.
You can subscribe to this blog's daily email here.
And if you would like to support this blog you can, here:
Buy me a coffee!
Max Frisch — ‘Technology is the knack of arranging the world in such a way that you don’t have to experience it.’
🙂
Tried to buy parts to fix a HP printer. I was informed, to my astonishment, that replacement parts do not exist and never have existed for my model of HP printer.
I had no choice but to buy a new HP printer. I had to discard the old printer in the scrap bin as there is no way to recycle it that I could ascertain because no one wanted it. This is pure waste that does not need to be this way.
Agreed
We have come to terms with this too – we bought a second hand 1 litre 2023 Ford Focus to replace two cars the same age as yours, but it has a manual gearbox. It is also big enough to move kids between university, home and their digs and us. It only has 3 cylinders and it has that regenerative technology that just about contributes something green. The doors are fully electric with a manual override. It tells you if your tyres need pumping up.
But everything is electric – the handbrake, the lights come on on their own, it starts and stops at the lights etc. We heard later that the battery is no longer a £50 job, but hundreds of pound to replace; the starter motor likewise, so I turn the engine shut down off when out and about. The best thing about it is the 6th gear on the motorway and fully defrost-able front and rear windows. Handling is very good – a very nimble car, but where as the old model was higher, this is wider and lower. It has mini lights all over the place on the inside and the handbook is huge and has to be read in order to learn how to turn things off. It’s nice – but what will it be like in 10 years time? To change a front headlamp bulb, you have to take it to the garage. And it has a wet timing chain which are notorious if not serviced properly. These cars are built to be dependent on dealerships and expensive to run. I don’t like them. This could very well be our last car. Good luck.
I am coming across all that.
The Volvo cost me just over a tenner and a few minutes at most to change a lightbulb. I now gather such a thing is not possible in most newer cars.
Ah PSR I am sorry to hear that.
For anyone who doesn’t know about it the whole Ford ‘wet belt’ saga, it has been an absolute disgrace.
Fords ‘fix’ which was to replace the oil pump drive belt with a chain, (i.e. go back to how it used to be) does nothing to address the issue of the cam drive belt. 🙁
Ford are still refusing to accept how serious the issue is and push responsibilty for the many failures onto owners.
This timing belt is immersed in the oil and as is sheds fibers over time they block up the oil passages.
Ignore the ludicrously long suggested service intervals.
Change the oil at less than 10 thousand mile intervals.
It can still fail. 🙁
Be aware that Ford have refused to make good customers who cannot produce a service record that meets the exact letter of their requirements. e.g. screwing people over when their recorded scheduled service intervals were just a few hundred miles further apart than the stipulated figures. 🙁
Modern hot engine oil is a terrible environment to to continuously expose a composite belt to, which is under constant flexure stress and cyclical tension loads.
Short journeys make this environment worse as the engine does not warm up fully to drive off volatiles from fuel and combustion, and water, which are all corrosive. 🙁
Modern diesel engines are even worse for this, but that is another story.
If you are luck enough to have on your engine the bolt that can be removed to push an optical fibre camera in to look a the belt, then buy a cheap handheld one, they are only £50 -£100 now.
If you see any cracks, replace the belt. £££
Belt snaps, engine destroyed.
Which would never happen with a chain or a traditional dry belt, which is on the outside and thus much easier to inspect and change.
Many have snapped well before they reach the recommended replacement mileage. 🙁
That’s Ford off the list then.
Similar issue with Land Rover Discoveries which were Ford engines. The boss could fail and result in an almost immediate engine seizure…imagine that if travelling on the motorway! I don’t know if Vauxhall changed their design of engine / timing belt (in the Zafira I seem to remember) but they could face the same issue and cause an engine seizure. It is ridiculous and unacceptable that car manufacturers can get away with inherent faults.
I still have an Audi ur-Quattro. 1983, manual and one of the best cars ever to drive. There is something to say for vintage cars – providing you have a bit of mechanical knowledge (or know a good mechanic – increasingly rare) and are willing to keep it in good shape / get your hands dirty from time to time. Nearly everything could be fixed…nearly everything in a modern (Audi) Quattro is plug and play, i.e., thrown away and replaced. There is no doubt some of the modern cars are extremely easy and comfortable to drive but the increasingly technology can be problematic. A friend had an ‘exciting’ moment in their Tesla when it recognised(?) a shadow from a tree as an obstacle and slammed on the brakes. We are using too many resources unnecessarily in modern cars…it needs to change.
I would suggest finding an older Volvo and a good garage. Our 45 year old Mercedes is very reliable and would appear to be infinitely repairable.
To be clear, it is going to stay in the family in all likelihhod. Tom is going to have it. But he does not do the long disatnces we sometimes do, which is where the issue is.
Soldier on with the Volvo but look out for a second hand one a bit newer with low mileage.
The trouble is, soon after mine hit the road Volvo made the much more heavily elctronic, and I just don’t like the newer ones.
We certainly seem to be living with a fallacy that complexity brings resilience. It doesn’t….it just creates fragility. The major storms of the last year (e.g Storms Eowyn and Goretti) have exposed the fragility of digital communications systems. Just in time systems have undermined food security.
Agreed.
My manual Focus gave up in March last year. I was staggered to learn how much second hand cars cost, only automatics available, electronic key and no cd players.
I do not stream because I like to own the product, read the booklet and see the cd in its case on the shelf rather than be at the mercy of the tech companies wiping the streamed stuff out.
I bought a petrol hybrid Japanese. I got a paper manual which I understand is not common.
If the car you buy has an electric key, get a couple of faraday bags for key storage and a steering wheel lock.
Noted
I have a 9 year old manual Ford Fiesta which is OK for the occasional long journey. 1.2 engine.
I think Ford still do manual versions of cars such as the Puma and Kuga. They have stopped making the Fiesta, even though it was the best selling small car in the country.
I confess there are too many poor stories on Fords for me, and my one experience was also poor.
Used to help out with a company that took discarded electronics from the local recycling centre and repaired/refurbished them for re-use. Proprietary software is pretty commonplace in high end smart speakers (sometimes costing thousands of pounds new) which quickly go out of support in a year or two and become decorative ornaments. Even for mundane objects like toasters, blenders or heaters you’ll find loads of manufacturing tricks to avoid personal repair (security screws, deeply recessed screws that cannot be reached by a standard screwdriver, self-sealing shell designs that cannot be unsealed without breaking, etc.).
Cars, being so over-engineered nowadays, is the biggest/costliest example of all this. The lack of choice is the most frustrating (unless you keep a 20 year old banger around like I do).
Ideally there’d be greater regulation on the right to repair/maintain these goods. To be fair 3D printing can be helpful for manufacturing replacement parts for older devices but this doesn’t address the software/mechanical complexity issues you raised that needs to be systemically addressed.
Thanks
I do have a 3D printer – for modelling – but not for the car…
I have a 23 year old Honda Jazz which somehow passes it’s MOT with minimal fuss and has been very reliable – I’m dreading the day I need to change it, which may come soon as rust is begining to creep in. I feel no need of all the bells and whistles, and like the control of gears and practising using my own judgement.
Recently I was glancing out of my bedroom window and noticed my car move as a large fancy car was trying to park behind me in a space too small- so quite a bump. I went out to remonstrate, and the drivers excuse was that he was looking at his camera!!! I did suggest that looking through the windscreen might be a better option as I’d managed not to bump into anyone while parking in this street in the last 30 years.
On a more serious note I really do fear the loss of skills in relation to navigating the world around us, in all senses.
I also fear the expense of repairs to highly complex systems.
Much to agree with.
I have parked for nearly fifty years without a camera….
13 years old? pah barely run in…. we have a 20 year old Volvo manual car, and to be honest after umming and ahhing a bit we have decided to keep it until it really falls apart. It only has just over 200k on the clock and as I am the same age as you I expect my already lowish annual milage to gradually go down, I think it has a fair chance of out lasting me. If it does collapse we will scrap it and get an electric car for our final years. We do though have another motor if needed.
Thanks
As I have noted, this one is moving on to once of our sons. So it has life in it as yet.
I went EV 18 months ago. Very attractive finance deal. Travelled to France twice with bikes on the back in the summer. Medium hatchback size car has performed faultlessly and economically.
A heat pump, PV and home batteries and an investment in a wind farm co-op mean I generate more green electricity than I use and I am future proofed.
Noted
In your last paragraph you could supplant the word technology with the word Neo-liberalism and it would still make sense. Neo-liberalism sucks the life, joy and finances out of all that it touches. I gave up my car 2 years ago, mainly due to finances but I have tried driving modern vehicles, they have no sense of the road about them and make you feel isolated from the driving experience. I found no joy in their use.
I fear that will be my fate and I have enjoyed driving.
My last car was a Saab 900 XS… I enjoyed driving too.
That wasn’t new recently
You’re not the only one https://youtu.be/-RTkroVirt0?si=giWb1zGUSqlLDnmo
I am amused. IO should have made that. Perhaps I should make a grumpy old man channel!
Modern combustion driven cars need advanced electronic control (computer) largely for – dynamic (real time) control of the engine to reach environmental limits and mpg. The rest of the electronics is part useful and marketing stuff.
Your Volvo can go on and on with the mechanicals but built in obsolescence of the electronics and computer will condemn it at some point. I have worked on my own cars for over 50 years. My Golf is 16 years old and I can repair most things, to date
To keep up with the state of your car you could invest £50+ in a OBDII dongle (post 1995 cars) to read your car computer system for your car’s data. Useful and even essential for small jobs like battery replacement!
But modern cars have many features I dislike – electronic handbrake, no door handles, bright computer screens, limp home mode etc. Dealer only fixes (you can’t code their computer for some repairs or manufacturers won’t release the info). Tesla EVs and others (?) might even have a kill switch.
Cars need to be simpler with the right to repair, oneself. Less built in obsolence and availability of decent quality parts.
Much to agree with.
Even my Volvo has not got a handbrake – and I would likely one back.
Get a Trabant – the engine only has 6 moving parts and why todays drivers need syncromesh I never understand, my father got on perfectly well without it
BUT while we may decry ‘Tech’ modern stuff lasts well OK until it goes wrong. We got rid of our Kia Rio last year at 17 years old due to a combination of a Turbo oil leak and the alternator sounding worrying. But when you and I started driving a car would be doing well to get to 10 years old
I have seen three Daily Drivers – ie unrestored cars round Frome recently, two Triumph Dolomites (c 1980) and a 1960 Wolsey BUT you have vehicles which dont meet modern safety or emission standards.
There is a sensible question to be asked about repairability and durability. As an extreme example Gourvish points out in British Railways an Economic History a ‘Heavy General’ overhaul on a steam loco costs about as much as building it and there are resource costs associated with repair plus the implications of running older possibly less safe/efficient/whatever equipment. It would be interesting to see someone doing a proper ‘lifecycle’ analysis.
I am neither a car buff or technically trained BUT what puts me off hybrids is the complex twin input single output gearboxes.
Last year I did a driver experience on a Class 108 (Early 1960’s Diesel Railcar https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_108) it has a ‘semi automatic’ gearbox ie the mechanics of a traditional automatic BUT controlled by the driver. The instructions were clear get to ‘change up’ close the throttle let the revs drop off, change and accelerate – slowly! This is to minimise wear on the transmittion. Clearly in a car auto box it just changes when its ready which must put a lot of stress on it that you dont really want.
I would suggest a Kia myself, ask me if you want some suggestions
I’ll take the 108.
I have looked at Jim and the ever watering cost. They give warranties – at a very high price.
Whatever adaptations you need to make, don’t give up driving. I have recently done so while waiting for a cataract operation, and it makes life much more difficult and confining. There are buses, maybe 1/2 mile away, but I can’t walk that far. There are Ubers, which are fine occasionally but not as a regular option — using my car expenditure as a guide, I could have 1 trip out per week. Groceries and many purchases are OK online, but what about dry cleaning? Taking things to charity shops? Other such oddments, which don’t occur to you until you can’t do them? I sound as though I’m whining, but even in a fairly inner suburb it’s hard to do without a car, and it is worse the further out towards the country one gets.
Whatever I get5 might, with luck, be my last car if it lasts that long, but I am not giving up yet.
A detached retina and a cataract – then my car started leaking water onto the wiring loom “somewhere”.
Scrapped the car. Just six weeks before a stroke. I feel for you.
1. Dry cleaning? Get rid off stuff that needs dry cleaning.
2. Store charity shop donations until enough to ask them to collect.
How old are you? If you cannot walk ½ a mile to a bus stop, have you considered applying for a PIP or Attendance Allowance so you could afford to pay an assistant?
Or, once your cataract op is done, how about hiring a car once a month?
It’s hard, but acceptance of the situation makes it easier.
Finally, if you have a “street community” (but not helpful neighbours to drop off stuff for you), try to find out about a communal car scheme.
Thanks, Anne.
Modern cars phone home, record and surveil.
But who do they phone?
Driving a modern car is just like having a modern smart phone. Tracking is routine. To turn them off properly requires a lump hammer.
I’m dreading having to move on from my 12yr old Nissan, to compulsory extra electronics in a more recent vehicle.. Both front windows are electric with dodgy door switches and I can’t find relacements.
I have to write down when I refuel and by how much to work out when next to do so, because every now and again the fuel gauge gives up for a while. The real problem is the suspension though.
There’s an interesting youtube video worth taking a look at that will certainly give you food for thought with respect to this topic. “Time Is Running Out to Buy Reliable, Repairable Cars” by user “Scottish Car Clan”. It’s only 10 minutes long, hope it helps formulate your thinking on this. Good luck with it.
It feels that way.
The 27y old AA man who rescued my 34y old Volvo on Friday (the alternator had failed) was saying pretty much exactly what you have written.
Well, as I say, the plan is to keep the Volvo in use, just with Tom.
New cars (and other products) have nothing to do with what’s good for you or the planet.
It’s all about what’s good for the manufacturer, and maximising their profits.
A few years ago I bought an LG QLED TV with a one-year manufacturer’s warranty. Up until now, every TV I have had has lasted 5-8 years, so I didn’t give the warranty any thought.
2½ years later, vertical lines make the TV unwatchable, and the complexity of the TV is such that repairs costs more than a new TV.
Deeply annoying.
My 15 year old Volvo is wearing better than me. Unfortunately my knees will soon necessitate me moving to an automatic model with the additional unwanted technology, and more expensive maintenance.
I think the dealer was surprised at my age I did not want an automatic as first choice. I slightly resented that….
As a professional motorcyclist the proliferation of “smart” dashboards and other distractions genuinely scares me. Why can’t people just concentrate on the road? I have seen quite a few drivers with their smartphone stuck literally right in the middle of their windscreen, obscuring a significant proportion of their vision. I even passed one in traffic watching a movie on theirs…
Far too many people still hold them around us, when speaking. In rural area no one expects to be caught.
We did exchange the horse with carriage for a car with combustion engine. However, I acknowledge the wish for a form of control of the machine and/or mechanism. The example of your car translates well to AI. Thus demonstrating that technology is both a blessing, as well as a threat or horror. The only way to keep up is education and raising up with “good” principles. The definition of that is a separate story, but the essence is to be able to think by yourself and therefore to control whatever is in your hands.
Nb: you have to go for a Tesla, since this is a car reduced to it’s essence with 1 pedal driving and only 1 simple screen 😉
NO!!!
I sympathies with you Richard.
We made the choice to go fully electric with a home charger and we now lease our car. Age was part of the decision making process but also as the electric vehicles develop they increasingly have a single button to turn all the annoying helpful features off. It’s simple and extremely cheap to run the car and we have no concerns regarding parts, servicing or MOT. Perhaps not an answer for everyone but we like the package.
It’s an option, but range is an issue and a hybrid is more likely.
Kia do ‘mild hybrids’ which dont have the complex gearbox of a full hybrid but are not as fuel efficient
There are also very expensive!
We had concerns regarding range, not any longer though. We often drive down into Spain and find the charging network is very good on the motorway stations. We charge to 100% at home and achieve roughly 470km of range. We stop for a coffee for half an hour using a fast charger after 30 mins we have plenty of range again. Not sure about the UK but in Europe it’s never a problem
Noted
I have a Kia Niro EV, which I successfully drive to the south of Spain, and back. I am a little older than you.
I wouldn’t have a Hybrid because to my simple mind there are two systems to maintain, and go wrong!
I keep hoping that there will be an increase in EV maintenance companies. They should be cheap to ‘service’ as it is mainly the air filter (To the cabin, not the engine) and checking the brakes / steering.
Charging at home can be quite economic.
I know what people are saying about the electronics but I remember before electronic ignition and the unreliability of starting on a wet winters day.
Don’t go for top of the range cars with low profile tyres! They are expensive and give a rotten ride!
Good luck
Thanks
I am not a top of the range man.
If you go for a hybrid, my advice is not to get a Plug In Hybrid as you’ll become liable for the new 1.5p/mile tax that is coming into effect in 2028 even though most of your drive is likely to be using petrol.
In terms of a manual petrol car, Volkswagen still have manual cars that are on the 20/21 plate that still have manual handbrakes and door handles etc – I bought a Polo 2 years ago so that I didn’t miss the opportunity to have a low maintenance, non complex car.
We also have an electric car which I highly recommend – there are many models that offer over 300 miles in range and the charging network has been vastly improved. The fuel savings are excellent, even with the 3p/mile tax (from 2028).
Noted.
Thanks
What’s even worse now is that with all the added electrics and networking in cars we are starting to see the rise of subscription services. The likes of Tesla and Mercedes now ask for monthly payments to “unlock” features on their cars such as full access to your full battery capacity or power distribution. How you can call this car “ownership” is completely beyond me.
This is tangentially related to anti-circumvention legislation that permits companies to continue to control things they manufacture long after they are sold. I am now straying somewhat from the initial topic of this post, but Cory Doctorow has interesting things to say on this and I recommend reading his tech commentary.
Woke.
That is weird…
And as you say, rent extraction
I betcha a tenner that after you’ve done your homework you end up with either a Toyota Corolla or a Honda Jazz and another tenner that after a month you’ll be saying that you’d never go back to a manual!
I am inclined to Skoda right now…
I bought a Skoda pickup 26 years ago and have just decided that repairing the chasse is one step too far. The body work is also in a bad way. I am in the process of buying buying a cheep electric car ?
I agree with everything said here about the reliability and general better value of older cars. A complication, however, for anyone who lives in London and has to have a car, or anyone who drives into London, or other places with similar schemes, is the need to be ULEZ-compliant, which most cars over a certain age aren’t.
Agreed
The Volvo is not.
One of the biggest killers of old cars is lead free solder. You get dry joints in the ECU and other electronics which render the car inoperable.
I went through this last year with my 20 year old Subaru – still going though after Googling the issue.
This doesn’t just apply to vehicles, but anything with electronics from dishwashers (two years ago) to my ex-SONOS system. Nothing is repairable.
Except my QUAD 22 and 2 IIs which are my age and soldier on!
As your contemporary, my relationship with motoring has followed a similar arc. It seems to me that vehicle engineering hit a peak or sweet spot in the 90s – 00s when they had got the metallurgy and precision engineering right to build very durable and reliable vehicles, but had not undermined that with unnecessary automation, of things that are easily controlled manually, introducing many potential failure points that do not need to be. I am nursing along a 90s van and a 00s car that now run up a fair bit in garage bills, but they have already done their depreciating, and they are nicer to drive than more modern ones.
That seems to be it.
Our 21 year old Landrover serves us well . Every conceivable part is reparable or renewable . I am very aware that the engine is a dirty little monster – but more than 70% of All Defenders ever made since 1948 are still in proper working order, I’d expect that as the average lifespan of a modern car is a mere 8 years , that the greenness of an over inflated ev vehicle is frankly questionable . We use public transport for all long journeys . And have solar everything for our house. The only thing that would stop me using our belovéd Landie would be the old age problem of climbing into it !!
Embedded carbon is always ignored, I agree.
I have a Motability car. I hope to change it later this year. Because I have bad low back pain, I need a tall car, plus room for my wheelchair in the boot. I’ve had Volkswagon Tourans for the last 10+ years, and have been very happy with them. I also have a heated seat, which in the past I’ve had to pay extra for, but now apparently they come free! At last some good news for a change! LOL!
Might you consider a VW? I’ve found them reliable, though no 2nd hand experience of them.
Looks like it will be a T-Cross this time. Must make an appointment to talk to our local VW dealership to find out what extras I might need etc. Will also add a tow bar (which I have on current car) for John to tow our boat around in Abersoch.
I’ve always had to pay a lot extra for my cars, so I’m very unhappy that Reeves (hiss, spit!) has decided that Motability cars will no longer have VAT free payments. I keep meaning to write to my MP about it, but never seem to have the time as well as being so ill at present.
I haven’t driven for many years now. I decided that due to ME/CFS my reaction times weren’t good enough for safety reasons. I really miss driving, I loved to drive. But I’m sure that I made the right decision. John is the named driver of my car.
I am thinking Skoda.
A Toyota Avensis about 2014/5 with reasonable mileage? Outstanding build quality and attention to detail. A friend has one and loves it.
But old, now.
They made the Avensis up to 2019. Not sure when too much became electronic, but maybe worth a look.
Hi Richard,
If you had an arthritic left knee as I have (too much football on hard surfaces) then an automatic gearbox was a godsend especially in traffic jams or slow moving traffic. Wouldn’t change back.
Agreed
I suffered with a bad left knee for two years after twisting it badly. Giving up carbs and alcohol solved that.
Good luck with yours.
Driving is mind bogglingly boring. Manually changing gears helps keep you awake. (Take the point about bad knees though).
Richard, the best advice for a new vehicle I could provide today is get a Lexus… There may be a price premium, however they are the utmost reliable vehicles to exist. We have had Lexus reach upwards of 200,000 Miles with ease and proper maintenance, the Japanese take longevity seriously
Way beyond my budget though.
My Fiat Panda Dynamic was 20 this month….no rust ..engine looks like new. 18.000 miles. Looked after . Lives in garage when not driving about. One careful driver…
She likes her wash by hand and hoovered occasionally. Never driven hard…Got a new battery for her Christmas. Purrs away happily. Her name is Jessie.
In June 2016 I was dismissed from my job and forced into retirement. Every car that I had owned had been a manual transmission. By September of that year, I realized I could no longer afford to maintain my 26-year-old (1990) Toyota Corolla. When it departed, I realized I would probably never drive stick shift again for as long as I would live.
I risk this comment as it tends to reflect the views of people with open minds. We went EV 5 years ago when we retired. Today used EV’s are in abundance and cheap.Many have a significant manufacturers warranty left on them – from new most are 8 years in length- subject to mileage. Do not listen to the comments in the “dailys” – they are on the topic of EV’s (or indeed other subjects) no better than reading the BEANO. If I say that an EV is like any other automatic vehicle this for most is where they should start in their thinking. The BIGGEST and most essential proviso is you MUST have the ability to charge from home. If you cannot then forget it. If your daily journeys entail a round trip of say 200 miles or less the savings on fuel alone are substantial.Using public chargers (they are huge in numbers now) can be expensive but all EV’s can use Tesla chargers and save a lot on charging costs. And yes I dislike MUSK intensely as well. It costs me £6 to £7 to drive from Anglesey to Cambridge charging from home. The return trip three times as much – using Tesla chargers. Most journeys are “local” and I rarely use a public charger. Hybrids are NOT the answer- why drag around a heavy electric battery and motor on a long journey only to drag around a heavy Internal combustion engine and fuel tank on short town journeys. Did no one do Physics at school – the is no such thing as free energy. 53 new EV models will become available in the UK in 2026. The technology is here to stay. This is not the forum to continue in depth. But people should consider EV. They have come a very very long way in the 5 years since we dipped our toes in the water. Each to their own, but we are not returning Internal combustion engines.
My issue? The car I have us 13 years old and has value left. No EV will last that long. That is my concern. And that means they are not green. The cost in embedded carbon is high.
Oh dear , I guessed this would happen -The idea that EVs won’t last 13 years isn’t supported by real-world data. Thousands of EVs from 2011–2014 are still running today with acceptable battery health, and modern packs degrade even more slowly due to increased battery management technology and equally important battery chemistry is changing extremely fast now . EV drivetrains mechanically outlast ICE engines, and over a 150,000-mile lifetime the carbon footprint is dramatically lower, even after battery manufacturing is included. The UK grid is decarbonising every year, meaning EV lifetime emissions fall over time, whereas an old ICE car only gets dirtier. Longevity, emissions, and lifecycle analysis all favour EVs. On Youtube there are a number of 250K mileage plus EV’s. We do not brake we regenerate – one pedal driving (a brake pedal is still there) is a great experience. One of my EV’s has 51K and the discs and pads are original and show very little wear.Try one – I dare you.P.S charging whilst its on the drive when I’m asleep and the demand on grid is low means very cheap electric is a good thing. The tumble drier, washing machine and dish washer enjoy the benefit as well!
I will be candid: I am not convinved by your claims, Sorry, but I just don’t get it. Batteries are not that good. And I don’t believe as a result EVs are a green transport solution as yet, and never have.
I will contiunue to minimise my mileage whatever car I have and to avoid all possible flights. That, and using trains, is the green solution.
Don’t shy away from automatic gears, I love my 13 year old Skoda Roomster Scout, you can over-ride the auto (in practice I never do), it is such a lovely box with sport option I started motoring in 1958 with a 1928 Riley 9 with a crash box (cost £25) and have had all the other options over that time.
They don’t make them now, mine was S/H 8 years ago, or think about it’s big brother, the Skoda Yeti.
The later Skodas and VWs still have the same box.
Thanks
Noted