Australian (ASX) Stock Market Forum

Electric cars?

Would you buy an electric car?

  • Already own one

    Votes: 10 5.1%

  • Yes - would definitely buy

    Votes: 43 22.1%

  • Yes - preferred over petrol car if price/power/convenience similar

    Votes: 78 40.0%

  • Maybe - preference for neither, only concerned with costs etc

    Votes: 36 18.5%

  • No - prefer petrol car even if electric car has same price, power and convenience

    Votes: 24 12.3%

  • No - would never buy one

    Votes: 14 7.2%
  • Total voters
    195
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Value Collector said:
When I toured York, the guide asked if we knew why so many of the windows in the older part were bricked up, Turns out when the window tax was brought in people bricked up their least favourite windows, turned out to be a terrible idea because people started getting Ricketts from lack of vitamin D.
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Governments of any persuassion have a lot to answer to over the years. Someone with a mental deficiency must have dreamt that one up.
 
farmerge said:
Governments of any persuassion have a lot to answer to over the years. Someone with a mental deficiency must have dreamt that one up.
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The idea was that the richer you were, the bigger your house and the more windows you have, it was meant to be a way of taxing the rich.

The tax was in place for over 150 Years in Britain.
 
Value Collector said:
The idea was that the richer you were, the bigger your house and the more windows you have, it was meant to be a way of taxing the rich.

The tax was in place for over 150 Years in Britain.
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I wonder how the Stately homes, mansions and castles got around that one. Friends in high places, perhaps. or were they exempt because of the class system
 
Value Collector said:
Either way, whether it’s taxing tyres or fuel the end result could be the same.
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The problem with taxing tyres is it'll lead to a lot more unsafe vehicles on the road.

If we're going to tax then tax based on distance not maintenance. Presumably with modern technology it ought be possible to make odometers fairly tamper proof so just use that and implement some system that requires proof at time of vehicle disposal (in case someone's been understating distance etc).

I do agree that fuel tax needs to be replaced though. If retained then it ends up as a tax on the poor (old cars) and a tax on things like lawnmowers and off road dirt bikes. All gets a bit silly. :2twocents
 
"Now is also the time to snap up as many McLarens as you can while they are still making glorious, shouty noises, Grose advised, because the age of silent-running, all-electric super cars is fast approaching."

Super plug-in hybrids prosper during EV revolution

Billionaire car collectors, and even those who buy just a few super cars now and then, should be smiling even more than they already do because we are currently living through a golden age for these magnificent machines, according to McLaren engineering guru Geoff Grose.

Now is also the time to snap up as many McLarens as you can while they are still making glorious, shouty noises, Grose advised, because the age of silent-running, all-electric super cars is fast approaching.

Speaking to The Australian at the launch of his company’s incredible new plug-in super hybrid, the McLaren Artura, Grose, McLaren’s Head of Vehicle Development, predicted there was “a lot of life in the internal-combustion engine yet”, but admitted that the way engineers were adapting to the electric future – by combining the traditional high-end performance of combustion engines with the low-down, 100 per cent of torque at zero rpm shove of electric motors – was creating some unique machines.

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“The big challenge for electrification in any context is the weight that the batteries bring, and the impact that has on performance,” Grose explained.

“We really don’t need to worry about full electrification, when it comes, because it will deliver amazing performance, and by then electric cars will be light enough to be fun, but you don’t see that at the moment with a lot of electric cars – they can deliver astonishing performance up to about 60km/h, but then an EV can feel quite different.

“But there are some really appealing things about how these two technologies – the instant torque of electric motors with the turbocharged engines – work together.

“Usually with turbos you have to have some compromise, you have to find a way to get them spinning – so you have twin scrolls and so on – but that problem is instantly solved by the electric motor, which gives you what we call torque infill.

“The motor gives you that instant shove and then the turbos join in and you just have this incredible level of performance.”

By using a smaller battery, one that allows the Artura to be driven in EV-only mode, at speeds of up to 130km/h, for around 30km – and combining it with a twin-turbo V6 engine – McLaren is able to keep its newest super car light enough to feel and handle like an old-school V8. And the figures are impressive, with 500kW, 720Nm (220Nm of which comes from the electric motor), a zero to 100km/h time of 2.9 seconds and 0 to 200km/h in 8.3 seconds.

Super plug-in hybrids like this are all the rage at present, with Ferrari already offering one in the gorgeous shape of its 296 GTB (with 610kW/740Nm) and Lamborghini recently announcing its new HPEV (High Performance Electric Vehicle), which will replace the famous Aventador and will feature a hybrid set up using a V12 engine and three electric motors, making 1000 very loud horsepower (745kW).


“This really is a golden age of hybrid powertrain technology and we do see hybrid as being gate dominant powertrain out to the end of this decade, at least, because we don’t believe EV technology is mature enough to deliver a fully electric super car that would be true to the DNA of the McLaren brand,” a McLaren spokesman added.

“We don’t believe EV tech is there yet, we believe it will be, but it’s still some way off yet.”
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farmerge said:
I wonder how the Stately homes, mansions and castles got around that one. Friends in high places, perhaps. or were they exempt because of the class system
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When I was in the Uk, I visited a castle who's owners after something like 800 years went bankrupt in the 1930's and couldn't pay their taxes. The government confiscated all the contents of the castle but the castle couldn't be sold the family even tried to give it away but no one wanted it so the government forced them to remove the roof of the castle so that they could no longer inhabit it.

The family still owns it today, its a ruin that you can visit for a $20 entry fee.

 
Value Collector said:
When I was in the Uk, I visited a castle who's owners after something like 800 years went bankrupt in the 1930's and couldn't pay their taxes. The government confiscated all the contents of the castle but the castle couldn't be sold the family even tried to give it away but no one wanted it so the government forced them to remove the roof of the castle so that they could no longer inhabit it.

The family still owns it today, its a ruin that you can visit for a $20 entry fee.

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Now that was forward thinking. Turn something that was habitable into a wreck.
 
farmerge said:
typo error should have said if on solar
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It will be interesting on the East Coast, when the energy crisis really hits in about 3 years, it will make people's decision whether to buy an E.V even more difficult.
There is a massive conversion of storm clouds, gathering over the Eastern States electricity grid, IMO it isn't going to be pretty. ?
 
sptrawler said:
It will be interesting on the East Coast, when the energy crisis really hits in about 3 years, it will make people's decision whether to buy an E.V even more difficult.
There is a massive conversion of storm clouds, gathering over the Eastern States electricity grid, IMO it isn't going to be pretty. ?
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I don't know, over here they keep lowering our solar feed in tariff, mine is now 10cents for the first 14kwh and only 5cents after that. It almost makes it necessary to have an EV to plug in just to get good value for the solar I produce.

it's also making a Home battery even more valuable.

EV's could actually be the saving grave for the electricity retailers, allowing them to sell electricity profitably over night and during the day after they have sold it at a loss during the extreme peak.
 
Value Collector said:
I don't know, over here they keep lowering our solar feed in tariff, mine is now 10cents for the first 14kwh and only 5cents after that. It almost makes it necessary to have an EV to plug in just to get good value for the solar I produce.

it's also making a Home battery even more valuable.

EV's could actually be the saving grave for the electricity retailers, allowing them to sell electricity profitably over night and during the day after they have sold it at a loss during the extreme peak.
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Well Mr value at lest you get a pittance for the pwer you produce. Ours is zilch Because our system is larger than 5kva (8.6) it is a complete donation into the Western Power grid.
 
farmerge said:
Well Mr value at lest you get a pittance for the pwer you produce. Ours is zilch Because our system is larger than 5kva (8.6) it is a complete donation into the Western Power grid.
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You definitely need at battery then.

Being paid $0.00 for you feed in tariff is robbery, I have a system larger than 5Kwh too, but that doesn't affect the feed in tariff, they just limit our exports to to 5 KWH / hour, so I have the hot water system set up to begin heating at 11 am each morning, and the car to begin charging at 9am, so something is normally running during peak production to prevent the system being limited.
 
Value Collector said:
You definitely need at battery then.

Being paid $0.00 for you feed in tariff is robbery, I have a system larger than 5Kwh too, but that doesn't affect the feed in tariff, they just limit our exports to to 5 KWH, so I have the hot water system set up to begin heating at 11 am each morning, and the car to begin charging at 9am, so something is normally running to prevent the system being limited.
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Hot water is not a problem solar heating for that. Swimming pool runs all day and so does the bore. So its not all donation.
Had I reaslied at the time having 2 houes and meters should have split the system into 2 separate 5kva's and then got something back.
 
farmerge said:
Well Mr value at lest you get a pittance for the pwer you produce. Ours is zilch Because our system is larger than 5kva (8.6) it is a complete donation into the Western Power grid.
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That is a really poor outcome.

I don't know what the present limits are in Canberra where I live but at the time it was for single-phase a max 10 kWh could be installed and the feed-in tariff was limited to 5 kWh and for three-phase a max of 30 kWh could be installed and feed in tariff was limited to 10 kWh. I think that was the national standard applicable at that time (2019.)

While I have three-phase, the company I used did all the numbers on costs, roof space and orientation, shading issues and it was decided the extra cost for three-phase wasn't worth it. So single-phase 5 kWh string array inverter installed and another 5 kWh with optimisers. As it is two separate systems, both receive the feed in tariff although it has been reduced from 11c per kWh to 8c. When they can sell it to others at 27c per kWh it's difficult (impossible) to feel anything but annoyance with them when they bleat about how badly they are doing.
I know the combined solar production for Jan-Feb was approximately 3,600 kWh but I haven't checked the export figures. I also have solar hot water.

By the way, Canberra does not source its electricity from coal or gas. It's all from renewable and has been that way for a few years.

PS: Just had a look at my last bill. For 92 days ending on 8 February the export was 5,302 kWh
 
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Belli said:
By the way, Canberra does not source its electricity from coal or gas. It's all from renewable and has been that way for a few years.
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Of course Canberra SOURCES all its electricity from renewables.
Renewables like Solar and wind farms, although there are no windfarms blighting the landscape of the ACT.
According to ABC News
Only about five per cent of the territory's electricity is generated within its borders, by a few solar farms and rooftop panels on Canberra homes.

The rest comes from the national electricity market — the grid that powers the eastern seaboard — and four-fifths of the grid's power comes from non-renewable sources.

The ACT funds five different wind farms around Australia to feed energy into the national grid to make up for what Canberra consumes.

Those investments, together with Canberra's own solar, put a stop to about 40 per cent of the ACT's carbon emissions, compared to what it would emit if it just bought traditional power from the grid.

The ACT-contracted solar and wind farms cover 77 per cent of the capital's electricity consumption.
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So they paid for the setup of windfarms and solar panels in other states, rather than messing up their own backyards.
I don't know what the ACT does at night if the wind is blowing , hope like hell there is enough storage to tide them over?
Or do they just turn a blind eye to the inevitable days when the grid has to be supported by fossil fuels.

Mick
 
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