I think liquid H2 cars are a better medium/long term bet. For one big reason: filling up is the same process and time taken as filling up ICE cars. So instead of completely different infrastructure fraught with range anxiety often hours to fill up and others hogging the charge points, for H2 we will fill up with (liquid) gas, pay in the kiosk as now and drive away from the pump in a matter of minutes job done.

The elephant in the room is our power network (thanks to us tearing down our non renewable power generation facilities in the West). But if steeply rising power costs render the BEV unviable it may be no bad thing. There will be enough grief to come without protesters attacking BEVs in the street because they cannot heat their houses or put cooked food on the table

FWIW my paltry 2000 miles has cost me under £40 at 3.6 miles/kWh but the 'Go' tariff I am on will rise a lot after my current fixed period ends.

 

The ship has sailed for hydrogen powered cars.

EVs work for most people, most of the time bar the (very) odd person with a massive bladder who drives 700 miles every day non-stop.

The main thing left to address is on street charging - if you don't have a regular parking place the ideal use case of home night time charging becomes difficult.
Then again, most people will actually only need to charge up once a week, possibly less:
I think average uk mileage is around 8000pa. A 200 mile range car would need 40 empty to full charges each year to do that.
A quick look at the Peugeot e208 site says you can get from 0-80% charged in 30 mins at a fast charger, though it's 7.5 hours on a typical home charger.

More on-street charging will be needed for a full switchover, but there's plenty of time to get that sorted.

Hydrogen is too difficult to make, store and move around for it to be a widespread solution, though it will have its uses in more remote places and perhaps in commercial vehicles.

 

I agree with probably all of that, excellent summary LG
even my tiny Honda has sufficient range that I want a break when it needs a jolt and that jolt doesn't take long. For the odd jaunt, once I plan it has been fine.

I have wandered to York, Brum and Stratford-upon-Avon in the last year to name a few so hardly phileas fogg but once I had got an understanding of public charging it was no issue. You don't let 1% of your use dictate what you buy in a car.. it's akin to buying an Ariel nomad because you once parked in a field.
the street charging isn't an issue for me and an installed home charger can fully charge my car in 4hrs from zero
however our energy crisis is more pressing.. there needs to be cheap juice. Currently that is a landmine for the UK consumer economy and BEVs are a factor for sure

 

I am not sure I agree with that dismissive summary which is couched in global terms and from an urban M25 point of view it seems to me.

Living and driving in Norfolk local trips / charging at home trips is not a problem whatever the state of my bladder. Sawbridgeworth <100 miles each way same day 2 hour stay and/or Sevenoaks 130 miles overnight stay are trips I want to make but these are tricky. I have to admit to living in a remote place. The nearest useable motorway is a hundred miles away = full range (I mean the M25 or M1 the M11 does not count as useable motorway and there are no decent service areas or charge stations.) My mileage is below LG's average but would be more if I could use my BEV freely.

Charging stations are few and far between there is a Shell Recharge (Fourwentways) well placed for me but Zapmap and others' reviews are not encouraging. Unless I want to plan like you do Jason around Instavolt it just doesn't work for me. The older you get the more certainty you need. At my age I am not disposed to get to know the intimate state of use of every charger and have to join multiple networks where I might get a charge. Added to that is my lack of a smart phone which makes for a major obstacle too I admit. I have invested in one (old clapped out battery) but Honda have still not managed to get it so that the car's 'find stations' works on the satnav.


Since watching the nice people on 5th Gear and seeing what is happening to the UK power network I am toying with going hybrid to be able to live out my final driving years avoiding range anxiety and network blackouts knowing I can undertake the odd trip (of considerably less than 700 miles) without having the risk of running out of juice and without having to undertake detailed investigations into charge stations before during and after I set off and to have some quick reliable means of energy top up while on the road e.g. a petrol station.

The amount of miles I will do isn't going to cost carbon kilotonnes or even kilograms.

 

Got to agree with Ars here, I think both will have thier place. People are far too quick to assume because something meets their need it fits everyone elses.

What about farmers? construction equipment? taxis? long distance trucks? travelling salesmen? there are plenty of applications where a liquid fuel makes much more sense than a battery

plus battery cars, for me, still have the problem of wearing down over time. Chris Barrie at fully charged says his nissan leaf was down to 50% range after 10 years. As a prolific buyer of used cars, ugh.

 

I think your main problem is that you bought an EV with pretty much the lowest range available, an "M25" car, if you will, whilst living far, far outside the M25. I did warn you about the low range
There are many choices of EV that can easily do your Sawbo and back run without recharging.

You are right about the charging network, but sorting that is just a matter of time, it's why I am waiting a while before going EV (although I am considering an e-Bike to do my twice weekly 10 mile each way cross London commute once I am back in the office and have moved to my new place). Cheaper and quicker than both the car and public transport.

 

I mentioned commercial might be a use case for hydrogen
A travelling salesman can recharge whilst at appointments/having his lunch (subject to more charging points being available). With the right EV - at the moment, probably only a Tesla, it's possible already.
I see plenty of EV Taxis these days, so it already works for that use case.

I agree longevity is also an issue but it seems that the technology for battery preservation is improving all the time - lots of info on degradation available if you search. Replacement packs will become available at sensible prices over time I'm sure, just like they did for the Prius.

 

Agree, Rog needs a Tesla

Or a V8.. with 2k miles wgaf how much it drinks?

I maintain you can get away with long journeys in the e though. If you CBA. When my choice is use the e or go in the shitsan ICE I'd rather e it
my SC S2 has similar range, costs 5-10x as much to fill up (public charging is now 45ppkwh) but fill-up is faster, the car is much faster and the NVH is a bit higher

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Not even a Tesla, a Hyundai will do the job very nicely indeed.

 

Good points all the truth is the 'e' was a heart overruled head decision and it is such a fun drive. VBH biased the contest they had on 5th Gear so it won

Car wow finds me the 1.4 DCT petrol auto Octavia hybrid for a few pence over £30k.

I will still do most my miles on electric at 5p/unit.

Probably a lump after the 'e'