Also on the negative side, saw my first bit of EV-specific crap driving last week: on the A346 in Wiltshire, as it winds up the hill out of Marlborough and into the forest.
I was stuck behind a lorry and waiting for the road to widen into a dual carriageway, with a train of traffic behind me. As the moment arrived, I mirror-signal-manouvered, only to find a Tesla appeared at warp speed, almost redesigning the boot of the Eos. Aesthetics aside, it was a classic example of the epic acceleration of EV's, especially uphill.
Thing is, it's a bit like having better brakes than the car behind you - even though you're not doing anything illegal, you really should allow for other motorists going about their business in "normal" vehicles.

Apropos of Scotland: number of filling stations between Fort William and Kyle of Lochalsh - a two hour drive, give or take: none...

Do you mean liquid filling stations, Neil?

Yes. But there are an equal number of electric filling stations

Neil

Good point Jim.

But I suppose that it is the same as any car with rapid acceleration, it's driver must anticipate the road users ahead.

Absolutely, Paul. But EV acceleration (especially at lower speeds) is a step change that is accessible to far more drivers than the equivalent performance in ICE cars. I do remember the introduction of ABS causing a similar requirement to be aware of the limitations of others.

Even Disc brakes got a mention on the boot lids of 50s and 60s Jaguar 2.4, 3.4 and 3.8s.

Interesting development seeing the first light of day in Europe, in Norway. Instead of charging the battery in the car, the battery is replaced for a fully charged one (takes about 5 mins).
It also allows cars to benefit from the latest battery technology as developments occur.
This latter point is something I think should be available more widely, but I suppose the design and accessibility of the host vehicle's onboard battery is crucial.

Well, when you get standardised battery cells with standardised fastenings that can be replaced by a robot...

The good thing about standards is that there are so many to choose from...

Well still no update on delivery of my EV 6 months later but it seems many manufacturers are now quoting anything between 6-18 mnths lead times it seem. In the meantime I have decided to invest now in installing a solar PV / Battery storage option along with a Zappi charger point as it’s all 0 VAT rated if installed at the same time.
Hopefully it will make a significant dent in the electricity bills if the illustrative figures pan out.

Yes, a mate of mine works with Hyundai and the waiting times are over 6 months too.

I ordered a Kia Soul maxx BEV back in February, the delivery was given at the time as July.
Early in July I was told that all Soul orders in the UK were now cancelled as they had over subscribed and they had prioritised the E-Niro over the Soul (it shares the same Drive train/battery/motor/chips)
Fortunately for me, due to a rare cancelled order I did manage to get one 2 weeks ago.
They told me it was the last one in the UK - it does appear that the waiting times generally are going to continue to be long.
Hyundai own Kia BTW.

The Kia Soul EV was one of our early choices, but was a bit beyond our budget. Sad to hear it's no longer available, but great news for you that you got one. How are you finding it?
I serendipitously met someone the other day who works for a company near Bristol called Zero EV. He turned up at my work in a classic Mini that they had converted to a BEV as part of an official BMW scheme.
It was gorgeous (down to the updated clocks by Smiths) and a perfect fit for a city BEV.
I absolutely loved it, but it was way beyond my means!
Their next project is original Land Rover Defenders for use in Australia and with a range of 500 miles... Interesting if it works.

Worth considering swapping to Octopus energy for anyone going EV. Although do be quick i think they are closing the deal soon. We have just moved over to them yesterday and effectively charging my 42kw 500e for £3.15. And from the hours of 12.30 - 04.30 its 7.5p per kWh.

Which Tariff are you on ? I am having a solar pv, battery and charger fitted shortly but am luckily already an Octopus customer

Octopus Go we are with Ashley. Whoah that will be awesome... what sort of capacity are the batteries?

We have only just changed from EDF to Octopus so waiting for the new tariff to kick in but in the meantime I've set a charging schedule from 12.30 - 04.30. and ready for a full charge at £3.15.

The 500e has a range of claimed 200 miles and the weekly commute is just shy of 200 miles so its a close call come Friday so plug in on the Thursday evening.

I tried to switch to Octopus Go for that great rate. They said that you have to have a smart meter fitted to get the deal. I had the new meter fitted last week and apparently my signal is too weak to connect.
So charging for me at home will cost: 27ppkw (currently) not 7.5p or in cash terms:
64KWH x 27ppkw = £17.28 vs 64kwh x 7.5ppkw = £4.20
and if the rate rise of 52ppwh goes ahead it could cost as much as 64kwh x52p = £33.28!

I am currently arguing with my energy supplier to find a solution to the meter connectivity issue but they really don't want to know.
The uk is divided up into 2 sections for smart meter coverage with O2 (telefonica) covering the southern half of the UK using a 2g/3g signal.
I trying to find out if I can buy a signal booster that will cover the range I need and ask them back to try again.

So the warning I would give to anyone considering acquiring a BEV is make sure that you have a working SMETS2 smart meter or it could get expensive!

Hi Jim
The soul Maxx 64KWH - 150kw is brilliant. we preferred this over the Kia E-niro because of the large interior I can fit my 3 - 6 feet offspring in the back.
I've now had it 6 weeks and done a thousand miles in it and still every day I look forward to driving in it.
Range is stated as 282 miles - I have had 260 so far but apparently it will go as high as 340 if you drive it around town in eco mode. I make it my goal to recover as much energy as possible - touching the brake pedal is for emergences only!
For the first few days I only used sport mode but i now only use eco mode and try to get the most miles per kw I can. The exception being if I make it to the front of a set of traffic lights and I see something fast next to me that needs to see the 0-30 of a BEV!
Its very fast, comfortable and most of all moves you around in a very relaxing silence.
When I have to use the XC90 it feels so old tech - noisy, clunky, always changing gears and I can't wait to move on back to the BEV.
We will always need a second car one that can travel long distances - tow a boat and a caravan and that probably means Diesel for the foreseeable until they come up with a solution for towing.
My opinion - I think they should have gone down the Hydrogen fuel cell route not Battery, but until/if they do I'll be enjoying BEV.

Hi Cooperman

What system and size did you go for and which company are you using?

I am looking and researching the solar battery route. It's very expensive and risky trying work out payback time with the fluctuating electric prices.
I was looking at being fully self sufficient with a 15kw system.

Hi Cooperman

What system and size did you go for and which company are you using?

I am looking and researching the solar battery route. It's very expensive and risky trying work out payback time with the fluctuating electric prices.
I was looking at being fully self sufficient with a 15kw system.

My system comprises a 12 panel set up giving about peak output of 4.7 kW with a 6.5 kW battery and a zappi smart charger. It’s a plug & play design son can be extended.
I am using a company called Solar installations UK Ltd. It’s a company that’s been recommended from an existing customer
Price wise they were competitive

Be aware that you can fit a solar pv system of up to 3.68kW i.e. 16amp output with no permissions necessary. If you output above that amount, you have to get permission from your Distribution Network Operator (DNO). Which might not always be forthcoming - in some locations there could be a problem with many houses outputting to the grid on a sunny lunchtime, causing local voltage to rise. In practice this means you should be fine with roughly up to 12 panels (modern panels are 400w max, you can put that into an inverter that is capped at 3.68kW output).