Mazda's new SkyActiv-X petrol plans.

10 years ago 50% of the cars sold were predicted to be EVs by now. How did that work out?

EVs will get there but not for a significant period. Of course then there is the issues that in most countries EVs still run on fossil fuels. . So the whole emissions thing is smoke and mirrors.

Err there's a statistic you pulled out of your arse, no one at all was predicting that 50% of cars would be EVs by now 10 years ago. Well no-one who wasn't wearing a tinfoil hat.

I don't even think anyone is predicting that in 10 years from now 50% of vehicles on the road will be EVs. Although is seems likely that at least 50% of mileage driven will be in EVs in 10 years, and of new vehicles sold it will be an even higher percentage. I doubt you'll see many people buying a new ICE in 10 years, and they'll be cheap as chips to buy used.

After Chevron took over the patent on nickel metal hydride batteries in 2000, EVs were pretty much sent into oblivion until the current lithium battery got to its current level of development (which is much better than NiMH).

Even when EVs run on coal produced electricity they still produce significantly less emissions than an ICE due to the economies of scale with power generation.

https://greentransportation.info/energy-transportation/evs-need-clean-electricity.html

Do you actually know anything at all about EVs? Do you have any experience owning one or using one on a daily basis?

I know a lot from reading about them. I have not driven one because they are not, in my mind, yet a practicel alternative and won't be for many years to come.

They appear to depreciate rapidly, they are expensive to buy new. Those making them chose styling to make them look futuristic rather than usable, so the new Leaf is a pleasant surprise.

Regardless of what you say about emissions a coal, oil or gas powered power station puts out massive amounts of CO2. Diesel trucks are where particulates are dangerous, and diesel buses in cities. Diesel cars to some extent too though the new particulates filters get rid of most of it tge bad emissions.

I don't doubt that in 10 years my next car will likely be and EV. Or possibly a hybrid. By then they will have sorted out the range issue and speed of charging issue and have significant infrastructure to support them. But buying one now makes limited sense to me. We have 1 car so it has to do commutes plus long trips of over 500km. I don't want to buy another car that would sit in the driveway for 90% of the time unused.

atleast by the time your in the ground you'll definitely know how deep they'll be digging your hole. lol

Why do you say they appear to depreciate rapidly? Looking on Trade Me they hold their value pretty much the same as any Jap import vehicle, and they're comparably priced for the same age and specification.

Yes coal, diesel and gas power stations put out lots of emissions, but nowhere near as much as if you burned that gas or diesel in individual vehicles instead. You can also have a power station a long way away from your cities, eliminating many of the health risks that you can't eliminate burning in a car. Its also much easier to capture the carbon from a single large power station than many small vehicles.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_capture_and_storage

The car you'll use 90% of the time will be your E.V., not your petrol car. A couple of weeks ago I had an event at a friends in Dunedin (we live 50km from Chch) in the past I would take my diesel truck, but looking at the charging network, I decided to take the Leaf instead. The trip took an additional 1.5 hours (there are times when this would be unacceptable), but the whole trip cost $14 in fast charging for 600km of travel. In the North Island the charging network is even better.

Lol, 1.8 metres

I find that for me electric is not adequete. I often tow trailers and caravans and a EVs that can do that have ludicrous prices. I also look at the current charging setup of cars. In a service station usually about a dozen cars can simultaneously fill up and take approx 5 minutes each. These charging stations take 1 car every 20 minutes. Imagine waiting several hours to be able to recharge. During holidays thousands of people concragate in popular areas like Paihia, the Coremandal, Queenstown and the like. A lot towing caravans and boats. The motels are chocka and I dont think they are going to be happy with everyone running out extension cables to charge their car.
As the charging network improves this will improve but at the moment I think that EVs are best suited to one person trips or commutes of under 100km.

". commutes of under 100km".

Wouldn't that be about 99% of commutes?

EVs are never going to suit absolutely everybody, but median commute distance in NZ is quite low. about 6km (just looked it up online)

Both my wife and I would get by on a single weekly charge with something like a Leaf, so can see an EV would work for us for our next vehicle purchase.

Yes the EV would be the car I use 90% of the time - but for an EV to work for us we would need a larger petrol car that would spend 90% of it's life in the driveway.

As for depreciation - how much was a new Tiida back in 2012 or 2013? How much was a new Leaf? Now you can buy a Leaf for around the same Price as a Tiida second hand - the Leaf may have done 30,000km. Which one depreciated more?

A Leaf and a Tiida are not really comparable as NZ new cars (as Leafs were only available in very limited numbers here new). But they can be compared as Jap imports, as pretty much all Leafs and Tiidas are. I paid $12k for my 2011 Gen 1 with 13000km on the clock back in March 2016, it now has 48000km on the clock and I'm fairly confident I'd still get somewhere between $9500 - $10000 for it. An import Tiida of similar vintage with similar mileage is around the same price. Of course why the Leaf beats the Tiida is that the Tiida will have cost you something like $7000 in fuel + maintenance costs and the Leaf has cost about $525 in fuel and no maintenance costs so far at all.

So free Terranno for me and no having to compromise with a car that's economical to drive daily while still being ok for towing. I can have the best of both worlds, a 4x4 for the weekends and towing that is cheap to buy, expensive to run, but only does about 2000km per year (so who cares) and an ultra cheap to run but great to drive daily driver for my 100km commute to work.