Thinking of Electric Car

flyingscotno1

Ultrasonic wrote: »

To put those numbers in context, what hybrid do you have?

Toyota Auris Hybrid. It's official figure is 70mpg but I get 57mpg on my last couple of tanks, it's getting better as the temperature warms up.

My previous Fiat diesel did on average 48mpg on a 58mpg combined figure.

Sadly my commute is rather hilly and doesn't seem to lend it well to fuel economy- if I make long journeys elsewhere for business the economy was much better in both.

epninety

worried_jim wrote: »

Thanks for pointing out how a hybrid works- they've only been about since 1997.

Thanks for the sarcasm, but you're wrong by almost 100 years :rotfl:

atrixblue.-MFR-.

didnt topgear do a experiment with the leaf? it was good if you had deep pockets for house electrcity and plotted trips to the precision for recharging other than that you had to have specialist recovery to come out and charge or tow you to a recharge point.

didnt the insurance work out higher aswell becuase the cars a specialist car, that requires specialist parts in the event of an accident and availability of parts are back order from dealerships.

sorry i look for practicality serviceablility and part availability in my cars the leaf dont tick any of those.

although dont destroy your rover ask about selling it at mgroverforums the boys and girls over there like the british heritage and strive to buy rovers old and new to keep them on the road, theres also a market out there for the engine itself wich is soght after in come circles, be nice if you could off load it (perhaps for a bit more than youd think in terms of cash) to one of those guys there.

worried_jim

epninety wrote: »

Thanks for the sarcasm, but you're wrong by almost 100 years :rotfl:

I was referring to the launch of the Toyota Prius, I know the Insight was first, but the Prius is what is what most people will recognise as the first mass market hybrid. The guy who made the original comment was just typing crap in the thread so he can get his count up before spamming some !!!! every where.

sterlingstash

I have just picked up an outgoing model Leaf on the £18k deal you mentioned. So far I think it is great - fun to drive and I am hoping cheap to run (free fuel at work to cover my two-way commute)

I will be crunching the numbers on the economics of running it, but I would say that as a private purchase I am still not sure it would stack up, even at the discount price. Mine is a company car, so they benefit from the first year write-down allowance saving a further 20-25% of the purchase price bringing it to sub £15k.

I'll be looking to take a balanced judgement on the merits/drawbacks of electric cars over the period I have it. I have a hunch that much of the criticism such as rapidly failing batteries and lack of charging stations may be overhyped, but time will tell...

flyingscotno1

sterlingstash wrote: »

I have a hunch that much of the criticism such as rapidly failing batteries and lack of charging stations may be overhyped, but time will tell...

Charging stations probably is. Most people with these cars are making local runs and will know where the local stations are. It will be keeping up with demand and keeping them well maintained.

Batteries were a stick used to beat hybrids with initially too. They'd go within a few years and be £6000 or so to replace. Apparently failure rates of early hybrids are low (circa 1%) and replacement batteries are still expensive but around a grand to completely replace them.

sterlingstash

flyingscotno1 wrote: »

Charging stations probably is. Most people with these cars are making local runs and will know where the local stations are. It will be keeping up with demand and keeping them well maintained.

Batteries were a stick used to beat hybrids with initially too. They'd go within a few years and be £6000 or so to replace. Apparently failure rates of early hybrids are low (circa 1%) and replacement batteries are still expensive but around a grand to completely replace them.

That's what I'm thinking. Nissan estimate 80% of initial battery capacity remaining after 5 years. That should give a 50 mile+ range still, so for town journeys, there should still be value in a car offering minimal running costs. And I would imagine the cost of replacing individual battery cells can only go down in that time.