Electric car & charging

Kim_kim

sillygoose wrote: »

Not strictly so even a drive will do without a garage, the fixed chargers you can get installed free are weatherproof so can be mounted on the outside wall and wired in.

Even if its parked on the road doing its pre-heating it is still locked and cannot be driven even if broken in - only the heating circuit is active.

Yes - I said a garage or drive.
I only have a drive.

Kim_kim

sillygoose wrote: »

You can also set a timer so it automatically warms up at say 7.45am ready for your departure at 8

Sold!!!!!!

forgotmyname

sillygoose wrote: »

Doesn't need to be on the drive or plugged in even. You can also set a timer so it automatically warms up at say 7.45am ready for your departure at 8

You can get a 20 year old Rover 75 to do that. Pick one of those up for £500 in very good condition.

Hows that for saving the enviroment?

RichardD1970

forgotmyname wrote: »

You can get a 20 year old Rover 75 to do that. Pick one of those up for £500 in very good condition.

Hows that for saving the enviroment?

My dad had this on a couple of his 75's. Fantastic feature in the winter.

Think it was just on some of the diesels and called something like DPH (Diesel Pre-Heater?).

Never understood why it hasn't been on more cars.

AdrianC

RichardD1970 wrote: »

My dad had this on a couple of his 75's. Fantastic feature in the winter.

Think it was just on some of the diesels and called something like DPH (Diesel Pre-Heater?).

Never understood why it hasn't been on more cars.

Because most cars don't need auxiliary fuel-burning heaters in order to get acceptable heater performance in the UK climate. The "problem" is that many modern diesels are so thermally efficient that the cooling systems just don't have as much heat to spare - so an auxiliary heat source is required, and that's an Eberspacher/Webasto-type fuel-burning space heater, like have been common on motorhomes and trucks for decades.

sillygoose

I think it was a common option on Volvo's for obvious reasons.

Well I am off out. I commanded it to defrost half an hour ago as its quite frosty this morning and looking out the windows the car looks melted and the charge has been replaced by the charger according to the app. Won't even need a coat... happy days!

sillygoose

Kim_kim wrote: »

Yes - I said a garage or drive.
I only have a drive.

sorry misread.

Kim_kim

sillygoose wrote: »

I think it was a common option on Volvo's for obvious reasons.

Well I am off out. I commanded it to defrost half an hour ago as its quite frosty this morning and looking out the windows the car looks melted and the charge has been replaced by the charger according to the app. Won't even need a coat... happy days!

Does it really take half an hour?
Or is that to have it like stepping out of your house & back in?
If your heating on charge the charge is being replaced as it charges so you still drive off with a full charge?
IF the 4 doesn't use hot engine air to heat then does all the time you use the heater it comes off the battery?
Does it never use the hot engine to heat the car?
I'm guessing this drops the range considerably.
When you drive on petrol, does the battery charge as you drive?

sillygoose

Kim_kim wrote: »

Does it really take half an hour?

Don't know! that is the longest it will allow so gave it a go, will experiment with shorter times in due course.

Or is that to have it like stepping out of your house & back in?

Was pretty cosy, probably too long.

If your heating on charge the charge is being replaced as it charges so you still drive off with a full charge?

If using the supplied charger it charges at max. about 2.2KW, the heater is something like 4KW so it does use some battery too but left a bit longer after warming finished it will catch up. Was on 100% by the time I left.

IF the 4 doesn't use hot engine air to heat then does all the time you use the heater it comes off the battery?

Not sure if it can use the engine heat as well or not. Wouldn't be a lot of heat in the engine as it tries not to run it much. The 4H heat load on the battery will depend on how warm it is already and how hot you set it, either way the element will cycle on and off periodically to keep the system warm, it won't be on 100%

Does it never use the hot engine to heat the car?
I'm guessing this drops the range considerably.

It may do, did seem to get very warm earlier. I did notice this morning when I got in and started the engine also started for a short while then went off, apparently this is just to warm it up slightly and get the oil going. Must have used a thimble of fuel.

It will drop the range, prewarming on charge will reduce this.

When you drive on petrol, does the battery charge as you drive?

When the engine is running any spare power is dumped into the battery, but as the engine mainly starts to boost speed I don't suppose there is much spare. If the battery is at least 20% it will try to stay on electric and shut the engine off anyway..

I am surprised how easily the engine kicks in to be honest, but its only really short bursts and shuts down, this is almost imperceptible. There is a screen between the rev counter and speedo that shows which way the power is going, usually it is the only way to know if the engine is running!

The battery is only capable of supplying a limited amount of power at any time so you accelerate a bit promptly and the engine starts, powers a generator and add in a lot more electricity to the motors then stops as you ease off the pedal. I think it was doing it a bit more today as it was cold and the heating was taking some of the battery ability. still only a few seconds petrol use at a time.

By the way as of 1st Jan. this year all these cars come with full 5 year warranty instead of 3 so your well covered.

You can PM me if any other questions if you want, the rest of the forum are probably bored of my waffling now

almillar

My F-I-L has just bought one of these and I had a test drive. It's like a sports car compared to a Mk3 Discovery, especially in terms of roll - and no, not as comfortable.
It's heavy, but the weight is low down. I'm a geek and the toys are great. Some people complained about the stereo (which is also the on board computer that shows you all the electric stuff) being slow to use, but it's fine really.
This is NOT a vehicle for high milers. If you ask Mitsubishi for one, they'll tell you to buy the diesel instead if you do high miles - it just won't work out.
People asking for miles per gallon miss the point. There are two motors - the electric one and the petrol one.
If you only use the electric one (range 30 miles, and that seems realistic, honestly), the MPG is infinity.
If you use only the petrol 2.0l the range is about 270 miles, and the MPG will be about 30 on average.
So if your journeys are only ever under 30 miles, you'll never need the petrol engine.
Or if you do 100 miles a day, you'll get, say, 35 miles to the gallon equivalent, and you'd be better with a diesel.

Timer heating - yes, the whole point of this is to do it in your garage plugged in. The car is charged, and your house's electric heats the car - you leave the garage in a warm car with a 30 mile electric range.

When you drive on petrol, does the battery charge as you drive?

You can, but that's inefficient. You have to adapt to your journey. It does have regenerative engine braking, which you adjust with the paddles behind the wheel. You know in a manual when you change down a gear, the revs go up and you're pulled forward? That's engine braking - this car uses that to charge the battery through the electric motor, helping you slow down like in a manual. Or, using the paddles behind the wheel (they're not gear shifters!) you can adjust this variably to 'off', where it will just float along like an automatic, but give you no power for your excess speed. If you don't want to think about all this, just leave it at 3 - but you're kindof missing the point of the car.

Please don't PM questions - whoever is bored doesn't have to read the thread!