How Far Can You Get On £20 of Petrol/Diesel?

almillar

Beenthroughitall - yeah it's a great resource even though like every forum, there are plenty of complaints. I ordered in May, so it was a Dynamique Intens, before the new motor was available. With the delays, that has turned into a Dynamique Nav, with no input from me. I just want to get my car so I'm sticking with it. I'd have preferred the older motor TBH because I do have some 43kW chargers nearby, but 22kw is still as fast to full so I'll just be fillin' 'er up instead of taking little sips!

there’s a number of petrol stations scattered around but a lack in charging stations

It requires a change of mentality. What if, instead of queuing, parking, pumping, spilling petrol over yourself, you could 'refuel' your car by parking it, plugging it in, and going shopping, eating, having a coffee, sit in your car with a book or something? Or plug it in at home? Both options cheaper than liquid fuel.

...a lack in charging stations

I'm in NI where we were lucky that they did have a big push to get the infrastructure in place to encourage use. So in our wee country, the tagline is that you're never more than 10 miles from a charger, and never more than 30 miles from a rapid charger.

I'm guessing 30 minutes isn't a full charge of the Zoe?

Zoe has a 22kWh battery, so theoretically, on a 22kW charger, it would take an hour. It kind of does that, but slows down a bit at the end, so if you're in a rush, you can go up to 95% quickly.
If you've got the original engine in the Zoe, you can do 43KWh, so again, theoretically, roughly 30 mins. That'll take you from zero (which you won't be at unless you currently enjoy driving around on fumes!) to 95%+ in 30 mins.

BeenThroughItAll

almillar wrote: »

Zoe has a 22kWh battery, so theoretically, on a 22kW charger, it would take an hour. It kind of does that, but slows down a bit at the end, so if you're in a rush, you can go up to 95% quickly.
If you've got the original engine in the Zoe, you can do 43KWh, so again, theoretically, roughly 30 mins. That'll take you from zero (which you won't be at unless you currently enjoy driving around on fumes!) to 95%+ in 30 mins.

Just to demonstrate that - I plugged mine in to a 7kW unit at work this morning at 08:25. It reached 99% full at 11:30. It's still 99% full and charging now.


The last 1% is a cell-balancing process which can take hours, but is vital to allowing you to get the maximum range. In the past, I've noticed my 7kW supply at home (which I have put a separate meter on) actually puts in more than 2kWh more charge from 99% to 100%, almost 10% of the usable capacity of the battery pack.


As I write this, the car's texted me to say it's finished charging at 100%.

almillar

Yep, I think when you're out and about, you should charge quickly to whatever you want, and say, every month or two, let it do a 100% charge to balance the cells.

Stoke

I don't know much about electric cars, but is charging them full bad for the batteries lifetime? like on a mobile phone?

scaredofdebt

Stoke wrote: »

I don't know much about electric cars, but is charging them full bad for the batteries lifetime? like on a mobile phone?

I don't own one myself but have done a lot of research.

The older EVs do recommend that you charge them before they are fully "empty" and in the case of the Leaf they recommend charging up to around 80% of capacity, to give the longest life for the batteries. They estimate battery life at around 100k miles.

On the latest Renault Zoe, I cannot find any information like this, they reckon the battery will last 150k miles.

You can lease the battery and then they replace it once the performance starts to degrade, at around 75% for the Renault.

BeenThroughItAll

Renault say that the battery can be charged from any state to any state without damage. One of my customers is a specialist organisation who make battery management technology (they do R&D for people like Nissan/Tesla etc) and specialist battery pack technology. They say the same.


Personal use says charge to 100% on the display as often as you can, because that last 1% makes a big difference to the range you'll actually achieve - 99% on my car = ~80miles, but 100% consistently returns ~90miles. The battery cell balance takes less time the more often you do it, too.

almillar

but is charging them full bad for the batteries lifetime? like on a mobile phone?

No - keeping LiIon batteries at full or empty is bad for them. Going up there, or down there the odd time is fine.
Renault, for one, further down the line than Nissan, who were very cautious, leave you free to charge and dischage as much as you like. They do warn in the manual not to store the car at full or empty for long periods.