Electric cars

NigeWick

Martyn1981 wrote: »

No idea what range is needed, probably 200+

I wanted 200+ so that if I keep the car and the battery deteriorates to 75% it will still do 150 on a charge. I get bladder anxiety at 120-140 miles so 150 miles range actually will do for me.

My 64kWh Hyundai Kona will do 200 miles in freezing fog patches at 70mph. I don't need anything ore than that.

AdrianC

"freezing fog patches at 70mph"...?!?

zeupater

AdrianC wrote: »

"freezing fog patches at 70mph"...?!?

Hi

We've come across plenty of areas on the M5 south of Bristol where that happens at certain times of year ... flat land, cold air, warmer water & lots of points where the water is close to, or passing under, the carriageway! ....

HTH
Z

di-di-di-dah-di-dah

I am really interested in Kona or e-Niro when we actually start seeing those cars in bigger numbers and you can get some 2 or 3 year old models with low millage.

welshdent

Just stumbled on this thread looking for something else... havent read the previous 177 pages!
We have 2 EVs and are due to swap our first (leaf 30Kwh for a niro EV) as soon as thr new one arrives with the dealer. Big fans of EVs. Range has not been an issue. We have taken a 30KWh leaf on a 2 hour drive and back. I have a 94Ah BMW i3 range extender which I have taken all over the place. I can do cardiff to bristol airport and back again on the same charge and still have 25% of the battery left - that is around the 100 mile mark.

The battery capacities are increasing and charge points are cropping up all over the place. It isnt just about how fast you can charge on rapids. Yes that rate is important but For me there is importance in having chargers in places you are likely to be parked up at for a while so car parks and things like that so it doesn't matter if it needs a few hours because the car isn't moving anyway.

Nothing to be scared of with them and I find it eyebrow raising how hostile some people can be over a car.

Teslas are amazing ... and amazingly expensive.

Unless I had a range extender I wouldn't want a battery smaller than 40KWh now because increasingly these cars are going to be your main car. A 40kwh battery will tip you over the toilet break distance when you would be stopping anyway on a long charge. That said. Since I have had my BMW I have used the range extender twice and it has cost me £5 in petrol. At the same time I have done 6000 miles in it with all but 90 of those miles on full electric.

It is an exciting time with more EVs coming to market in the next couple of years. Pretty much all new EVs will have over 100 miles for range ... thats with he heating or air con on! and yes you can use the radio. You can even use the headlights in the dark too. Long drives take some planning but are absolutely possible and as ranges start topping 200-300 miles then it shouldn't take much longer than a petrol or diesel car. I barely have enough time to park up, plug in, pop to the services grab food and a loo break then get back before the car has hit 97%.

They aren't ZERO running costs but they are greatly reduced. My insurance is less than a 116i BMW sport and I no longer spend £200 - £250 a month to fill it up. My commute is 14 miles round trip a day and I easily get 4 days out of a single charge. I don't usually let it go to less than 20% unless I am on a long drive as I tend to keep it topped up. As mine is a range extender I do actually have VED to pay which is a pain in the backside as I will never spend as much on tax as the amount of fuel I will use and as I said, I have used the engine back up twice. But I am still saving loads. The cars all have regenerative breaking to recapture energy to the battery but it means the cars use their breaks much less. I know of a guy who has done over 100K miles in an EV and still is on his first set of break pads. There are much less moving parts so less to mechanically break so easier to maintain

zapmap is a good phone app for charger locations too.

NigeWick

AdrianC wrote: »

"freezing fog patches at 70mph"...?!?

Between the freezing fog patches on dual carriageways with a 70mph speed limit.

Martyn1981

After all the criticism Tesla got for meeting their targets (but not Elon's higher hopes), I'm still dreading the tirade of abuse that must be coming soon about VW (any day now presumably?)

Well now we have the Audi E-tron specs to trigger more criticism:

Audi E-Tron promises (P) 2015 v’s reality (R):

Range WLTP - P 310.7miles ... R 259.1miles (EPA 204 miles)
Acceleration 0-62 - P 4.6s ... R 5.7s
Top speed - P 130.5mph ... R 124mph
Peak power - P 370kW ... R 300kW
Peak torque - P 590lb/ft ... R 490lb/ft
Drag co-efficient - P 0.25 ... R 0.30

On the bright side, the reason the 95kWh Audi will only get a real world range of ~200 miles is reasonable. Audi have said they are limiting the amount of the battery range that can be accessed in order to extend the life of the battery. That sounds fair.

And for comparison, the big Tesla's, with similar sized batts, that get about 300 miles of real world range, have just had their ranges increased by an over the air update as Tesla has found that batteries are performing better than expected.

silverwhistle

di-di-di-dah-di-dah wrote: »

I am really interested in Kona or e-Niro when we actually start seeing those cars in bigger numbers and you can get some 2 or 3 year old models with low millage.

Aye, there's the rub. Wouldn't even have to be particularly low mileage if the battery is OK. There's a massive market of those of us who never buy new cars and are waiting for slightly more mileage if the car is going to be the only one in a household.


Apart from my one day crossing of France (2 on the way back) to the Italian Alps a genuine 120 range should do my mileage patterns. Even doing those long hauls I'd tend to stop every couple of hours for a stretch after an initial longer stint. Not a game stopper for me.
I'd probably want to go in my friend's diesel van (if for the wine capacity alone!) but my destination, the Aosta valley has a reasonable network of charge points, and I see in the local press that more are planned. If you can get up to Cervinia from the central valley on one charge regen should see you OK for the way down! Same would apply for Meribel, Tignes and the like..:D

MartinGardener

Anyone here own a Tesla X at all?


My petrol Audi will be going soon and I'm thinking of going Tesla.


Thank you..........

System

MartinGardener wrote: »

Anyone here own a Tesla X at all?


My petrol Audi will be going soon and I'm thinking of going Tesla.

My problem with Tesla is their quality control and build quality. You're paying for Audi level of quality but getting 1970s British Leyland levels of build quality and quality control. When you read up on some of the things owners are finding within the first week(s) of ownership these shouldn't be making it out of the factory. I'd go for another manufacturer with decades of car building experience.