Electric cars

NigeWick

Iceweasel wrote: »

How long were the stops to recharge?

how would you fare on a trip to the South of France say on holiday.

30-40 minutes taking time for a comfort break, cup of coffee from a flask & food and answering questions from curious people.

I'm going to France in September. There are rapid chargers on motorways same as here, plus medium size towns seem to have them too. There is a video on Youtube of a young couple driving to the west of Paris in a 24kWh Leaf in cold weather. My plans were for using the 30kWh Leaf but I'm getting the new 40kWh variant in a couple of months and it will be easy. There is also a "one RFID card" system in France that takes in many companies offering charging. I think the rapid charger at the Calais end of Eurotunnel is free but don't quote me.

It looks as though the 60kWh Leaf will accept 100kW charging so absolute empty to 80% would take less than half an hour. Ecotricity will be starting to roll out that sort of device this year.

NigeWick

redux wrote: »

It's a good thing that smart meters are coming soon for houses.

Not so much smart meters but smart chargers I think. I've got one on trial from Electric Nation. It's connected to the interweb so that they can see how I charge my vehicle, and, it has the capacity to slow or stop the charge if the grid requires it. Electric vehicles will have the capacity to discharge to the grid in order to even out load when required. Charge when it's cheap and discharge at a profit. A win-win for all concerned.

Iceweasel

Martyn1981 wrote: »

Not being funny, but did you mean 1.1.3.3(a), as there is no 'c', or has that changed too! [Ah, I see Z has raised this too.]

Sorry about that - I've just checked the latest copy of the ADR regs and it should just have been 1.1.3.3 which now only has section (a) - b & C have apparently been deleted - God knows when or why.

I've highlighted the relevant sentences.

1.1.3.3
EXEMPTIONS RELATED TO THE CARRIAGE OF LIQUID FUELS
The provisions laid down in ADR do not apply to the carriage of:
(a) Fuel contained in the tanks of a vehicle performing a transport operation and destined for its propulsion or for the operation of any of its equipment used or intended for use during carriage.

The fuel may be carried in fixed fuel tanks, directly connected to the vehicle’s engine and/or auxiliary equipment, which comply with the pertinent legal provisions, or may be carried inportable fuel containers (such as jerricans).

The total capacity of the fixed tanks shall not exceed 1500 litres per transport unit and the capacity of a tank fitted to a trailer shall not exceed 500 litres.

A maximum of 60 litres per transport unit may be carried in portable fuel containers.

These restrictions shall not apply to vehicles operated by the emergency services.

NOTE1: A container fitted with equipment for use during carriage, secured on a vehicle, is considered as an integral part of the vehicle and benefits from the same exemptions as regards the fuel necessary to operate the equipment.

NOTE2: The total capacity of the tanks or cylinders, including those containing gaseous fuels, shall not exceed 54 000 MJ energy-equivalent (see NOTE 1 in 1.1.3.2 (a)).

(b) and (c) (Deleted)

There is also no mention as to the size of jerricans - but one would be sensible to use 3 x 20litres rather that say 12 x 5litres.

Martyn1981

Iceweasel wrote: »

Sorry about that - I've just checked the latest copy of the ADR regs and it should just have been 1.1.3.3 which now only has section (a) - b & C have apparently been deleted - God knows when or why.

I've highlighted the relevant sentences.

Many thanks.

I used to have a large can back when I had the gas guzzler as 12mpg was not great, and the bags of sand in the boot to aid grip probably didn't help.

Now I have to make up for past sins!

Martyn1981

Watched (yet another) you-tube vid yesterday from Drag Times. They wanted to test Tesla's claims for a 5.1s 0-60 for the M3. It actually ran 4.66s.

They pointed out that it'll be interesting to see what a dual motor (AWD) does in ludicrous mode in the future.

For myself, my boy racer days are over, so I just need a decent 0-30mph for confident merging, roundabout joining and T-junction pullouts, but I'm sure having sports car like performance won't harm M3 sales/demand.


I wonder if EV's will harm/destroy the sports car, super car and hyper car markets, as nobody wants to pay £100k's or even £m's on a car that can't compete with a 'milkfloat'?

Gloomendoom

Martyn1981 wrote: »

I wonder if EV's will harm/destroy the sports car, super car and hyper car markets, as nobody wants to pay £100k's or even £m's on a car that can't compete with a 'milkfloat'?

I doubt it. There is more to a super and hyper cars than 0-60 times.

A friend of mine owns a tank of an American car that can do 0-60 in around 4 seconds. A super car it isn't.

NigeWick

Martyn1981 wrote: »

For myself, my boy racer days are over, so I just need a decent 0-30mph for confident merging, roundabout joining and T-junction pullouts,

I know what you mean. I keep my Leaf in Eco mode all the time. My wife appreciates the fact that I do not overtake so many vehicles on single carriageways and we cruise at 60-65 on dual carriageways. I find it relaxing compared to constantly looking to "make progress."

Had a large electricity reading yesterday and wondered what I was doing wrong. Then remembered that over the last month I had done quite a bit of car charging. It's a lot cheaper than petrol or diesel!

AnotherJoe

NigeWick wrote: »

Had a large electricity reading yesterday and wondered what I was doing wrong. Then remembered that over the last month I had done quite a bit of car charging. It's a lot cheaper than petrol or diesel!

Yep, take the cost of the extra electricity you used, and a back of a fag packet estimate would be, you'd have spent 4x that on petrol.

AnotherJoe

Gloomendoom wrote: »

I doubt it. There is more to a super and hyper cars than 0-60 times.

True, but only a part. The speed and acceleration are the major part of it , you dont find super cars with an acceleration of 10 seconds for 0-60 on the grounds the appeal is other factors.

And it will surely be more and more annoying if you have a £250k+ super car and you get burnt off at the lights by an ordinary little family saloon or hatchback on its way back from the supermarket. (especially since 0-30 figures are even more extreme compared to internal combustion)

Probably the lower your super car cost the more annoying since the lower you spent the more its all about speed/acceleration, at least in say a £500k car you are still flaunting your wealth but even then its still got to hurt when a car for the masses leaves you standing.

AdrianC

AnotherJoe wrote: »

Yep, take the cost of the extra electricity you used, and a back of a fag packet estimate would be, you'd have spent 4x that on petrol.

That tax disparity can't continue, though.

A £1.20 litre of unleaded or diesel contributes 20p of VAT and 58p of duty, leaving 41p of fuel.

£1.20 of electricity contributes 5.8p of VAT.