Battery Electric Vehicle News / Enjoying the Transportation Revolution

ASavvyBuyer

JKenH said:

I was watching a Bjorn Nyland YouTube review of the Zoe 50 and he couldn’t get the heater to work while he was charging the car. Do you have this problem on the 40? I am not talking about preheat but rather sitting in the car in winter while charging up on a journey.

The heater works on the Kia Soul whilst charging. It gives a warning that the charging might take a bit longer.

Have found it works on both Rapid & Fast chargers.

Martyn1981

This sounds good, though I admit I don't know what percentage it represents, nor how significant the scale is (or isn't).

What would be even more interesting is the 'cost' of this, not the price of £12bn, as they would have been spending money anyway, but the cost, which might actually be negative when running costs are included .... fingers crossed.

UK companies to invest £12bn in switch to electric vehicles

British companies are expected to spend more than £12bn switching their fossil fuel vehicles for clean electric versions over the next two years.

A survey found that nearly half of UK businesses are planning to invest in chargeable cars and vans in advance of the government’s ban on sales of new internal combustion engine vehicles by 2035.

The Treasury is expected to accelerate the trend in this week’s budget by signalling an end to a decade of freezes on fuel duty for millions of drivers, as part of plans to meet tougher climate laws.

silverwhistle

That FIAT sounds rather expensive, I'd rather fewer bells and whistles. On one of my feeds I had an article in Spanish about Dacia bringing in a cheap EV which is more my way of thinking. Spanish is near enough to Italian to understand most of it, and ISTR it may be based on the cheap Renault model developed for the Chinese market with changes for european needs.

EVandPV

silverwhistle said:

and ISTR it may be based on the cheap Renault model developed for the Chinese market with changes for european needs.

It is indeed, €8000 or £6900.
Bit limited at 26kwh battery but an ideal town car.
https://europe.autonews.com/geneva-auto-show/dacia-will-debut-low-cost-electric-car

Martyn1981

An extract from this week's Carbon Commentary newsletter

1, Charging of commercial EVs. FedEx and its chosen vehicle supplier Chanje announced the construction of charging infrastructure at 42 depots in California. FedEx is buying 1,000 Chanje vans and the new installation will provide sufficient chargers for all of these vehicles. The biggest innovation is the construction of a network that will control each charger, enabling the rate of charge to be automatically changed in response to conditions in the local electricity markets in which FedEx operates. 

Martyn1981

The UK might double its PEV sales this year v's 2019. Running at ~6% with a slight bias towards BEV's over PHEV's. Disruptions tend to gather speed, rapidly, around 8% deployment, so a while to go, and limited supply, but it's all getting a tad exciting.

Doubt it'll happen but the SMMT is suggesting the Gov drop the VAT for PEV's, which would make for huge savings, perhaps £5k+ for some BEV's if it was reduced to zero. I have my fingers crossed, but doubt it'll happen, but what a boost if it was done for say 5yrs.

UK EV Market Share At 5.7% In February, Doubling Year On Year, As Diesel Sales Collapse

Also figures for France (8%) and Sweden (24%)

France Nudges 8% EV Market Share In February — Best Of The Big Markets

Sweden’s EV Market Share = 24%! (Petrol & Diesel Continue To Melt)

JKenH

Someone posted this on Facebook. This should create a positive image for EVs. Let’s hope there’s more to come.

https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/industry/gridserve-open-dedicated-ev-service-station-summer-2020

Martyn1981

Big round number for Tesla:
Tesla produces its 1,000,000th electric car

And I've discovered a new game. It's a version of chicken - I've been driving the ICE now for 4 weeks since the low fuel warning light came on, really think we can get ICE miles down from 8k to 1k (or less) this year, even with the 'cheap' (gulp!) s/h 24kWh Leaf. Come on stock market, bounce back up, Marty wants a Tesla!!!!!!!!!! 

JKenH

Martyn1981 said:

Big round number for Tesla:
Tesla produces its 1,000,000th electric car

And I've discovered a new game. It's a version of chicken - I've been driving the ICE now for 4 weeks since the low fuel warning light came on, really think we can get ICE miles down from 8k to 1k (or less) this year, even with the 'cheap' (gulp!) s/h 24kWh Leaf. Come on stock market, bounce back up, Marty wants a Tesla!!!!!!!!!! 

If you get the LeafSpy app you can go past the - - - dashboard display of battery and range with confidence. It costs a few bob for the OBD reader and app but if you like numbers it’s well worth it.

Martyn1981

Did that last year following loads of excellent advice from Solarchaser, but my old ICE isn't a Leaf!