Electric vehicles miles per KWh

Bluntly if you're operating at levels where the regen is going back into the battery then it doesn't make a huge difference. In a ICE car that energy is lost as heat, in an EV some is lost, some is stored. The search for the ideal combination of efficiency, safety and driver pleasure is a noble goal but I doubt there's going to be a single right answer

EricMears wrote: »

IF regenerative braking was 100% efficient then I'd agree with you. However, it's probably 50% at best.

Hence applying it unnecessarily then having to use energy from battery to speed up again is wasting energy which transfers directly to reducing range.

For a non-EV'er this is very interesting. I know that different BEV's offer different settings, but I'd simply assumed that in one pedal driving there would be a sweet spot (or flat spot?) that was neither power nor re-gen for the reasons you give.

Normally I'd suggest 'don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good' but like you, I'd have thought a sensible compromise should be available.

PS - Still researching cheap s/h BEV's, but they are not exactly cheap.

I'd like to be able to stop accelerating and rely on gravity to kill speed when traffic lights at top of hill are showing red. Nissan decree that as soon as I stop accelerating the car will start RB.

OK, understood, so we're talking about the same thing - it's hard to find 'zero' on the accelerator pedal. This is the case for any EV I've driven, not unique to Nissan at all, and why I knock them into neutral. I don't remember how easy or hard that is to do with the Leaf gear selector. Some cars have adjustable regen as I said, presumably with a zero setting, but with the Leaf, you've got those 2 modes.
Taking your foot off the throttle in an ICE will use engine braking to slow you down. So the Leaf (and others) just replicates this, and puts power back into the battery at the same time.

My previous car was a VW e-Up!. On that, you could choose between no RB at all, 3 different levels of it or a really severe form ('B'). Or of course if you put foot on footbrake other than extremely hard, braking would also use the 'B' setting of RB. I was assured yesterday that the e-Golf behaves exactly the same

Nice.

and several weeks ago that Kia adopt same rules in their EVs.

Not the Soul EV. Not sure about the incoming one yet. Definitely something to check before you buy an EV, because the manufacturers are still finding their way with it.

For a non-EV'er this is very interesting. I know that different BEV's offer different settings, but I'd simply assumed that in one pedal driving there would be a sweet spot (or flat spot?) that was neither power nor re-gen for the reasons you give.

This is what I'm begging for. It's very hard to find 'zero' on the accelerator, which is why I resort to Neutral. Best I can do is put a car into Eco mode, which usually dumbs down the throttle response, making it easier to find Zero kWh, but then I'd spend as much time looking at the dash as the road! Neutral is safer in this case!

almillar wrote: »

OK, understood, so we're talking about the same thing - it's hard to find 'zero' on the accelerator pedal. This is the case for any EV I've driven, not unique to Nissan at all, and why I knock them into neutral. I don't remember how easy or hard that is to do with the Leaf gear selector.

On a VW you can select zero regen if you want it. Kia dealer assured me it's the same on theirs.
I have had problems getting from Neutral to Drive on the Leaf : sometimes (but oddly not always) the thing will only do it when brake applied !

almillar wrote: »

Taking your foot off the throttle in an ICE will use engine braking to slow you down. So the Leaf (and others) just replicates this, and puts power back into the battery at the same time.

To get any significant 'engine braking' on an IC engined car, you need to engage a low gear. The effect is almost imperceptible in normal driving. Nissan's attempt to replicate it is pathetic !

EricMears wrote: »

I guess it depends what you mean by "exactly cheap" ? A quick glance at eBay shows that you could buy a Nissan Leaf for as little as £5k (2014 model with 24kWh battery but that one has a leased battery so ongoing costs) but realistically you'd need to spend £6k (2013 model with 24kWh battery owned). I'd call that a cheap car; some people might want something sub £1,000.

As I can't really justify a second car, I feel guilty spending too much, and tbh don't have enough, but I was also thinking around £5k as petrol savings might just balance out leccy, depreciation and insurance, and be a fantastic intro into the world of BEV's.

I'm finding a few 2012 & 2013 near that figure - slightly excited, still looking and calculating. Big question, we've had an insurance policy with no claims for about 20yrs, so what are the odds that we could get a second with a significant discount if total annual mileage isn't likely to rise (much)? Obviously when working on such a small budget, the insurance discount is the major issue.