Electric Vehicles

[therealhantsram]

On 03/11/2020 at 13:52, Van Wolfie said:

Mrs Wolfie has a Toyota CH-R Hybrid (self charging), which we really like.

I find that when I drive it, I compete with myself how long I can have it running on electric (when you accelerate anything other than gently, the engine kicks in again). Small boot and I wouldn't call it fast, exactly, but it is still a lot of fun to drive on a bendy road.

 

Am I right in thinking the conventional engine will kick-in when you get to about 20mph? Is that how it works?

[therealhantsram]

On 04/11/2020 at 09:15, jono said:

A friend has an electric VW Golf and loves it. Does mostly short journeys. Used to fill up with petrol twice a month. Now it’s 20 quid on the leccy  bill. They have a static in the lakes (live in Burnley) It will make that one way trip without difficulty unless you hammer it. Charge falls very quickly above about 55/60 MPH. Biggest expense ? Closing the tailgate on a new iPhone ! 
 

I’d love one but not ready for that leap yet. Charging time and infrastructure have a way to go for me but if anyone wants to give me an iPace I wouldn’t say no ?

I do really like the look of the eGolf actually. May have to try and arrange a test drive when this lockdown is over.

[jono]

53 minutes ago, therealhantsram said:

I do really like the look of the eGolf actually. May have to try and arrange a test drive when this lockdown is over.

My friend is a haggler and I know they had lots of offers and incentives at the time. They installed a home charging hub as part of the deal . It’s was very professional all round. They do 60-100 miles a week and then once a fortnight or so to the static. 

[therealhantsram]

Can anyone with an EV tell me how the wallbox chargers are wired into the mains? 

Do they take a fork from the regular power circuit that runs the wall sockets in the house, or do they need to a run a brand new cable all the way back to fuse box?

[Ghost of Clough]

34 minutes ago, therealhantsram said:

Can anyone with an EV tell me how the wallbox chargers are wired into the mains? 

Do they take a fork from the regular power circuit that runs the wall sockets in the house, or do they need to a run a brand new cable all the way back to fuse box?

New cable.

With the grant, it should only cost about £500 for the charger and basic installation.

Depending on the location of your fuse box and meter, you may have to pay a tiny bit more. Mine are located in a cupboard in the middle of the house, so a cable had to be run underneath the floorboards up stairs, then down the side of the house. May have been about £25 extra.

[BaaLocks]

On 04/11/2020 at 19:48, TigerTedd said:

I’m very seriously considering upgrading my Peugeot 3008 to a new hybrid 3008 when it comes out in January. 

we’re on a PCP scheme with Peugeot, so we pay monthly. We pay about £250-£300 a month on petrol. Before lockdown my wife would have to drive about 80 miles a day, and I’d have to do some long trips to Manchester. We were spending about £500 a month between us. 

Electric motor has a range of about 40 miles, which is exactly what my wife needs to get to her new work and back. 

so I figure, if it increases our monthly payment by £100-£150 we should be quids in. 

we also have solar panels, batteries, and a leccy tarriff that pays us for using electricity during the night, which should reduce recharging costs to virtually zero. 

thinking of investing in a fast charger too. That way I can finish work, get home at 5, stick it on to fast charge, and then it’s fully charged ready for her to get off to work at 7. 

I did fancy a full electric for my next car, going hybrid feels a bit like being a vegetarian who still eats fish and chicken on special occasions. But I think a plug in hybrid is a good, sensible half way house til the infrastructure catches up. 

Plug in hybrid is a good option - I hvae one and it is reassuring to know that you have a petrol engine if you need it / forget to charge it. Also, the thing needs to make sense and all electric vehicles are very expensive and (in all honesty) unlikely to pay for themselves - still a bit of a vanity project for all but the edge cases. Do note that hybrid battery ranges, indeed all ranges, have very different ranges in the winter and the summer - a car that gives you 40 miles range in winter will give you probably 28 miles in winter. Again, good reason why having a petrol engine in the back is helpful.

For a fast charging station, I'd really do the maths - crack open the Excel - and see how many times do you need it, what would that save you. We did the maths and decided not to do it - seven years later I can name on a couple of hands the times when we had to rely on the petrol back up when we should have been able to use battery (for example, school run in the morning then trip to the gym at lunctime).

[therealhantsram]

1 hour ago, Ghost of Clough said:

 

Depending on the location of your fuse box and meter, 

Curious you mention meter too. Do they need to run a new cable from meter to fusebox too? 

Just that my meter and fuse box are relatively far apart.

[Ghost of Clough]

1 hour ago, therealhantsram said:

Curious you mention meter too. Do they need to run a new cable from meter to fusebox too? 

Just that my meter and fuse box are relatively far apart.

Not sure to be honest. They asked for me to send pics of both in advance and left them to it when they came to install. Maybe it was just to check compatibility or something?

[Carl Sagan]

I'm in an apartment building with a basement carpark (with no existing charging mechanism set up) so installing a home-charging system would be a real pain (how could it even be metered?). I'm waiting until the building management sorts something out rather than offer to pay myself. In the meanwhile, if anyone lives in London there's a great rental option on EVs through a company called ufodrive that I'd recommend. https://www.ufodrive.com/en/

[Ghost of Clough]

1 hour ago, Carl Sagan said:

I'm in an apartment building with a basement carpark (with no existing charging mechanism set up) so installing a home-charging system would be a real pain (how could it even be metered?). I'm waiting until the building management sorts something out rather than offer to pay myself. In the meanwhile, if anyone lives in London there's a great rental option on EVs through a company called ufodrive that I'd recommend. https://www.ufodrive.com/en/

Scan a card to say it's you when plugging in, and you get charged directly based on usage?
Either that or building management pay and you pay them a fixed amount to have access for a week/month/year?

[alexxxxx]

EGolf was discontinued a while back. Think they're now pushing the purpose-designed id3. 

Only ever driven one EV (eGolf) and enjoyed it although was a short journey. The quietness and lack of transmission is eerie at first.

Not sure how they intent to solve the problem of people with no driveway being able to home charge.. Routinely see electric cables on pavements now connecting cars parked on the street. Not sure this is a long term solution and is a trip hazard. 

[Boycie]

If you drive a gas gusler or drive a large car short distances then buying a eCar would make sense.  If you drive a small run around doing the school run and short commute them you’d struggle to get your benefit back from the outlay.

But, we’ll have no option soon.

[Boycie]

5 hours ago, therealhantsram said:

Curious you mention meter too. Do they need to run a new cable from meter to fusebox too? 

Just that my meter and fuse box are relatively far apart.

The installer has to notify the supply network operator to inform them of the new eCar installation. They have to note it so they can keep an eye on demand.

The electric meter will have a unique number on it so they can locate you exactly.

Thankyou please.

[ImARam2]

I have the Toyota Rav 4 Hybrid - Petrol tank with a self-charging battery.

No need for any plugs or chargers as the battery recharges as you drive or brake. Although it's a fairly big engine - 2487 cc, I've been getting an average of 50 mpg, on a combined urban and motorway driving, with the best being 62 mpg.

And any driving under 25 mph, is all electric, so no emissions around the town.

[TigerTedd]

9 hours ago, BaaLocks said:

Plug in hybrid is a good option - I hvae one and it is reassuring to know that you have a petrol engine if you need it / forget to charge it. Also, the thing needs to make sense and all electric vehicles are very expensive and (in all honesty) unlikely to pay for themselves - still a bit of a vanity project for all but the edge cases. Do note that hybrid battery ranges, indeed all ranges, have very different ranges in the winter and the summer - a car that gives you 40 miles range in winter will give you probably 28 miles in winter. Again, good reason why having a petrol engine in the back is helpful.

For a fast charging station, I'd really do the maths - crack open the Excel - and see how many times do you need it, what would that save you. We did the maths and decided not to do it - seven years later I can name on a couple of hands the times when we had to rely on the petrol back up when we should have been able to use battery (for example, school run in the morning then trip to the gym at lunctime).

Well, she put a spanner in my plan straight away anyway. She’s gone and got a new job now which will need her to get a new car. 

now we have the problem that we’re not entirely sure how long this job will run for (she’s doing swab tests in schools). So we’d normally happy jump into a pcp deal, but don’t fancy signing up for a 3 year contract for a job that’ll last 3 months, and have it sat in the drive the rest of the time. 

[sage]

I reckon the game changer for EVs when big companies start ordering them as fleet cars. only then we will see a massive expansion of charger points and prices coming down due to economy of scale.

[Ghost of Clough]

These adverts are pretty smart...

[Rev]

14 hours ago, TigerTedd said:

Well, she put a spanner in my plan straight away anyway. She’s gone and got a new job now which will need her to get a new car. 

now we have the problem that we’re not entirely sure how long this job will run for (she’s doing swab tests in schools). So we’d normally happy jump into a pcp deal, but don’t fancy signing up for a 3 year contract for a job that’ll last 3 months, and have it sat in the drive the rest of the time. 

https://on.to/electric-cars

 

 

 

[Hathersage Ram]

I am getting a new Kia E-Niro delivered on Monday. Did lots of research online. It was voted What car of the year - for all cars, not just EV's. Has a range of 292 miles, in real world around 250, which would be around a weeks mileage for me. 

I have a car history of Porsches, BMW M Editions, Mercedes AMG etc so it's a big change for me. 

But with a sub 7 second 0-60 acceleration its not to shabby, but time will tell.

Not actually driven one, comes fully loaded, so we will see.

I will tell more later next week - Into the dark side i go ? 

[JoetheRam]

How long do Electrics take to charge these days - I saw something with Richard Hammond in a Tesla and it took about 25 mins to give him a hundred or so more miles - can't remember exactly but it wasn't quick? Acceptable on a long journey so as to give the driver a rest but what about these scenarios?

Real world scenario 1: It's Friday evening, you arrive home from work with a range of 1 mile left because you've done your 250 miles for the week.  Your wife calls to tell you she's gone into labour and is at a hospital 30 miles away.  Do you just sit there waiting an hour for the car to charge up?

Real world scenario 2: You get an emergency call from an elderly relative who lives 50 miles away that you need to pick them up and take them somewhere 30 miles from their house urgently, you have 50 miles range - they don't have an electric car charging station at their house.  Do you spend time "filling up" before you go, or do you pick them up and then find somewhere to charge up en route to their destination?

Or do you just leave it on charge over night like a mobile phone so you're always at 250 miles range in the morning and in the above scenarios you just call a taxi?

Doesn't the fossil fuels used to produce the cars/electricity defeat the point of them - or is that way less than that produced by a petrol car doing 200,000 miles over the course of its life?

Are Hydrogen fuel cells not a better idea? Or is does that still have the same problem?

I want there to be a solution but are EV's actually it? 

 

Edited March 3, 2021 by JoetheRam