revtothelimit - motorbike forum

slowsider wrote: Thu Jul 28, 2022 3:46 pm

Demannu wrote: Thu Jul 07, 2022 5:25 pm

slowsider wrote: Thu Jul 07, 2022 2:48 pm

Fook, I've got better out of my other half's 2.0D XE.

You get 70+ mpg fully loaded on country roads.......doubt it!

This, today.

Do 600 miles of general driving, not 80 miles on a d/c or motorway, then post your figures

For the first time i seen an electric car from Europe on Holiday today. Germans from Hamburg. That will be over 300 miles to Ijmuiden and about another 110 from Newcastle to my local Aldi carpark if that is the route they take. Be handy if the ferry can cope with charging them when crossing.

Interesting car here, cheapest practical EV ?

Apart from the probably gimmicky solar panels I really like that.
Some (quite a lot I expect) due diligance is required but that could possibly work in perfect synergy with a big bank of solar panels on my roof and make a hefty difference to my energy bills.

I like:
Bi-directional charing
Simple
Not made in China

I'd have one of these! A Microlino and it looks just like a 60s Isetta 'bubble car'.

WRT to the solar car...it never seems like an idea that's gonna take off big style to me.

For one, pretty much by definition about 50% of the panels don't do anything at any one time. Not unless you always park next to a mirror, or move to a planet with two suns or something*. Secondly the extra range you get doesn't seem to be worth the hassle and cost. Now, solar powered charging stations? That does make sense to me - you can optimise the panels to point at the sun and more importantly you can spend loads of money on a decent sized array without having to worry about making it affordable to stick on a car.

I suppose if you had PV panels that were spectacularly cheap (and I've seen a few stories about Perovskite panels that might make this the case one day) the arguments would change.

* Multiple opportunities to stare off into the sunset wistfully to the strains of John Williams, which would potentially make it worth it

There’s a couple of Hyundai Tucson hybrids here. Satin green with satin black trims. Nice looking car and has grabbed my interest a bit, but not sure if hybrids are going to be financial white elephants or not?

Taipan wrote: Sun Aug 14, 2022 10:39 am There’s a couple of Hyundai Tucson hybrids here. Satin green with satin black trims. Nice looking car and has grabbed my interest a bit, but not sure if hybrids are going to be financial white elephants or not?

Why do you think they're going to be white hephalumps TP? I think there's going to be steady demand for 70+ mpg, 500+ mile range cars for a while yet, irrespective of tax* etc. TBH, further down the track, a 7 year old hybrid for, example, will be a better bet than a 7yr old electric in terms of cost of battery replacement.

* Unless they go berserk with tax on fuel.

Count Steer wrote: Sun Aug 14, 2022 12:43 pm

Taipan wrote: Sun Aug 14, 2022 10:39 am There’s a couple of Hyundai Tucson hybrids here. Satin green with satin black trims. Nice looking car and has grabbed my interest a bit, but not sure if hybrids are going to be financial white elephants or not?

Why do you think they're going to be white hephalumps TP? I think there's going to be steady demand for 70+ mpg, 500+ mile range cars for a while yet, irrespective of tax* etc. TBH, further down the track, a 7 year old hybrid for, example, will be a better bet than a 7yr old electric in terms of cost of battery replacement.

* Unless they go berserk with tax on fuel.

There “seems” to be a rapid increase of sales of full electric cars snd I’m thinking that will render hybrids as unpopular and ice cars? Been thinking whether or not to go for a full leccy car, or somewhat conversely a 6.2 v8 Amg Merc whilst I still can!

Count Steer wrote: Sun Aug 14, 2022 12:43 pm

Taipan wrote: Sun Aug 14, 2022 10:39 am There’s a couple of Hyundai Tucson hybrids here. Satin green with satin black trims. Nice looking car and has grabbed my interest a bit, but not sure if hybrids are going to be financial white elephants or not?

Why do you think they're going to be white hephalumps TP? I think there's going to be steady demand for 70+ mpg, 500+ mile range cars for a while yet, irrespective of tax* etc. TBH, further down the track, a 7 year old hybrid for, example, will be a better bet than a 7yr old electric in terms of cost of battery replacement.

* Unless they go berserk with tax on fuel.

Is that 70mpg normal or under specific conditions? I read that economy is pretty poor on long journeys.
Hybrid also means some different things, I wouldn't mind an electric car with a small generator so recharging stops aren't compulsory. I don't want an ICE car with an electric motor added to it
I think I want PHEV but wonder why most owners don't bother plugging them in, I'd guess it's because they are company cars with a company fuel card but is there more to it?

Mussels wrote: Sun Aug 14, 2022 3:09 pm

Count Steer wrote: Sun Aug 14, 2022 12:43 pm

Taipan wrote: Sun Aug 14, 2022 10:39 am There’s a couple of Hyundai Tucson hybrids here. Satin green with satin black trims. Nice looking car and has grabbed my interest a bit, but not sure if hybrids are going to be financial white elephants or not?

Why do you think they're going to be white hephalumps TP? I think there's going to be steady demand for 70+ mpg, 500+ mile range cars for a while yet, irrespective of tax* etc. TBH, further down the track, a 7 year old hybrid for, example, will be a better bet than a 7yr old electric in terms of cost of battery replacement.

* Unless they go berserk with tax on fuel.

Is that 70mpg normal or under specific conditions? I read that economy is pretty poor on long journeys.
Hybrid also means some different things, I wouldn't mind an electric car with a small generator so recharging stops aren't compulsory. I don't want an ICE car with an electric motor added to it
I think I want PHEV but wonder why most owners don't bother plugging them in, I'd guess it's because they are company cars with a company fuel card but is there more to it?

Currently showing 73mpg after 320 miles of mixed use (but no extended motorway journeys, just local and a few 60+ mile round trips on A roads). I'd expect consumption to increase at a steady 70 as that will be almost all ICE. The other upside is that the average consumption on the other car is improving with not using it for short trips. From first fill-up there's still an indicated 230 mile range. TBH it's working out exactly as required.

Drove 240 miles to Wales campsite in one go. 20 miles left, quick nip up the road and charged on 350kw chargers in 25 minutes. Absolute doddle.

Now for a thread about the other car

Docca wrote: Mon Aug 15, 2022 6:51 am Drove 240 miles to Wales campsite in one go. 20 miles left, quick nip up the road and charged on 350kw chargers in 25 minutes. Absolute doddle.

Now for a thread about the other car

That sounds like a good plan
Get to campsite, dump all the gear on the ground and announce you need to charge the car so you'll be back in an hour

Docca wrote: Mon Aug 15, 2022 6:51 am Drove 240 miles to Wales campsite in one go. 20 miles left, quick nip up the road and charged on 350kw chargers in 25 minutes. Absolute doddle.

Now for a thread about the other car

Was it fully charged at the start of the journey?

If I was being 'glass half empty' I'd be thinking 'Only 20 miles to spare? It's not going to make it next year'.

The company I worked for last season runs Tesla's. They are based in the valley and can do the valley to a resort to an airport - then need a minimum of an hour to recharge to return. I did hope to be allowed to drive one of those, but at that time, only a few drivers used those and the rest of us used VW T6s

Just had an email today saying they are looking to confirm drivers for next season and that they will need more drivers as they will be increasing the fleet by 3 x Mercedes EQV!! Apparently not quite such a good range as the Teslas, but pretty close!!

Almost fancy saying I'll do that if I can drive an EV!! But I doubt they'd let me keep one in resort!! (And I REALLY want to work in resort this winter, not driving out of it!!)

Yeah- 96% charged.

Mostly motorway, so 70 mph cruise control. I think that’s rather excellent. Twin motor Volvo thing and very comfortable for 5 of us.

Noggin wrote: Tue Aug 16, 2022 6:07 pm The company I worked for last season runs Tesla's. They are based in the valley and can do the valley to a resort to an airport - then need a minimum of an hour to recharge to return. I did hope to be allowed to drive one of those, but at that time, only a few drivers used those and the rest of us used VW T6s

Just had an email today saying they are looking to confirm drivers for next season and that they will need more drivers as they will be increasing the fleet by 3 x Mercedes EQV!! Apparently not quite such a good range as the Teslas, but pretty close!!

Almost fancy saying I'll do that if I can drive an EV!! But I doubt they'd let me keep one in resort!! (And I REALLY want to work in resort this winter, not driving out of it!!)

Just remember what @Mr. Dazzle said about brake design on EVs, make sure the brakes are big enough to get you down the mountain with a full battery.
Then remember batteries are a bit rubbish when it's cold

Mussels wrote: Tue Aug 16, 2022 11:37 pm

Noggin wrote: Tue Aug 16, 2022 6:07 pm The company I worked for last season runs Tesla's. They are based in the valley and can do the valley to a resort to an airport - then need a minimum of an hour to recharge to return. I did hope to be allowed to drive one of those, but at that time, only a few drivers used those and the rest of us used VW T6s

Just had an email today saying they are looking to confirm drivers for next season and that they will need more drivers as they will be increasing the fleet by 3 x Mercedes EQV!! Apparently not quite such a good range as the Teslas, but pretty close!!

Almost fancy saying I'll do that if I can drive an EV!! But I doubt they'd let me keep one in resort!! (And I REALLY want to work in resort this winter, not driving out of it!!)

Just remember what @Mr. Dazzle said about brake design on EVs, make sure the brakes are big enough to get you down the mountain with a full battery.
Then remember batteries are a bit rubbish when it's cold

TBF, given they've been running the Teslas four 4 or 5 years, I reckon they've got all that in hand!! And is probably the reason that its taken so long to get EV minibuses!!

Whilst they all start in the valley and go up to resort and back down to then head to the airport, I doubt they'd want one based up in resort due to the temperatures. Maybe, but unlikely (it's generally about 10 degrees warmer in the valley - except last winter when it was inverse for about two months and a bit freaky!!)

The really big thing with EVs in this context is V2G power. Vehicle to grid.

As an example....my house typically uses 7-8kWh a day, which isn't actually that much. A fairly small solar system should on average be enough to meet my needs. My average draw is less than half a kilowatt.

Average.

Obviously a huge chunk of my demand is at night. Probably most of it. Then you have things like ovens, kettles and washing machines which exceed the peak power a realistically sized panel can provide.

So of course the solution is to have a battery. You can already buy power walls and the like, but batteries are expensive and tend to be quite small in relative terms. But if I've already got a honking great battery (10 times bigger than most powerwalls) in my car....

There are already some cars which can flow power back into your house. The ones from my bunch can do it. In this country the limitation is actually the charging infrastructure we've gone with, so the V2G aspect of our cars only works in Japan and a few other places. That's gonna change though.

With regards to the OP I've just ordered a new diesel car from my bunch. I didn't really want to, but my old car died and that's all i could get. I'm hoping to get an EV through work maybe "next time around" on the scheme, at which point I'm looking at PV.

Mr. Dazzle wrote: Wed Aug 31, 2022 5:20 am

So of course the solution is to have a battery. You can already buy power walls and the like, but batteries are expensive and tend to be quite small in relative terms. But if I've already got a honking great battery (10 times bigger than most powerwalls) in my car....

There are already some cars which can flow power back into your house. The ones from my bunch can do it. In this country the limitation is actually the charging infrastructure we've gone with, so the V2G aspect of our cars only works in Japan and a few other places. That's gonna change though.

Yep, you’re going to get people charging their cars up at work and then taking them home to power their hot tubs. That’s going to go down really well with the accountants