Would you have an electric car if you had the money for a new car and were in the market for one?

[Mussels]

The MG 4 is a nice little EV. Takes off well, nice interior and the looks definitely grow on you.

I have a friend that works in servicing at a dealer that does MG, the advice was to avoid like the plague as they really struggle to get parts.

[Monstyr]

For good or ill, ive just bought a Peugeot e 2008, im looking forward to buzzing around now.

Wonder where the clutch went?

[ZRX61]

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/02/14/ford-ha ... ction.html

[Pirahna]

An article I found interesting about the value (or lack of) of second hand electric cars:

https://cardealermagazine.co.uk/publish ... ead/279724

[demographic]

Still like mine.

Charging is roughly £1.40 a night, on nights I need to charge.


The software updates are painless and the range of apps greatly improved.



That said- I took the Guzzi to work today

So about how many miles per KWh?
Or how many miles are you doing per day?

[Docca]

Dunno about the former.

The latter varies. Sometimes none, most days less than 50. Twice a week 100.

Range during winter is 200 miles which isn’t the best, but I don’t need more at the moment.

[ZRX61]

As soon as he mentioned SunRun I knew he was fucked. Their solar panel installation teams have been installing shit that's not up to code all over Ca...

[ace llani]

Apologies - not kept up with the thread, but just an update on my life with the Leaf.

Yesterday, spur of the moment trip to Llandrindod Wells to pick up some parts, 48 mile round trip from my house.

50 miles showing on the charge, but this basically tells you there's no way you'll do 50 miles on it.

No problem I thought...

There is a BP Pulse rapid charger in Llandod, half mile from my destination. 20 minute splash n dash and job jobbed.
Checked Zap Map, last used an hour ago.

Got to the charger to come home, screen is frozen on the charger so can't begin. Call the helpline number on the unit, helpful lady reboots the charger, which takes 5 mins.

After the reboot, screen comes to life, game on..

Open the Pulse app to start a charge, poor signal so slow.
I have £3.90 i=credit, but you need £5 minimum to start a charge, so I have to top it up, again slow.

Credit added, plug in, try to charge, error.
Try again, in case it's a glitch. Same error.

Call Pulse again. Was told the Chademo charging side of the unit must be faulty, but they're being fazed out for CCS, and they don't plan on fixing Chademo points as a result.
CCS side was working, so that's why Zap Map said the unit's operational..

So, I realistically don't have enough charge to crawl home, but I can stop in Rhayader and use one of the four fairly new Dragon Charge points en route.
These are 22 kilowatt AC. My Leaf (2016) can only charge at 7 kilowatts maximum on AC. So - it takes 4 hours to charge fully at this rate, which by the book gives you 120 miles. Day was very cold, which the batteries hate, so you're looking at 80 miles. So, my splash and dash, to add 20 miles to be on the "safe side" will take an hour

Rolling up to the charger, the car tells me I don't have sufficient charge to get home. Plug in to the Dragon charger, green light on top of 3 out of the 4 says working, OK.
Plug in, app never works, so scan the QR code and go the the website. Find a charger near me finds the inop. unit next door, but not mine, so can't start a charge
Call the helpline number on the unit.. helpful man checks it out, and as I have a Dragon account, with enough credit, he can start a charge remotely for me.
I then wait for the battery to creep up to 30 miles, to cover my 12 mile trip home (an hour).

Just coming towards home, car shows 12 miles left..
48 mile round trip, 3 stressful, hours

I drive it like a Chelsea Pensioner, make good use of the regeneration system, always on eco mode (restricted power) and wrap up warm so I don't need the heater.
So basically, the day is nigh when the car becomes a shopping trolley. Great investment.


Then

[Mussels]

Yesterday I was thinking that an EV might be a good idea if they are nicer to drive than the almost ubiquitous automatics we seem to have now. Thanks for that bump back to common sense.

[Mr. Dazzle]

When I picked my car up from fleet HQ last month one of my colleagues (from a different devision) was picking up his (third) new EV at the same time.

He'd been a reluctant convert to EVs, basically having it forced on him for financial reasons. In his own words "he could not have been more wrong". Said man lives near Northampton and has one daughter at Uni in Notts and another in Lincoln. He does the "Uni Run" in his EV in all cases, never once been caught short. He doesn't have a dedicated charger at home, he three pin sockets it...still never been caught out.

Two of my neighbours have Leafs, I've never spoken to them but their cars are always parked on the street....I.e. they don't have charging at home.

Point is...YMM(literally)V, you can find an anecdote to prove anything.

[Taipan]

I was flirting with the idea of a Tesla a while back. I'm glad I decided against it now. I still think I'll get a leccy car and bike, but not yet...

[Kneerly Down]

I'm rather liking my Ampera.
Took it for its MoT the other week.
All the lads in the garage were interested in it...haven't seen any others up here.
It's a very relaxing car to drive, although I only get half way to Inverness on the battery at this time of year, so the engine kicks in for all of the bit down Loch Ness. I also use 'hold' for the first 5 miles or so, so that the engine is on and provides heat.
Have got an old PodPoint charger to fit, to replace the granny charger, and once that is sorted, with the higher amperage, I'll be able to pre-heat it before heading out.
I wasn't sure I'd made a wise purchase when I first got it, but I'm quite happy with it now and think I'll have it for a good few years.

[Kneerly Down]

Audi advert during the Ch4 F1 coverage had "based on 350kWh charger"
I can't think the Audi organisation of old would had made such an error.
Fehler in der Technik as they might say in Germany.

[KungFooBob]

I'm giving serious thought to a BMW 530e M Sport iPerformace (to give it a full title). 2019ish less than 40k, seems cheap at £24k with all the toys.

I can charge the small ish battery at work in three hours and it might just cover my full commute in pure electric mode (one way)

In all honesty I've never driven a hybrid, my commute is quite hilly with lots of traffic lights (Sheffield outer ring road, Manor top, gleadless, etc..). In my diesel volvo it seems the pulling away from the lights uses the most fuel. Would a hybrid do the pulling away in leccy mode and switch to petrol or just give it a boost?

[Cousin Jack]

No idea about the Beemer, but on my Lexus pulling away on a hill, or at anything above a very sluggish getaway on the level causes the engine to fire up. Newer cars may be better, the pure electric capacity on mine is pretty limited.

[Count Steer]

No idea about the Beemer, but on my Lexus pulling away on a hill, or at anything above a very sluggish getaway on the level causes the engine to fire up. Newer cars may be better, the pure electric capacity on mine is pretty limited.

My (not a plug-in) hybrid is the same but it is giving 70mpg average on mainly short journeys so the electric only or added oomph on pulling away does help. However, I imagine the battery pack on a plug-in is bigger so should spend more time in electric mode?

[ZRX61]

Crikey

https://ktla.com/news/e-bike-battery-sp ... ronx-fdny/

[Mr. Dazzle]

AFAIK you can force a 530e to stay in e mode if you want.

As for how long it stays in e mode or whatever, it varies massively from car to car, which driving mode you're in and how you drive it.

My car will use the e motor to help you up a hill and then regen on the way down (the drive train is linked to the satnag) but only if you're in eco mode. If you push push "the click" on the pedal it will fire up the engine though. Unless you're catching the car in front too quickly though, in which case it won't help you up the hill.

YMMV alot basically.

[MrLongbeard]

Crikey

https://ktla.com/news/e-bike-battery-sp ... ronx-fdny/

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[ZRX61]

Crikey

https://ktla.com/news/e-bike-battery-sp ... ronx-fdny/

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A five-alarm fire in the Bronx injured seven people on Sunday, officials said. KTLA’s sister station WPIX reports.
The fire started around 10:40 a.m. at Concourse Food Plaza at 2096 Grand Concourse and East 181st Street, according to the FDNY. They say the fire was caused by a lithium-ion battery from an e-bike. Within five minutes, the flames spread to the entire interior of the supermarket and to a laundromat next door, officials said. It took more than 200 firefighters and 50 units to put out the fire.

Five FDNY firefighters, an EMS worker, and a civilian were injured in the fire, according to Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh. Their injuries were not life-threatening and all were in stable condition.
“It’s an extraordinary amount of damage from this single bike,” Kavanagh said. “This really shows you how incredibly serious this can be.”
The fire occurred just a few days after the New York City Council passed new legislation to regulate lithium-ion batteries that power e-bikes. The legislation bans the sale of unregulated lithium-ion batteries in New York City.

Lithium-ion batteries can pose a severe hazard when modified or stored improperly, according to the FDNY. More than 200 fires in New York City were connected to lithium-ion batteries in 2022, according to the City Council. That includes a November fire sparked by another e-bike that injured more than three dozen people.

Lithium-ion batteries have also been to blame for recent fires on planes. Last month, a flight bound for New Jersey was forced to return to San Diego International shortly after takeoff when an external battery pack caught fire in the cabin.