Electric Cars

[L3nny]

Picked up an I3 with range extender on a week's loan yesterday and have done about 30 miles in it so far.

It drives surprisingly well, but then it's a 35k BMW so it bl00dy well should.
The instant torque pushes you back in your seat when floored at any speed up to about 70 and is addictive. Keep up a spirited driving style however and the range soon drops. I picked it up with a full battery and the range was showing 112 miles. 30 miles later is was showing 63 and I was driving a lot more carefully than I do in my 320D.

I decided to use a public charge point while at work and paid £2.50 for an hours charge, the range went up by 17 miles which is only about 50p cheaper than that distance would cost in the diesel.
I do have a card which allows me to use certain chargers in Central MK for free so I think I will stick to them in future. I could charge from home but that means a cable hanging out the window all night. Only question is what to do while car is charging, spend money in the shops I suppose?

My 320D returns about 35 mpg on the commute and 50mpg on the motorway and I tend to thrash it a bit more as it's my car.

At the moment it's not looking good for the electric car but I've got it a week and I have some long trips planned for the weekend so let's see what happens.

One thing I do really like about the I3 though is the 1 pedal driving, when you take your foot off the accelerator the regen kicks in a brakes for you, this will bring the car to a stop eventually and it's fun to see how far you can drive with 1 pedal. I am sure the novelty will wear off soon though.

[Seeker]

(new) Tesla roadster:
0-60 mph 1.9 secs
0-100 mph 4.2 secs
Top speed 250+ mph
Range 600+ miles
Price $200,000 (base)

Wow! some serious performance:

https://jalopnik.com/surprise-theres...eva-1820532533

[SV650rules]

Originally Posted by Seeker

(new) Tesla roadster:
0-60 mph 1.9 secs
0-100 mph 4.2 secs
Top speed 250+ mph
Range 600+ miles
Price $200,000 (base)

Wow! some serious performance:

https://jalopnik.com/surprise-theres...eva-1820532533

You can bet the range is calculated at steady 50mph like all other BEV, and if you use the performance range drops dramatically, you may well find yourself calling a tow truck to get your car to a charging station LOL.

I've never tried riding an electric car but feel like it will be an integral part of our lives by 2025 (at latest). Came across another thing that driverless cars will probably entail - self-driving motor homes https://tranio.com/world/spotlight/s...y-market_5354/. what do you think? to me if you work remotely and want to see a bit of the world it should be a great combo

[L3nny]

Even if the real world range is only 300 miles for that Tesla, it's still impressive.

Update on the I3, I love driving it, it feels like it has way more power than it does because of the instant torque. It's comfortable and has some nice toys.

I've managed to work out how to use the charger at work but it's slow to charge, not an issue as I am here 9+ hours every day but I am gaining about 12 mils range per hour, I hear the charge rate gets slower the closer you get to 100%. I plugged it in at 07:50 this morning on 32%, it's been on all day and now is at 79%, 7 hours later.

I have a 122 mile trip planned for tomorrow so how it copes with that will make or break whether I buy something electric for my next car.

[PyroUK]

Have you tried the app on your phone for it?

This is what really intrigued me about the i3, remote start and pre warming etc.

When I was looking at them I came to the conclusion that even with the range extender I'd struggle to get to my sister's 90 miles away in one hit but that was pretty much at launch, not sure if they've improved the batteries since then like the model s' ?

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[NTECUK]

Nissan leaf is looking better.
The new one even looks like a real car.
The BMW looks like a Tonka toy.

[SV650rules]

Yeah, the Nissan Leaf looks quite presentable now.

this is interesting ........

http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/a...ectric_vehicle
http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/a...ric_vehicle_ev

These are interesting articles, to allow for battery degradation the batteries are oversized to start with but the depth of charge and discharge are limited, as the battery ages these limits are moved to account for loss of capacity, the owner therefore thinks the battery is not actually losing capacity as the range may not decrease much, but more of the battery is being bought into usage, downside is that this extra depth of usage degrades the battery more rapidly.

[L3nny]

Originally Posted by PyroUK

Have you tried the app on your phone for it?

This is what really intrigued me about the i3, remote start and pre warming etc.

When I was looking at them I came to the conclusion that even with the range extender I'd struggle to get to my sister's 90 miles away in one hit but that was pretty much at launch, not sure if they've improved the batteries since then like the model s' ?

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Yep, used the app on my phone, set the car to warm up before I got in the shower this morning, all the frost was gone 10 mins later when I got into the car. It doesn't turn on the heated rear window and mirrors though so still had to turn that on and wait, but they were cleared in 30 seconds.

90 miles would be easy, you wouldn't even touch the range extender unless you drive like a complete loon.

[PyroUK]

Originally Posted by L3nny

Yep, used the app on my phone, set the car to warm up before I got in the shower this morning, all the frost was gone 10 mins later when I got into the car. It doesn't turn on the heated rear window and mirrors though so still had to turn that on and wait, but they were cleared in 30 seconds.

90 miles would be easy, you wouldn't even touch the range extender unless you drive like a complete loon.

Igood to know, also do you have a normal sat nav?

If so have you tried comparing the routes the normal nav gives v the in built? I read it builds the routes based on the most economical for the battery?

And not a loon as such, but I don't tend to hang about

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