Electric Cars

[punyXpress]

Thanks for that, Lenny - probably took as long to type as to make the trip!
That tale should be mandatory reading for anyone contemplating a 'leccy car.
Indeed, you should copyright it and make a fortune from your weekend's trauma.

[L3nny]

It's so hard to get any unbiased opinions about the pros and cons, I've watched dozens of youtube videos and they are either 100% electric car converts who seem to love meticulously planning journeys to include charging points or old school petrol heads who don't believe the technology has moved on since milk floats.
I don't care either way, I just want a cheap to run, practical fun car.
And I have one, a BMW 320d!

[Luckypants]

Great write up Lenny, sounds like a right PITA sorting out the charging. Also very surprised no charge points at the NEC!

[Luckypants]

Originally Posted by Luckypants

Our current plan is to lease our next car (probably diesel)

Originally Posted by L3nny

Not being able to use the I3 for the day we take his diesel Mercedes, a good job as otherwise the day would have been a right off. His C220d is a similar price to the I3. It's more comfortable, better equipped and actually quieter when crusing above 60 and I'm thinking,

Guess what my favourite for the next one is? If I can get one in my budget......

[embee]

Great write up Lenny, nothing like a real world experience to put things into perspective.

[L3nny]

Originally Posted by Luckypants

Great write up Lenny, sounds like a right PITA sorting out the charging. Also very surprised no charge points at the NEC!

I sent an email to the NEC last week and they sent a very detailed reply, basically, because people come to the NEC for the whole day, they would need to install dozens of charge points which after a couple of hours charging once the car is full would be sat there unused. It makes sense and I expect a lot of places have similar concerns.

[SV650rules]

I have read many tests of BEV and one thing stands out, the range is based on about a steady 50mph on the flat. One Tesla test I read they took the motorway between London and Birmingham, and instead of a 300 mile range they got about 220. IMHO to get 80 miles less range as the penalty for doing 70mph'ish for part of the journey is a pretty big chunk out of the expected range.


Autocar tested the 2017 Tesla S P100D - which boasts a 380 mile range... below is quote from testers

'Extended periods at motorway speeds don’t help, either – we used around half of the battery’s capacity in about 110 miles,
it was a cold day though, which may go some way to explain it'

[L3nny]

Car goes back today. I'll be sad to see it go and I think I was a little harsh in my write up seeing as most of the issues could have been prevented and I still had the range extender so could have just used that more.
That said, the charge time is still a bit too slow. I left work yesterday with a full battery, went home and back to work, total of 23 miles. It took 2 hours on the level 2 charger to get back to 100%.
The I3s has just been released which is supposed to be even quicker and the charging infrastructure is only going to get better so I haven't completely ruled electric cars out but I probably wont get one just yet.

[punyXpress]

Originally Posted by L3nny

I sent an email to the NEC last week and they sent a very detailed reply, basically, because people come to the NEC for the whole day, they would need to install dozens of charge points which after a couple of hours charging once the car is full would be sat there unused. It makes sense and I expect a lot of places have similar concerns.

What the 'charger - hoggers ' need is a thundering charge for obstructing others from using them. After all, they wouldn't like it!

[ophic]

Originally Posted by punyXpress

What the 'charger - hoggers ' need is a thundering charge for obstructing others from using them. After all, they wouldn't like it!

Or just install the required number. If you want people to use electric cars, supply the infrastructure.