Immense;

 

Got an email today from Tesla saying there will be a test drive event in London before the end of the year, for reservation holders to have a play with the car prior to ordering.

Sounds like fun.

If you don't order they refund your deposit.

Got an email today from Tesla saying there will be a test drive event in London before the end of the year, for reservation holders to have a play with the car prior to ordering.

Sounds like fun.

If you don't order they refund your deposit.

 

You can't argue with that!  Now if only I could justify (or should I say afford..) a 50-60K Tesla S then I'd be reserving immediately to have a play with!

I figured nothing to lose.

If I don't like it, can't afford the price when released or just doesn't suit me I get the money back (less than 10% deposit) having been kept in the loop until that point and also getting invited to any test events in the UK.

It is a very interesting car to me, so I want to have a nose.

I figured nothing to lose.

If I don't like it, can't afford the price when released or just doesn't suit me I get the money back (less than 10% deposit) having been kept in the loop until that point and also getting invited to any test events in the UK.

It is a very interesting car to me, so I want to have a nose.

Exactly! Why not

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

This should be interesting...

Two oil workers are going to drive a LEAF from Aberdeen to London, then to Cardiff and back to Aberdeen.

Of particular note is the quoted miles they will cover in four days: 1,500.

And the quoted range per rapid charge: 120.

Err... A rapid charge is 80% and the realistic range on a full battery is 80 - 90 miles.

So they'll be doing a LOT of rapid charging. After five or six goes the battery starts to get a bit warm.

It's not exactly what the car is designed for, 1,500 mile road trips.

Should be interesting.

http://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/CouncilNews/ci_cns/pr_plugin_adventure_290813.asp

One man's experience of running a LEAF for 1 year and 14k miles.

 

http://grantthomas.com/?p=748

 

Worth a read, if you are curious about how practical EVs are in the real world.

That does make a very good case for itself there.

It's got me thinking quite hard.

If you're on Google+ then Robert Llewellyn (aka Kryten) is worth a follow, he's a big EV fan and links to a lot of really interesting articles re: the development of renewable energy technology.

Get my new LEAF on Thursday.

 

Got a 250 mile drive home...

Get my new LEAF on Thursday.

 

Got a 250 mile drive home...

 

Got where you are sleeping and plugging in over night planned?

Got where you are sleeping and plugging in over night planned?

 

Hopefully I'll arrive home the same day, thanks to Ecotricty and their chargers at Welcome Break services...

Just need to dig my free swipe card out.

 

Fuel cost = £0. :sun:

That's a great blog, great video too.  Really sold the leaf to me.  Still holding out for the e-Golf, assuming it's not significantly more expensive!  However, I'd be interested to know how you get on with the 2nd Gen Leaf and again, if you notice a genuine range increase, especially with the newer more efficient cabin heater.

I like electric cars. There is a white leaf that has been temptingly sat on a local Nissan forecourt for more than 90 days but it wouldn't be worth it for me as I don't do enough miles.

 

I've driven the Leaf, it is a nice car to drive and a world away from the G-Wiz that I drive quite regularly at work.

Question Richard: Does the Leaf's charged cells suffer noticeable depletion if left unused and not connected to the mains?

I suspect this could be an early adopter wins situation. Give it five years subsidy will be gone, some method of taxation found and charging stations will stop being free.

Personally for me if they get 200 miles winter running at 80 (umm km/h) and recharge to 75% ish in thirty minutes I could see them as a replacement for combustion.

Further I believe they are working on gearing which may help with some of the above.

Question Richard: Does the Leaf's charged cells suffer noticeable depletion if left unused and not connected to the mains?

 

I don't think it's advised to leave them completely flat for any length of time.

But out of the 24kW battery, only about 20kW is actually usable.

They do this to make sure you can't hurt the battery, even if you mistreat it.

 

The energy use when switched off is very low, a 25% charged battery will last many weeks, possibly months.

Route planned for Thursday...

 

270 miles and 3 charging stops.

71 miles, 75 miles, 63 miles and a final leg of 61 miles.

 

2nd leg should be the most interesting.  75 miles on an 80% charge, may have to crank the machine up to 85% to be sure.

I don't really want to add in a small 10 mile diversion to find the extra charger I need unless I have to.

 

It's certainly going to give me a good indication of if the 2nd Gen LEAF has more range in real terms than the Gen1.

 

Looking forward to it, I like a bit of a challenge.

Ive noticed in the last 6 months that EV charge points are cropping up more and more.

 

Newcastle city centre has some dedicated EV-charge parking spaces on most their major streets.

Some Manchester city centre car parks have Ev charge points

Even my local public (free) car park in Prestwich has EV charge points now.

 

My employers have a couple of Leafs as pool cars... based on the fact that the majority of journeys are to our other sites which are within a 30m radius of manchester...

Ive driven one and was very impressed... to the point of working out that the range could cover every trip i make except the Weston Briskoda meet..

If anyone here was hoping for a cheap Golf-e, dream on.  Look at the price for the electric Ford Focus:

 

http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/ford-focus-electric-priced-%C2%A333k

 

£33,500...  And that is for a dowdy looking, with Fisher Price toy looking interior, rental car Ford.

If anyone here was hoping for a cheap Golf-e, dream on.  Look at the price for the electric Ford Focus:

 

http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/ford-focus-electric-priced-%C2%A333k

 

£33,500...  And that is for a dowdy looking, with Fisher Price toy looking interior, rental car Ford.

 

That seems a bit expensive, considering the LEAF in top spec trim with all sorts of nice options standard (nav, leather, heated 4 seats and wheel, BOSE etc...) is £32k.

 

 

The 143bhp Focus Electric will cost nearly twice as much as the cheapest £15k Nissan Leaf and £17k Renault Fluence ZE, although the running costs of the Renault are higher because the battery must be leased.

That seems a bit expensive, considering the LEAF in top spec trim with all sorts of nice options standard (nav, leather, heated 4 seats and wheel, BOSE etc...) is £32k.

 

And as pig ugly as the Leaf is (again sorry  ) it is still a better looking device than the Focus.  Especially inside where all the surfaces and buttons on a Focus gives me an instant migraine.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yes, it's a frog.

 

 

Interior is nice though.

I find Ford and Vauxhall ones (Ampera) horrid.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yes, it's a frog.

 

 

It is.  And I like quirky weird things.  So yes even pig ugly can be "beautiful".  

It is.  And I like quirky weird things.

 

Said one Yeti owner to another...