Going Electric... Richard's EV thread.

[VRS Mike]

Was on the local and national news relating to the Honda Factory in Swindon.

Check out via Google or similar, probably about 3 months ago now. 

ah thanks, probably a bit late for a news article lol

[sigarland1987]

I've got one of the people carrier versions of the e-NV200 (Nissan's NV200 van with LEAF running gear) on loan for two weeks in January to test.

 

I am guessing still 7 seaters, Definately could see that being used by taxi firms in the future!

[lfc958]

I don't see the point of a hydrogen car until the infrastructure is in place.

 

Ev point are not exactly plentiful , to make them anymore than a local run around,at present & these are only increasing slowly due to the introduction of EV's by other manufacturers.

EV were in the same position as Hydrogen for this & people took the plunge & bought ( including yourself) ;)

[sharkrider]

I believe there are now EV points at EVERY motorway service station! makes them pretty well usable now

[BossFox]

Ev point are not exactly plentiful , to make them anymore than a local run around,at present & these are only increasing slowly due to the introduction of EV's by other manufacturers.

EV were in the same position as Hydrogen for this & people took the plunge & bought ( including yourself) ;)

 

I'm guessing you have not looked lately, (last year?) but EV charging points are widespread and in nearly every single motorway services too.

You statement is inaccurate, most of the chargers in Motorway services have been installed thanks to a partnership of Ecotricity and Nissan who kickstarted the whole EV charging network.

Other manufacturers now joining the EV market has had little impact other than more cars means more charging, so many motorway services now have two Rapid Chargers.

 

When I bought my EV Nissan were already pushing ahead with the charging network and it was possible to drive between major cities.

I drove my 2nd LEAF back from Devon.

Currently nobody is taking any responsibility for setting up a hydrogen refueling network for the public.

[Toxicvrs]

I'm guessing you have not looked lately, (last year?) but EV charging points are widespread and in nearly every single motorway services too.

You statement is inaccurate, most of the chargers in Motorway services have been installed thanks to a partnership of Ecotricity and Nissan who kickstarted the whole EV charging network.

Other manufacturers now joining the EV market has had little impact other than more cars means more charging, so many motorway services now have two Rapid Chargers.

When I bought my EV Nissan were already pushing ahead with the charging network and it was possible to drive between major cities.

I drove my 2nd LEAF back from Devon.

Currently nobody is taking any responsibility for setting up a hydrogen refueling network for the public.

There are 6 charging points out here in the sticks, it's serious and coming our way. There is one within 20 miles of the other throughout the county, now that's what I call progress in less than a year.

[sigarland1987]

Linked to the above post, just realised that they have a bank of chargers now at my Local Sainsburys and that was a recent refurb/rebuild so looks like as things get modernised they are becoming part of the inbuilt infrastructure.

 

Intrestingly they are prime parking sports as well!

[amstrange1]

Last time I checked I had plenty of electricity outlets in my house too, but I haven't got a hydrogen tap though. Yet.

 

The government have invested heavily in EV infrastructure, but less so in Hydrogen:

http://www.ukh2mobility.co.uk/news-media/announcement/multi-million-pound-fund-to-get-hydrogen-cars-moving/

 

That's £11m for hydrogen out of £500m total for low emissions vehicle/infrastructure development. Given that the £5k plug-in car grant budget is £200m, gives you an idea of how much support the government is giving to H2 vs EV.

 

The current challenge for the EV charging infrastructure is to harmonise vehicle interfaces now that the international standards have caught up.

[gadgetman]

Where is all the electricity going to come from to support mass growth in ev?

Getting pig sick of all these empty charge bays that are taking everywhere over as they have around centre MK! Almost 50 hardly used bays

[Dark_Hero]

Where is all the electricity going to come from to support mass growth in ev?

Getting pig sick of all these empty charge bays that are taking everywhere over as they have around centre MK! Almost 50 hardly used bays

Nuclear

Looking forward to the first nuclear powered car

[Dr Zoidberg]

Nuclear

Looking forward to the first nuclear powered car

 

How much is a Mr Fusion for a Leaf?

[BossFox]

A LEAF charging overnight (as most users do) doesn't cause hardly any more drain on the grid than having a kettle switched on.

Daytime charging is a minority activity, due to the charging times and lack of convenience.

Much better to charge the car while it's not needed.

[BossFox]

For the next week I shall be driving a KIA Soul EV... which I picked up this evening.

 

 

First off, it isn't as odd looking as people seem to make out as a reason for criticising it.
It's certainly no more odd looking than a LEAF.

Anway, KIA have done a good job in my opinion.
A lot of things that are good on the LEAF are here.
A number of things that are not good on the LEAF are improved.  Such as:

1.The steering adjusts for reach and rake, just like a modern car has for years. So I can get more comfortable due to the better ergonomics.
2. You can have a battery range, and a gauge of how much electric is left like with a car that uses fuel. And a percentage battery meter.
3. The sat nav is good, and up to date. The dash is more modern and nicer. The large touchscreen is easy to use.
4. I personally found the seat more comfortable and the headrests in a better place.
5. The charging door is designed to not shut of you leave a charging port cover open.
6. The 32A charger is standard. As are both charging cables for 32A and the household plug! (£1,000 extra from Nissan?)

I picked it up today fully charged from North West London and drove 57 miles home.
Addmitedly I did drive sensibly (between 60-65 on the M25) but with the air-con and heating on (+7c outside) I got home with 51% of the battery remaining and a predicted range of 47 to go.

Will see how it goes.
It's nice to be able to compare directly as I have a LEAF or two at work.

[Toxicvrs]

What's the range on it from fully charged?

[BossFox]

What's the range on it from fully charged?

 

KIA quote 132 miles on the official test.  Nissan quote about 120 or so for the LEAF.

 

Currently all I know is this:

 

I picked it up today fully charged from North West London and drove 57 miles home.

Addmitedly I did drive sensibly (between 60-65 on the M25) but with the air-con and heating on (+7c outside) I got home with 51% of the battery remaining and a predicted range of 47 to go.

 

I used to average around 80-90 miles in a LEAF under the same conditions.

[Dark_Hero]

Great to see a competitor to the leaf.

It looks a bit like a city yeti or whatever they call them

Look forward to the reviews

[sharkrider]

I watched the vid, apparently it has better density (more power per ammount of space) than the current teslas (although these are about to get better with their new batteries on the way) so top of the pile for that at this moment in time!

[Toxicvrs]

How is it after 3 days?

[mdk1]

Will it be going to Maidstone tomorrow?

[BossFox]

How is it after 3 days?

KIA have done a good job in my opinion.

A lot of things that are good on the LEAF Gen2 are here.

A number of things that are not good on the LEAF and Gen2 LEAF are improved.

1.The steering adjusts for reach and rake, just like a modern car has for years. So I can get more comfortable due to the better ergonomics. (LEAF is oddly rake only)

2. You can have a battery range, and a gauge of how much electric is left like with a car that uses fuel. And a percentage battery meter.

3. The sat nav is good, and up to date. The dash is more modern and nicer. The large touchscreen is easy to use.

4. I personally found the seat more comfortable and the headrests in a better place.

5. The charging door is designed to not shut of you leave a charging port cover open.

6. The 32A charger is standard. As are both charging cables for 32A and the household plug! (£1,000 extra from Nissan?)

7. When using the heavier regen (B mode) the brake light illuminate, unlike on the LEAF.

8. Has a similar rear camera, but front and back sensors too which is better in the winter when cameras quickly get gummed up with crud.

I seem to be averaging about 95-100 miles per full charge.

There is supposed be be an updated LEAF with a rumoured optional bigger battery.

Will be interesting to see if KIA have beaten the LEAF only to quickly be outdated by a better LEAF.

I could quite happily have this as a family car anyway. It's good and with the increasingly better charging network 100 miles isn't a bad range for most of my non-towing or track day miles.

[Toxicvrs]

What's the rear space like?

[BossFox]

What's the rear space like?

In terms of length the Soul is half way between a Fabia and a Fabia estate/Yeti.

I can just about sit behind myself (6'3") but boot space is a little small like the Yeti is.

They've put a false floor in to stow the two charging xables underneath.

Overall it's not that different to a Yeti, just with a little less boot. Similar height driving position too which is nice.

[Toxicvrs]

In terms of length the Soul is half way between a Fabia and a Fabia estate/Yeti.

I can just about sit behind myself (6'3") but boot space is a little small like the Yeti is.

They've put a false floor in to stow the two charging xables underneath.

Overall it's not that different to a Yeti, just with a little less boot. Similar height driving position too which is nice.

I like the false floor idea that's spot on, at least it's not like the Auris Hybrid I was shown which severely lacked boot space and interior height due to battery location.

[Chris]

The thing with the soul is that they took a standard production car and gave it electric power. The leaf was designed as an electric car.

I saw the Soul EV at Geneva and was impressed with how well built it felt and its dash layout. Plus 7 year warranty!

[Paul007]

Audi press release today...

 

A3 Sportback e-tron on display at landmark London shopping centre

 

Audi opens its first ever 'pop-up' store today (Monday 12 January 2015) at London's Westfield Shopping Centre in Stratford. The store will showcase the A3 Sportback e-tron to shoppers in readiness for the national roll out of this recently crowned 2015 What Car? Electric Car of the Year at Audi Centres across the UK from 17 January 2015

 

Utilising the latest 2D and 3D augmented reality as well as virtual reality, the full range of innovative technology that the versatile A3 Sportback e-tron has to offer is depicted through a suite of immersive digital platforms. The A3 Sportback e-tron will also be in situ 'in the metal'.

 

Customers can go on a virtual test drive of the very first Audi production plug-in hybrid electric car using Oculus Rift headsets, learn about the benefits of the four different drive modes available (including an electric-only mode and a hybrid charging mode) on the A3 Sportback e-tron, as well as personally configure their own bespoke model using the Audi Explorer App and Audi Mileage Tracker App. Additionally, the Audi connect app will enable owners of the car to control a variety of functions, such as the charging system via their smartphones.

 

The ground-breaking store compliments the cutting-edge performance of the A3 Sportback e-tron, which promotes mobility without compromise and is the first electric car of any kind to be derived from a UK best-selling premium hatchback. It couples a 75kW electric motor with a 150 PS 1.4 TFSI petrol engine, delivering the potential for up to 176mpg with CO2 emissions of just 37g/km. During a recent test drive in Vienna, the car drove 41 miles of a 55-mile city trip with zero emissions.

 

Sarah Cox, National Communications Manager for Audi UK, says: "The Audi store has popped up at Westfield Stratford at the perfect time with What Car? magazine awarding the A3 Sportback e-tron its 2015 Electric Car of the Year award only last week.

 

"Westfield customers will be able to explore the benefits of the first plug-in hybrid car produced by Audi with the help of leading-edge virtual technologies. It's an innovative way to interact with an innovative car and one which spearheads another new foray for the Audi philosophy of Vorsprung durch Technik."

 

Drivers who have already made the transition to an electric car and who park it at Westfield Stratford while they visit the pop-up store will be able to take advantage of six free charging bays courtesy of Audi from 12 January to 8 February.

 

The Audi pop-up shop will open seven days a week for four weeks until 8 February - 1000 to 2100hrs from Monday to Friday, 0900hrs to 2100hrs on Saturday and mid-day to 1800hrs on Sunday. For a taster of what the shop has to offer, visit audi.co.uk/etronwestfield.

 

Audi UK partnered with SOMO, its digital agency, to deliver the five new technology installations.