Electric Car

b0rn2sk8 · 19 Sep 2017 at 19:39

-Neil- said:
The heater in it is quite effective from the get go, more so than any other car I've owned or used. Something to do with utilising a heat pump?

An electric restive heater will work much the same way. It is due to the source of the heat (electricity).

This is because you don't have to wait for an engine to heat up before the internal heater can start working like in an ICE.

Think of it as the difference of waiting for a slow kettle to boil vs turning on a hair dryer.

peter · 20 Sep 2017 at 14:00

Heating in the leaf comes from the aircon in reverse so acting as a heat pump

b0rn2sk8 · 21 Sep 2017 at 17:23

peter said:
Heating in the leaf comes from the aircon in reverse so acting as a heat pump

Older Leaf's were fitted with a resistive heater so it depends on what model.

Both make instant heat compared to an ICE. The heat pump just uses less power which makes it better for an EV.

Neil777 · 21 Sep 2017 at 21:38

Even Leaf's with heat pumps have resistive heating.

Jono8 · 4 Oct 2017 at 10:47

https://www.topgear.com/car-news/electric/nissan-leaf-nismo-here-soon

^Looks quite nice and could potentially have ~200bhp or more and a range of ~300 miles with the larger battery pack planned.

Now if there were some stonking lease deals on something like that, I could be very tempted indeed. A large chunk of the monthly lease cost would be offset by the huge saving in fuel costs so would certainly be something to consider.

Psycho Sonny · 4 Oct 2017 at 13:30

Jono8 said:
https://www.topgear.com/car-news/electric/nissan-leaf-nismo-here-soon

^Looks quite nice and could potentially have ~200bhp or more and a range of ~300 miles with the larger battery pack planned.

Now if there were some stonking lease deals on something like that, I could be very tempted indeed. A large chunk of the monthly lease cost would be offset by the huge saving in fuel costs so would certainly be something to consider.

>£30K though and only around 200 bhp probably lower. It's all fur coat and no knickers. Perfect for the wife though if it was cheaper. Hopefully they pop up second hand after 3 years for £15K. That would make them much more appealing if what you are trying to do is save money by going electric.

I'd happily just take a standard leaf with just cosmetic changes to make it look like that for £2K extra.

Hater · 4 Oct 2017 at 13:55

Why would someone after an electric economy car care about a souped up version, and why would someone who wants an electric sports car want one based on an economy car?

I mean yeah, hot hatches - But those things handle well, electric cars are too heavy for that at the moment

Luke · 4 Oct 2017 at 17:18

I'm 6 weeks into PHEV ownership and have just had my first complete calendar month electricity bill through. I've used an extra £15 of electric that month and have done approx 700 miles. I've managed to charge half a dozen times at public free charging points in that time but most charging is at home. My fuel in the Jeep would have cost around £160 for the same distance. I'm still very impressed.

b0rn2sk8 · 4 Oct 2017 at 18:05

Psycho Sonny said:
>£30K though and only around 200 bhp probably lower. It's all fur coat and no knickers. Perfect for the wife though if it was cheaper. Hopefully they pop up second hand after 3 years for £15K. That would make them much more appealing if what you are trying to do is save money by going electric.

I'd happily just take a standard leaf with just cosmetic changes to make it look like that for £2K extra.

Why are you moaning about its only 200bhp? Fiest ST, Clio RS, Corsa VXR etc are all roughly that kind of power. Hardly slow.

I would expect a 200bhp leaf to beat all of the above in a drag race because of the 100% torque from 0RPM and no gears even if it is heavier.

A leaf only weighs 1560kg, a Focus ST is 1437kg. Basically the difference between having a fat bloke in the car or a tank of fuel.

A Corsa VXR is about 1300kg again really not that much in it.

Have you ever driven an electric car? People go and test drive them because they might save a few £ over the life of the car (lets face it it really is not much at all) and it means they are not polluting the immediate environment around them. People keep them because they are more refined, engaging and fun to drive. They are usually much faster than your average hatchback normal people buy in normal driving conditions around town.

Hater said:
Why would someone after an electric economy car care about a souped up version, and why would someone who wants an electric sports car want one based on an economy car?

I mean yeah, hot hatches - But those things handle well, electric cars are too heavy for that at the moment

All the weight from the battery is in the floor giving a much lower centre of mavity and the weight is distributed much better through the car rather than being all over the front wheels. It is really not as simple as saying heavy = rubbish. Have you seen the RS Zoe video's online, seems to handle just fine.

https://www.slashgear.com/motortrends-worlds-greatest-drag-race-2017-is-an-epic-race-25501420/

Super cars cars beaten by a 2108kg electric family car....

Simon · 4 Oct 2017 at 20:43

£135k family car beating a £120k supercar

b0rn2sk8 · 4 Oct 2017 at 21:12

A P100D starts at £122k and there were more expensive cars on that list, that being said they are all in the same ballpark of 'pretty expensive'. The Merc for instance starts at £143k.

All of the other cars are focused sports cars and most of which weigh 500kg less and yet they all still lost to a family sized saloon car powered by green fairy dust.

The point is just because it's electric doesn't mean it is a green machine with flowers coming out the back and driven by new age hippies trying to get every last bit of distance from each KW of electricity. They can be fun and they can be fast and still use less energy than a run of the mill hatchback.

Jono8 · 4 Oct 2017 at 22:07

Well i think i am going to be seriously tempted by the new leaf when the more powrful + bigger battery version comes out if there are decent lease deals on it like there have been on the current leaf..

the stated 310+ miles for the larger battery version should hopefully translate into at least about 250 realistic miles which would be enough.

theone8181 · 5 Oct 2017 at 07:57

b0rn2sk8 said:
Why are you moaning about its only 200bhp? Fiest ST, Clio RS, Corsa VXR etc are all roughly that kind of power. Hardly slow.

I would expect a 200bhp leaf to beat all of the above in a drag race because of the 100% torque from 0RPM and no gears even if it is heavier.

A leaf only weighs 1560kg, a Focus ST is 1437kg. Basically the difference between having a fat bloke in the car or a tank of fuel.

A Corsa VXR is about 1300kg again really not that much in it.

Have you ever driven an electric car? People go and test drive them because they might save a few £ over the life of the car (lets face it it really is not much at all) and it means they are not polluting the immediate environment around them. People keep them because they are more refined, engaging and fun to drive. They are usually much faster than your average hatchback normal people buy in normal driving conditions around town.

All the weight from the battery is in the floor giving a much lower centre of mavity and the weight is distributed much better through the car rather than being all over the front wheels. It is really not as simple as saying heavy = rubbish. Have you seen the RS Zoe video's online, seems to handle just fine.

https://www.slashgear.com/motortrends-worlds-greatest-drag-race-2017-is-an-epic-race-25501420/

Super cars cars beaten by a 2108kg electric family car....

Thats quite a big wieght difference, altho ive only seen teslas do drag racing. It would be interesting to see the lower end of electric cars race hot hatches (i read that the i3 is quicker to 30 than an M5).

Nasher · 5 Oct 2017 at 08:25

If you accelerate hard in an EV, it will be flat very quickly though. It's not like you can drive around dusting people at the lights all day long. But run of the mill EVs like the Leaf and i3 tend to only be quick off the line, for about 20 yards. Then theres nothing after that.

NickK · 5 Oct 2017 at 08:25

We need a car for the people #voltzwagenbeetle

Simon · 5 Oct 2017 at 08:39

theone8181 said:
Thats quite a big wieght difference, altho ive only seen teslas do drag racing. It would be interesting to see the lower end of electric cars race hot hatches (i read that the i3 is quicker to 30 than an M5).

No chance in the i3. Sure they are fast off the mark and feel faster due to the lack of noise. However it dies off pretty quick.

NickK · 5 Oct 2017 at 08:39

Electric can control traction and wheel torque delivery far more efficiently, combine with lack of gears - hence to fast acceleration.

Simon · 5 Oct 2017 at 08:42

The i3 does have limited ‘wind up’ to stop it breaking things. However the 19x5 inch wheels offer very limited traction anyway.

The brakes on the one I drove were useless too !

Nasher · 5 Oct 2017 at 08:42

Simon said:
No chance in the i3. Sure they are fast off the mark and feel faster due to the lack of noise. However it dies off pretty quick.

Yep, a standard Golf GTI will beat an i3 all day long without even trying. I remember Clarkson doing it in TGT

jaffveyda · 5 Oct 2017 at 08:57

A friend from work have one of the 4x4 Mitsubishi one, he's quite pleased with it. Charges overnight with station installed in garage FOC. Cost him peanuts to drive around.