EV general discussion
- Thread starter Ricochet J
- Start date
Last couple of days the car has been the perfect temperature so I've switched the climate control off. It's surprising just how much difference that makes to the noise (or lack of) at <30 mph. Above that it's all about the tyre noise anyway, just as it is in an ICE.
I get 5.5-5.8 on my 14 mile 25/30min commute in this weather. Probably a higher average speed tooBroke 5miles/kWh today :O
Swasticar isnt magic
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Haha it's definitely more efficient than my 440i!
For the same £, I don't think I'd have even travelled 1 mile
I still drive like a male appendage bimmer driver so that probably doesn't help efficiency
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Girlfriend's horse had to be moved to a different yard at the weekend, so the first towing mission for the CX60, and my first go at towing with a PHEV.
Not really much to report. We had the proper Mazda towbar fitted a few weeks back. Press a button in the boot, it flips down. Lock it into position, and once a trailer is plugged in, you get an extra "Towing" drive mode on the dash. Select that, and the car prioritizes using the petrol engine all the time, with the electric motors then seemingly used to assist. We had to get a 7 to 13 pin adapter for the trailer electrics, but that was only a few quid.
On Friday we towed the trailer (about 1100Kgs) plus a load of equipment; steel cabinets, bales of haylage, shavings, etc - probably about 2-300Kgs, so say about 1500Kgs max. The next day we moved His Horseness, he's probably about 650Kgs plus a couple of other bits - so say 1800Kg all up. Total distance from one yard to the next was 6 miles; although the day I took the horse, I took a longer route which doubled the distance. This is because the short route involves some steep hills up some very narrow single track roads. I wasn't worried about the incline, but having the horse on board I wanted to avoid meeting as much traffic as possible and perhaps being forced to back up - stressful at the best of times. So I took the longer round about route to spend more time on larger roads with less elevation.
As for actually towing, the car managed fine, but I do think a diesel still feels more effortless. At no point did I feel like the car couldn't manage (it's rated to pull 2500Kgs) - but being a four cylinder petrol, it obviously starts really revving out as you ask for power, and then I think the electric motors come in to assist when really needed. (I only saw "Boost" appear on the tach a few times, which I think means the EV motors are helping, but the battery did deplete slowly throughout the whole trip, which makes me think they must be providing effort in the background the whole time). Comparatively, our old Sorento 2.2 diesel was only rated for 2,000Kgs, but having a load of low down torque, it never really felt like it was pulling anything.
But overall, I'm happy. The Mazda still felt nice and stable, and has a smaller turning radius, so it's actually a tad easier to manoeuvre a trailer once at the destination - but if I was towing regularly, I reckon a diesel might still be the better choice over a PHEV (or at least, over one with a relatively small engine).
Not really much to report. We had the proper Mazda towbar fitted a few weeks back. Press a button in the boot, it flips down. Lock it into position, and once a trailer is plugged in, you get an extra "Towing" drive mode on the dash. Select that, and the car prioritizes using the petrol engine all the time, with the electric motors then seemingly used to assist. We had to get a 7 to 13 pin adapter for the trailer electrics, but that was only a few quid.
On Friday we towed the trailer (about 1100Kgs) plus a load of equipment; steel cabinets, bales of haylage, shavings, etc - probably about 2-300Kgs, so say about 1500Kgs max. The next day we moved His Horseness, he's probably about 650Kgs plus a couple of other bits - so say 1800Kg all up. Total distance from one yard to the next was 6 miles; although the day I took the horse, I took a longer route which doubled the distance. This is because the short route involves some steep hills up some very narrow single track roads. I wasn't worried about the incline, but having the horse on board I wanted to avoid meeting as much traffic as possible and perhaps being forced to back up - stressful at the best of times. So I took the longer round about route to spend more time on larger roads with less elevation.
As for actually towing, the car managed fine, but I do think a diesel still feels more effortless. At no point did I feel like the car couldn't manage (it's rated to pull 2500Kgs) - but being a four cylinder petrol, it obviously starts really revving out as you ask for power, and then I think the electric motors come in to assist when really needed. (I only saw "Boost" appear on the tach a few times, which I think means the EV motors are helping, but the battery did deplete slowly throughout the whole trip, which makes me think they must be providing effort in the background the whole time). Comparatively, our old Sorento 2.2 diesel was only rated for 2,000Kgs, but having a load of low down torque, it never really felt like it was pulling anything.
But overall, I'm happy. The Mazda still felt nice and stable, and has a smaller turning radius, so it's actually a tad easier to manoeuvre a trailer once at the destination - but if I was towing regularly, I reckon a diesel might still be the better choice over a PHEV (or at least, over one with a relatively small engine).
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Installer spoke to DNO who approved the install despite being looped, I guess the cable supply is good and its on a 100A so that saves some faff.
Getting to the CU is going to be fun so floor up later to get some holes and maybe run some string help the install go how I want tomorrow tomorrow as I've seen some installs with internal runs just using trunking above skirting boards which is just tragic. Ohme Pro with 8m cable
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Girlfriend's horse had to be moved to a different yard at the weekend, so the first towing mission for the CX60, and my first go at towing with a PHEV.
Not really much to report. We had the proper Mazda towbar fitted a few weeks back. Press a button in the boot, it flips down. Lock it into position, and once a trailer is plugged in, you get an extra "Towing" drive mode on the dash. Select that, and the car prioritizes using the petrol engine all the time, with the electric motors then seemingly used to assist. We had to get a 7 to 13 pin adapter for the trailer electrics, but that was only a few quid.
On Friday we towed the trailer (about 1100Kgs) plus a load of equipment; steel cabinets, bales of haylage, shavings, etc - probably about 2-300Kgs, so say about 1500Kgs max. The next day we moved His Horseness, he's probably about 650Kgs plus a couple of other bits - so say 1800Kg all up. Total distance from one yard to the next was 6 miles; although the day I took the horse, I took a longer route which doubled the distance. This is because the short route involves some steep hills up some very narrow single track roads. I wasn't worried about the incline, but having the horse on board I wanted to avoid meeting as much traffic as possible and perhaps being forced to back up - stressful at the best of times. So I took the longer round about route to spend more time on larger roads with less elevation.
As for actually towing, the car managed fine, but I do think a diesel still feels more effortless. At no point did I feel like the car couldn't manage (it's rated to pull 2500Kgs) - but being a four cylinder petrol, it obviously starts really revving out as you ask for power, and then I think the electric motors come in to assist when really needed. (I only saw "Boost" appear on the tach a few times, which I think means the EV motors are helping, but the battery did deplete slowly throughout the whole trip, which makes me think they must be providing effort in the background the whole time). Comparatively, our old Sorento 2.2 diesel was only rated for 2,000Kgs, but having a load of low down torque, it never really felt like it was pulling anything.
But overall, I'm happy. The Mazda still felt nice and stable, and has a smaller turning radius, so it's actually a tad easier to manoeuvre a trailer once at the destination - but if I was towing regularly, I reckon a diesel might still be the better choice over a PHEV (or at least, over one with a relatively small engine).
She needs an electric horse. Much easier to run.
Highest I've seen is 4.4
My regular 13 mile commute I get 2.8-3.2
I don't really pay much attention to it and only ever drive economically when I need to. Otherwise it's performance mode and using it
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I'm usually around the 2.4-2.7 which has been lots of fun too!.... Too many steady motorway miles though which is driving my figures more towards sensibility rather than looooonacy! 
Can't remember if you've said but is it easier for them to get to your meter rather than your CU? They could then install a standalone CU just for the charger next to your meter and run it from that.
In other news I'm slowly wrapping all the bits of internal piano black trim I can get to in a matte black vinyl, looks much nicer.
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TBH, why not unless you need the range. People have performance ICE cars and rip them around for years then get themselves an EV that costs pennies per mile and suddenly start worrying about efficiency!I still drive like a male appendage bimmer driver so that probably doesn't help efficiency
Far lower emissions as well.
Both next to each other under the stairs where the power comes in from the back garden. Joy of a 1902 house I guess
Pretty sure that's called a rabbit
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Pretty sure that's called a rabbit
Much, much bigger scale.