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EV general discussion

Probably not. I think someone here was planning a 1k mile trip and yeah after some man maths it wasn't worth it
Yeah, sounds like the only reason to hire one would be just to experience an EV for the first time at its most inconvenient. Not worth doing for this particular trip, but perhaps next time.
 
Wow. How'd you get down there instead?
Last year I went by train which took longer than I can do it in a car plus I was in agony by the time I got there because those seats in the Hitachi units are no better than the old 3rd class solid wood seats. Sixteen and a half hours in Hitachi trains is not the slightest bit enjoyable despite going through some of the most scenic routes in the country!! Next time I fly!!
 
Last year I went by train which took longer than I can do it in a car plus I was in agony by the time I got there because those seats in the Hitachi units are no better than the old 3rd class solid wood seats. Sixteen and a half hours in Hitachi trains is not the slightest bit enjoyable despite going through some of the most scenic routes in the country!! Next time I fly!!

I did Elgin -> Edinburgh -> Kings Cross -> Paddington -> Truro. I must say breaking up the journey helped, as I have done the long train from Aberdeen to Penzance on the Voyager an it was awful.
 
Last year I went by train which took longer than I can do it in a car plus I was in agony by the time I got there because those seats in the Hitachi units are no better than the old 3rd class solid wood seats. Sixteen and a half hours in Hitachi trains is not the slightest bit enjoyable despite going through some of the most scenic routes in the country!! Next time I fly!!
I'm glad you said this, I got on one down to London and it was horrific. Tried for the entire journey to get comfy, in the end I stood up in between carriages. I tried first class following time and that was only marginally better.
 
I'm glad you said this, I got on one down to London and it was horrific. Tried for the entire journey to get comfy, in the end I stood up in between carriages. I tried first class following time and that was only marginally better.
Bit off topic but when I went interrailing round Germany last month it was really interesting to compare trains. We took 1st class and it really seemed like the base train was the same but the German operators opted for a nice spec while we got the bottom end one on our trains. Everything from lights on seats to baby change. Not a train guy so can't be sure tbf but it seemed pretty similar underneath. Much more comfortable though for 6-8 hours at a time.
 
I did Elgin -> Edinburgh -> Kings Cross -> Paddington -> Truro. I must say breaking up the journey helped, as I have done the long train from Aberdeen to Penzance on the Voyager an it was awful.
I went Scotrail class 158 Elgin to Inverness.
LNER Class 800 Azuma "The Highland Chieftan" Inverness to Kings Cross.
Dash across the underground to Paddington to catch a GWR Class 802 to Penzance which had no air con as it was broken and the train was stifling.

Return was GWR class 802 Penzance to Paddington which left 12 min late and again had no air con.
London underground Paddington to Kings Cross.
LNER class 800 Azuma Kings Cross to Edinburgh which was horrendously overcrowded from the start, got in 23 min late and no air con again.
Scotrail Class 170 Edinburgh to Aberdeen got in 27 min late and again overcrowded.
Scotrail class 158 Aberdeen to Elgin running late because they held it for us on the previous train.

Most of the journeys took longer than they did in the 80's/early 90's and are massively more uncomfortable. It's not a nice experience and no way to get customers to return.

I'm glad you said this, I got on one down to London and it was horrific. Tried for the entire journey to get comfy, in the end I stood up in between carriages. I tried first class following time and that was only marginally better.
Since we stopped designing and building our own coaches they have steadily got more and more uncomfortable. It's just the maximum number of bums on seats now although how long those bums can manage to stay in the rock hhard seats is another thing altogether.

Bit off topic but when I went interrailing round Germany last month it was really interesting to compare trains. We took 1st class and it really seemed like the base train was the same but the German operators opted for a nice spec while we got the bottom end one on our trains. Everything from lights on seats to baby change. Not a train guy so can't be sure tbf but it seemed pretty similar underneath. Much more comfortable though for 6-8 hours at a time.
Most of Germanys new trains are built by Siemens. I had four wonderful years in Germany when I was in the RAF and their railways are leagues ahead of ours. They are punctual, comfortable, clean and cheap.

Anyway, that's enough of the diversion, let's get back to EV's.
 
We picked up my wifes new J01 JCW Electric Level 2. We went to the Northwest to collect and drove it back home which was about 165 miles. The car looks amazing in Legacy Grey with the black room and bonnet stripes, the interior is a notice step up from the previous generation as is all the tech inside. The ride is firm but by no means the worst we've ever had, and it is the JCW, power delivery is very very different and much smoother than the previous car. Overall other than the drive home hasn't gone far but so far she loves it.
 
U.K. trains are less comfortable partly because they need to cram more seats into carriages to increase capacity.

When the last train refresh happened in my area, the seats in the old trains were far more comfortable but there was way less of them. They had more padding and were less upright.

That extra 5-6cm saved per seat really adds up over a 100m train.

A good comparison Ryan air vs BA flights.
 
Charger installed. Tested it out and it does indeed take the excess solar and add any grid top up if needed. I don't imagine I'll use this setup but useful for the future.

My Fox solar setup doesn't see the EV charger at all. So when it's exporting 7kW and the EV charger uses it, it has no idea.


 
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