When are you going fully electric?

Soldato
Joined
14 Dec 2003
Posts
5,683
You must be tearing your hair out with the current updates to Electric Highway. Your chargers are literally being removed
Haha the charging speed is so slow (and the car is so inefficient at motorway speeds) we have another car for long journeys.

But looking at consolidating into one longer range electric at the moment.
 
Soldato
Joined
9 Mar 2003
Posts
14,244
You must be tearing your hair out with the current updates to Electric Highway. Your chargers are literally being removed

This is exactly why I caution against buying a new leaf if you plan to keep it for any length of time. In the future you may find the network starting to regress, it will certainly cease to get better at some point.

40KW AC is disappearing and Chademo will be next in line, it will take longer but it’s likely to happen eventually. IMO of course.
 
Soldato
Joined
14 Dec 2003
Posts
5,683
This is exactly why I caution against buying a new leaf if you plan to keep it for any length of time. In the future you may find the network starting to regress, it will certainly cease to get better at some point.

40KW AC is disappearing and Chademo will be next in line, it will take longer but it’s likely to happen eventually. IMO of course.
It'll definitely happen and probably not too far away.

Nissan is going CCS too with the new Ariya so it'll be extinct as soon as the current gen Leaf ends production.
 
Soldato
Joined
25 May 2008
Posts
3,762
Location
North Wales
It almost seems weird that you can still buy a car with a Chademo plug on it in the UK, it's a bit like buying an HD-DVD long after BluRay was clearly declared the winner.

You do get the feeling it won't be long till it'll end up at the legal bare minimum to tick a box saying that a network supports Chademo, when in reality there'll be 1 broken Chademo plug in every 4th service station against swathes of CCS2 chargers.
 
Soldato
Joined
9 Mar 2003
Posts
14,244
‘were you mis-sold a Nissan Leaf? Apply here for compensation’

It doesn’t take much to see that potentially being a thing in the not too distant future.
 
Soldato
Joined
1 Mar 2010
Posts
21,926
doesn't matter during covid, but, another point there, maybe charging in europe, to wit

may10
The end of the CHAdeMO fast-charging standard is on the horizon in France. While a 2017-decree made CHAdeMO mandatory for DC-charging stations alongside CCS and Type 2 by the end of 2024, the government has now revised its plans.

The decree, published in its revised form earlier this month, ends the requirement to implement the Japanese standard. From now on, only CCS for DC charging and Type 2 for AC charging (22 kW) is considered mandatory for newly installed and replaced fast-charging stations in France
 
Soldato
Joined
30 Dec 2011
Posts
5,449
Location
Belfast
The infrastructure here in Northern Ireland is pretty dire right now because the charging companies cannot charge a fee for charging and there is minimal investment. So we have 10 rapid chargers, none of which charge over 50kW and many of which are broken. The southwest of Northern Ireland is completely bereft of rapid chargers which is a joke. The story in the Republic of Ireland is different with 350kW Ionity chargers in lots of places but prices are 0.79c (Euros) per kW which is very expensive but still OK overall.

What this pricing model does though is improve the chances of finding available chargers. This is an issue that plagues Northern Ireland because you turn up to one of the only 10 rapid chargers in the North and some freeloading git is stuck on it with their EV to get the free electricity. Or people have their PHEV stuck on the free type 2 charger for 7-8 hours. In fact my experience as an EV driver is that the biggest problem for EV ownership, is other EV owners.

I assume the charging prices include a 20% VAT rate in the UK, so at least the Government aren't going to suddenly start adding more tax on top?

Just off the top of my head what needs to happen for the infrastructure UK wide is.

  • One card/app for ALL chargers
  • Fixed rates
  • No more locating chargers in backwater poorly lit car parks in some pokey wee hole
  • Plenty of proper rapid chargers at motorway service stations with multiple 8 car bays like we see in Scandinavia
  • Car companies to stop doing things on the cheap, why is a car stuck doing 7kW or 11kW at a 22kW type 2 CCS?
  • Why are we still seeing park and rides built with no EV destination chargers
  • New housing developments need to start including destination chargers at parking bays.
  • ICE cars parking in EV bays need to be ticketed
  • EVs parking longer than required need to be ticketed
  • Destination chargers at most places of work. Even waterproof sockets for standard plugs would be acceptable
 
Last edited:
Soldato
Joined
9 Mar 2003
Posts
14,244
Personally, I don’t try and get too excited about concept cars. Even ones as ‘finished’ as this one. You know a bunch of stuff is going to be changed for the final version.

I doubt the doors will make it to the final version. While they look ‘cool’ anyone with a BMW i3 will tell you that they just fail if you actually need to use them.

The front looks nice but they need to get shot of that LIDAR, it completely ruins the roofline. I’m not sold on the back, no rear window just looks a bit odd. It looks like a mid engined super car but then you step back and realise it’s a big saloon. It’s also at disappointing.
 
Associate
Joined
18 Aug 2012
Posts
1,396
I’m considering an EQA, anyone got one of those? Test drove one and it felt perfect. How much it costs to charge electric car using public points for example one just across the road is called Source Energy
 
Soldato
Joined
9 Mar 2003
Posts
14,244
I’d expect an EQA to be somewhere in the region of 3 miles per KWh but it depends on how it’s driven and temperature.

Public charging costs vary significantly, it often depends on the type of charger and who runs it. Check Zap Map to see all the points where you might need them and it will tell you who runs them and the cost. Costs range from free to 70p/kWh.

Is there any reason you can’t charge at home? It will be significantly cheaper to charge own supply than the public network and far more convenient. EV ‘economy 4/5/6/7’ style tariffs can give rates as low as 5.5p/kWh overnight.
 
Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
10,951
Location
Bristol
Talking to someone who's not up on EV tech at all (neither am I really) and they were all set on getting a used, 1st gen Leaf, the 30kWh version. Is there anything they should be looking out for or aware of?
 
Soldato
Joined
9 Mar 2003
Posts
14,244
The state of health of the battery is the main point to check on a Leaf. If you do any research, it should be on this. There is loads of information on Google about what’s to expect at a given age and mileage. There will be some degradation but you want avoid a car with excessive degradation.

The leaf has a health indicator on the dash known as the ‘battery bars’, I don’t think they are linear though. You can use a wireless OBDII reader and the leaf spy app to get an accurate reading.

Otherwise check the condition of the friction brakes. A lot of EVs have issues with seized callipers through lack of use.

Check what AC charging connection it has. Most modern EVs have a ‘type 2’ plug but early leafs had a ‘j1772’ (type1?). Adaptors are readily available if needed but it’s better to have the right one installed in the first place.
 
Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
3,321
Location
Birmingham
Talking to someone who's not up on EV tech at all (neither am I really) and they were all set on getting a used, 1st gen Leaf, the 30kWh version. Is there anything they should be looking out for or aware of?

I would avoid, personally. It’s one of the few EVs which doesn’t have a cooling system for the battery so they tend to degrade more than others over time.

It also rapid charges using Chademo which is rapidly being phased out for CCS. Some sites now are entirely CCS (Ionity), and the motorway service station charging network is just in the process of drastically reducing their Chademo plug offerings in favour of more CCS.
 
Soldato
Joined
14 Dec 2003
Posts
5,683
Drove the Kona.. update to the feedback

XC40 Recharge she loved it (I did too) but it's a ridiculous price
Tesla M3 LR felt too big when she drove it and hated it instantly :(
Q4 etron after the Tesla she sat in it and went 'nah' too big so we didn't even test drive lol
ID3 might be onto a winner here - but the range is on the edge of being sufficient for the only car in the family but it does have fast charging. She enjoyed driving it after we put all the settings in comfort/eco
Kona electric felt very Zoe like, nothing revolutionary just a car that happens to be electric. Liked the fact there were a lot more buttons than the ID3 and less reliant on touch interfaces

Slight curveball but ended up ordering an ex-Demo e-Niro 4 :)

Looking forward it getting it - will update when it arrives!
 
Back
Top Bottom