The heater/ac will use energy, but the drive would probably be more efficient in slow moving traffic than an open road.
I've given up on LPG - the future is Electric.
- Thread starter Hawk Tuah
- Start date
We are considering an EV for my wife when she eventually decides to get rid of her Punto. I've got a car we can use for long journeys and her usage profile fits in with what IMO an EV is perfect for (I.E well within the range using only the home charger) with either a 15 or 8 mile daily commute depending on if she can park at work. The Zoe seems to tick the right boxes for her.
To make it work financially we would have to buy secondhand as the battery lease deals make it more expensive than using her current car. Although that is also based on us using her car for longer trips occasionally just to give it a run which we wouldn;t feel the need to do with an electric.
Positive stuff aside... there is no way I'd consider one if there was even an inclination that I'd need to rely on a power supply that wasn't stuck to the side of my own house though. As you've already found if someone is on the only available charger then you are stuck for half an hour (or more) before you can even start your own 30 minute wait. I was also under the impression that rapid charging was meant as an occasional thing and actually didn't do the batteries any good?
To make it work financially we would have to buy secondhand as the battery lease deals make it more expensive than using her current car. Although that is also based on us using her car for longer trips occasionally just to give it a run which we wouldn;t feel the need to do with an electric.
Positive stuff aside... there is no way I'd consider one if there was even an inclination that I'd need to rely on a power supply that wasn't stuck to the side of my own house though. As you've already found if someone is on the only available charger then you are stuck for half an hour (or more) before you can even start your own 30 minute wait. I was also under the impression that rapid charging was meant as an occasional thing and actually didn't do the batteries any good?
Soldato
Wrong. You might want to do some basic research before you continue to comment on this thread.
Caporegime
I guess people who own electric cars don't really value their time very much.
Soldato
A long time. Heating or A/C would take approx 0.5kw depending on temperature so about 20 hours assuming 30 mile round trip taking half your 22kW capacity (talking winter range here).
I value it enough not to have to spend 5 minutes in a cold windy petrol station every week filling up the car and 3 minutes every morning not having to deice a car when it's freezing outside
Soldato
Showing your ignorance of the technology there I'#m afraid. Hydrogen cars are EVs. There is no internal combustion engine!
There are two types of EVs:
1. those powered by a battery
2. those powered by hydrogen (which incidentally also have a relatively battery in place).
I've always wondered if a range-extender with a decent-size plug-in battery with 75-100 miles range plus the ability to refill with hydrogen for longer trips might be worth a look.
Caporegime
A long time. Heating or A/C would take approx 0.5kw depending on temperature so about 20 hours assuming 30 mile round trip taking half your 22kW capacity (talking winter range here).
I value it enough not to have to spend 5 minutes in a cold windy petrol station every week filling up the car and 3 minutes every morning not having to deice a car when it's freezing outside
But to spend 20 minutes in a rubbish service station for an 85% charge when you try and drive anywhere that's a reasonable distance away?
Soldato
I don't do that, we use it as a 'city' car only in the winter when range is 60 miles and in the summer we do go further afield but not more than a 90 mile round trip. Car gets charged either at home or at a local Park and Ride in which case it takes 15 seconds to plug in.
Now if Renault do offer the 40kW battery upgrade to existing Zoe owners then the car will easily do 120 miles winter and 180 miles summer in which case we'd start using it to drive to my parents 100 miles away and plug in to charge overnight when we stay so we leave with a full charge the following day.
The car meets our requirements perfectly as we have a 2nd car for longer trips as required, doesn't mean that it's not fantastic for the use cases we use it for.
Last edited:
I can see that electric cars may suit some people. But in their current form they could never fit into my lifestyle. I'd have to keep one as a second (or third) car which means the other costs associated with buying and owning a car would negate the advantages.
If I lived in the middle of a city and wanted it as a city car then I suspect that using something like zipcar would be more useful. I know several people who use zipcar and they like it a lot.
If I lived in the middle of a city and wanted it as a city car then I suspect that using something like zipcar would be more useful. I know several people who use zipcar and they like it a lot.
Caporegime
An old out of warranty and from what i understand not very well thermally managed battery pack, no thanks.
These things will end up in the scrap heap on mass, the cost of a replacement pack will be huge vs what the car is worth.
EVs do depreciate very quickly though for exactly that reason. Once they hit a certain age people just won't buy them. They just cost a lot more to start with.
Nope, a few hydrogen internal combustion engined car have been built and they work well (I think Honda even made one). But they never got past prototypes.
Last edited:
Soldato
So you'd advocate those over the normal hydrogen-cars that are on the road or in development???
Soldato
Despite the massive inefficiencies in the ICE engine, where most of the energy is lost as heat?
EVs are much more efficient at turning stored energy into forward motion.
Associate
The future is defiantly electric OP! but in the here and now, it still isn't ready...
That doesn't make any sense, the reason I want an electric car is I value my time and an electric car would save me lots of time over a fual car.
Soldato
unless you have to drive over 60 miles?
current electric cars can make sense to some people, depending on the use but they do not have the power to replace ICE cars.
Soldato
- Joined
- 6 Sep 2016
- Posts
- 9,694
Can't think of many employers would be too chuffed you want to charge up at work. Not like you're charging a phone lol
Soldato
Only BMW really tried. Pointless energy carrier with loads of issues.