RE: Driven: MINI E

[Mr Gear]

Funk said:

What do you do when you run out of juice a couple of miles from home? Will people be keeping a spare battery in the boot that they can walk home with, charge up overnight and then go back to the stranded vehicle in the morning?

When was the last time you ran out of petrol?

[odyssey2200]

Mr Gear said:

Funk said:

What do you do when you run out of juice a couple of miles from home? Will people be keeping a spare battery in the boot that they can walk home with, charge up overnight and then go back to the stranded vehicle in the morning?

When was the last time you ran out of petrol?

never because if I am not going to make it home I pull over and spend 15 mins (MAX) to give my car another 500 miles range.


Simples!

[Funk]

odyssey2200 said:

Mr Gear said:

Funk said:

What do you do when you run out of juice a couple of miles from home? Will people be keeping a spare battery in the boot that they can walk home with, charge up overnight and then go back to the stranded vehicle in the morning?

When was the last time you ran out of petrol?

never because if I am not going to make it home I pull over and spend 15 mins (MAX) to give my car another 500 miles range.


Simples!

Bingo.

It's not like you can just pull in at the next 'charging station', stand around for 5 mins and then be on your merry way again is it..?

ETA: Oh, and if the accuracy of the 'remaining charge' gauges is anything like that of pretty much any electrical device I've ever owned, it'll go from 30% charge to about 7% in the blink of an eye.

Edited by Funk on Monday 19th October 13:11

[mybrainhurts]

PH said:

And, next week...Driven : Mini ME....

[XitUp]

odyssey2200 said:

Mr Gear said:

Funk said:

What do you do when you run out of juice a couple of miles from home? Will people be keeping a spare battery in the boot that they can walk home with, charge up overnight and then go back to the stranded vehicle in the morning?

When was the last time you ran out of petrol?

never because if I am not going to make it home I pull over and spend 15 mins (MAX) to give my car another 500 miles range.


Simples!

I tend to make sure I have enough fuel in my car to make the journey I'm planning on.

Simples!

[900T-R]

[quote=XitUp
I tend to make sure I have enough fuel in my car to make the journey I'm planning on.

Simples!
[/quote]

Would be a b*gger to achieve for the 4-900 mile daytrips I regularly tend to make for business, though.

[Mr Gear]

900T-R said:

XitUp said:

I tend to make sure I have enough fuel in my car to make the journey I'm planning on.

Simples!

Would be a b*gger to achieve for the 4-900 mile daytrips I regularly tend to make for business, though.

I think the mistake people make with electric cars is looking at them outside of their operational abilities. In the right context, they are ideal.

Complaining that you can't drive it to the moon in one charge is creating a problem that the car isn't designed to face.

But it wouldn't be difficult to add a range extender or hot-swappable batteries to something like the Mini and it answers all critics.

[Keaver]

Ho hum still dont understand why they are not progressing the hydrogen concepts Must be the tax!!

I forsee the replacement after electricy powered cars to be:

A Donkey! Good for travelling ten miles between carrots but carbon emissions can be high....

[Mr Gear]

Keaver said:

Ho hum still dont understand why they are not progressing the hydrogen concepts Must be the tax!!

I forsee the replacement after electricy powered cars to be:

A Donkey! Good for travelling ten miles between carrots but carbon emissions can be high....

I wonder why the major manufacturers are not pushing the hydrogen thing...? Is it because (A) it's a huge waste of energy? Is it because (B) the electric car has to come first? Is it because (C) they can't produce them cheap enough for them to be a realistic proposition any time in the near future?

Or is it (D) all of the above?

[Keaver]

Ha fair point I guess James May's recent hydrogen expose was a bit misleading then (not picking I just found it really interesting).

Although the point that hydrogen is actually a natural resource hopefully it will progress eventually..

[Mr Gear]

Keaver said:

Ha fair point I guess James May's recent hydrogen expose was a bit misleading then (not picking I just found it really interesting).

Although the point that hydrogen is actually a natural resource hopefully it will progress eventually..

I thought it was interesting too, but it did miss some crucially important points. The most important of all being that Hydrogen doesn't come "for free" and in fact takes enormous amounts of energy if you want to crack it from H2O.

[robsti]

Mr Gear said:

Keaver said:

Ho hum still dont understand why they are not progressing the hydrogen concepts Must be the tax!!

I forsee the replacement after electricy powered cars to be:

A Donkey! Good for travelling ten miles between carrots but carbon emissions can be high....

I wonder why the major manufacturers are not pushing the hydrogen thing...? Is it because (A) it's a huge waste of energy? Is it because (B) the electric car has to come first? Is it because (C) they can't produce them cheap enough for them to be a realistic proposition any time in the near future?

Or is it (D) all of the above?

Or (E) none of the above just that petrol is so much better at getting you from A to B quickly and enjoyably.

ps Have you thought about an electric motorbike with its light weight it would be very economical?But it would be st fun just like the hybrid/eletric cars!

[Mr Gear]

robsti said:

Mr Gear said:

Keaver said:

Ho hum still dont understand why they are not progressing the hydrogen concepts Must be the tax!!

I forsee the replacement after electricy powered cars to be:

A Donkey! Good for travelling ten miles between carrots but carbon emissions can be high....

I wonder why the major manufacturers are not pushing the hydrogen thing...? Is it because (A) it's a huge waste of energy? Is it because (B) the electric car has to come first? Is it because (C) they can't produce them cheap enough for them to be a realistic proposition any time in the near future?

Or is it (D) all of the above?

Or (E) none of the above just that petrol is so much better at getting you from A to B quickly and enjoyably.

ps Have you thought about an electric motorbike with its light weight it would be very economical?But it would be st fun just like the hybrid/eletric cars!

Tempting though it is to bow to your superior ignorance, I have experience of riding electric motorcycles and therefore am in a very good position to tell you how fabulous they are to ride.

I know you don't like the idea that one day you'll be pulled from your grey BMW box, kicking and screaming and having a tantrum because you can't afford to put petrol in it, but you'd better get used to the idea. Because unless you're 75 and due to be in the old people's home in a few years time, you should be thankful for every innovation people make with electric cars.

However, as an upstanding member of PH's "ignorati" I realise I am wasting my timing with you. You can't make a post that is more than a sentence long, and even then it has to have a spelling or grammar mistake in it. As for making a coherent point based on facts... forget it!

[robsti]

Mr Gear said:

robsti said:

Mr Gear said:

Keaver said:

Ho hum still dont understand why they are not progressing the hydrogen concepts Must be the tax!!

I forsee the replacement after electricy powered cars to be:

A Donkey! Good for travelling ten miles between carrots but carbon emissions can be high....

I wonder why the major manufacturers are not pushing the hydrogen thing...? Is it because (A) it's a huge waste of energy? Is it because (B) the electric car has to come first? Is it because (C) they can't produce them cheap enough for them to be a realistic proposition any time in the near future?

Or is it (D) all of the above?

Or (E) none of the above just that petrol is so much better at getting you from A to B quickly and enjoyably.

ps Have you thought about an electric motorbike with its light weight it would be very economical?But it would be st fun just like the hybrid/eletric cars!

Tempting though it is to bow to your superior ignorance, I have experience of riding electric motorcycles and therefore am in a very good position to tell you how fabulous they are to ride.

I know you don't like the idea that one day you'll be pulled from your grey BMW box, kicking and screaming and having a tantrum because you can't afford to put petrol in it, but you'd better get used to the idea. Because unless you're 75 and due to be in the old people's home in a few years time, you should be thankful for every innovation people make with electric cars.

However, as an upstanding member of PH's "ignorati" I realise I am wasting my timing with you. You can't make a post that is more than a sentence long, and even then it has to have a spelling or grammar mistake in it. As for making a coherent point based on facts... forget it!

GOTCHA
PS.When you say you are in motorsport does that mean you are a marshal or sell Autosport in a newsagents?

Edited by robsti on Tuesday 20th October 17:25

[900T-R]

The electric car as the mainstream mode of personal transport isn't going to happen unless we turn out to be significantly richer than we appear. Simple economics conspire against it - state of the art fuel system costs for liquid combustibles £500, battery pack for 125 miles range £15K which won't drop below £12K or so in the foreseeable future because in batteries of capacities in the order the amount of rare earth materials needed for them will pretty much determine the price. Our societies rely on affordable personal transport that can only be achieved with the ICE, and if ogvernments had been smart enough to lay responsibility for sustainable energy production at the well-to-tank end of the equation (i.e. the fuel companies) rather than foisting ever more draconic and inefficient measures on the tank-to-wheel end (i.e. car manufacturers and end users) we'd have been a great deal further in solving the energy equation than we are now.

[XitUp]

The average driver does less than half that in a day though so you can half that £12k and add a small range extender for when you need to do more.

[Mr Gear]

robsti said:

GOTCHA
PS.When you say you are in motorsport does that mean you are a marshal or sell Autosport in a newsagents?

Edited by robsti on Tuesday 20th October 17:25

Ah, bless, you even had to edit that for a spelling mistake! And the answer to your question is "neither".

[robsti]

Mr Gear said:

robsti said:

GOTCHA
PS.When you say you are in motorsport does that mean you are a marshal or sell Autosport in a newsagents?

Edited by robsti on Tuesday 20th October 17:25

Ah, bless, you even had to edit that for a spelling mistake! And the answer to your question is "neither".

Does your vectra have a motorsport sticker on the back

[Lord Flathead]

Do we have a techy person here that can calculate the carbon foot print from just one car, with say one charge of 4.5 hours @ 32 amps 5 days a week for one year? The off peak cost was supposed to be around £4.50, but how big is the carbon footprint for that amount of energy??

I can calculate my carbon footprint online with my gas guzzling car but I would wager that this electric car is FAR worse.

Any takers?

[900T-R]

XitUp said:

The average driver does less than half that in a day though so you can half that £12k and add a small range extender for when you need to do more.

125 Miles is generally seen as the lower threshold of acceptance - as I was told once, any less would be seen as 'driving with the fuel light on' - 99% will refuel at the first occasion when that happens.

I'm afraid 'averages' don't say much to me - I know half of all car travels is short enough to actually do on foot or bicycle - thing is people buy cars to cover the longer distances and end up using them for the short range stuff in addition as it's there and it eats a major part of disposable income so people tend to get their 'money's worth' from it.

Edited by 900T-R on Tuesday 20th October 19:56