Robert Llewellyn driving nissan leaf London to Edinburgh

[boab74]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-25878172

just saw this on the BBC and thought it might be of interest.

[McWigglebum4th]

Each stop planned to be 35minutes

Enough time to have a pee and eat some sandwiches

If they improved the tech to a 45 minute charge then you would have time for a decent coffee and some cake.

[Dave Hedgehog]

in other news man changes D battery's in mag light

[Jim Campbell]

Interesting. I wonder how many stops they will make, 4 or 5 probably. It could be done with one stop in a model S. Are there any supercharger stations in the UK?

[McWigglebum4th]

Dave Hedgehog said:

in other news man changes D battery's in mag light

While probably meant as a dig you have got it bang on the money.

It is now as easy as changing the batteries in a torch.

Edited by McWigglebum4th on Sunday 26th January 07:05

[Toltec]

According to the article the car was averaging 68mph, if we take this to be only when it was actually moving then the 400 miles should have taken about six hours of road time.

What were they doing for the other six hours? Possibly the average speed was exaggerated a bit.

In a normal car with a couple of leisurely stops then it would take maybe eight and a half hours so really not that bad an effort. Looking forward to seeing the next installment though, the drive to John O'Groats, how well will they fare on mixed a and b roads?

[Jim Campbell]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHcC65ZoyBw&fe...

Can a leaf driver explain why you wouldn't have it in B mode all the time. Surely the more regen the better, or is a bit of a pain on a motorway?

[XTR2Turbo]

I think because some people prefer the car to feel like a conventional auto and also in some situations coasting is more efficient than regen mode so long as you don't touch the brake - e.g. down a fast moderate slope.

[ORD]

Alternatively, you could:

- buy a second hand Boxster for the same money (also saving the World a huge slug of resource in building an electric car);

- do the journey on one tank of petrol;

- drive 400 miles in really comfortable high-end sports car rather than a bargain basement shopping car;

- arrive 6 hours earlier in Edinburgh.

Electric cars! Woohoooo.

[Otispunkmeyer]

XTR2Turbo said:

I think because some people prefer the car to feel like a conventional auto and also in some situations coasting is more efficient than regen mode so long as you don't touch the brake - e.g. down a fast moderate slope.

I do wonder if EVs will be able to decide between when to free wheel and when to apply regenerative braking. On the video of the XL-1 it appears they go for coasting over regen and from the description it sounds like its got such little rolling and aero dynamic resistance that its like travelling in a vacuum! I think they covered pretty long sections of road without needing to touch anything once they got up to speed.

Its useful to have both, there just needs to be a way of figuring out which is going to save you the most net energy every time you come off the accelerator.

[Otispunkmeyer]

ORD said:

Alternatively, you could:

- buy a second hand Boxster for the same money (also saving the World a huge slug of resource in building an electric car);

- do the journey on one tank of petrol;

- drive 400 miles in really comfortable high-end sports car rather than a bargain basement shopping car;

- arrive 6 hours earlier in Edinburgh.

Electric cars! Woohoooo.

The leaf is pretty nice inside. Its not bargain basement by any stretch. However, on the one I drove the driving position reminded me of postman pat's van. By contrast the Ford Focus BEV and the FIAT 500e where much better.

Again, most don't regularly do country length slogs on the motorway. For those that do, EVs are not for them. I feel at the moment that the current range of 80 odd miles is actually sufficient for a lot of people on most days, but its that < 100 mile number that puts them off even if they do 20 miles a week most weeks. It does seem limiting even though you're not sure it would actually limit you at all.

I think once the ranges get into a reliable 150 mi sort of range, I think people will become less worried about range as an initial thought.

Additionally as well I think EVs really need to lose the "saving the planet" moniker. I mean they're not really are they? and I know that green image can and does put people off. But I think once people are exposed to the performance and the refinement of such cars that they'll want one for those reasons.

Having driven a number of electric "shopping" cars I know for a fact I'd take the electric version over the nasty 4 banger version any day. More refined, punchier more immediate performance and they seemed to ride better as well.

[ORD]

Otispunkmeyer said:

The leaf is pretty nice inside. Its not bargain basement by any stretch. However, on the one I drove the driving position reminded me of postman pat's van. By contrast the Ford Focus BEV and the FIAT 500e where much better.

Again, most don't regularly do country length slogs on the motorway. For those that do, EVs are not for them. I feel at the moment that the current range of 80 odd miles is actually sufficient for a lot of people on most days, but its that < 100 mile number that puts them off even if they do 20 miles a week most weeks. It does seem limiting even though you're not sure it would actually limit you at all.

I think once the ranges get into a reliable 150 mi sort of range, I think people will become less worried about range as an initial thought.

Additionally as well I think EVs really need to lose the "saving the planet" moniker. I mean they're not really are they? and I know that green image can and does put people off. But I think once people are exposed to the performance and the refinement of such cars that they'll want one for those reasons.

Having driven a number of electric "shopping" cars I know for a fact I'd take the electric version over the nasty 4 banger version any day. More refined, punchier more immediate performance and they seemed to ride better as well.

I agree with a great deal of that. A petrol car makes very little sense for most of the journeys that most people do. My commute (about 8 miles in London) would be very sensible in an electric car. If I could have two cars to myself, I would probably have an electric car for commuting and a proper car for long journeys and the weekend. But I cannot. And only a petrol car can do all of the things I want from a car.

(I agree re 4cyl petrol cars. Horrible. Especially with a turbo. But this is the future, unfortunately. BMW and Porsche are both going that way.)