My day today - how would I do this with an EV (say a Leaf)

My day today - how would I do this with an EV (say a Leaf)

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autofocus

Original Poster:

2,962 posts

217 months

Friday 20th February 2015
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Hi there,

As per my previous post I have a Leaf on a 7 day test drive in March, just wanted peoples view on how today would work if I ditch the diesel VW and owned a Leaf.

This might be a long post but would be good to get peoples opinions on the options.

Home is in Uttoxeter, and my day was in Liverpool City Centre.

From my door the trip there would be 77.5 miles to my first appointment. Is this do-able in one stint given todays conditions ? dry, cold but not ice cold, traffic was pretty free flowing and no real delays. Left home at 8:30am, stopped at J19 services en route for 10 mins to pick up a few emails (sat in the car engine running), arrived in Liverpool at 10.20am

Once in Liverpool I parked outside my first appointment, then drove around 2 miles to my second appointment and then perhaps half a mile to my third appointment. Left Liverpool at 1.45pm, to head towards home. Stopped at Burtonwood services to use the loo and then carried on. M6 was jammed so came off at J20, went across country to Holmes Chapel, got back on the M6 at J18 then home the usual way M6/A500/A50 total distance on way back 81.5 miles.

I know that there and back is not do able on one charge so how would those of you who have an EV (ideally a Leaf) handle a day like today.

Regards

Tim

toys

239 posts

258 months

Saturday 21st February 2015
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Simply put Tim, I would never have bought my car (i3) if journeys like the one you describe were likely. My car fits perfectly into my life - school run / commute, with an alternative family wagon available for longer trips. You can't bend the car to fit your requirements, in the same way that you wouldn't chose a bicycle to travel from London to Bristol say. An i3 Rex may well be the perfect solution to your needs however....

gangzoom

6,251 posts

214 months

Saturday 21st February 2015
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The only EV I would consider currently is the Tesla S. It's all well and good saying the range of a Leaf is fine for most dialy trips, but even a few extra un-planned trips in a Leaf would see me have some serious range anxiety!! The point of a car is to enable you to get from A to B without worry, and something like a Leaf with it's limited range would mean you have to plan your life around the car....which I cannot see been that fun.

Unfortunatly we cannot afford a Tesla right now, so wife has just bought a Lexus Hybrid, and I'm patiently waiting for Tesla to announce their 200mile range EV for under £35k....

I would recommend trying a hybrid/plug-in hybrid, I think your be pleasently surprised at how much more refined they are than a diesle. OK they aren't much more economical, but petrol is cheaper than diesle. Give it another 5 years I think full EVs will be at a price point where many more people can consider using them as their main car. I know VW group and BMW are both working on a 'Tesla Killer', I cannot wait to see what the next generation of EVs will be like smile

Edited by gangzoom on Saturday 21st February 03:38

budfox

1,510 posts

128 months

Saturday 21st February 2015
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Wouldn't work in a Leaf I'm afraid.

As has been stated they are brilliant if your driving habits suit them, but otherwise to be avoided.

Our is used for three or four trips into town every day. Total of about 30-40 miles. Precisely the sort of driving that would result in poor economy and a lot of wear and tear if covered in a petrol engined car. However, in the Leaf there are no such worries, and the climate timer means it's all lovely and warm and frost-free when used at the start of the day.

It's a damned nice car, well equipped and beautiful to drive. If someone is in the market for a new mid-sized car and does the sort of driving mentioned above then it should be a serious consideration.

Of course you'll need another car for longer journeys but we're a two-car family and always will be.

anonymous-user

53 months

Sunday 22nd February 2015
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The most important question is "How typical was todays journey"?

If you do this everyday, then an EV or even a hybrid is pointless, and will remain so for a good few years yet (we need approx a doubling in battery specific energy density to get a low cost EV with a 200 mile real world range - note the low cost bit, you can of course go the Tesla way and simply spec a HUGE battery, but the cost increases massively)


So what if this was an atypical day? If 4 days a week you only do say 30 miles around town, then you could either get a range extended EV (i3 Rex / ampera etc) and hope that the cost savings for the 4 day a week local travel offsets the slightly poorer economy when used for long journeys in REEV mode)


If this was a VERY atypical day, and say only occurs every couple of weeks or once a month, then buying an EV and just hiring a car to do the long trips makes some sense of course. Even though if you wanted to move a large sofa, or a washing machine or similar, most people would not think twice about hiring a van to do that, for some reason they don't think that hiring a "long range" vehicle might also be an option if they owned just an EV etc

AER

1,142 posts

269 months

Sunday 22nd February 2015
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you confirm your pre-booked driverless EV taxi on your smartphone a few minutes before departure at each point in your journey...

The Badger

355 posts

175 months

Sunday 22nd February 2015
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I do a 70 mile round trip commute in my 2012 Leaf. There's a charging option half way home if I need it. I never have, but I wouldn't / probably can't go anymore than 70 miles.

autofocus

Original Poster:

2,962 posts

217 months

Sunday 22nd February 2015
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Ok,

Plenty of replies and everyone seems to think that this journey would be either hard work or not possible in a Leaf.

I pass J19 services on the way to Liverpool and according to Ecotricity there is some charging points there. Their website says 2 x DC, and 2 AC chargers along with a CCS fast charger. Can any of these be used with a Leaf ? and if so what would be the charging time ?

Also I passed the Ikea at Warrington (literally just of the M62). This has the same chargers. Could I have stopped here for a short time to top up ?

On the way home I passed the services at Lymm again same number and type of chargers as both Ikea and J19 M6.

Whilst in Liverpool there is a charging point at Asda on Breck Road according to Zap Map, this has a 7kW fast charger. Is this suitable and what charge could I get from here and how long would it take ?

Sorry for all the questions but am sure this journey is not that hard.

Regards

Tim

RochdalePioneers

263 posts

118 months

Sunday 22nd February 2015
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Of course you could do it with a Leaf. But it would take you longer as you'd need to stop and charge. 77 miles is doable even when it's cold (I've done it in our Leaf, all motorway) but if you're stopping for 10 minutes of email or loo breaks then you could be stopping to charge. 10 minutes will add you another 25-30 miles of range off a rapid charger. But if you don't have the ability to charge at your destination then you need enough power to get from IKEA to Liverpool and back. But its not that far...

The Badger

355 posts

175 months

Sunday 22nd February 2015
quotequote all
autofocus said:
Ok,

Plenty of replies and everyone seems to think that this journey would be either hard work or not possible in a Leaf.

I pass J19 services on the way to Liverpool and according to Ecotricity there is some charging points there. Their website says 2 x DC, and 2 AC chargers along with a CCS fast charger. Can any of these be used with a Leaf ? and if so what would be the charging time ?

Also I passed the Ikea at Warrington (literally just of the M62). This has the same chargers. Could I have stopped here for a short time to top up ?

On the way home I passed the services at Lymm again same number and type of chargers as both Ikea and J19 M6.

Whilst in Liverpool there is a charging point at Asda on Breck Road according to Zap Map, this has a 7kW fast charger. Is this suitable and what charge could I get from here and how long would it take ?

Sorry for all the questions but am sure this journey is not that hard.

Regards

Tim
Ecotricity rapid = 80% battery in approx 30 mins. I'm yet to find one out of order, and always get a warm and fuzzy when I'm heading to their points.



Sir Humphrey

387 posts

122 months

Monday 23rd February 2015
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Drive to the station and get the train. The technology isn't ready to use it for regular long journeys and be available at a price available to anyone.

pboyall

176 posts

120 months

Monday 23rd February 2015
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As a Leaf driver doing 60 miles a day I am afraid I am with the ones who say "don't".

Not because it won't manage it, but because you imply that this is a series of time-bound appointments for work.

Yes, you can do 70 miles in a Leaf (when I parked up today I had 25% battery left, so running down to zero I'd have been at the 80 mile mark - and that was a lot of motorway and being toasty warm).

But you do not want to arrive at your appointment having sweated out the last few miles with a range gauge saying "2 miles left". Nor do you want to have a situation where you pull in to charge and find that you can't because:

a) Someone else is already charging
b) The charger is broken
c) A petrol car is parked in the charging bay

I have seen all three.

So if you regularly need to do 80 miles and have to do it to a schedule, I would not chance it. With good planning it would be possible but it would be a hassle. E.g. Set off with an extra half hour in hand in case of charger trouble, ensure you drive past two rapid chargers over the 80 miles and can stop at either and be prepared to sit outside your appointment doing emails for half an hour if you don't encounter any problems.

For a day job? Nah.

If these long trips don't happen often, however, and the rest of the time you are within 50-60 miles ... go for it.

maffski

1,866 posts

158 months

Tuesday 24th February 2015
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Max_Torque said:
...we need approx a doubling in battery specific energy density to get a low cost EV with a 200 mile real world range - note the low cost bit, you can of course go the Tesla way and simply spec a HUGE battery, but the cost increases massively)
O/T but Tesla seem to be claiming the new factory will knock at least a third off the battery pack cost.

Sheepshanks

32,519 posts

118 months

Tuesday 24th February 2015
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If the OP didn't have 2000 posts and 108mths I'd think he was trolling.

The solution is to hire a normal car for the day.

Roo

11,503 posts

206 months

Tuesday 24th February 2015
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maffski said:
Max_Torque said:
...we need approx a doubling in battery specific energy density to get a low cost EV with a 200 mile real world range - note the low cost bit, you can of course go the Tesla way and simply spec a HUGE battery, but the cost increases massively)
O/T but Tesla seem to be claiming the new factory will knock at least a third off the battery pack cost.
They've got serious competition from Chevrolet with the Bolt.

200 mile range for $30,000

London424

12,826 posts

174 months

Tuesday 24th February 2015
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Roo said:
maffski said:
Max_Torque said:
...we need approx a doubling in battery specific energy density to get a low cost EV with a 200 mile real world range - note the low cost bit, you can of course go the Tesla way and simply spec a HUGE battery, but the cost increases massively)
O/T but Tesla seem to be claiming the new factory will knock at least a third off the battery pack cost.
They've got serious competition from Chevrolet with the Bolt.

200 mile range for $30,000
The bolt is a hybrid though rather than just elec like the Tesla.

RossP

2,523 posts

282 months

Tuesday 24th February 2015
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Wrong car for the job.

I did a 152 mile trip from Derby to Aston Martin on Sunday. Needed to charge twice. Opted to charge 3 times (all ecotricity).

Not something I would like to do regularly.

This was in my i3.

The Badger

355 posts

175 months

Tuesday 24th February 2015
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Sir Humphrey said:
Drive to the station and get the train. The technology isn't ready to use it for regular long journeys and be available at a price available to anyone.
Agree on 1st point - although I've done Nottingham - Southhampton twice at a cost of zero.

Disagree on second point. Our 2012 Leaf was 12 grand with 5k on the clock. Quick charger bolted onto our garage was 100 quid. That's pretty cheap I'd suggest.

Edited by The Badger on Tuesday 24th February 19:00

TransverseTight

753 posts

144 months

Tuesday 24th February 2015
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1 more option a lot cheaper than a Tesla and available now not 2018 ..an i3 REX. Im doing a daily round trip of 110-120 miles. Sometimes all electric, sometimes about 40-50miles on the REX. Furthst Ive got on a single charge is 68 miles. My routine varies but having AC charging at 7kW (@nearest BMW garage for the morrning or coffee at Asda). CCS for rapids that work, or the REX gives a nice mix and flexibility to do a 200 mile trip withlut worrying about what chargers are working on electric highway.

autofocus

Original Poster:

2,962 posts

217 months

Tuesday 24th February 2015
quotequote all
TransverseTight said:
1 more option a lot cheaper than a Tesla and available now not 2018 ..an i3 REX. Im doing a daily round trip of 110-120 miles. Sometimes all electric, sometimes about 40-50miles on the REX. Furthst Ive got on a single charge is 68 miles. My routine varies but having AC charging at 7kW (@nearest BMW garage for the morrning or coffee at Asda). CCS for rapids that work, or the REX gives a nice mix and flexibility to do a 200 mile trip withlut worrying about what chargers are working on electric highway.
Hi there,

Good call, the more I read this thread the more I am leaning towards something like the I3 REX. I have contacted my local dealer to see if I can book a test drive, would be nice to have one for a couple of days, but not sure if they are able to do this.

Quite fancy a drive in an Audi A3 E Tron as well. Had a nosey round one that someone who came to our office had today, looks nice.

Regards

Tim