WDB
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Post by WDB on Jul 16, 2021 14:12:52 GMT
No, not at all a big deal. Bear in mind this is our first long-distance trip in the i3S, and part of it was intended to gain experience of how best to plan charging stops. If I were going again next week, I wouldn’t bother with the Gatwick stop (when the car was still more than half full) and would look somewhere near Brighton, either for a CCS and a tea break, or for a 7kW Type 2 for the night. Either would have let us leave Brighton at 100 percent (we started at 79, thanks to the Regency Square problem) and so obviate the Tesco stop on day 2.
So yes, we tried four chargers, but could probably have done the trip on only one. And, while it wouldn’t have been impossible to do it in the CLS instead, I wouldn’t have felt happy taking a big diesel round the South Circular, nor into Brighton — and a big car of any kind would have clenched the buttocks in that underground car park.
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Rob
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Post by Rob on Jul 16, 2021 14:58:54 GMT
Brighton and parking so an issue - I know because my step son lives there. Well not a problem when we visit because he has two spaces at his accommodation in the car park. But in the centre a lot of hotels have very few spaces. So finding one with a charger is going to be even harder. I did spot some on street chargers (still had to pay to park though) and you wouldn't be able to leave a car there overnight.
But an interesting learning experience all the same. Obviously I'm in a different situation with a PHEV so didn't need to charge. Indeed on motorways in hybrid mode it's mostly ICE or a bit of coasting and fill-in from the electric motor. If you set off in electric mode it will do 86mph max but it will soon deplete and then there's nothing for the in town bit at your destination.
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Post by Humph on Jul 16, 2021 15:19:02 GMT
On the subject of "no big deals" and at the risk of being "that guy" again, but I regularly drive my large estate car into central London and park it, and indeed the same in Brighton ( we have an office there ) and it really is NBD.
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WDB
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Post by WDB on Jul 16, 2021 15:59:28 GMT
Big energy difference though, That Guy. Our trip was about 225 miles on maybe 63 kWh. (The old BMW app would have told me exactly; the improved one has mysteriously lost that function.) Much of it at motorway speed, a lot more creeping through city traffic, in warm weather and with no compromise on climate control or entertainment.
That’s the energy in about six litres of diesel. Even at 50mpg you’d need 20 litres, and there’s no way you’d average that on the route we took. 40 mpg is still probably generous, and that would require 25 litres.
Still No Big Dinosaur? 🤓
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Post by Humph on Jul 16, 2021 17:38:50 GMT
No, because I don't have the time or inclination to fanny about looking for chargers that work.
😉
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Rob
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Post by Rob on Jul 16, 2021 18:01:00 GMT
From Humph's point of view, he's already pointed out when he drives into London he moves about with stock - so he can't leave a car to charge somewhere all day in one place. Finding somewhere to park/charge in Brighton equally difficult.
And then he has to drive home. From here to Brighton is about 250-260 miles depending on route taken and that's about all you'll get from say the Iqonic 5 when it's here on a single charge. You then need to find a rapid DC charger to sort out the trip home.... and then when I'm home I can't charge it except by leaving a 13amp cable across the pavement.
We're getting there though, especially when there's more infrastructure to charge cars rapidly.
I see the new Mercdes Benz C class PHEV has some important improvement apart from a much bigger battery. It has 22kWh AC charging but also optional 50kWh DC charging. With a real range of around 50 miles that's really an improvement for a PHEV. And available as a petrol or diesel I believe.
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WDB
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Post by WDB on Jul 16, 2021 18:32:50 GMT
I was dealing with Humph's (apparent) suggestion that because he could do a 225-mile round trip involving two major urban areas (in my case, London and Brighton) in his Mercedes estate, it would be equally valid for me to do it in mine. My point is yes, it would be possible, but it would be dirty, polluting and vastly more energy-intensive than the way I did it. The i3S is not as comfortable on a long, fast run as the CLS - not much is - but it's not bad, and it's much wieldier in urban traffic and easier to park on arrival. Even Humph knows that his goods-carrying use case is an extreme outlier, so that's not really relevant to the broader discussion. And (not meaning to pick on you, Rob - there are several offenders) let's please be careful with kWh (unit of energy, 3.6 megajoules) and kW (unit of power, or rate of supply of energy, 1 kilojoule per second). Charging rate is in kW, battery capacity in kWh.  I'm still not convinced a PHEV is a solution for any more than the tax bill. I looked at a review of the PHEV E300e and E300de, whose battery doesn't just steal 100 litres of boot space, but does so by putting a step across the load area; annoying in the saloon but ruinous in the estate. BMW just raises the whole floor of the 5, so you still get a flat load floor. Either way, it's a severely compromised design and it's disingenuous to treat PHEVs as anything but fossil cars - but guess what was occupying the other 7kW pillars at Tesco yesterday! |
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bpg
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Post by bpg on Jul 16, 2021 21:34:25 GMT
Anyone running a petrol these days must have plenty of money, filled up three times today to get down to lake Constance.
The first part of the journey was a nightmare, couldn't leave until after lunchtime due to hospital appointment. A61 closed from Kerpen down past Bonn, someone from the Netherlands stacked it near Frankfurt reducing the A3 down to one lane which was already struggling due to carrying two motorways worth of traffic on Friday afternoon. Took 5 hours from Cologne to Frankfurt, that can normally be done in well under two hours.
Stuttgart down to the lake was done at a pace that destroyed the fuel economy, there was two thirds of a tank when we got on the A81, before reaching the lake the low fuel light came on telling me I had 78kms to empty, the hotel was 80kms.
Motorway service station wanted 209.9 cents/litre for Super+ 😳
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Rob
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Post by Rob on Jul 16, 2021 21:36:10 GMT
Apologies for kWh and charging.
I think if they can get a bit more capacity than MB has in the new C class PHEV then we're getting somewhere though. The boot in the new C class PHEV is shallow but it is flat. Remember this is a new car. But it's said to have a total capacity somewhere in the region of 25kWh and can charge at 22kW AC as standard and optionally at 50kW DC. With the right charger you'd be back to a full 25kWh battery in no time.
Check out the reviews, e.g. the Autogefuhle one.
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Rob
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Post by Rob on Jul 16, 2021 21:38:12 GMT
>> Motorway service station wanted 209.9 cents/litre for Super+
Tesco wanted (and took) £1.309 a litre for 95 RON unleaded today. So maybe about €1.12 a litre? Your €2.099 a litre for super unleaded is a bit more than I'd want to pay.
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WDB
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Post by WDB on Jul 16, 2021 22:39:32 GMT
Think you’re dividing instead of multiplying, Rob. More like €1.50, isn’t it? Your point about €2 a litre stands, though.
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Rob
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Post by Rob on Jul 16, 2021 23:30:05 GMT
Oops. You're right. Used to checking how much houses are in Greece in pounds. Currently wondering if I need to buy two to get something I like. But over €2 a litre! My mum always said her dad (died before I was born in 1970) that'd we'd see £1 a gallon in the UK  I wonder how many miles my car will show for electric range when I get to my mum's later today. The BMW app currently says 19 miles with 91% charge.... The range recently when charging has been a little odd... Seems to have reset a little at least when I fully charged it yesterday when I popped into Manchester on the tram on my day off. |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 19, 2021 8:19:16 GMT
Apologies for kWh and charging. I think if they can get a bit more capacity than MB has in the new C class PHEV then we're getting somewhere though. The boot in the new C class PHEV is shallow but it is flat. Remember this is a new car. But it's said to have a total capacity somewhere in the region of 25kWh and can charge at 22kW AC as standard and optionally at 50kW DC. With the right charger you'd be back to a full 25kWh battery in no time. Check out the reviews, e.g. the Autogefuhle one. So that's a pHEV with roughly the same battery capacity, annd consequently I'd guess electric range, as the original Leaf 24. Interesting. Going on my experience with a Leaf 24, if I had one I'd barely ever use any petrol. Hmm. Shame I can't afford one. |
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Rob
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Post by Rob on Jul 21, 2021 17:19:57 GMT
The new MB C Class PHEV does indeed have the battery capacity of the original Leaf but it's also having to move the weight of the gearbox, engine and fuel. But this sort of capacity as a stop gap for some could be a game changer especially as it comes with rapid DC charging as an option and can even do 22kW AC charging anyway. My 330e is impressing me with average MPG for longer journeys. At the weekend I went to south Wales with most of a full charge (depleted on arrival) and then onwards to a hotel for two nights the next day. They had some chargers there so I took advantage and left with a full charge. Despite using the full sport mode a couple of times (idiots behind wanting you to go faster when you're not because of the train of traffic ahead)..... so rapid acceleration to show them I could have gone faster.... childish I know... but I average 52mpg on way and 53 coming back. Coming back I used 25 litres of petrol to do 294 miles. Shame I have to give the car back on March 31st  |
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Post by dixinormus on Jul 22, 2021 20:23:21 GMT
There’s an all-new Mitsubishi Outlander being launched any day now - wonder if/how they have advanced their PHEV technology?
An electric-only range of 20-30 miles isn’t a lot, but it’s the way these PHEV vehicles eke out an overall 50-odd mpg that impresses me.
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