WDB
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Post by WDB on Apr 10, 2021 8:51:36 GMT
...or so I thought. Now seems I may not have to wait that long.  |
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Post by dixinormus on Apr 12, 2021 7:26:43 GMT
That image is illegible on my phone! Presumably they are cranking up the factory already?!
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 12, 2021 7:33:25 GMT
Glad you got there WDB. Hope you enjoy it when it arrives. I think the next time I upgrade my EV, I'm going to want to get something which will guarantee 200 miles on a single charge in any conditions, to make the exercise worthwhile. What's the list of current models which will do that, I wonder?
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WDB
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Post by WDB on Apr 12, 2021 8:31:59 GMT
‘Guarantee’ is a strong word given how much more susceptible EV range is to driver behaviour. (With less overhead of energy wasted as heat, there’s not much left to disguise a heavy right foot and poor anticipation — not that I’m suggesting either applies to you.)
Driven optimally, I reckon an i3 120 will go 200 miles but I probably wouldn’t rely on it. (The i3S suffers a little for its grippier tyres.) The latest Nero and Soul EVs ought to do 200 regularly, if you don’t mind a bigger car. The new Skoda EV, with the made-up name I can’t remember, is bigger still, which gives room for a bigger battery pack.
I think it’ll be a while before a small, non-SUV-styled car can pack in enough battery for that kind of range. But the i3’s evolution in seven years from 22kWh to 42kWh gives an idea of how long that while might be.
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WDB
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Post by WDB on Apr 12, 2021 8:40:22 GMT
That image is illegible on my phone! Presumably they are cranking up the factory already?! Don't know about cranking up. It may be that our order happens to match one being built on spec anyway, but it arrives 19 May instead of 30 June. (19 years since I bought a factory-order car, so I’ve had time to forget how it works.) |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 12, 2021 8:41:48 GMT
It's 170 miles to Carmarthen. That's what I want to be able to do, on a single charge, with some contingency, every time, hence the 200 miles. In my current Leaf 30, I need to make 1 charge stop as I can be confident of 90 miles absolute minimum. In order to make a change of car worthwhile, I would want to see the need for that charge stop eliminated, otherwise I might as well stick with the Leaf 30. So things like the MG ZS, MG5, Leaf 40 et al don't offer me that step up in range. It was worth switching the Leaf 24 for the Leaf 30 as the 24 would likely have needed 2 charges on that route.
So, if I have an EV capable of that run, Mrs A and I can get by with 1 car. Even then, I could still probably happily manage with the 30 and an occasional rental. I don't mind doing my Wales run with one charge each way, and an overnight charge. But where it falls apart a bit is in the case of an emergency dash, or a trip there and back in one day. Which I have had to do a couple of times in recent(ish) history in my ICE car.
Then again, we like continental touring holidays by car, and those will be on the agenda again once the children are a bit older. So maybe I do need to keep an ICE as well.
Perhaps a Soul or e-Niro would be fine, I'll have to see how affordable they are second hand in 2.5 years.
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WDB
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Post by WDB on Apr 12, 2021 8:58:55 GMT
That’s why I think a small EV that works as an only car is a little way off. The i3S 120 we're getting brings just about any day trip we might make within single-charge range. We might make it to Carmarthen — although we’d have to pass your house on the way to the M4, or start out across country. But a 30-minute coffee, pee and charge stop would make that easy.
One slight regret of the charge-stop model is that it pushes us towards bland chain retailers rather than characterful cafés, as we’ll be trying to find all three amenities on one site. But that too will pass as the infrastructure matures.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 12, 2021 9:34:12 GMT
Yes you're right there. Esentially my Leaf is fine for getting to medium-distance destinations so long as there isn't too much urgency involved. I didn't go to Wales last week but I did go to Lee-on-the-Solent for a socially distanced walk on the beach. 55 miles, yes, pushing the definition of local, I know. It took less than 20 minutes to recharge the car for the return journey, which in warmer weahter wouldn't have been necessary. In the context of a leisurely day out, 20 minutes is fine.
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bpg
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Post by bpg on Apr 12, 2021 12:06:21 GMT
The absolute worst we have seen with the Soul is 177 miles from a full charge. That was -9C, no pre-conditioning, heater, heated seats, heated steering wheel and autobahn speeds. You will easily top 200 miles from a full charge in the UK.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 12, 2021 15:18:35 GMT
Sounds like it. What's your battery capacity, 64kwh isn't it?
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bpg
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Post by bpg on Apr 12, 2021 16:39:03 GMT
Yes, there is a smaller 37kWh battery car but yes 64kWh is what is in our car.
I'm looking at the 99kWh battery available with the Mach-E and weighing up the pros and cons of switching from petrol. Petrol is getting very expensive here now, regularly topping 1.70€ for Super+.
Edit: what I forgot to mention about the KIA is it will take about a day and a half to fully charge at your mother's if using the 12A 240v charger supplied with the car if you run it down below 20%.
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Post by dixinormus on Apr 12, 2021 21:03:16 GMT
Global logistics and shipping issues are continuing to bite in this part of the world. Can’t believe that you can get a new i3 built and delivered in that timeframe! Of course, the UK is pretty close to the factory. Even mainstream Asian cars are in short supply here and they’ve no idea when the next load will turn up at the docks. Skoda have a contract to supply thousands of Superbs to the NZ Police over the next couple of years and local management are looking a bit anxious!
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Post by Deleted on Apr 13, 2021 10:10:57 GMT
Yes, there is a smaller 37kWh battery car but yes 64kWh is what is in our car. I'm looking at the 99kWh battery available with the Mach-E and weighing up the pros and cons of switching from petrol. Petrol is getting very expensive here now, regularly topping 1.70€ for Super+. Edit: what I forgot to mention about the KIA is it will take about a day and a half to fully charge at your mother's if using the 12A 240v charger supplied with the car if you run it down below 20%. Not an issue. I would usually arrive say lunchtime on a Saturday, plug it in to charge and depart around tea time on the Sunday. If it hasn't quite charged enough, there's a rapid charger 5 miles away on my route home which could finish it off in minutes. |
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Post by dixinormus on Apr 14, 2021 2:27:06 GMT
Still rather have an ICE back-up car for longer trips if/when I become an EV convert..!
My beardy EV-loving Leaf neighbour here often fails to disclose that he’s kept his diesel SUV as a back-up car 😂
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WDB
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Post by WDB on Apr 14, 2021 6:24:27 GMT
Plenty of us do that — for now — partly because big, long-range BEVs are still rare and expensive. But it’s purely transitional, and you’ll see the balance shift in the next two years as affordable mainstream models from VW and others come along.
Part of the resistance is a species of vanity, of the “I am a traveller, you are a tourist” kind. We tell ourselves that we take great voyages across vast distances, when we’re mostly going to work, the shops or the in-laws. The times I’ve used my fossil car recently have been for reasons of carrying capacity rather than distance; a big-enough BEV would have done the job just as well. And once 300-mile ranges are commonplace, as they soon will be, the limitation will be human endurance, not batteries.
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