I drove an electric car and I liked it.

[mickthemaverick]

............... completely unnecessary use of electronics, over complicated ...................

Thinking slightly deeper into that point, you'd have thought that considering the major reservation most ICE drivers have, range anxiety, the makers would want to minimise the use of the electronics in order to enhance the range as much as possible. Given that heater and maybe aircon have become essential, returning to manual windows, standard locking, and mechanical controls is not such a daft idea, in fact how about a set of pedals and a chain to the rear axle for the passenger?

[NewcastleFalcon]

Little more on the AA Driving Scool Story. Again smart move from Stellantis, the Peugeot wing.

https://www.fleetnews.co.uk/news/latest ... th-peugeot

Regards neil

[myglaren]

[NewcastleFalcon]

Well I drive a Nissan Leaf, and I enjoy it

Its a 2nd gen Leaf with a heat pump, and a on board 6.6kW AC charger and so far I have driven 21,000 miles over 29 months. The "Bargain basement electric thread" has the tale from day 1.

I am better now at electric motoring than I was when I started, know the charging locations, and plan for longer trips before setting off. If I get range anxiety now its completely my fault. ie I haven't allowed enough in hand to get me to alternative chargers, should my intended charger be occupied or out of order.

Hold the front page.....when you drive at 70 mph you use more electricity than when you drive at 50mph. Air resistance is the biggest killer of "range"

Hold the front page.....electric motors do not produce the copious volumes of inefficient waste heat of the ICE, so electricity is used for cabin heating, much more efficient with a heat pump which first gen Leaf's didn't have.

The Nissan leaf with a 24kWh battery is not a car you drive to Cornwall or the North Of Scotland for your holidays.

The Nissan Leaf with a 24kWh battery is a perfectly good car for day trips to the Scottish Borders, all parts of Northumberland and Durham, and the odd trip to the Lake District or North Yorkshire

Range anxiety for us is most of the time a myth bit more in the early days, and just the odd occasion now is caused by poor planning.

You get to know charging locations in your own area and wider area. You know the ones which are reliable/likely to be busy. Definitely much more choice now of on the road charging points and the likes of Osprey and Instavolt have excellent dependability.

I am running on pretty much new tyres on all four corners, and replaced pads and discs at the rear while I had the the brakes stripped to attend to the old squeaking of the foot operated parking brake shoes (within disc) problem when reversing of Leafs. Since the stripdown the rear brake shoes haven't squeaked once.

No regrets whatsoever in buying the Leaf, its a very good car and ahead of the original tab-packet calcs over the 29 months of our ownership so far.

Regards Neil


hypothetical price/litre equivalent of electricity as a road "fuel" in Northumberland 26/03/2022
Sample size 1

[myglaren]

He does say that he likes it despite its limitations.

[NewcastleFalcon]

Stu gave a few a decent go here at the fully charged show.

I spent last weekend at the Fullycharged show in Farnborough and come away with a few compromises I will have to make when buying an EV.
1, I have been spoiled for the last 40 years, as I have owned over 14 hydropneumatic Citroëns.
2, In Farnborough I drove six EV's only one was anywhere as comfortable as my current C5. Yes, the seats were comfortable but the ride in all but the Citroën e-C4 was not satisfactory .
3, Two of the six were over £40k and I was not impressed.
4, It seems that to get a good range you need a bigger battery, and having a bigger battery means more sprung weight, which in turn means stiffer suspension.
5, Cars Sub £35k generally have smaller batteries with a range of around 220 miles in perfect conditions, typically in the UK a range of 170 would be more realistic, dropping down to below 150 in the winter, and both are lower when at speed (60+ mph).
6, I said above that the e-C4 was the most comfortable, but the range would stop me choosing it as the best that I drove. The best I thing would be the MG5 long range, not bad on comfort, and 200+ mile range.

I just hope that now Citroën have signed a battery contract with a new supplier that they may increase the battery capacity to 60Kw or even more. To make is aviable alrounder.

The Cars I drove were, Nissen Leaf, Skoda Enyac, Kia E-Niro, Citroen e-C4, Hyundai Kona, Hyundai Ioniq 5 & MG5

I wonder how many on the forum have actually driven an electric car. I sort of think they are on their way.
If you have given it a go like Stu...post it up!

REgards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

Stu gave a few a decent go here at the fully charged show.

The Cars I drove were, Nissen Leaf, Skoda Enyac, Kia E-Niro, Citroen e-C4, Hyundai Kona, Hyundai Ioniq 5 & MG5

I wonder how many on the forum have actually driven an electric car. I sort of think they are on their way.
If you have given it a go like Stu...post it up!

None apparently....surely not.

If you dont encounter it privately, its coming in all aspects of transport and logistics and fleets are increasingly going electric. Local Royal Mail office has just introduced them to their fleet. Was chatting to a Royal Mail driver today and the change as you might expect just happened, little bit of a briefing and a test drive, few different routines to follow in the simple job of charging up, and now the electric van is the norm. Most of them Peugeot Partners, but the odd larger Merc.

REgards Neil

[mickthemaverick]

I did drive my Prius on electric only mode occasionally back in 2007, does that count?

[NewcastleFalcon]

I did drive my Prius on electric only mode occasionally back in 2007, does that count?

For my challenge, I'm taking Stu's previous post as the benchmark...

Has anyone since May 2022, driven an electric vehicle either through their work, or had a test drive in one, been a passenger in one, or hired one for a weekend/ day or had a try in a family member/friend colleague's vehicle, just for the sheer fun of trying one out and not necessarily for the purpose of acquiring one.

Regards Neil

[Rp0thejester]

I drove an electric go kart around Europe's fastest indoor go karting track, if that counts. And yes it's only because it's my closest indoor track

[NewcastleFalcon]

I drove an electric go kart around Europe's fastest indoor go karting track, if that counts.

Technically just about counts, but not of course if the Go Karting was before Thu May 05, 2022 11:22 am

Should have featured in Hertfordshire's day in the spotlight

viewtopic.php?p=718605#p718605

Regards Neil

[Rp0thejester]

Looks like it's changed from Europes fastest to UK's fastest but if all electric cars accelerate that quick I'm interested.

[bobins]

I spent a morning in a milk float back in the 80s, does that count ? It was in the middle of winter and the snow was quite thick on the ground and milky needed a hand to finish his rounds. Had to push it out of the snow at one point

[NewcastleFalcon]

I spent a morning in a milk float back in the 80s, does that count ? It was in the middle of winter and the snow was quite thick on the ground and milky needed a hand to finish his rounds. Had to push it out of the snow at one point

Nice contribution but I've tightened up the qualification, the event needs to have taken place after Stu's post...
Thu May 05, 2022 11:22 am.

Regards Neil

[mickthemaverick]

Well remembered bobins, it has reminded me that I have done many many miles in golf carts over the years. My game being what it is I usually travel at least 1.5 times the length of the course!!

However my most recent experience was three weeks ago (after Stu's post!) when I replaced the batteries in our neighbour's mobility scooter and obviously had to take it out for a quick test ride!!