Simon's new Xantia V6 and Leaf blog

[harryp]

Once followed a group (5?) of walkers down a country road for about 200 yds before one of them suddenly turned around! They never heard the car... Renault 20 TL.

[Mandrake]

Here is my second DashCam compilation, which I finally got around to editing. Apologies for any swear words I might or might not have said...

It's taken me long enough to get around to do the second one that I now have enough for a 3rd, and growing every day!




Very cathartic....

[Mandrake]

This is largely a duplicate of my post in the Electric cars thread, but I've added some pictures.

So I went to Evolution in Edinburgh, family in tow, and took the Ion to get there naturally.

It was located in the Royal Highland Centre, quite close to the runway. (Just opposite the entrance was the grassy area where all the plane spotters park outside the runway fencing!)

I did take the documentation necessary to go for test drives but partly due to us being so late to get there (we didn't get there until 2:30, with the event running from 9:30 to 4:30) and me being a big fat chicken, I didn't ask anyone for a test drive! I think it's a yearly event so I'll try to pluck up the courage next time!

Those that were driving them were following a complicated circuit that had been set up on the grounds, and were driving them at a reasonable speed. There were a lot of EV's in the car park belonging to attendees, I'd say there were a couple of hundred cars parked outside in total and about half of those were EV's or Hybrids that I recognised. Lots of Leaf's of course, loads of Hybrids, at least 10 Tesla's, but not a single Ion/C-Zero/i-Miev apart from mine! Either they're not very common or the owners live too far away to drive such a short range EV to the event!

Within the grounds was an i-Miev belonging to Edinburgh University kitted out in full signage, plugged into a charging point. What it was doing there I don't know, but it's the only one I saw. I had a few people staring at mine as we arrived and left so its obviously different enough looking to other EV's that even other EV drivers take notice.

Inside there were probably about 20 cars on display from various manufacturers - Tesla had a nice blue Model S and a white left hand drive Model X there - the Model S looked lovely as always but I was really taken aback by just how HUGE the Model X is! You have to see it in person to appreciate it. It is an absolute monster!

I've seen plenty of Model S's on the road but never a Model X in the flesh. When you see them on videos it looks like its just a taller version of the Model S but it really isn't, it's massive. I couldn't believe how high the falcon wing doors open - fully extended they must be at least 8 feet from the ground, so even the tallest basketball player could walk under them without bumping their head. People were getting in and out of these two cars and fiddling around with the touch screen etc inside.

That booth was the official Tesla presence at the show, but there were two other Model S's there as well, one I think was a hire company that hires Model S's, and I'm not sure what the other one was there for. Lots of people flocking around the Tesla's the whole time we were there.

What was quite surprising and a little bit sad when you think about it, is that some manufacturers booths were nearly empty of people. Of the other brands that were there, Mitsubishi had their Outlander over on the far side of the venue - with almost nobody looking at it, Toyota had both a Prius and a Hydrogen Fuel cell car, with not many people looking at it, Nissan were present with a Leaf and an e-NV200 van, not many people looking at those either (everyone knows the Leaf I suppose, so it's "boring", and not worthy of going to a show to see) and the only other marque that had significant interest seemed to be BMW, who had an i3, and i8, and something else I didn't recognise. Quite a few people milling around those, and the i8 (I think) did look very impressive indeed.

There were also a couple of charge point vendors including chargemaster, who do home charge point installations - and stupid me, who actually wants to get a charge point installed didn't even take a leaflet.

There was a huge kids play area in one corner that had face painting, and I saw some kids in big sumo outfits...

Something that was quite cool was a racing track for some radio controlled toy cars - with a row of steering wheels lined up along the edge, participants took a steering wheel and raced these radio controlled cars against each other for a prize. (Not sure what the prize was)

There were also electric cycles on hand for people to test ride. All in all very interesting. I'll definitely go back next time and try to pluck up the courage to get a few test drives!

On the way home the realities of owning an EV in 2017 hit home - to get back home in a 60 mile range EV I needed a quick rapid charge, and there is one at the park and ride just up the road.... which turned out to be broken and out of service, for apparently about 3 weeks.

So I had to drive about 4 miles to the next nearest one for a quick charge before heading home. Not only are more chargers required (there was only one at the site with no backup) owners of the devices really need to pull finger when there is a fault. The only rapid charger near the airport down for 3 weeks with no backup unit available and the nearest alternative several miles away just isn't acceptable if they expect any kind of EV uptake in this country. Would a petrol station close for 3 weeks because the pump is broken and they can't be arsed fixing it ? I don't think so!

Here are a few pictures:



















As you can see, the Model 3 is a lot smaller than the Model S.



Sorry that my pictures are so Tesla dominated, I didn't take any pictures of the BMW's at all, which were over in the opposite corner and were pretty nice looking to be fair...

[CitroJim]

Looks like little 'un enjoyed it Simon

[Mandrake]

Looks like little 'un enjoyed it Simon

Yes he did enjoy the day Jim.

In other news - can someone tell me what the law is on daytime running lights ?

I've never owned a car with daytime running lights before (the Xantia only has front fog lights) and the Peugeot Ion has daytime running lights that run ALL the time whenever the key is on, even if the headlights and fog-lights are switched off. Isn't this a little peculiar ? I can't say I have noticed any many other cars with DRL's running all the time ?

I'm going to see if its possible to change the configuration with the Lexia so that they only come on when the headlight switch is in at least the fog light position, as I don't like them being on all the time in broad daylight.

On the main lights control stalk there is off (but DRL's remain on if the key is on) then auto lights, then fog-lights (?) then headlights. The interesting thing is that in the "fog-lights" position there is actually no fog-light on unless you then turn a separate twist control that first enables the front white fog lights and on second twist enables the red rear fog lights.

So if you just set it to the "fog-light" position on the main control you actually get no additional lights than the OFF position until you turn the separate control. This makes me think that this position is what should be used to turn the DRL on by themselves without headlights or foglights, and that in this position you can optionally turn on one or both fog-lights in addition to the DRL.

Does that make sense ? So hopefully with the Lexia I can make the DRL's only come on when the main stalk is at least this far on.

[Stickyfinger]

DRLs run ALL the time, they should switch off as soon as the other lights are tuned on and be off when parked with sides (parking) light(s) on

[CitroJim]

As you say Alasdair... I understand that when the DRLs are on the rear taillights should be off...

[Mandrake]

DRLs run ALL the time, they should switch off as soon as the other lights are tuned on and be off when parked with sides (parking) light(s) on

If so, why do I see 95% of cars passing me with all lights including DRL's OFF during the day ? I see maybe a few percent at most of cars with any lights on during the middle of the day, so it doesn't seem like most other cars enforce always on DRL's.

These are the lights I'm referring to by the way, on the FRONT:



These ones stay on all the time when the key is on, whether the headlights are on or off. I'm not sure what you mean by "sides (parking)" lights ? Never heard of "parking" lights before ?

[Hell Razor5543]

On my company van I have the options of either having the DRLs on or off. I have them off, as the van eats them otherwise (went through 3 in 5 months). I don't have many options when it comes to the main lights though; either on or off (and no side lights!). I do have rear fog lights though.

[mickeymoon]

Looks like little 'un enjoyed it Simon

Yes he did enjoy the day Jim.

In other news - can someone tell me what the law is on daytime running lights ?

Vehicle manufacturers must fit DRL to new types of passenger car and light goods vehicle (car derived vans) type approved to European vehicle requirements from February 2011.

There doesn't appear to be a requirement to actually *use* them if they are fitted.

[RichardW]

I reckon they're bust....or it's operator error!

From the manual:

Daytime running lamps
Special daytime lighting so that the vehicle can
be seen more easily.
The daytime running lamps come on
automatically when starting the motor, if no
other lighting is on.
They cannot be deactivated.

Even though these lamps are located in
the same lamp unit as the front foglamp,
the operate with a specific bulb.
Their use is covered by road vehicle
lighting regulations.

It also says that a back turn on the fog light ring is required to turn the fog lights off off - it says auto cancel on the rears when the lights are turned off, but not on the fronts - it could be that you've got the fogs turned out without realising and they are taking over from the the DRLs when the other lights switch on. Or they are bust somewhere and on all the time! DRLS is a relatively new requirement, so you will see more cars with them on as the fleet is replaced.

[Mandrake]

I think you might have it Richard - operator error!

Who would have thought that the fog lamps would have separate bulbs for DRL. I'll check and I bet you're right, that it does change over to fog lamps when the headlights are on.

I'll be disappointed if I can't turn them off, even with the Lexia. DRL's seem like just another "nanny" feature that we don't really need - is there any evidence that it actually improves safety in any way ?

Under what circumstances would you see the light from a DRL during broad daylight when you wouldn't already see the entire car attached to it ? And the fact that they are bright enough to be seen during the day means that they have to be turned off at night to avoid affecting oncoming drivers - does that mean people who are late putting their headlights on during dusk are actually blinding oncoming cars with their DRL's ?

BTW it's not a requirement in the UK to either have or use DRL's according to this:

https://www.theaa.com/driving-advice/sa ... ing-lights

"The UK has never introduced a rule requiring daytime use of headlights"

[RichardW]

Another of those daft EU rules, but let's not stray there! In your case, if Lexia can turn them off you might as well - saves a little bit of battery power - unless they are LED?

[Mandrake]

Another of those daft EU rules, but let's not stray there! In your case, if Lexia can turn them off you might as well - saves a little bit of battery power - unless they are LED?

I'd have to double check but I don't think there are any LED bulbs on the car. They look like conventional bulbs to me.

It's not so much the power use, which is tiny for a 16kWh battery... I just don't like driving during the day with unnecessary lights on reflecting off everything in front of me and annoying people unless the weather warrants it. If I could turn the DRL on manually by turning it to the fog light position but with the fog-lights off I would happily do it when it's a bit grey and murky.

Another reason to do this is that to run the heater in the car while I'm parked I have to have the car in READY mode with the key on, this puts the DRL's on while I'm sat there parked making it look like I might be about to drive off. I'd like to be able to sit parked incognito with the heater on while I'm waiting for someone without the DRL's glaring away.

Unlike an ICE the car is silent and looks like it is parked and turned off when the heater is on - except for the DRL's... I also don't want to get into a debate with jobsworth plods about whether I'm using my phone while parked with the car "on" just because I have the heater on. Whatever "on" means on an EV, which doesn't idle!! Killing the DRL's in these situations makes me a bit more stealthy...

[mickeymoon]

Under what circumstances would you see the light from a DRL during broad daylight when you wouldn't already see the entire car attached to it ? A

I find them a great help, especially to make out silver or light blue cars with, when it's a little bit overcast. You have essentially a grey car against a grey road with a grey sky.