Electric Cars:what's available?

[andy5]

Some people want an electric car that can occasionally do towing.

Very little choice. Cars that can easily tow in other versions just don't have any towing weight specified for the electric one.

Yes the lack of towing options for EV's thus far is very perplexing. On paper an EV should be the perfect tow car with no clutch to burn up, full torque available from stationary, a smooth and effortless take off, regenerative braking to control the speed downhill without using friction brakes etc...

Yet there are very few that are tow rated even when the ICE versions are. I just don't get it. When they were <100 mile range you could argue that since towing can easily halve the range of a car (including ICE) due to aerodynamics the manufacturers didn't want to tow rate them because buyers would complain about the terrible range while towing...

But now you can get 250 mile range EV's I don't see how that argument holds water any longer, especially if I just want to tow a trailer to the local dump a couple of times a month not for hundreds of miles! EV drivers are starting to get a bit miffed about the stubborn reluctance of manufacturers to tow rate their EV's and what's really behind it...

Also this seems to vary by country - there are some EV's that are tow rated in parts of Europe but are not in the UK when they're the exact same car just with the steering wheel on the other side!

I found this, in which an Australian person personally concluded there was no reason not to tow with, coincidentally for recent discussion here, the Kona

https://thedriven.io/2019/06/10/towing- ... t-be-done/

I put this case to Hyundai and got the following unofficial response from a key person who should know, but who wishes to remain anonymous:

“Technically there is no mechanical issue in towing with any EV, including the Kona. The potential problem one may encounter, especially in the Kona, is the State of Charge on the battery.

“One may get an inaccurate reading of remaining range or charging rate. eg. when one is towing, especially up hill at both extreme ends of the ambient temperature, the range and charge reading will not be true.

“If towing on a flat surface at constant speed then those readings would more likely reflect the “true” reading. Additionally, it is not recommended that you tow more than 500kg.”

So it appears their only concern is that the ‘fuel gauge’ may not give an accurate reading!
_

Plus other interesting comment

I'm not sure about that cutely small caravan though, need to go up to a ton or so

[Mandrake]

Peugeot e-2008 review:

[myglaren]

Not pretty. No idea what was said, had to mute him. Supercar Blondie is hard work but he is insufferable.

[Mandrake]

Not pretty. No idea what was said, had to mute him. Supercar Blondie is hard work but he is insufferable.

Supercar Blondie ? You've lost me...

[myglaren]

Not pretty. No idea what was said, had to mute him. Supercar Blondie is hard work but he is insufferable.

Supercar Blondie ? You've lost me...

[NewcastleFalcon]

The Chorley Group have been very active in EV's mainly NISSAN, but I notice they have now branched out into MG's.

That is of course that great old Chinese Marque now...

Here's Chorley's take on the new MG ZS EV



Regards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

So whats happening with Nissan

Nissan reduces Leaf pricing and adds more standard kit
Electric hatchback is now £1650 cheaper, with prices starting from £26,345
"Explaining the price drop, Nissan cited “economies of scale” made possible by increased production allocation for the Leaf at its Sunderland plant. "

Just hope the NIssan plant continues on this path, and brings in manufacturing of the e-NV200 van, and future ev models to Sunderland.

Hopefully those tears over the "loss" of the X-trail will quickly be drying up.

Seen it on the news, not read anything about it but Nissan have announced they will not be making the X-Trail 4X4 in Sunderland.

Wonder what an X-Trail looks like........

Its this thing here......another SUV....yawn....yawn

Yes its a blow to manufacturing in the UK, but if Nissan get their act together surely they have to plan for an expansion in their supply and variety of electric vehicles rather than gum up a production line with the X-Trail dinosaur.

REgards Neil

Could be an opportunity

REgards Neil

[Gibbo2286]

Money money money.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/compan ... partandhp

[NewcastleFalcon]

Money money money.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/compan ... partandhp

I think Chris has registered an interest in Rivian Gibbo

Our daughter-in-law has been working for Rivian for nearly two years now.
They have produced a very interesting (essentially flat and highly adaptable) BEV platform.

Regards Neil

[mickthemaverick]

Money money money.

Own work

[myglaren]

Too slow

At least 448 green vehicles have been bought by police forces across the country in a bid to meet emission targets. But there’s just one slight problem – they aren’t much good at chasing crooks or rushing to save people in crisis. Practically all of the vehicles, which cost at least £1.49 million altogether, are used for non-emergencies and for bosses to travel to work. Official police reports say it takes too long to charge the batteries to be ready for a hot pursuit at a moment’s notice. They also say there is too much risk of them running out of juice before before the end of a shift.

Oh dear!

[Gibbo2286]

Having watched a few of the Police Interceptors programmes I think far too much is spent on high performance cars and their use, we need a lot less chasing and a bit more well thought out policing.

[NewcastleFalcon]

Having watched a few of the Police Interceptors programmes I think far too much is spent on high performance cars and their use, we need a lot less chasing and a bit more well thought out policing.

Well put Gibbo, I was thinking on similar lines. I guess the high performance cars they currently use cost a fortune in any case, and I would be surprised if any of them could outrun a Tesla, and would also be surprised if any of your average "chases" ever get anywhere near 100miles in any case. Case of the Police boo-hoo ing before they are hurt, or just buying the wrong electric vehicles.

Regards Neil

[bobins]

"Well thought out policing" is a bit open ended. However you look at it, to get 'better' policing it will cost more money.... and when it comes down to it, the public won't vote for higher taxes to pay for it*

Whilst police 'chases' rarely get to 100 miles, if a car is on shift for (say) 10 hours, and it needs to be ready for all of those hours, and all the extra electronics used in the car are draining the battery / batteries, and it needs to be ready for the next shift once the present one is over.... you can see why BEVs aren't so suitable for the high profile policing.

*- Whilst most of the public won't vote for it, those that have had direct experience of the lack of police resources, and those who can see further than their bank balances may well vote for higher taxes

[Mandrake]

Too slow

At least 448 green vehicles have been bought by police forces across the country in a bid to meet emission targets. But there’s just one slight problem – they aren’t much good at chasing crooks or rushing to save people in crisis. Practically all of the vehicles, which cost at least £1.49 million altogether, are used for non-emergencies and for bosses to travel to work. Official police reports say it takes too long to charge the batteries to be ready for a hot pursuit at a moment’s notice. They also say there is too much risk of them running out of juice before before the end of a shift.

Oh dear!

Typical metro and daily mail trash. The cars were not bought for "hot persuit" use in the first place. They were bought for non persuit duties such as community policing, investigations etc... not every police vehicle on the force is used for persuit.

How good at hot persuit is the little Corsa driven by a plain clothes officer who is visiting a company to request CCTV footage as part of an investigation ? While it might have the range it won't be able to catch anyone determined to get away in a more powerful car... Same sort of use scenario's here..

BTW, the Glasgow police have at least one i-Miev in their posession - I've seen it on the road twice now. I also doubt that was bought for hot persuit uses...