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Electric Vehicles or EVs


Baldbloke
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I thought the aim (until today’s announcement at least) was to stop the sale of new combustion-engine only cars by 2040? IMO this still leaves a lot of wriggle room for politicians / pragmatism (?!) for plug in hybrids and EVs with a range extender.

I went for a self charging hybrid when I last changed car, to be honest mainly for company car tax reasons but also because I fancied an automatic owing to having a dodgy left knee. Mine is the Kia Niro, same car as the Hyundai Ioniq underneath but different styling on top. Had the PHEV been on sale when I changed, I would probably have gone for one of those - the range of ca. 30 miles would be enough for my round trip to work, but with no range anxiety or frustration at not being able to do longer journeys for holidays etc.

The self charging hybrid is working out alright, fuel economy in general is nowhere near the quoted figure but if driven carefully I have had 74mpg for a door to door 100 mile trip, so not shabby either for a 5 seat car.

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11 hours ago, djbobbins said:

The self charging hybrid is working out alright, fuel economy in general is nowhere near the quoted figure but if driven carefully I have had 74mpg for a door to door 100 mile trip, so not shabby either for a 5 seat car.

It's still not amazing when a Honda Civic 1.6 diesel will do 65.5mpg (according to Honest John's Real MPG figures)..

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My wife has a Mitsubishi PHEV Plug-in.  Swapped an older Kia Sorento that was comfortable and reliable - but costing £150 in diesel each month. 

 

Each morning she does a school run of around 20 miles - all on electric.  In two-and-a-half years she's notched-up 30k miles. 

 

It wasn't especially cheap to buy - but running costs are low.  With a mix of long and short journeys - it's averaging around 65 mpg.  The tech is pretty clever.  It's hard to notice when it switches from petrol to electric and vice versa.  It just 'does it's stuff'.

 

It's quick to drive [petrol engine and electric motors working together deliver approx. 200 bhp and bundles of torque] and very quiet.

 

It handles really well in wet, snowy and muddy conditions [the drivetrain and steering and very clever].

 

It feels a generation ahead of any other petrol or diesel car I've driven in the past couple of years.  It doesn't always get the best reviews in the press - but it really is one of the nicest cars I've driven [and I've had a few over the years].

 

The only downside is that the interior feels a bit cheap for a car that has a high list price.  I do think they are a good bet second-hand though.

 

Interestingly, when the guy from Chargemaster came to fit our charging point - he mentioned that there's a big reliability difference between the Japanese/Korean Hybrids/Plug-ins and the Europeans.  He implied that the Japanese/Koreans have been playing with Hybrids for so much longer - they're producing better products.

 

No doubt that we're starting to reach a point where an all electric car is a real possibility.  I had a look at the all electric Kia Kona recently.  Reliable range of around 270 miles. 

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1 hour ago, benedmonds said:

It's still not amazing when a Honda Civic 1.6 diesel will do 65.5mpg (according to Honest John's Real MPG figures)..

It is good when you consider a litre of diesel has 10% more calories in it than petrol, so a petrol hybrid is equivalent with 59.5mpg.

 

I was given a 2008 Honda civic hybrid 18month's ago as it had a faulty IMA battery, replacing it was more than the car was worth with 100k miles done, my old primary school fried who took it on regularly gets over 60mpg and 70 on his regular night time visit from Brighton to Wellingborough even with charging losses to the battery

 

My works pug 206 1.4 diesel seldom dropped below 70mpg even at over 300k miles.

 

A lot is to do with driving style and the hybrid probably benefits a driver who hammers up to junctions  rather than someone like I.

 

BTW the late Prof, David McKay predicted the raw materials problem for batteries in his 2009 book "sustainable energy without hot air"

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For me, the biggest draw of electric vehicles is their performance. I honestly can't wait for widespread electric vans and trucks. 3, 4 or 500bhp, maximum torque from zero, no shifting down when towing 3.5t up a steep hill as you've no gears and with that much torque, I doubt you'd notice the hill. And then get home in the evening and hook it up to your house to recharge, where you'd ideally have some sort of renewable to discount that. 

 

I am looking forward to it :D

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