Just over a year ago I set off on a bleak December morning from Oxfordshire to Edinburgh in a 64kWh Hyundai Kona Electric SE. The idea was to take the first affordable EV with a decent range (£35,145 after PiCG at the time) and get there without having to jump through any early adopter-type hoops. It’s not a once every six months trip either, it’s one I do a few times a year.
The Kona Electric was easily up to it and would have managed it with two rapid charges each way (which take the battery to 80 percent in rapid mode, rather than 100). It was a near disaster because six of the eight Ecotricity DC rapid chargers I stopped at during the entire 690 mile round trip, didn’t work.
In January, I did the trip again to see if anything had changed apart from the car, which this time was a Kia e-Niro with the same size battery as the Kona. As before, I’d got an idea of which services I needed to stop at from Zapmap and the Ecotricity Electric Highway apps. I also made a note of Polar chargers near the motorway just in case I ran into trouble with Ecotricity again. This time my other half was with me, plus a puppy and I couldn’t risk getting stuck in the cold weather.
We left with the trip on 11,834 miles and a 24 hour charge from a domestic socket, a predicted range of 233 miles and the temperature outside, a nippy 6°C. I’d found with the Kona that the predicted range never quite lived up to the promise and I’d end up at a charge point with less remaining range than expected. I put it down to the fact I was doing a steady 70mph on the motorway but a delivery driver told me recently he found that generally, EVs range predictions were optimistic at around 1.2 miles for every mile actually travelled.
The first stop was 118 miles away at Knutsford on the M6 with the temperature still at a chilly 6°C. The remaining range on the trip computer was 133 miles, a difference from the predicted range of 115 miles which tallied almost exactly with reality. I’d made good use of the adaptive cruise and the Ecotricity charger worked, delivering 24.1 KWh for £7.23, 30p/kW in around 45 minutes and with the range now topped-up to 204 miles.
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Lets not confuse city smog with climate change
Yes smog does hang around densley populated areas, buses, factories, taxis and cars on short journeys, so yes an electric car in the city has a place. But the latest diesels with dpf and SCR running on motorways are not a problem.
I know my MOT tester and sit in on the emissions test and both our diesels one a volvo D2 and a skoda EU5 TDI, ULEZ compliant post emissions defeat era, once warm, chuck out a miniscule amount of pollutants on his machine,
But smokey cities do not cause global climate change, local yes but not global.
The smart meter and autonomous agenda
Once there is mass take up of washing machine motor powered vehicles, the government needs its revenue from fuel duty replaced, when your smart meter detects a mobile fridge on charge at what rate do you think that will be? Next will be the conversion of many areas to autonomous only EVs, yet these idiots pushing for this call themselves petrol heads and think a Porsche air cooled flat six sounds like a box of excrement. What a bunch of brainwashed losers.
Never mind the the extra mining in 3rd world countries to get the battery materials, plus is carrying round 300kgs of batteries whether empty or full efficient and there's no such thing as totally renewable energy, check out the facts on the inefficiency of wind farms, many are paid to close down for long periods. Wake up.
You have only said one
17 February 2020
You have only said one correct thing in all your posts that is true. I am certainly not a petrol head though I was once when I was much younger
Then I grew up,
Having a family now and living in London and literally being able to see the air I breathe has drastically changed my mind.
If you have been on this site before you would know I drive an electric car myself and am a huge fan because of the huge benefits of running one as well as environmental.
You however have been so negative on every post counter to your own views it's now obvious you are some kind of rediculous troll.
If you don't believe or claim you don't believe what is happening to this planet, why dont you try the following.
Take your old racket making shitbox and put it in a enclosed garage along with your favourite dog or cat if you have one or preferably yourself and start your car
Dont bother reving your shitbox, just wait a few minutes and feel the effects.
Then come out and think what millions of these shitboxes are doing to our precious planet minute by minute every day of the year and tell me it's not affecting its eco system
I personally think your agenda for writing the nonsense you've been spouting is either extreme ignorance or more likely you are just a hideous troll who lives alone with his toy cars.
In any case grow a brain.
And then a volcanoe erupts
But this climate change hysteria is a modern myth, they even have to rename it when the facts don't back up the agenda every few years, it was called global warming, then they found out temps weren't rising. The biggest influence on our climate is solar flare activity and planet flux, both of which cannot be taxed.
It annoys me they cannot even admit they pushed us all into diesels 10 years ago for a false reason, and now it is EVs, what will be their next excuse.
But don't let the arguement of being cheaper to run sway you, soon they won't be, the government generates over 20% of its income off the motorist, they will not give that up, you will end up paying alot more.
So I will contine to drive my Sunday afternoon passion, and use my diesel car with 4 people and a dog in it to get accross europe instead of flying, remember when Greta sailed to america she flew a crew out to return the yacht.
The smart meter and autonomous agenda
Once there is mass take up of washing machine motor powered vehicles, the government needs its revenue from fuel duty replaced, when your smart meter detects a mobile fridge on charge at what rate do you think that will be? Next will be the conversion of many areas to autonomous only EVs, yet these idiots pushing for this call themselves petrol heads and think a Porsche air cooled flat six sounds like a box of excrement. What a bunch of brainwashed losers.
Never mind the the extra mining in 3rd world countries to get the battery materials, plus is carrying round 300kgs of batteries whether empty or full efficient and there's no such thing as totally renewable energy, check out the facts on the inefficiency of wind farms, many are paid to close down for long periods. Wake up.