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Car advice (Read 109136 times)

tommytwotone

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#375 Re: Car advice
July 06, 2017, 03:56:17 pm
No lie, as my aerial connection is knackered (and in accessible thanks to Skoda's "robust" dashboard design) I'm currently having to use my phone, playing the FM radio app, fed back through the stereo via the line in if I want to listen to R4 in the mornings.




galpinos

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#376 Re: Car advice
July 06, 2017, 05:04:39 pm
Come on, moving the emissions elsewhere in the world doesn't change their existence. The embodied energy / embodied carbon in the newer vehicle (shipping?) will far surpass the environmental harm of your old diesel (sleep easy  :shag: ).

Paul, this sounds like an excuse of a petrol(diesel) head reluctant to embrace electric cars. The embodied energy and CO2 of a Tesla Model S is equivalent to 60,000km is a "standard" IC car. There are many advantages of "moving the emissions" and it does "change their existence".

1. Pollution and particulate issues in cities - As per tomtom, living just inside the M60 the air quality is shite and likely cause an increase in respiratory issues. Electric cars are part of the solution in improving air quality.
2. Energy generation in power stations and distributed via the grid is more efficient than IC engines - fewer emissions
3. It allows the use of renewable/green energy to power your car. Replace your roof tiles with some Tesla tiles, stick a power bank in your basement, buy your energy from bulb or whoever and you're hunky dory.

So, maybe don't sleep easy and consider making changes for the good of us all?

(As a confession, I have two diesel vehicles but am feeling increasingly guilty and off road parking for an electric vehicle is a big consideration in new house choice)

dave

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#377 Car advice
July 06, 2017, 07:36:16 pm
Well I test drove an Outlander PHEV tonight. Seemed quite nice. First time i've even driven an automatic though, which was weird. Kinda feels like cheating.

Not the widest car out there (officially 10cm narrower than my Passat) but a large Pod mat, and I would guess a Moon Warrior, will fit between the wheel arches in the boot.

tomtom

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#378 Re: Car advice
July 06, 2017, 07:41:53 pm
Well I test drove an Outlander PHEV tonight. Seemed quite nice. First time i've even driven an automatic though, which was weird. Kinda feels like cheating.

Not the widest car out there (officially 10cm narrower than my Passat) but a large Pod mat, and I would guess a Moon Warrior, will fit between the wheel arches in the boot.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/cars/mitsubishi/mitsubishi-outlander-phev-long-term-test/

dave

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#379 Re: Car advice
July 06, 2017, 08:04:10 pm
Don't worry, I've already read pretty much everything out there. First car we've test drove simply because of the limited plug-ins that's the most common, so easy to find one local to check out.  Bear in mind mine and the wife's commute to work is under 2 miles.

El Mocho

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#380 Re: Car advice
July 07, 2017, 08:06:10 am
I don't know much about any of the Hybrids but my wife has had the Zoe for a few months now. We are 100% happy with it.

We got one under a year old, with 1,000 miles (a demonstrator at a Renault garage, Stockport) for 8K, Renault fund the installation of a 'fast' charger at your house (charges car in a few hours rather than about 12 if doing it off a normal socket)

I've driven my mums auto a bunch and this is a nicer drive than that - the torque (or whatever you call it) is instantaneous and at a constant level, pulling out at junctions, even on steep hills, is really easy. Driving around the Peak/Shef the car is obv really quiet (legally the car has to make a humming noise between 8 and 18 mph so you don't kill cyclists/pedestrians). Spec wise it's the nicest car we've had (it's also by far the newest/lowest mileage we've had so that's prob why it's so nice!)

Driving it to/from work is perfect, never have to go to petrol station. We charge it on my mums drive (lives on same road, we don't have off road parking) and due to her having solar panels and the weird way they pay for her elec (they assume you use 50% of the energy the solar panel produce - the meter for the solar is before it feeds into the switch board) so it ends up being really cheap if we charge the car whilst the sun is shining (weather it is completely free or not I guess depends on how much the solar is producing verses how much the car is taking - we pay her the full amount (there is an app with the charge unit) so she could be making money on the deal)

It's pretty crap on the motorway - over 60mph and the range goes down really quickly. The range is pretty low anyhow (in use max range is just under 90 miles but you get pretty excited when the remaining range drops below 20 when on a big journey) and charge points in the sticks can be a bit temperamental (I went to 3 up on the North York moors before I found one which was working/not behind a locked gate, range getting lower and lower)

You lease the Zoe battery (why the car was 'only' 8K, leasing is based on the annual miles you do we pay £60/month I think) for an extra £10 you can lease the new battery which has double the range.

Boot doesn't really fit a pad, does just fit 2 dogs.

Obv you need off street parking.

Don't pay road tax, servicing meant to be very cheap, free recovery (mechanical or if you run out of charge) included with battery lease, you get to drive around like a smug bastard whilst failing to tell people about the big diesel estate you also own and the flights around the world you take. I love it.

dave

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#381 Re: Car advice
July 07, 2017, 08:11:27 am
Good insight BB, cheers.


Boot doesn't really fit a pad, does just fit 2 dogs.


Anyone know which the best breeds of dog are to land on heavily from 12ft?

jfdm

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#382 Re: Car advice
July 07, 2017, 09:14:11 am
Maybe wait till 2020 for one of these bad boys.

cowboyhat

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#383 Re: Car advice
July 07, 2017, 02:50:33 pm

Driving it to/from work is perfect, never have to go to petrol station.

Well that must be a relief.

Journey to work by charwllms, on Flickr

tomtom

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#384 Re: Car advice
July 07, 2017, 05:07:01 pm
Don't worry, I've already read pretty much everything out there. First car we've test drove simply because of the limited plug-ins that's the most common, so easy to find one local to check out.  Bear in mind mine and the wife's commute to work is under 2 miles.

Sorry if this is a daft Q - but if it's under two miles why not walk/cycle?

dave

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#385 Re: Car advice
July 07, 2017, 05:08:56 pm
Don't you start.....

tomtom

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#386 Re: Car advice
July 07, 2017, 07:12:38 pm
Long driveway?

andy_e

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#387 Re: Car advice
July 07, 2017, 09:16:36 pm
Two miles through the ghetto to be fair, Dave's got his daps to protect.

dave

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#388 Re: Car advice
July 09, 2017, 08:28:17 pm
Maybe wait till 2020 for one of these bad boys.


That would be a great drink-driving pubcrawl car.

Testdrove a 2016 Auris Touring hybrid yesterday ("Touring" = estate backend). Seems like a decent car, easy to drive, petrol engine gets a bit noisy going up hills like it lacked grunt, but I guess I'm currently spoilt with the 1.9 TDi in the Passat. No doubt a good motorway cruiser, probably less good for knocking about in the Peak.

Crucially in the boot the gap between the wheel arches was a bit tight, a shade under 1m, could probably have squeezed my old Pod in but I reckon a brand new Moon Warrior would have been too big.

Having a 4-day testdrive of a Leaf this week after checking a demo one out today. Boot is surprisingly big actually, might even take a Pod/Moon mat, we'll see. Seems they depreciate heavily in the first year or so (by normal standards) so probably some good deals out there to be had on second hand ones.


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#389 Re: Car advice
July 09, 2017, 10:39:17 pm
Anyone dropped a grand on a Telsa pre-order?  You can cancel and get a refund at any point. I'm tempted in a "well, I don't know what position I'll be in in mid 2018 but maybe a new Tesla would fit the bill" way of thinking...

I have now got a regular 62 mile drive to work when I'm on site. I have looked into getting a Renault Zoe as, with 52p per mile "business mileage" I would actually make money driving to work. The major issue is, even though I work at a wind turbine, the owner isn't willing to put in a charge point. I live in a flat so there's nowhere to charge overnight, so, for now it looks like I might be stuck.  :(

tomtom

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#390 Re: Car advice
July 10, 2017, 07:58:57 am
RE Ev's - its worth looking at the actual costs of the 'fuel' - in this case electricity.

I read quite an interesting breakdown of one of those Outlander PHEV's - and it reconed that on a medium/pricey electricity tarrif it worked out at 60mpg (when converted via petrol costs)..

Also - the ecotricity points (in petrol stations) are not cheap... they have to make their installation costs (c.50k per point I heard) back somehow... Though some places like IKEA give you ££ off your bill if you charge there...

If your work has the infrastructure then great... for me, my 'commute' is 110 miles to Hull and back once and occasionally twice a week. There are 3 public charging points in Hull. 250000 people. Maybe when range is reliably 250 miles (I too looked at a Tesla pre-order) a full EV would be a runner for me.

Additional anecdote - in a car forum I contribute to, one of the posters there - at his work they installed free charge points. He ditched his diesel, bought an i3 and now has a 100% FOC commute...

I don't think we're at a tipping point, but its getting close.....

dave

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#391 Re: Car advice
July 10, 2017, 08:23:41 am
RE Ev's - its worth looking at the actual costs of the 'fuel' - in this case electricity.

I read quite an interesting breakdown of one of those Outlander PHEV's - and it reconed that on a medium/pricey electricity tarrif it worked out at 60mpg (when converted via petrol costs)..

60mpg isn't bad for a 2-tonne petrol SUV!

I did a bit of maths based on our annual mileage and driving patterns of the current Passat. Basically I reckoned the 50% of our annual mile which is on long journeys would increase in cost by 20%, but the 50% which is local or within the mainly-EV range of an Outlander would decrease in cost by two thirds at least (Outlander EV range costing ~6.5p per mile, equivalent Passat cost 18-25p per mile). So overall a net winner if fuel costs alone are considered. That was based on our fixed tariff home supply at 12.5p per kwh, if we went to a smart meter and charged at night we could maybe half that EV cost per mile again.

Also - the ecotricity points (in petrol stations) are not cheap

That is true. Looked like 17p per kwh plus a £3 hookup fee. So to fully charge an Outlander PHEV battery (10kwh - the battery is 12kwh but always keeps 2kwh) you're talking £4.70. When test driving the Outlander the dealer said if running in "charge" mode it would take either 3 or 4 litres of fuel to fully charge the battery, which at current fuel prices is either cheaper or exactly the same as the Ecotricity charger, only without the 30min wait. So basically from a cost point of view there's nothing to be gained by rapid charging it at those prices. I suspect they have priced them like that specifically to deter plugin hybrid users clogging up the stations to prioritise full EV user (which is fair enough).

tomtom

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#392 Re: Car advice
July 10, 2017, 08:36:30 am
Some good numbers there Dave..

It'll be interesting to see how the market shakes up... will you (for example) find more shops/supermarkets/coffee shops/McDonalds etc.. offering free charges - they make their ££ from the customer spending 30-40 min charging and having a soy-latte and quinoa salad ££kerching ?

When will the first FAKE charge point be set up! Scam your card details etc... :)

dave

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#393 Re: Car advice
July 10, 2017, 08:47:20 am
I doubt I personally would as we never currently physically set foot in any supermarkets or god forbid mcdonalds at present anyway. Metropolitan liberal elite mate, it's all about online shopping and local artisanal barista joints while Pippa is at cello lessons.

What is clear is that you could get a two or three year old Leaf for local-ish driving AND say a 5-6 year old TDi estate for long holidays drives for the same money or less than any of the current limited range of affordable family-size plugin hybrids. Obvs then you've got to insure two cars, but worth a look if you're a family which was running one big main car plus a clapped out runaround banger for 'er indoors anyway.

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#394 Re: Car advice
July 10, 2017, 09:58:18 am
Good insight BB, cheers.


Boot doesn't really fit a pad, does just fit 2 dogs.


Anyone know which the best breeds of dog are to land on heavily from 12ft?


Moon Pluto.




chris j

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#395 Re: Car advice
July 10, 2017, 10:47:15 am

What is clear is that you could get a two or three year old Leaf for local-ish driving AND say a 5-6 year old TDi estate for long holidays drives for the same money or less than any of the current limited range of affordable family-size plugin hybrids.

Can a Leaf take 2 rear facing child seats & a good size buggy? If it can or there's another relatively affordable (2nd hand) full EV that can (that's not the size of a Tesla Model S) I'll be all over it...

dave

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#396 Re: Car advice
July 10, 2017, 11:01:45 am
From what we saw of it, I would say yes or at least possibly. Will depend on what kind of size/shape/volume the buggy folds to, but I was surprised by how decent the boot was. Certainly way bigger boot than our old Micra.

tomtom

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#397 Re: Car advice
July 10, 2017, 12:54:35 pm
MOST importantly - can you report how well each EV/Plugin etc.. does a handbrake turn in the Plantation car park?

dave

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#398 Re: Car advice
July 10, 2017, 12:58:52 pm
Can you even do a handbrake turn with a pushbutton electric handbrake? Maybe Slackline can help us root the BIOS and hack the firmware 1110100101011000111010101010.

tomtom

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#399 Re: Car advice
July 10, 2017, 01:00:08 pm
Can you even do a handbrake turn with a pushbutton electric handbrake? Maybe Slackline can help us root the BIOS and hack the firmware 1110100101011000111010101010.

Come on Ice -just give it a try :)

 

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