[Misc] Electric Cars

[Hugo Rune]

Newcastle away was my first big trip in my EV.

My car has a 200 mile range (just about).

First time on the superchargers but in essence, my son and I needed more stopping time than the car. The car needed 45mins charging (30mins and 15mins) from a 100% full start.

I used my Electroverse card and had no hassle at all. No waiting. Etc.

I was a little apprehensive about this journey in a EV but all that worry has gone now I’ve done it.

I really can’t see myself in an ICE again. Ever.

 

[darkwolf666]

I mentioned on this thread previously, that I would go electric, but range and boot space are a massive consideration to me, something sorely lacking in the electric market at present.

I have instead gone for a half way house and recently taken a Dacia Jogger Hybrid on the Motability scheme. It’s a surprisingly good car. Ok, some of the finish is a bit cheap and plastic, but it’s a good drive, very smooth, although the change from electric to petrol can be a little noisy.

I have seen online anecdotal (with pictures) evidence of 600 miles on a 50litre tank of petrol, although I’ve not got anywhere near that yet, cold morning starts and not driving any real distances has probably kept my consumption nearer 50mpg, so more like 550 miles on the tank…

I‘m looking forward to my trips to Cornwall, Wales and the Peak District this year, to give it a good run and test its capabilities…

 

[GOM]

I mentioned on this thread previously, that I would go electric, but range and boot space are a massive consideration to me, something sorely lacking in the electric market at present.

I have instead gone for a half way house and recently taken a Dacia Jogger Hybrid on the Motability scheme. It’s a surprisingly good car. Ok, some of the finish is a bit cheap and plastic, but it’s a good drive, very smooth, although the change from electric to petrol can be a little noisy.

I have seen online anecdotal (with pictures) evidence of 600 miles on a 50litre tank of petrol, although I’ve not got anywhere near that yet, cold morning starts and not driving any real distances has probably kept my consumption nearer 50mpg, so more like 550 miles on the tank…

I‘m looking forward to my trips to Cornwall, Wales and the Peak District this year, to give it a good run and test its capabilities…

Why is massive range so important to you, do you often travel 600 miles without stopping ? Surely you'd want a break in the 5 or 6 hours journeys to Wales or Cornwall.

 

[darkwolf666]

Why is massive range so important to you, do you often travel 600 miles without stopping ? Surely you'd want a break in the 5 or 6 hours journeys to Wales or Cornwall.

The "large boot" vehicles that would suit our needs ALL had a range of less than 200miles, some as little has 150 miles. Couple that with the fact many holiday accommodations don't have charging points to charge your car once you're there, so would necessitate another break to top up.

To be honest, it's more the boot space than anything, as I'm sure with careful planning stops could be sorted, without becoming too much of a chore.

Before the Dacia hybrid we had a petrol driven Peugeot 5008 that had a humongous boot. Unfortunately that is now only available in electric and they have raised the boot floor up to accommodate the battery - reducing the boot space...

 

[GOM]

The "large boot" vehicles that would suit our needs ALL had a range of less than 200miles, some as little has 150 miles. Couple that with the fact many holiday accommodations don't have charging points to charge your car once you're there, so would necessitate another break to top up.

To be honest, it's more the boot space than anything, as I'm sure with careful planning stops could be sorted, without becoming too much of a chore.

Before the Dacia hybrid we had a petrol driven Peugeot 5008 that had a humongous boot. Unfortunately that is now only available in electric and they have raised the boot floor up to accommodate the battery - reducing the boot space...

The mistake that many thinking of buying an EV for the first time is trying to think of electric cars differently to ICE cars. They are just cars using a different fuel.
'Range anxiety' and fear of running out of battery predominately only exists for non-EV drivers, those with EVs rarely even think about it.
Would you arrive at your destination in an ICE vehicle with an empty tank, no of course not....so why would you in an EV, and how many holiday accommodations have a petrol pump to top up whilst you are there, so consider one that does have a charger a pleasant bonus but not a necessity.

 

[Bry Nylon]

how many holiday accommodations have a petrol pump to top up whilst you are there

FFS don’t tell my kids that. They still think two weeks self-catering at the BP Wild Bean Cafe on the A505 just outside Newmarket is a perfectly acceptable holiday - even if it is a bit of drive to the beach every day.

 

[darkwolf666]

The mistake that many thinking of buying an EV for the first time is trying to think of electric cars differently to ICE cars. They are just cars using a different fuel.
'Range anxiety' and fear of running out of battery predominately only exists for non-EV drivers, those with EVs rarely even think about it.
Would you arrive at your destination in an ICE vehicle with an empty tank, no of course not....so why would you in an EV, and how many holiday accommodations have a petrol pump to top up whilst you are there, so consider one that does have a charger a pleasant bonus but not a necessity.

No, but then I wouldn't have to consider filling up enroute.

For example I recently drove to Somerset, a total of 210 miles, which took me just under 4 hours, which I did in one drive. Yes my car reminded me to "take a break", which I elected to ignore, as I'm not a lorry driver on a tachograph!
I arrived at my destination with sufficient fuel to potter around in Somerset for a couple of days, and still get back to Kent, with fuel to spare in the tank.
The Motability scheme, which I mentioned I got my Dacia from, only does one 7 seat vehicle that would do the mileage for one way to Somerset, the Peugot 5008 - unfortunately, as also already mentioned, the boot space on the 5008 has been reduced to accommodate the large battery and doesn't meet our requirments!
I pointed out at the start of this conversation, that if there was an electric vehicle that had the boot space, and sufficient range to do even the most basic of distant journey, then I would quite happily have one. Once infrastructure is better suited, and there isn't the need to "plan" stops, then I think more people will be keen to go green...

 

[GOM]

No, but then I wouldn't have to consider filling up enroute.

For example I recently drove to Somerset, a total of 210 miles, which took me just under 4 hours, which I did in one drive. Yes my car reminded me to "take a break", which I elected to ignore, as I'm not a lorry driver on a tachograph!
I arrived at my destination with sufficient fuel to potter around in Somerset for a couple of days, and still get back to Kent, with fuel to spare in the tank.
The Motability scheme, which I mentioned I got my Dacia from, only does one 7 seat vehicle that would do the mileage for one way to Somerset, the Peugot 5008 - unfortunately, as also already mentioned, the boot space on the 5008 has been reduced to accommodate the large battery and doesn't meet our requirments!
I pointed out at the start of this conversation, that if there was an electric vehicle that had the boot space, and sufficient range to do even the most basic of distant journey, then I would quite happily have one. Once infrastructure is better suited, and there isn't the need to "plan" stops, then I think more people will be keen to go green...

Your requirements are specific to you as are everybody's and I wish you luck in finding something to suit you.
As I have said don't worry too much about the range, and the infrastructure is now good currently for the number of EVs on the road now. It is expanding rapidly and will hopefully keep pace with the growing number of EVs. Planning stops for many is now more about when to take a pee break (and charge if needed at the same time).

 

[Audax]

For example I recently drove to Somerset, a total of 210 miles, which took me just under 4 hours, which I did in one drive. Yes my car reminded me to "take a break", which I elected to ignore, as I'm not a lorry driver on a tachograph!

The Aussies have done a lot of research into the causes of road deaths over the years. A lot. Driving longer than 2 hours without taking a significant break is now well known to increase the risk of accidents, and the longer you drive the more risky it gets. That research started driving *ahem change in Australia decades ago. Things like "driver reviver" roadside rest areas where you can often find a free coffee and biscuits waiting for you. Roadside signage reminding drivers to take breaks etc, radio and TV campaigns reminding of the dangers over holiday periods (particularly long weekends, Christmas, Easter). Those road safety campaigns based around taking 2 hours rest breaks have been running for over 30 years now, and proven to work (I'm actually really surprised that they've only just started doing similar educational campaigns here in the UK recently - heard my first ever UK-based driver reviver style ads on Spotify last year).

Just because you can drive for 4 hours straight through without stopping doesn't mean you should.

 

[schmunk]

the Peugot 5008 - unfortunately, as also already mentioned, the boot space on the 5008 has been reduced to accommodate the large battery and doesn't meet our requirments!

Are you sure about that?

The new model has capacities of:

348 litres with all 7 seats up (there's a large space under the rearmost seats)
916 litres with 5 seats up
2,232 with 2 seats up

The previous model (which is 15cm shorter, 5cm lower and 5cm narrower) has:

167 litres with all 7 seats
952 litres with 5 seats
2,042 litres with 2 seats (2,150 if you take the rear seats out)

(I have an E-5008 on order)

 

[Greg Bobkin]

The "large boot" vehicles that would suit our needs ALL had a range of less than 200miles, some as little has 150 miles. Couple that with the fact many holiday accommodations don't have charging points to charge your car once you're there, so would necessitate another break to top up.

To be honest, it's more the boot space than anything, as I'm sure with careful planning stops could be sorted, without becoming too much of a chore.

Before the Dacia hybrid we had a petrol driven Peugeot 5008 that had a humongous boot. Unfortunately that is now only available in electric and they have raised the boot floor up to accommodate the battery - reducing the boot space...

Just playing devil's advocate here, but if range is a massive thing to you, then wouldn't it be better/easier to filter potential accommodations specifying EV charging? Or, at the very least, the ability to park close enough to the place that you could use the mains to charge the car?

 

[nicko31]

More bad news for the fossil fuel industry

 

[darkwolf666]

Just playing devil's advocate here, but if range is a massive thing to you, then wouldn't it be better/easier to filter potential accommodations specifying EV charging? Or, at the very least, the ability to park close enough to the place that you could use the mains to charge the car?

That is a good idea and maybe something that should be pushed for holiday accommodation providers, as there don't seem to be many with that option of a filter on their websites.
It's also surprising, or maybe not, that there doesn't appear to be an overabundance of country properties with EV charging points as standard.
I would be loathe to run out of juice in the Highlands of Scotland or around Snowdon, as per our main visits last year!
As I have replied on another post, my main consideration is boot space, and I guess I would get used to the monitoring the fuel consumption over time!

 

[darkwolf666]

Are you sure about that?

The new model has capacities of:

348 litres with all 7 seats up (there's a large space under the rearmost seats)
916 litres with 5 seats up
2,232 with 2 seats up

The previous model (which is 15cm shorter, 5cm lower and 5cm narrower) has:

167 litres with all 7 seats
952 litres with 5 seats
2,042 litres with 2 seats (2,150 if you take the rear seats out)

(I have an E-5008 on order)

We had a petrol 5008, the boot was massive as I never had the rest seats up. The drop from headrest to floor pan was considerably deeper than on the E-5008.

I'm not sure how car manufacturers measure boot space, but I tend to use no higher than the headrest as a guide, and try not to go that high if I can help it. I am also looking at things like suitcases and a special needs pushchair, which won't go in that handy "under the back seat" space.

 

[darkwolf666]

The Aussies have done a lot of research into the causes of road deaths over the years. A lot. Driving longer than 2 hours without taking a significant break is now well known to increase the risk of accidents, and the longer you drive the more risky it gets. That research started driving *ahem change in Australia decades ago. Things like "driver reviver" roadside rest areas where you can often find a free coffee and biscuits waiting for you. Roadside signage reminding drivers to take breaks etc, radio and TV campaigns reminding of the dangers over holiday periods (particularly long weekends, Christmas, Easter). Those road safety campaigns based around taking 2 hours rest breaks have been running for over 30 years now, and proven to work (I'm actually really surprised that they've only just started doing similar educational campaigns here in the UK recently - heard my first ever UK-based driver reviver style ads on Spotify last year).

Just because you can drive for 4 hours straight through without stopping doesn't mean you should.

Understand all of that and maybe if the UK took onboard things like free coffee stops it might be something more people would consider, myself included.

 

[darkwolf666]

Your requirements are specific to you as are everybody's and I wish you luck in finding something to suit you.
As I have said don't worry too much about the range, and the infrastructure is now good currently for the number of EVs on the road now. It is expanding rapidly and will hopefully keep pace with the growing number of EVs. Planning stops for many is now more about when to take a pee break (and charge if needed at the same time).

My wife is the one who needs the pee breaks, maybe she should drive...!

 

[Greg Bobkin]

More bad news for the fossil fuel industry

It's probably worth pointing out there is a big difference between 'registrations' and 'sales' – as this fella seems to flip-flop between the two. The data he refers to is the former, not the latter. And it's well known that manufacturers will massage the registration figures to suit their narrative. Some of the figures here just don't add up (EVs aren't "nearly 60% market share" for example) and NewAutomotive isn't the most trustworthy source. Here's the actual data for February, in case anyone's interested.

 

[schmunk]

We had a petrol 5008, the boot was massive as I never had the rest seats up. The drop from headrest to floor pan was considerably deeper than on the E-5008.

I'm not sure how car manufacturers measure boot space, but I tend to use no higher than the headrest as a guide, and try not to go that high if I can help it. I am also looking at things like suitcases and a special needs pushchair, which won't go in that handy "under the back seat" space.

I'm struggling to find exact measurements but Parkers says:

"The new E-5008’s boot is longer and larger than the old 5008’s regardless of how many seats you’re using."

Peugeot e-5008 (2025) boot space & practicality

Read what our experts think about the Peugeot e-5008's practicality, boot size and overall dimensions, how it compares to its rivals and more.

www.parkers.co.uk

 

[schmunk]

free coffee and biscuits

What kind of biscuits?

 

[Papa Lazarou]

There are quite a few EVs with very good boot space - that was a MUST HAVE for me.

I looked at the

Swasticar Model Y
VW ID4
Skoda Enyaq
Ioniq 5

That was before the

5008, EV9, Astra Estate

edit to add:

It's really only hybrids where you compromise on boot space, because of the need for batteries, a petrol tank, ICE engine and electric motor on the same vehicle, which is usually on an ICE chassis, which adds a further level of compromise.