Difficulties getting an e-car, Part 2
- Thread starter flecc
- Start date
My wife has a BMW i3, which she raves about. Best bit she thinks is the low speed acceleration, which gives it a lot of overtaking ability.
Battery is purchased with the car, but with an 8 year 100,000 mile warranty. Dont know what the used prices are like on the i3, but if you have an i8 I am told they change hands at over the list price.
I am looking to get a pedelec in the New Year, which might not be as quick as the i3.
Battery is purchased with the car, but with an 8 year 100,000 mile warranty. Dont know what the used prices are like on the i3, but if you have an i8 I am told they change hands at over the list price.
I am looking to get a pedelec in the New Year, which might not be as quick as the i3.
I hope that lasts, but I have my doubts. The Nissan Leaf uses a same technology slightly larger battery and that started out with a 10 year warranty indicated. But when the first ones hit the dealers that was reduced to 7 years and it's now just 5 years/60,000 miles after more experience. Of course the Leaf has been around a few years so they've had more time to learn the realities.
The i8 is a very different animal from the i3 of course, it's a hybrid part-time electric.
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C
Cyclezee
Guest
Unfortunately, the more I read about it going the electric car route seems to make little economic sense
The positive side is the green aspect but that alone is not enough to sway me
If Flecc ever decides to get one then I will look at it again.
The positive side is the green aspect
but that alone is not enough to sway meIf Flecc ever decides to get one then I will look at it again.
Trouble is I'm running out of time. It's a race between the improvements in e-car economics and the undertaker!
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My Prius is coming up to eight years and I can't tell any difference in the performance of the battery from new.
It is being constantly charged & discharged in use, not directly comparable with a pure electric vehicle but is an indication of the potential.
Have a look at the latest "Fully Charged", it give some information that might help particularly on the second life the Leaf batteries can have, except not have gone back yet.
It is being constantly charged & discharged in use, not directly comparable with a pure electric vehicle but is an indication of the potential.
Have a look at the latest "Fully Charged", it give some information that might help particularly on the second life the Leaf batteries can have, except not have gone back yet.
Thanks Croxden, but as you say, being a hybrid it's not comparable. Also the battery technology is very different from tjhe Leaf's lithium since your car has Panasonic cell NiMh batteries, and Toyota have fully justified their 8 year life claim, as yours shows. I've had the same experience with e-bike batteries, my eZee NiMh outlasting by years the lithium ones.
I'm not very interested in the second life application for myself, though it might give spent car batteries some small value. They do spout some rubbish on these programmes though, car makers not making ic cars by 2020 is pure bunkum for example. I'm sure they'll still.be making them in 2050 and beyond, if only because it will be at least half a century before we have the electricity supply to charge e-cars for everyone.
Also I wish the pundits would stop speaking of hybrids as electric cars, they simply aren't in any way equal and the two should always be dealt with separately for many reasons.
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I think after 8 years of the battery performing trouble free you can be forgiven for forgetting what they were.
It's a pity they aren't up to the full e-car application, nothing really seems to be for one reason or another. The sodium salt batteries like those in the Smart and Think e-cars are probably the best, but only for daily use cars since they have to be kept permanently very hot, wasting loads of electricity for intermittent users.
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Don't know if there's an e-hearse as yet, but you might be lucky if you hang on long enough!
Jim
If you lease a battery.and then decide to sell the car,would it have to be sold without the batteries,what if the batteries were on a 4 year lease,and you buy the car off somebody in good faith, the lease has expired what happens then.
You'd probably have to sell on the lease remainder with the car with the agreement of the car maker. Either that or hand in the battery and pay the difference for the shorter period.
If buying an expired lease car, you'd need to either buy a new battery or sign up for a battery lease agreement.
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That's a thought, an e-hearse would be an ideal e-car application since they don't need much range.
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My accountant has a Prius,he reckons it does 23 miles per gallon when it's charging on a motorway.....that makes my V8 BMW 6-Series green,which. I get 25 on a run.....it's all relative my boat is very economical at 2 miles per gallon,which compares favourably with Armani's jet drive which uses 40 gallons per mile......as I say it's all relative.
KudosDave
KudosDave
Over the last 12 months, between mot's, I averaged 62.4 mpg.
I could do worse if I really tried but being lazy...
I could do worse if I really tried but being lazy...
Why not buy a Hyundai i10....my sister gets over 60 mpg with air con,electric windows,radio/cd etc. That's the big problem of electric cars every bit of electrical goodie,that most of us have come to accept as the norm in a car has to come out of that precious battery capacity reducing the range.....would you hire a car without air conditioning in a tropical country?
KudosDave
That's what I really like about Tesla. Their aim is to make the world's best car. And as far as I can tell, they're very close if not already there. The Model S has enough range to avoid the usual anxieties, and a guaranteed price for replacement batteries. I think the only real problem is the price of a battery, and other than that the electric drive train is generally superior. In a luxury saloon you can absorb the cost of the battery but it's pretty much impossible to absorb a £10k cost in a £20k vehicle without making enormous sacrifices.
Tesla's therefore investing billions in the world's biggest battery factory, to attempt to bring down that cost. I personally think the Model 3 will be the first fully electric vehicle at normal (ish) prices that won't require big compromises.
Disclaimer I've got shares in Tesla, not doing well this week
Tesla's therefore investing billions in the world's biggest battery factory, to attempt to bring down that cost. I personally think the Model 3 will be the first fully electric vehicle at normal (ish) prices that won't require big compromises.
Disclaimer I've got shares in Tesla, not doing well this week
Yes, that's why I quoted a new Leaf getting as little as 60 mile range in adverse circumstances, when the air-con, demister, headlights, wipers etc are all competing for the battery content.
Although I like the i10 it's not a prospect since I'm entirely happy with my present car, and fuel costs are not a concern. My interest in an e-car is simply a preparedness to go green if all factors are viable. For my low mileage they aren't there yet, though they can pay off for some mid to higher mileage drivers.
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