[extremetaz]

Originally Posted by gunnerfitzy

How much did your insurance work out at? What companies quoted?

I've only quoted for the transfer so far as I'm not up until September. I'm with aviva so I just rang them. They said it's not on the system yet but will be by renewal time. In the meantime they're quoting me at the equivalent rate to a micra. Which amounts to a rebate of about €50 over the rest of the policy duration.

[Zubeneschamali]

Originally Posted by extremetaz

30 minutes range at 120km/h is still 40 MILES!!

That's why we see all those cars with 1 gallon tanks, right? Because 40 miles is plenty!

[RoverZT]

Originally Posted by Zubeneschamali

That's why we see all those cars with 1 gallon tanks, right? Because 40 miles is plenty!

If you take a wrong turn like I have a few times on the M50, you will be calling the AA to pick you up

[RoverZT]

Originally Posted by Zubeneschamali

30 minutes range from fully charged at motorway speeds is beyond surprising, it's absolutely shocking the first time you hear it, and rules an EV right out for many people.

That is shocking, you have to drive like a granny I suppose to get range.

Days of fast driving are over in that joke, pity too as it has instant torque.

If you did bomb it on, accelerating from 120 -160 kmh on numerous occasions as you would do if you had a good car, would it even last 15 minutes?

[beazee]

Originally Posted by RoverZT

If you did bomb it on, accelerating from 120 -160 kmh on numerous occasions as you would do if you had a good car

Not the best idea really. €80 and 2 points each time you're pulled over.

[BorneTobyWilde]

Electric not for everyone,
But fact is there are alot of grannies on road

[Matt Simis]

The range at high speeds seem at odds with these guys but the math is surely correct:
http://www.rimac-automobili.com/eval...ion-vehicle-11


Snow/Winter testing:

[RoverZT]

Originally Posted by beazee

Not the best idea really. €80 and 2 points each time you're pulled over.

Ok kitty.

An emergency scenario.

[jackbauer]

As extremetaz mentioned earlier in the thread the energy required to maintain the speed of a car increases with speed. That said it's not as bad as one would think. My teutonic chariot wouldn't be the lightest or most aerodynamic of cars by any stretch of the imagination nor is it powered by the most efficent traction system in existance. My commute is about 25km each way most of which is motorway / dual carrigeway. If I drive like a granny at say 80kph average i'll burn about 160wh/km. Take it up to the speed limit and throw in a few hard accelerations to dodge people driving like afforementioned granny and i'm up to about 200wh/km average. So based on that figure to achieve 200km of range at speed would require something in the region of a 40kwh battery. A very achievable target.

[650Ginge]

Originally Posted by Matt Simis

Yes I was surprised by that too. Imo this does not fit the profile, it fits the maximum allowable distance assuming charging on both ends, its the fringe of whats possible, definately not (IMO) the profile the marketing guys are spinning of the average motorist (average = "the profile").



As it happens I also drive from Meath to Dublin, maybe about 50km each direction every day. I find the average speed (by everyone not just me) on the sparsely populated secondary roads in excess of the speed possible (give traffic) on the M3 or M4. Ill wave when overtaking!

Im willing to give EV's a chance when the average speed is 120kph and the range returned is greater than 150km on one full charge. Fast charging (30min?) is nice, but not a major factor as an unexpected 30min stop on a journey would already be a dealbreaker for me.

And I will wave right back at you when you are ten metres or two cars in front when you come to the evitable queue at every road into dublin city from the M50 inwards.

Can I ask do you know your average speed is not the speed you sit at on the motorway but your average speed? I would bet that if you are travelling into the city even from Meath and using the motorway for >20miles you are not averaging much more than 35mph/56kmh?

I dont have an electric car, it is a prius so will sit at 120 all day, but uses much more fuel at 120, I often sit at a maximum of 90-95kmh on the N2/M2. I never do the 45.6km journey in less than 40 mins, thats an average of 68.4kmh, maybe 35mins, 78kmh average at the weekend. This morning it took 57mins that is pretty much the normal, 48kmh.

Thats a long way short of what you think you average is. Work out your real average speed for a week. You will be shocked how low it is.

That said I have done some long drives, regularly do Holyhead to Dover and I would sit at 120 cruise on so I appreciate that driving faster gets you there quicker if it actually relates to a worthwhile higher average.

The other thing about driving a bit slower is that I am no longer bothered by the outside lane hogs and arrived much less stressed.

Record your own journey and report back.

[Matt Simis]

Originally Posted by 650Ginge

And I will wave right back at you when you are ten metres or two cars in front when you come to the evitable queue at every road into dublin city from the M50 inwards.

To clarify, the reason I drive "with gusto" is not to make time, its because its how I prefer to travel and I have chosen where I live, drive and what I drive to accommodate. I freely admit that and suspect a sizeable and quiet minority here are the same. Regardless, I dont drive on the M50, I cut across to the end of the M3 and my journey ends. I see very little traffic, one of the great joys of not living in Dublin, but close enough to have many of the amenities

Originally Posted by 650Ginge

Can I ask do you know your average speed is not the speed you sit at on the motorway but your average speed? .

Actually unlike most people, I spend my time putting figures to everything. So yes, I do know my average speed, min and max speed, elevation and declines across my journey mapped to Google Maps. I use RunKeeper on IPhone and log my results any time I make changes to my cars or want to try different route combinations etc. My average today, lashing rain and mostly stuck behind slow moving people in crap cars was 67kph (I didnt overtake as it was pointless in the weather, so this is everyone's average today, again higher than you make out). My average on most days is closer 94kph.

Whats misleading about this is its taking into account slowing down, stopping, pulling out at junctions (and make a point of slowing to posted limits in towns, much to the annoyance of the drive everywhere same speed public) etc. The average speed when actually driving, eliminating the slow result skew is over 100kph (roughly and on good weather days). The problem with your average speed assessment is its based on the mean speed, heavily affected by outliers, when you should be looking at the median or mode (not sure in Mathemathics but in Excel its the TrimMean function).
Motorway speed for me is likely around 140kph, slightly less pending GPS speed correction I assume.

Originally Posted by 650Ginge

I would bet that if you are travelling into the city even from Meath and using the motorway for >20miles you are not averaging much more than 35mph/56kmh?.

As above this is incorrect and you lost that bet.. Even in bad weather I average much higher than this and I never said I work/travel in the city.

Originally Posted by 650Ginge

Thats a long way short of what you think you average is. Work out your real average speed for a week. You will be shocked how low it is. .

Dont have to, know the results and have catalogs of data to back it up

Originally Posted by 650Ginge

The other thing about driving a bit slower is that I am no longer bothered by the outside lane hogs and arrived much less stressed. .

Thats great for you and suits your chosen car perfect, but I would go insane dawdling about like this. I also dont have outside lane hog problem as I dont drive on the motorway much and my choice of car(s) are very persuasive compared to the front grille of a Prius. Im not being funny here, Ive driven other cars, some cars scream GTFO and no road rage is needed.

[Pkiernan]

OP - congratulations, an I hope to follow you.

Be prepared for a lot of stick from muppets here who are too stupid to let the facts get in the way of their pre-conceived idiotic opinions!

All the best.

[savagecabbages]

Originally Posted by extremetaz

I've done my maths, and my homework...

Have you ever looked at the increase in price of pump fuel vs. the increase in price in electricity and compared the rates at which they are going up over the last few years? This could make for interesting (increased??) savings down the line meaning you'd break even faster. I don't know -I'm no statistician but I would wager that electricity wont go up in line with pump fuel as an ever increasing amount of it will not be* fossil fuel produced, and thus won't be reliant on fossil fuel price.

Also did you look at how Renaults battery leasing model applies to your situation? I'm not sold on the battery leasing in principle... Not to mention a Leaf is a better car than a Fluence!!


*so i'm led to believe!

[650Ginge]

OP - well done on getting a leaf. Hope you enjoy it I would love one but I cant bring myself to do the new car thing.

From the figures u give spending 20k on a car to save €200 a month seems. It seems the advice of staying with what you got because it is cheaper when you consider how long it takes to get the outlay back.

I know you wanted to save money now but spending 20k to change. I don't see how?

[extremetaz]

Originally Posted by savagecabbages

Have you ever looked at the increase in price of pump fuel vs. the increase in price in electricity and compared the rates at which they are going up over the last few years? ...

Yup, factored that into the excel sheet. Have already provided the figures for €1.67/L. At €2/L (Which I believe we'll see inside 12 months) the savings rise by about 30% assuming electricity stays the same. Even if electricity does rise, it'll rise by a highly disproportionate amount, worst case, from €0.18 to €0.2 in the daytime rate I'd say.

Originally Posted by savagecabbages

Also did you look at how Renaults battery leasing model applies to your situation? I'm not sold on the battery leasing in principle... Not to mention a Leaf is a better car than a Fluence!!
*so i'm led to believe!

I did - and I came to the conclusion that if Renault were trying to be uncompetitive, they couldn't be doing a much better job. The lease rises proportionally to the mileage you expect to cover in the year and the lenght of time you intend to keep the car. These costs destroy the fuel benefits in short order, and mean that if you change to a position where you're not using the car as much, you're essentially paying for travel you're not doing.

It's a complete disaster of a setup.

...and I've not even touched on the trade-in prospects for a car with a battery lease, or the fact that the fluence was never designed to be an electric chassis so the batteries have just been shoehorned in there.

Not a fan to put it mildly.

Originally Posted by 650Ginge

OP - well done on getting a leaf. Hope you enjoy it I would love one but I cant bring myself to do the new car thing.

From the figures u give spending 20k on a car to save €200 a month seems. It seems the advice of staying with what you got because it is cheaper when you consider how long it takes to get the outlay back.

I know you wanted to save money now but spending 20k to change. I don't see how?

If you had said to me 6 months ago that you were going to go out and buy a brand new car, I'd have told you you were an idiot and that all that was wrong with 90% of the cars in this country is the first two digits on the number plate.

I've grown up around engines and I'm well able to keep any car running (the megane we have was destined for the scrapyard until it just happened to land with me), hence I've always been entirely confident in buying secondhand cars of any age. So I understand entirely where you're coming from.

However, I'm not doing this to "save money" strictly speaking, I'm doing this to reduce costs. I'm well aware of the hypocrisy that is saving money by trading up your car. It's not something that I've ever subscribed to in the past. I've had plenty of cars, but I've had them because I wanted them, not because they were the practical choice.

End game is that I'm accustomed to paying a motorloan, and it's something that I have a decent measure of control over - I know how much it's going to be and I can do something about it if I need to.

Unlike petrol - which is a nightmare for me at the moment.

So this is why I wasn't getting what the lads were asking me earlier wrt the capital cost of the car, because I wasn't looking at this as a money saving enterprise.

This is a cost cutting measure - and a bloody effective one at that.