So I have an Electric car on test..

Bodhan

Well lads, it had to happen. I have a Renault Fluence ZE on test this week, it's all electric and much better than I expected.

Taking the readings from my electric meter I've done 175kms for 3.50 Euro of home charging.

Is there any questions that you guys have about these electric cars?

Chuck_Norris

I suppose the ultimate question people would have would be range? And charging times.

May seem like stupid questions, but I suppose if people had another example/ answer to the above two questions, it might help range anxiety.

And if you've driven a regular Fluence, any major differences between the two ?

EDIT: Bit of a step down from the 640.

irishgrover

are you test driving because you are a potential buyer, or because you are doing a 'review' type thing?

Bodhan

Chuck_Norris wrote: »

I suppose the ultimate question people would have would be range? And charging times.

May seem like stupid questions, but I suppose if people had another example/ answer to the above two questions, it might help range anxiety.

And if you've driven a regular Fluence, any major differences between the two ?

EDIT: Bit of a step down from the 640.

Range for me has been about 120kms on mostly motorway. I drove it from Sandyford to Portlaoise in one hop with 30kms left in the tank. If you're in town the range is more because the car can recharge its self when you decelerate.

Other than being very quiet and a bit heavier it's the very same as the Diesel Fluence to drive. The boot is a lot smaller though

I miss the 604d though lol

Bodhan

irishgrover wrote: »

are you test driving because you are a potential buyer, or because you are doing a 'review' type thing?

Check the signature, I'm a motoring writer for the next gear and some newspapers. So it's a review

alexlyons

the public charge points are meant to be faster than home charging, can you give any real world reaction? i heard it was meant to take an hour for a full charge from the public points compared to 12. i assume you have to pay for public points so would you rekon the price difference is worth it?

aujopimur

Electric cars are the work of the devil.

Wile E. Coyote

It's better looking than the Nissan Leaf but I wouldn't be a fan of paying €82 a month rental for the battery when they only give you an allocation of 10,000km a year. It would work out cheaper to buy and run the diesel model.

Nissan doctor

Bodhan wrote: »

Check the signature, I'm a motoring writer for the next gear and some newspapers. So it's a review

So you won't have a job for long if you say that a green, eco, electric car is rubbish?

smash

Bodhan wrote: »

Taking the readings from my electric meter I've done 175kms for 3.50 Euro of home charging.

Seems very cheap. Did you get a grant or something?

gerrycollins

simply can you cut throught the stuff they tell us about the car and give us the practical version of each statement ie charging times, handling and distance and what about emergancy recharge should you need it? ie can you plug it into a normal 3 pin socket?

Bodhan

alexlyons wrote: »

the public charge points are meant to be faster than home charging, can you give any real world reaction? i heard it was meant to take an hour for a full charge from the public points compared to 12. i assume you have to pay for public points so would you rekon the price difference is worth it?

Public charge points are faster than home chargers, if it takes about 4-5 hours at home to charge from empty it will take 2-3 hours at a standard public charge point. You need a special cable to fast charge and that isn't supplied in the test car so I can't comment there/
At the moment the public charge points are free to use, you get a card from the ESB. Its free because they have no way of charging for it.
There's going to be competition for putting credit on the card from all the electric companies, you'll be able to buy credit in any shop or elect to charge through your home bill.
No prices yet.

Anan1

Bodhan wrote: »

Public charge points are faster than home chargers, if it takes about 4-5 hours at home to charge from empty it will take 2-3 hours at a standard public charge point. You need a special cable to fast charge and that isn't supplied in the test car so I can't comment there

That's a bit odd. Would you not ask them for one?

Bodhan

Wile E. Coyote wrote: »

It's better looking than the Nissan Leaf but I wouldn't be a fan of paying €82 a month rental for the battery when they only give you an allocation of 10,000km a year. It would work out cheaper to buy and run the diesel model.

Problem is, you buy the battery in the Leaf which means the car costs a lot more then the Fluence ZE. 82 euro gets you all the servicing of the battery looked after and the same apples if new batteries come out (doubtful).

If you are currently doing over 20,000kms per year then an electric car probably won't suit you BUT if your millage is lower then there might be huge savings. Remember there's no oil changes just a maintenance check every 2 years or so.

Bodhan

Nissan doctor wrote: »

So you won't have a job for long if you say that a green, eco, electric car is rubbish?

I'm independent so I am one of the few who can say what I like lol! BTW it's not rubbish, I'm sure when the car first came along people said that it was crap and the work of the devil compared to horses and look where we are now!

Bodhan

smash wrote: »

Seems very cheap. Did you get a grant or something?

No grant and no night meter, I took readings the week before I got the car and I've compared them to this weeks readings and it's about 3.50 euro different. There's nothing else new in the house that's drawing the extra electricity

Bodhan

Bodhan wrote: »

I'm independent so I am one of the few who can say what I like lol! ...................

Just on that point, when was the last negative review you gave?

Bodhan

gerrycollins wrote: »

simply can you cut throught the stuff they tell us about the car and give us the practical version of each statement ie charging times, handling and distance and what about emergancy recharge should you need it? ie can you plug it into a normal 3 pin socket?

Will do, when the test is over. This way I make sure that what I write and video answers all the questions that people have.

dr.fuzzenstein

Bodhan wrote: »

Public charge points are faster than home chargers, if it takes about 4-5 hours at home to charge from empty it will take 2-3 hours at a standard public charge point. You need a special cable to fast charge and that isn't supplied in the test car so I can't comment there/
At the moment the public charge points are free to use, you get a card from the ESB. Its free because they have no way of charging for it.
There's going to be competition for putting credit on the card from all the electric companies, you'll be able to buy credit in any shop or elect to charge through your home bill.
No prices yet.

Can you elaborate why? Is it because of higher voltage, ampage, three phase vs two phase? Would it be possible to convert the home charger to fast charge?
Those would be very important points.

Nissan doctor

Bodhan wrote: »

I'm independent so I am one of the few who can say what I like lol! BTW it's not rubbish, I'm sure when the car first came along people said that it was crap and the work of the devil compared to horses and look where we are now!

You can say what you like but will it get published?:P

RobAMerc

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

Can you elaborate why? Is it because of higher voltage, ampage, three phase vs two phase? Would it be possible to convert the home charger to fast charge?
Those would be very important points.

Ah come on, do you think the guy is a motoring writer or the engineer behind the ZE ? Bit unreasonable to expect him to know the answers to these tbf

Bodhan

RoverJames wrote: »

Just on that point, when was the last negative review you gave?

here we go again, Hi Roverjames. If you watch and follow the site and videos there are things that are mentioned in every review that I don't like.
There are very few cars on the road that are truly bad, the ones that are bad aren't usually available for test.
The market here is too small for car companies to be putting out bad cars, they wouldn't last a minute. There's no point is saying a car is crap for the sake of it, an opinion has to be backed up and I can back up everyone of my opinions.

On a side note, some of the worst cars I've driven are currently some of the best selling cars in Ireland so there's no accounting for taste.

Nissan doctor

RobAMerc wrote: »

Ah come on, do you think the guy is a motoring writer or the engineer behind the ZE ? Bit unreasonable to expect him to know the answers to these tbf

If he is going to write an informative piece on the subject then he has to know all these things.

Bodhan

Nissan doctor wrote: »

You can say what you like but will it get published?:P

I own my own site so yea it'll be published!

Sesshoumaru

Bodhan wrote: »

Problem is, you buy the battery in the Leaf which means the car costs a lot more then the Fluence ZE. 82 euro gets you all the servicing of the battery looked after and the same apples if new batteries come out (doubtful).

If you are currently doing over 20,000kms per year then an electric car probably won't suit you BUT if your millage is lower then there might be huge savings. Remember there's no oil changes just a maintenance check every 2 years or so.

I will have my Nissan Leaf one year exactly on April 21st this month. So far we have over 23,000 kilometers on the clock. Wife and I are very happy so far. I met another Leaf owner at the weekend who was doing a lot more mileage than me.

On the Fluence ZE, I think you should ask Renault when is the triple phase version coming out? and what will they do for people who buy the current Fluence ZE that doesn't have triple phase charging capability.

Bodhan

Bodhan wrote: »

here we go again,................

On a side note, some of the worst cars I've driven are currently some of the best selling cars in Ireland so there's no accounting for taste.

Here we go again???
You were the one mentioning you say what you like

I don't remember you mentioning in any of the videos on the site about any car being along the lines of the the worst car you've driven

I'd be guessing you won't be revealing what these best sellers are who were some of the worst cars you've driven?

Bodhan

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

Can you elaborate why? Is it because of higher voltage, ampage, three phase vs two phase? Would it be possible to convert the home charger to fast charge?
Those would be very important points.

Higher voltage in the public charge points, they are all three phase. I'll get more info on that, good question I'll ask ESB and Renault.

No, you can't convert to fast charger at home, the wiring in your house wouldn't put up with it. It also shortens the battery cycles to continually fast charge. just like a laptop that won't hold a charge anymore.

Bodhan

RoverJames wrote: »

Here we go again???
You were the one mentioning you say what you like

I don't remember you mentioning in any of the videos on the site about any car being along the lines of the the worst car you've driven

I'd be guessing you won't be revealing what these best sellers are who were some of the worst cars you've driven?

Why don't we keep it on topic?

Mellio

I think there is a long way to go before people are driving electric cars.

I havent driven one but from what I have read it is just not financially viable,
definitely not at the moment anyway.

There are a number of Issues I think:

1. Too Expensive to buy and then pay rental of €82 a month for a battery.
€82 x 12 months x 10 years = €9,840. (Assuming it lasts 10 years)

2. Replacing the Battery at end of life. from what I read its very expensive.

3. Very few charge points however ESB are fitting charge points to houses
for the first 2000 customers.(numbers may not be accurate).

4. Waiting 2-3 hours at any point to charge the car is far too long,
people can fill up there petrol in 4 mins max and get going.

5. You will never own the car as you are renting the main component of it always
so selling it I feel would be very difficult and will have to go back to main dealer always
as issues with passing on rental cost of batteries could become a real issue privately.

Im sure there are lot of positives as well such as the envirnoment, running costs, quietness of vehicle e.t.c.

For me though Electric will only really come in to play when petrol and diesel start to dry up.

Matt Simis

Id be interesting in hearing:

Lack of noise and its effect on pedestrians crossing roads and carparks (genuinely, its the opposite of loud pipes save lives). Plus:

• Overtaking ability on motorway
• Overtaking ability on tight, winding backroads
• General performance outside of maintained urban areas.
• Lack of noise, engine feedback and general "mechanicalness" and its effect on driver fatigue over long commutes

bbam

Service costs over 5 years or even longer.
I'd like to understand what maintenance costs there would be? I don't believe there are no serviceable parts in the motors/drivetrain.

I know your test won't cover resale values but what are opinions on this? I'd fear the depreciation on a 5 year old car with 100,000 km's would be horrific.