If you were at the Ploughing & had to be towed

discostu1

Seeing pictures from the Ploughing today of flooded car parks and cars being towed/pulled by tractors and 4 wheel drives. If you were there in an ecar, what would you do. I drive a Leaf and was told to never tow the car. Would you invalidate the warrantee, damage the car or would a little tow be ok. Theoretical question but interested in the answer

cros13

A tow isn't much of an issue once the car is in neutral and you are not doing high speed or long distance.

They largely say don't tow to indemnify themselves from warranty claims from idiots towing the car with regen braking on or towing at high speed and jolts from the road reaching the motor.

The cars have towing eyes supplied.

n97 mini

There's a video on youtube somewhere of a Leaf being towed. By the end of the tow the regen had partially charged the otherwise completely flat battery.

ELM327

n97 mini wrote: »

There's a video on youtube somewhere of a Leaf being towed. By the end of the tow the regen had partially charged the otherwise completely flat battery.

Yes that was in the US a guy towed a flat leaf to test the regen.
Not to be recommended!

billy few mates

An EV at the ploughing championship....?
That will never happen...

ELM327

billy few mates wrote: »

An EV at the ploughing championship....?
That will never happen...

There were Tesla's there at the stand.

Shefwedfan

billy few mates wrote: »

An EV at the ploughing championship....?
That will never happen...

A few people on facebook EV website mentioned they where going

cros13

Plenty of EVs at the plowing. Two from my own family.

After all EVs are more suitable for rural dwellers than urbanites.

KCross

I suppose one downside is that you are more likely to get stuck in the muck with an EV due to weight?!

Effects

ELM327 wrote: »

There were Tesla's there at the stand.

Did they come with a PTO shaft?

GerardKeating

cros13 wrote: »

After all EVs are more suitable for rural dwellers than urbanites.

I would not agree with this, longer distances to travel and charging points further apart in rural areas.

cros13

GerardKeating wrote: »

I would not agree with this, longer distances to travel and charging points further apart in rural areas.

Most people in rural areas have no issues fitting home charging (unlike urban dwellers), average daily mileage is not high enough that 95% couldn't switch to EV in the morning and charging infrastructure is better than Dublin for example (also charging away from home is a tiny proportion of the charging that most people do).

I have direct experience of both urban and rural EV ownership. TBH EVs have been mis-sold to people as something more suitable for urban drivers than rural.

liamog

EVs are extremely well suited to urban areas, where the infrastructure has been provided.

The Milton Keynes urban area has a population of 230,000, and has around 50 FCP within 15km of the centre.

http://fuelincluded.com/2017/08/electric-car-heaven-charging-milton-keynes/

BoatMad

cros13 wrote: »

Most people in rural areas have no issues fitting home charging (unlike urban dwellers), average daily mileage is not high enough that 95% couldn't switch to EV in the morning and charging infrastructure is better than Dublin for example (also charging away from home is a tiny proportion of the charging that most people do).

I have direct experience of both urban and rural EV ownership. TBH EVs have been mis-sold to people as something more suitable for urban drivers than rural.

+1. EV much more suited to longer distances rural dwellers ,( Like me)
massive savings


little point having an EV if all you are doing is low mileage urban driving

BoatMad

liamog wrote: »

EVs are extremely well suited to urban areas, where the infrastructure has been provided.

The Milton Keynes urban area has a population of 230,000, and has around 50 FCP within 15km of the centre.

http://fuelincluded.com/2017/08/electric-car-heaven-charging-milton-keynes/

yes but there no appreciable monetary saving if you are only doing small mileage, so unless you are a tree hugger , theres no a lot of point, especially if you cant home charge

liamog

BoatMad wrote: »

yes but there no appreciable monetary saving if you are only doing small mileage, so unless you are a tree hugger , theres no a lot of point, especially if you cant home charge

Polar provide power for 9p a kWh in the Milton Keynes network, around 10% less than home rates.

We should be promoting the use of EVs because they are better cars, better for the environment, and better for our balance of trade.

Fuel savings are one of the many levers that help cover the current high cost of entry, but it's not the only benefit.

BoatMad

Fuel savings are one of the many levers that help cover the current high cost of entry, but it's not the only benefit.

its the only real saving at present

BoatMad

discostu1 wrote: »

Seeing pictures from the Ploughing today of flooded car parks and cars being towed/pulled by tractors and 4 wheel drives. If you were there in an ecar, what would you do. I drive a Leaf and was told to never tow the car. Would you invalidate the warrantee, damage the car or would a little tow be ok. Theoretical question but interested in the answer

No limited towing from the front is allowed on the leaf, there is a towing eye

Towing from the rear is not allowed ( so pulling you out of the proverbial ditch is an issue !!!)

liamog

BoatMad wrote: »

its the only real saving at present

I can imagine disagreements based on that.

Many people have claimed that maintenance costs are lower, no oil replacements, brake pads, DPFs etc.
Plugging in at home every day saves them lots of time, time is money.
The smoother ride of their EV, less noise and increased comfort are all benefits.

Now it seems that the only benefit is fuel saving.
It's my belief that the current EV market has three main customers, the cheap, the green, and the techies.

BoatMad

Many people have claimed that maintenance costs are lower, no oil replacements, brake pads, DPFs etc.

After 78,000 km in 20 months in my Leaf, I can categorically say there is little to no savings over a New Nissan ICE of similar size in service costs

Plugging in at home every day saves them lots of time, time is money.

True, but unquantifiable

The smoother ride of their EV, less noise and increased comfort are all benefits.

Minor, modern ICE also very quiet in reality, EV still generate wind and tyre noise.

Now it seems that the only benefit is fuel saving.

This is currently where the primary saving is being made yes

It's my belief that the current EV market has three main customers, the cheap, the green, and the techies.

possibly , but many people are shades of each type with weighting towards any category , humans are complex creatures !!

KCross

BoatMad wrote: »

After 78,000 km in 20 months in my Leaf, I can categorically say there is little to no savings over a New Nissan ICE of similar size in service costs

Thats really only true for you because you are comparing new cars. Maintenance on new cars is very cheap. Its basically just an oil change.

The maintenance savings really only come into play from about 5yrs+ when diesel starts to "act up". The EV should just keep going at that point and thats where the maintenance savings for EV are.

liamog

You should see the maintenance cost differences on two 9 month old cars, why would anybody ever buy an EV, I've had to spend money on screen-wash, it's ridiculous I was told I'd save loads.

BoatMad

KCross wrote: »

Thats really only true for you because you are comparing new cars. Maintenance on new cars is very cheap. Its basically just an oil change.

The maintenance savings really only come into play from about 5yrs+ when diesel starts to "act up". The EV should just keep going at that point and thats where the maintenance savings for EV are.

Sure , but have you enquired about the cost of say replacing the dc dc convertor in a leaf

( hint be siting down)

BoatMad

liamog wrote: »

You should see the maintenance cost differences on two 9 month old cars, why would anybody ever buy an EV, I've had to spend money on screen-wash, it's ridiculous I was told I'd save loads.

Costs to service new leaf are broadly comparable to servicing new small diesel

KCross

BoatMad wrote: »

Sure , but have you enquired about the cost of say replacing the dc dc convertor in a leaf

( hint be siting down)

No doubt there are very large cost items that can go wrong in an EV.

However, there are so many more large cost items in an ICE that routinely go wrong (alternator, starter, dual mass flywheel, EGR, catalytic converter etc etc). Some of these items are 4 figure sums to fix.


We are talking about averages here. There is no saving on maintenance when new as you have to pay for the service stamp to maintain warranty in an EV so service costs is the same for EV and ICE for the first few years.... which is usually when things are going fine anyway.


Do you think over its life an EV will have similar maintenance to an equivalent ICE (on average)?

BoatMad

KCross wrote: »

No doubt there are very large cost items that can go wrong in an EV.

However, there are so many more large cost items in an ICE that routinely go wrong (alternator, starter, dual mass flywheel, EGR, catalytic converter etc etc). Some of these items are 4 figure sums to fix.


We are talking about averages here. There is no saving on maintenance when new as you have to pay for the service stamp to maintain warranty in an EV so service costs is the same for EV and ICE for the first few years.... which is usually when things are going fine anyway.


Do you think over its life an EV will have similar maintenance to an equivalent ICE (on average)?

Hard to say , little real data about. Mostly speculation