Electric car for 160km round trip commute?

Hellywelly

Hello

I'm going to be starting to commute (motorway) shortly and need new car. Currently driving old banger that can't get to 120km without shaking scarily.

Would a small electric car (Nissan Leaf) do that commute okay? I'm going to have to take a loan to get the car and would really like the low running costs of an electric.

Many thanks
Hellywelly

KCross

At 120km/h you won't have much spare range to play with. You would need IONIQ or the 40kWh Leaf to achieve it but its a bit tight, imo, particularly in bad/cold weather. If you slowed down either would be fine.

If you had the ability to work charge you would have more cars to choose from and also much cheaper as you will be looking at €25k+ for the IONIQ or Leaf 40kWh.


With work charging you could even get a 24kWh Leaf.

With 160km/day and assuming 5 days/wk your fuel savings will be quite big so factor the savings into your budget.

peposhi

If you keep your speed at around 100-110km/h you will be fine with the new Leaf. Even without work charging facility (better have one though). As long as you do not miss to plug your car every eve, you won’t have issues

zoom_cool

I have a BMW i3 REX 94ah and it will do it no problem at motorway speed. I do 170km roundtrip with 70% of it motorway and I get home with approx 15% at motorway 120KPH speed. But i3 is expensive but fun to drive.

Important to pre condition the i3 because it makes a difference to the range especially below 5 degrees.

zilog_jones

Hellywelly wrote: »

Currently driving old banger that can't get to 120km without shaking scarily.

Maybe the wheels just need balancing? Or the tyres need replacing if they're cheap Chinese junk (cheap tyres can get buckled). Much cheaper than replacing the car

goz83

If you can charge at work, get a 24kWh Leaf. You're talking 8k for a Gen1 and 10K for a Gen1.5. You should still slow down to 100kph on motorway to conserve power.

If no charging at work, you need 40kWh Leaf or an Ioniq.

BMW is too expensive and nothing else will really suit.

waynegalway

goz83 wrote: »

If you can charge at work, get a 24kWh Leaf. You're talking 8k for a Gen1 and 10K for a Gen1.5. You should still slow down to 100kph on motorway to conserve power.

If no charging at work, you need 40kWh Leaf or an Ioniq.

BMW is too expensive and nothing else will really suit.

This.

I have a 24kWh LEAF and can reliable do at least 100km on a charge, so if you can charge at work, you'd be sorted. To be fair, I don't have a massive amount of motorway experience in my LEAF, so if you drive hard you mightn't get the range I'm getting. I drove from Athlone to Galway on a charge on the M6, but kept to 100kph and had enough to spare to keep my pants clean.

Go for a Gen 1.5 if your budget can get that far. I'd guess €12-14k would get you a nice Gen 1.5 LEAF

mel.b

I agree with everything that has been said. A 30kwh leaf will not do a 160km round motor trip without charging. If you have workplace charging then you'd be fine (or could go with the 24 as has been suggested)

ei9go

Zoe 41 kWh should do it if as you say you want a small car.

Shefwedfan

If you have old banger VW will give you up to 5k off new eGolf. As per other thread it will do 174km at 70MPH in winter conditions

Once you get the 4k off the price is in line with Leaf 2 but a better car

Dont mind all the Leaf 2 talk, the eGolf has better range to the Leaf 2

Hellywelly

Thanks a million for all the responses. I don't think we have a chargers here in work but I am going to ask if they could install one - is it a big job?

Also going to seriously look at the e-cars now. The thoughts of the fuel costs weekly is really causing me anxiety so I need to do something. Would a hybrid be much lighter on fuel than a normal petrol car for this type of commute?

many thanks
Hellywelly

Shefwedfan

Hellywelly wrote: »

Thanks a million for all the responses. I don't think we have a chargers here in work but I am going to ask if they could install one - is it a big job?

Also going to seriously look at the e-cars now. The thoughts of the fuel costs weekly is really causing me anxiety so I need to do something. Would a hybrid be much lighter on fuel than a normal petrol car for this type of commute?

many thanks
Hellywelly

Charger installation is not a huge job, you can always just ask for external plug and buy a granny charger......

Employers benefit from having a charger installed but I dont know details, so it might be worth them looking into it....

A hybrid is just to give you the MPG in city driving off a petrol you would expect to get with motorway driving in a diesel

It is not meant for long motorway driving......diesel or electric is best option

Driving on a motorway at 110km is actually quite nice, I do it every so often in the eGolf at weekend, you are a little slower but your only talking 5-10 mins....alot more relaxing I find

goz83

Hellywelly wrote: »

Thanks a million for all the responses. I don't think we have a chargers here in work but I am going to ask if they could install one - is it a big job?

Also going to seriously look at the e-cars now. The thoughts of the fuel costs weekly is really causing me anxiety so I need to do something. Would a hybrid be much lighter on fuel than a normal petrol car for this type of commute?

many thanks
Hellywelly

Wasting your time with hybrids. False economy

unkel

Hellywelly wrote: »

Also going to seriously look at the e-cars now.

You need to organise yourself some 24h test drives. These are free from the dealers and they will allow you to test if your commute is doable in an EV. Take the Leaf 40kWh, the eGolf and the Ioniq, drive a little bit under the speed limit (to make sure you have plenty of range left) and see how the range works out and which car you prefer

It's a big step to go to an EV for a long commute. And a serious financial commitment. You need to be prepared.

zilog_jones

Shefwedfan wrote: »

A hybrid is just to give you the MPG in city driving off a petrol you would expect to get with motorway driving in a diesel

It is not meant for long motorway driving......diesel or electric is best option

That may have been true 10 years ago, but not now. The current Prius will do 60 MPG (or more) at motorway speeds. But petrol costs more, and you'll pay more for a petrol hybrid over diesel in the first place (though they depreciate less). Maintenance costs will be lower in the long run compared to diesel. You may save long term, but but nowhere near as significantly as an EV.

Their actual question was a hybrid compared to a normal petrol though - the hybrid will undoubtedly use less fuel. There are plug-in hybrids too, but are stupid money new.

Shefwedfan

zilog_jones wrote: »

That may have been true 10 years ago, but not now. The current Prius will do 60 MPG (or more) at motorway speeds. But petrol costs more, and you'll pay more for a petrol hybrid over diesel in the first place (though they depreciate less). Maintenance costs will be lower in the long run compared to diesel. You may save long term, but but nowhere near as significantly as an EV.

Their actual question was a hybrid compared to a normal petrol though - the hybrid will undoubtedly use less fuel. There are plug-in hybrids too, but are stupid money new.

31k for a Kia Niro seems good money to me :-)

zilog_jones

That's the petrol hybrid - the Niro PHEV is closer to €36k

Shefwedfan

zilog_jones wrote: »

That's the petrol hybrid - the Niro PHEV is closer to €36k

According to guy on Facebook the price is 36k before grant, so after 5k grant it is 31k....

A hell of a lot of car for that money

zilog_jones

That's interesting if it's true - the price list says the €35,995 includes the VRT reduction, but says it "qualifies" for the €5k grant which I would assume means it has not been applied? The Prius PHV is €37k with the grant!

Don't know if any are suitable for the OP though. Are they buying new or used?

Shefwedfan

zilog_jones wrote: »

That's interesting if it's true - the price list says the €35,995 includes the VRT reduction, but says it "qualifies" for the €5k grant which I would assume means it has not been applied? The Prius PHV is €37k with the grant!

Don't know if any are suitable for the OP though. Are they buying new or used?

Similar money to the Leaf 2....

Just an option is they really are selling for 31k....