Motorway driving and EV/Hybrid

iguana

I currently drive a 1ltr petrol engine and do quite a lot of driving on motorway and a really good national road. Monday-Friday I drive for 5 minutes in suburban traffic then for 15 minutes on motorway/n-road usually sticking to 100km/p/h and on the way home I do the reverse. Often I do this twice a day. That's the majority of my driving, probably about 70% or more. The rest is urban/suburban with occasional rural. My fuel costs average at around €70 a week. On top of this a few times a year I travel between Limerick and Dublin which is nearly all motorway.

Would I benefit from an EV or hybrid? I'm not sure if a EV would meet my needs in terms of driving intercity as I'd prefer to not have to charge during the journey. Would I save anything with a hybrid?

KCross

What distance is that commute each day?

And what distance is your Limerick-->Dublin trip? When you get to Dublin have you a place you can plug the car into a 3-pin socket to charge overnight?

Based on those answers you might be perfectly suited to EV with no stopping required.

zilog_jones

Without knowing your commute distance and actual average fuel consumption, it's hard to say. I'd guess a typical 1 litre supermini (don't even know what car...) with a 5 speed manual is not going to be particularly efficient at motorway speeds.

If your commute is under 40 km or so, there may be a PHEV that suits you.

unkel

Lads, OP's commute is 5 minutes suburban plus 15 minutes motorway. That's 30km tops (and they do it up to 4 times a day)

Limerick-Dublin is 200km. If you are prepared to slow down and drive at about 100km/h in winter an Ioniq or a Leaf 40kWh can do this trip all year around without charging

So yes, OP. EV is perfect for your needs. You will save a lot of money in fuel. The EUR70 per week in petrol will turn into less than EUR10 per week in electricity. That alone pays for the depreciation of a brand new EV. On top of that you will have almost zero maintenance, half price tolls, the cheapest motor tax, you get a free home charge point (well EUR600 towards it) and all public charging is still free at the moment.

I take it you will be able to charge the car at your home though. That's a big deal buster if you can't.

daheff

iguana wrote: »

I currently drive a 1ltr petrol engine and do quite a lot of driving on motorway and a really good national road. Monday-Friday I drive for 5 minutes in suburban traffic then for 15 minutes on motorway/n-road usually sticking to 100km/p/h and on the way home I do the reverse. Often I do this twice a day. That's the majority of my driving, probably about 70% or more. The rest is urban/suburban with occasional rural. My fuel costs average at around €70 a week. On top of this a few times a year I travel between Limerick and Dublin which is nearly all motorway.

Unless my maths are off (and they could be) something doesn't add up here -unless you are driving a real petrol guzzler. You are driving 20 mins twice a day. If you average 100km/h you are doing 33km each way, so 333 km a week (5 days).

Assuming petrol @ 1.50 a litre, you are buying 46 litres a week only getting 333km. So using about 14l/100 km.

Have you omitted any other regular large km driving?


Just for comparison -I do something similar to your commute. I've a 1 litre corsa (13 year) and do roughly 350km a week. 30 EUR a week is my petrol spend. I'm estimating my petrol at 5.5l/100 km

MarkN

Something like a new model Leaf will cover all the above and more. I’ve just lived with one for a week and had no issues. Even the old model used will do what you’re doing and might not need to be charged until every other day.

Panrich

daheff wrote: »

Unless my maths are off (and they could be) something doesn't add up here -unless you are driving a real petrol guzzler. You are driving 20 mins twice a day. If you average 100km/h you are doing 33km each way, so 333 km a week (5 days).

Assuming petrol @ 1.50 a litre, you are buying 46 litres a week only getting 333km. So using about 14l/100 km.

Have you omitted any other regular large km driving?


Just for comparison -I do something similar to your commute. I've a 1 litre corsa (13 year) and do roughly 350km a week. 30 EUR a week is my petrol spend. I'm estimating my petrol at 5.5l/100 km

Thanks. Was thinking the same but didn't go to the trouble you did to work it out.

daheff

Panrich wrote: »

Thanks. Was thinking the same but didn't go to the trouble you did to work it out.

Well its just I have the calcs easy to hand because i'm looking at it myself at the moment. So be good to have the internet tell me I'm right or wrong

n97 mini

By the sounds of it probably all your trips except the Limerick-Dublin could be done by a 24kw Leaf. Take the train on those occasions.

If your car is averaging we'll say 6.3L/100km (45mpg) and you're spending €70 on petrol, you're buying around 48 litres (@1.45 per litre) and covering around 760km a week.

Our Leaf is costing almost exactly 1.1c per km in electricity. Nightsaver. All other EVs will be similar. 760km would cost €8.36.

Simply multiplying both by 52, you're looking at €3640 vs €435 a year.

KCross

We need the Op to detail their max daily driving distance. Otherwise its just random figures. As others have pointed out it doesn't all add up at the moment.

We also need to know if (s)he has charging at the end of the Limerick-Dublin commute as they said they didn't want to be using public chargers and would require it on the return leg unless they buy a 60kWh car.

Also Limerick-Dublin could be anything from 180km to 220+km depending on where you start/stop and that extra 40km matters in relation to the current crop of EV's.


We need answers before we can provide answers!

iguana

daheff wrote: »

Unless my maths are off (and they could be) something doesn't add up here -unless you are driving a real petrol guzzler. You are driving 20 mins twice a day.

Sorry, I wasn't clear. Most days I do that twice, so it's 20 mins 4 times a day. Plus a reasonable amount of other driving.

n97 mini

iguana wrote: »

Sorry, I wasn't clear. Most days I do that twice, so it's 20 mins 4 times a day. Plus a reasonable amount of other driving.

Home for lunch?

Do you have access to charging at work?

Gumbo

iguana wrote: »

Sorry, I wasn't clear. Most days I do that twice, so it's 20 mins 4 times a day. Plus a reasonable amount of other driving.

minutes are irrelevant.
Tomorrow bring a pen and a piece of paper with you.
reset your cars odo and record the mileage roughly.

10km heavy stop go traffic.
36km motorway at 100kmph etc etc

then post up the totals tomorrow evening.

unkel

iguana wrote: »

Sorry, I wasn't clear. Most days I do that twice, so it's 20 mins 4 times a day. Plus a reasonable amount of other driving.

Presuming you have the budget for a new car (EUR25k-30k), you should go and take both an Ioniq and a Leaf 40kWh for a 24 hour test drive and see how you get on. We're here to answer any questions you may have

Shefwedfan

Ok...

PHEV - it will do circa 30km on battery before petrol will kick in. This is for the larger PHEV systems. Outlander, Niro etc. So that will cover 1 journey, then back in standard hybrid mode unless you charge at work

Based on your other requirement you could look at small range car and then try to use network for Dublin - Limerick trip. Maybe stay with CCS so you can use Ionity chargers.

daheff

iguana wrote: »

Sorry, I wasn't clear. Most days I do that twice, so it's 20 mins 4 times a day. Plus a reasonable amount of other driving.

ok...makes a bit more sense to me then. Thanks!


actual mileage would be more helpful to calculate costs, but i would think (and i'm open to correction) that your mileage would be fine for EV. Your Limerick Dublin might need a stop along the way for a quick top up charge (lunchtime?)

you'd probably benefit from a nightsaver meter and rate for overnight charging at home too

Springwell

Shefwedfan wrote: »

Ok...

PHEV - it will do circa 30km on battery before petrol will kick in. This is for the larger PHEV systems. Outlander, Niro etc. So that will cover 1 journey, then back in standard hybrid mode unless you charge at work

Niro does 50-58km on battery

Shefwedfan

Springwell wrote: »

Niro does 50-58km on battery

Does it really :-)



The brochure says it does 58km per charge.Even the new Outlander has pulled back their numbers to 45km


I have yet to see a car do exactly what the brochure says.....:P


Maybe I am just getting old and cranky :-) but I always doubt car manufacturer figures

eagerv

Shefwedfan wrote: »

Does it really :-)



The brochure says it does 58km per charge.Even the new Outlander has pulled back their numbers to 45km


I have yet to see a car do exactly what the brochure says.....:P


Maybe I am just getting old and cranky :-) but I always doubt car manufacturer figures

Bjorn did a video yesterday on the Plugin Niro.
He reckons about 50 Kms with normal driving.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Qyza5APLbI&t=0s

Springwell

I'm driving one daily and getting 50km in current weather