you are great craic 😁
one example for the ignorant posters and it is from present day.
ABOUT US
EK Fuels Ltd is a local family run business. We are proud of our forecourt service, our fuel pumps and car wash are always fully attended offering a fast, friendly and reliable service by our team of fully trained staff.
https://ekfuels.ie/
i know them well
There are some in County Louth that have attendants and card readers. The usual pathetic responses to ones own experiences.
My sister has a petrol car, she will only buy petrol from attended petrol stations.
And the attendant also carried a card reader or accepted cash and discharged change 🤷
Maybe they can tell us what garage still has an attendant.
How long have you had an EV?? I haven't seen a forecourt attendant in 30 years!
I have an EV now but when I had petrol, I never got out of the car to fill it, the attendant filled it and I paid for it all within a few mins.
Apple’s immersive next-gen CarPlay will start with Porsche and Aston Martin / 2024 vehicles from high-end automakers will get the first taste of Apple’s “cohesive design experience that is the very best of your car and your iPhone.”
Funny story: We went out to Tesla Sandyford and sat in a Model 3, and ordered one a week later having at that point never driven an EV (or even been a passenger in an EV)... The 1st time either or us ever drove an EV was when we test drove a Model 3 about 2 weeks before collecting ours...
First time I ever sat inside an EV, let alone a Tesla, was the day I went to collect my Model 3 during covid restrictions. Driving it away from Sandyford through the deserted city was one of the most surreal days of my life.
Look for the arrow on the fuel gauge. That points the side.
I have a 2 series, I visited the petrol station today, took me 2 or 3 minutes, no queuing, driving past it anyway, last time I stopped was 6 weeks ago much the same experience, only problem I had was trying to remember where the fuel flap was as I was nearing the station, 215 euro of petrol since June, going for 320 km drive tomorrow, I probably be ok till February, same problem again with the fuel flap.
I have an EV and a 3series BMW, the BMW is used as a local runaround (2k a year) and the EV does all long trips.
Can drive from Dublin area to West Cork and the car charges quicker than I can use the toilet and grab a coffee or some food so it's zero inconvenience and no need to be hanging around for 45 mins.
My wife took the BMw to the local garage last week to fill up on her own in the evening as too much hassle with the kids in the car and it took nearly 30mins for the 1.5km roundtrip and queueing in and out of the petrol station. And wasn't even the circle K discount day. What as waste of time vs 5s to plug in an EV.
If you're regularly driving 1000km a day and someone else is paying for the fuel then of course that's easier but for everyone else doesn't make much difference, lose a bit of time on the occasional long trip vs saving time (and money) day to day with home/work charging.
IMO diesel is at it best cruising on the motorway at 130kph with the stereo on to drown out the sound of the engine, sorry kids in the back. Engine noise is not even noticeable at those speeds. I regularly do 350km stints without stopping and get out at far end surprisingly unruffled.
Im sure a decent EV is somewhat quieter and I look fwd to having an EV that has a decent range to test this out over a long unbroken journey but I honestly dont get the getting out of an ICE car wrecked thing. Its good that we're not all made from the exact same cast I suppose.
Haven't done a long spin in Mrs Tracos EV myself but I suspect it would be OK although I don't think it will hold a candle to the S600. Although it must be siad that car does come with range anxiety and the possibility of breakdown resultuing bankrupty yet the long distance comfort is on another level entirely when it is working.
>I've done 300-400km drives in the BMW in a day and felt wrecked/drained afterwards
indeed possibly down to that particular cars configuration where you have a sports suspension plus a more tuned engine, and its a diesel so easily imaginable that for longer spins it could be a trudge. Ive a friend who had a Merc AMG spec car as a company car (presume a petrol as who chooses a diesel if youre not paying) and he hated it for actual proper long drives. It was nice in cities to make farty noises and impress the people you are annoying with its racket but on motorways too twitchy and suspension too harsh.
in comparison, I do long spins in the petrol 125ps focus and find it grand . I’ll actually be doing 850 km tomorrow, and 500 -ish the next day for the Christmas drive home and not dreading it in the slightest. It’s quiet even at high speeds, relatively economical, seats comfy, stereo really good, interior is spot on and even has these novel things called buttons which do things straight away when you press them.
Maybe when people give out about “noisy dirty ICE”s they really should replace the term “ice” with diesel.
We typically take the diesel on long trips but we intend taking the EV. We regularly do 270km trips, stay a day or two then come back. Granny charging at destination should mostly cover these 3 hour trips without needing a stop. Most EVs can go 300km in winter at motorway speeds. It's rare you would need to stop for 1+ hour. Typically I would stop and fill up bare minimum to make it home as in 10 or 15 minutes max.
You get the benefits for 99% of trips. Some people also factor in the environment and negative comments if they buy a new diesel. Long trips with no gear changes are less stressful too.
If booking a weekend away many upper end hotels have chargers now so you have a full car each morning.
If I was a rich man question: Yes, although I would probably take my private jet. Last summer we drove to Finland, Estonia, Austria and all the places in between from Cherbourg and not a single time was it an issue that we had to charge once a day during the day around where lunch/dinner/shopping/sightseeing was done. We did over 8000 km on this trip.
The only inconvinience in general were locations where there were no SuperChargers like in Vilnius, but there was a 50 kW CCS unit just next to the hotel that was available, and we had to download an app to activate it. More hassle and we actually had to be mindful that the charger had to be vacated in timely fashion afterwards. Traveling with a dog any stops are good and the fact that you don't need to actively fuel but just plug in and do something else makes the EV driving on a long trip a joy.
In Summer 2022 we were in Cornwall, Feb 2022 in Scotland, Summer 2021 in Finland/Black Forest/France and the Tesla usage experience is just fab and much better than driving the smelly fuelled alternatives. Looking back longer we even took our LEAFs abroad, although they needed lots of planning. With Tesla it's just "Drive to Helsinki" with zero planning needed.
The EV performance is just so seamless and effortless, very difficult to get exited with any of the alternatives. A friend bought a low mileage S class Merc and it just feels so stodgy and slow and laggy and vibrates a lot. The new hybrid versions would be better I'm sure but still...
The one day I really need to get topped up. All other 3 bays are full. What a prick in that Land Rover.
Edit...he came back after 20 minutes. A very elderly gentleman and was very apologetic. In his words "she's a big old beast". He moved spots and all was good.
yeeees but of course. Green and kero mix. My shed was full of the stuff.
Yup we do similar in the 222 version of that car, went to france last summer. Had no destination charging in france (I have the schuko adapter for the UMC but we were not allowed) and still no bother. I only said to herself the other day, I can't actually think of a time in this 3 that I ever had to worry about range. Compared to my other cars its a breeze!
Did the summer drive last year in an EV instead of the 2.0TDi. Enjoyed the trip a bit more than the diesel. Worked out 25% cheaper but that wasn't a factor in your question. We covered the same distances on driving days as we would have in the diesel. The car was a nicer, quieter place to be. One downside was that charging stops often were co-located off-route with mid-high range hotels rather than motorway services stops. Not ideal if you're looking to eat and get back on the road within half an hour. Destination charging at hotels tended to be hit or miss, they were often occupied when we arrived or (some) not working and hotels don't give a. I think I'd still choose the EV for a long trip over an equivalent autobahn-cruiser. But it would be a closer decision than for pottering about locally.
2020 Tesla Model 3 SR+ (49kWh battery)(409km WLTP range, new Model 3 RWD has 513km WLTP range).
Real world motorway range is about 240-270km summer, and about 210-240km winter
Since late 2020 every new SR+/RWD Model 3 has more WLTP range than mine.
What's the EV though?
Cork - Dublin would be minimum a long trip for me and then I like alot of families have went to France on holidays with kids, Clare to Rosslare to Pembroke, tunnel
France is nothing.
I drove my EV to Lithuania and back... and I wouldn't do that trip in the BMW...
Yeah, EV for me all day long...
We still have our diesel BMW, and almost had to take it down the country last weekend due to an issue with the EV, and I was honestly dreading it.. but luckily the EV issue was sorted and I was able to take that instead.. Stopped on the way down for a toilet break, and a 7 minute charge (to ensure I had enough to get back to that same charger later that day), and proceeded to my destination where I found an available charger next to the restaurant we were visiting, so topped up enough to get us all the way home later that night... mind you I was bursting for a tinkle by the time I got home... so a stop would have been fully warranted.
I've done 300-400km drives in the BMW in a day and felt wrecked/drained afterwards (I dunno, maybe because it's an M-Sport? and on run flats), and I've done 600-700km drives in a day in the EV and felt I could have easily done another few hundred km afterwards if I wanted...
The (running) cost benefit of driving an EV is great, but it's not the main or even close to the main reason we bought an EV... We just knew that at some stage we wanted to get one for environmental reasons... We were actually on the verge of importing either an A6 or e220 from the U.K. before we decided to just jump straight to an EV (as the Model 3 had just arrived, and to date was the only EV out that could adequately replace our 3 series).
Higher initial cost: yeah, didn't really bother us.. we paid something like €49k for the car (March 2020), but by paying off the mortgage early we saved roughly €49k in interest, so I see the car as cost neutral in a funky maths kinda way...
Bonus: when we got Solar PV in Oct 21 (before it all went mad!), and the ability to fill up the car from the sun is just fcuking amazing... From April 1st - July 5th, 100% of the electricity that went into the car was solar excess.
I need to fill up the BMW before the weekend, and it'll be a pain in the hole to do it (move EV out of driveway, drive cold BMW up to garage (so wear jacket), fill up, pay (probably about €70-€80), drive home, wash hands, put BMW back in driveway, put EV back in drive).
EV all day long.
The biggest petrol tank in the world and I’d still have to stop before 2 hours with the kids. EV or ICE is irrelevant in that equation.
A small bladder and tiredness are common symptoms easily fixed by owning an EV, the shorter the range the better.
EV. No contest.
Have also a VW amorak, lovely to drive(Its also an automatic). But if I had the choice, my EV without question. And its a Kia Niro. Can get from nearly the most northernly point in Ireland to dublin, Via Belfast. without charging, without watching my speed either. Although do need to charge to get home!
It’s a 2 hour door to door trip depending on traffic. Any longer and I’d have to stop anyway. I’m not a long distance driving fan tbh.
Not to be that guy, but if your charging for 10-15 min is that even a long trip?
Dublin to Belfast is what a 90 min drive?
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