Random EV Thoughts 2 - The Jimnying

Edit: Answer to my question already found!

Possibly true but given that he only occasionally does longer journeys an EV should be a viable option. He is a lifelong Toyota man and if the BZ4X had a more useful bigger battery it might fit the bill.

Mostly the management company from reading that article. Council staying quiet.

I'll play devils advocate in one respect and say that a poorly placed charger would prevent a wheelchair or buggy from getting past easily. There was one example in London where the council managed to almost completely block a footpath

Now in this particular case it actually looks like the person placed the charger so it isn't blocking any part of the path but it's hard to be sure from the pictures

Looks like another case of a management company doing the only thing they're good at; making the residents life miserable

There is gearing in the motor, so it's conceivable to have a lower gear set in there too.

I like it.

My point is not about specific competitors but about the fundamental design philosophies between companies such as Volkswagen and their eastern competitors. Hyundai, Kia and now China realise we are on the cusp of something very different and are producing challenging, interesting and some quirky designs as a result. They are eye-catching, not necessarily pretty but, original and attract a lot of interest. The Germans seems stuck unable to shake off their legacy design language.

Renault are currently showing real design flair and in my opinion that's what's missing from Germany.

quirky don’t sell in high numbers

If every new car was forced to be an EV tomorrow the grid would be ok. No one is charging at peak times 5-7pm when the grid strains. Most home charging is overnight from 11pm or later when the grid has tons of excess capacity. Sure public charge points would be busier but 90+% of EV owners charge at home 95% of the time. Others charge at work. The number of sites are growing to more or less match demand. A lot of supply of chargers are commercial companies with no grants so they roll out to match demand. Incentives for more super hubs are needed, but we are probably in a better place mid trip charging than say 2 years ago. I was at ionity Athlone recently on a winter Sunday afternoon. As I left all ionity in use, and only one Chademo on site, but Athlone has a good few options, not ideal but not bad.

Do you have issues with only one charger? I only charge once or very occasionally twice a week (after a weekend away etc..) so don't think it would be an issue for me when the second much less used car moves to EV.

Might get a longer charging cable on the next charger though 🤔

This is well worth a read.

They were able to replicate a real autobahn route and as I understand it - the temperature by doing the test in a climate chamber.

Result - a much more realistic result in a lab environment.

Quite important.

It remains to be seen if the ADAC work here helps create a better future WLTP test.

But this sort of test is important for accurate consumer information.

https://www.adac.de/rund-ums-fahrzeug/elektromobilitaet/elektroauto/e-auto-reichweiten-test-im-winter/

OK, so my dad (70) wants a 2nd bite at an EV after not really getting on with the tech in his etron, touchscreen for climate controls being his biggest complaint by far

He is not going to interact with the infotainment too much, a single radio station RTE radio 1 will do him, but he does want a large-ish SUV for comfort getting in and out and something decently sized on the road

He also wants to buy new or very nealry new, a 241 would probably do him if he got a good deal

I will be slow enough to pick one for him this time until he is really sure he will get on with it. I will bring him to NEVO in Johnstown on 22 march to see a few but just wondering what to hone in on

So, what out there in the 40 to 50k price range would have more physical knobs and buttons than touchscreen for lets say climate and radio volume? I see Kia EV3 does have them, I fear it will look too small to him but it would actually be perfect for him if he will drive something smaller, price will obviously be agreeable on one of these too.

He actually loves the look of the Ford explorer, but its all touchscreen. So lets say Ford explorer looks with physical buttons would be his dream car! And one with easy to turn off beeps and bongs for safety systems too, we all turn these off dont we?

Premium German brands ruled out, Tesla ruled out too.

I think the ability of an ICE car to be more efficient on long journeys vs short journeys.

Really helps close the gap between real world and lab testing.

EVs being more efficient at the lower speed stuff - means you get a good lab test.

I wonder if the official testing for EVs needs the old 75 mph constant test from years ago.

With Japanese stuff in this house - we used to find that real world on our usage patterns.

Was somewhere between the old urban test and the constant 75 mph result.

Also with the N14 Nissan Sunny diesel you could tell the difference in mpg if even one decent 50 miles one way journey was done on a particular tank.

42 to 45 mpg on the usual local journey patterns.

Do something like like North Cork to Portlaoise (pre M7) and the thing would jump to 50 mpg plus at the click of a finger.

Definitely could do with an official test thats hard on an EVs efficiency though