I Drove one of the ESB ECars Today

Boots2006 · 21-07-2010 08:49PM #1

I think I've seen a glimpse of the future.

It was one of the test Mistubishi i-Miev cars. Totally electric, plug in, no engine.
http://www.esb.ie/main/sustainability/ESB-ecars-news-003.jsp

No ignition key, just keep the keyfob in your pocket. You get a few lights on the dash and a beep when you "start" it. Put the autobox in Drive, release the brake and it creeps off. Silent. Prodding the accelerator gives a nice smooth wave of power. As in very smooth, no gearchanges. You get the same wave of power at any speed. Its nippy enough around town, and the steering is really light, so its a doddle to park with its short overhangs at each end. We didn't get out on the open road, but I reckon it would be happiest around town.

Best thing was the silence and the lack of vibrations. It felt like a much bigger, more expensive car. There was a proper stereo, and aircon, and 4 electric windows, and decent enough room for 4 adults, but leave the bags at home. When accelerating, there is a constant pull, so it is much more comfortable for the passengers. There's also no revving engine, just a slight increase in the whirring sound. Very nice. The several people who walked out in front of it obviously couldn't hear it though:eek:. Which brings us onto the brakes. They were quite soft and indistinct, I couldn't get used to them at all. They may have been busy recharging the batteries when I was busy trying not to mow down pedestrians.

All in all, I was seriously impressed. Once they get the price of these down, it'll be an ideal car for short hops around the city / daily commuting.

Absurdum · 21-07-2010 08:51PM

any idea what kind of range you were able to get?

Motorcheck · 21-07-2010 08:53PM

I'm test driving the Renault ZE next week - really looking forward to it!

Boots2006 · 21-07-2010 08:56PM

The guy in ESB was saying they're getting 100 miles or so from a full charge.
It had 60km remaining on it while I was driving ... we only did 3 or 4 km though, so hardly indicative.

What impressed me was the 30 minute fast charge (0% to 80% in 30 mins)

Drummerboy08 · 21-07-2010 08:59PM

Hoping to get a spin in a Nissan Leaf in the coming weeks, should be interesting to say the least!

jaffa20 · 21-07-2010 09:01PM

Nothing like a car so. I wouldn't be able to bear it.

Heroditas · 21-07-2010 09:05PM

Boots2006 · 21-07-2010 09:07PM

look at the grin on his face

CarMuppet · 21-07-2010 09:08PM

jaffa20 wrote: »

Nothing like a car so. I wouldn't be able to bear it.

I agree. But these quiet electric cars will be like mobile phones. You'll be able to download an exhaust ring/drive tone. That crazy frog is bound to make a big comeback!

Paparazzo · 21-07-2010 09:10PM

Any idea of the price? Some of these electric cars are quite expensive. Not to mention horrible looking!

Heroditas · 21-07-2010 09:13PM

Paparazzo wrote: »

Any idea of the price? Some of these electric cars are quite expensive. Not to mention horrible looking!

The Leaf is expected to be around €29,000 - that's after the various subsidies.
Not particularly cheap!

Boots2006 · 21-07-2010 09:16PM

yeah, hefty I believe, as in 2 or 3 times the normal car price. But give it time...

kasper · 21-07-2010 09:18PM

plus rental of the batteries after that

irisheddie85 · 21-07-2010 09:18PM

Boots2006 wrote: »

The guy in ESB was saying they're getting 100 miles or so from a full charge.
It had 60km remaining on it while I was driving ... we only did 3 or 4 km though, so hardly indicative.

was that definatley 100 miles not kilometers? that would actually be usable

Paparazzo · 21-07-2010 09:25PM

Heroditas wrote: »

The Leaf is expected to be around €29,000 - that's after the various subsidies.
Not particularly cheap!

I also heard the fast charge system is usually a quite expensive extra too. And it'll be interesting to see what ncap rating it gets

CarMuppet · 21-07-2010 09:26PM

Paparazzo wrote: »

Any idea of the price? Some of these electric cars are quite expensive. Not to mention horrible looking!

I do remember visiting the Millenium Dome in London back in 2000/2001 and Ford had a display of their electric car of the future. Is was basically an electric Ford Focus. It was called the "Fussion". But it looks like they have used that name for a different car! An electric Focus wouldn't be bad. ... right?

Boots2006 · 21-07-2010 09:26PM

yep, definitely 100 miles, we were talking about 80 mile trips (with the fast charge to 80% to get you back home after 1/2 an hour charging).

Heroditas · 21-07-2010 09:36PM

Watch the 100 mile range drop in winter when you have the heaters on in the cabin!

Drummerboy08 · 21-07-2010 09:45PM

The Leaf is set at €29995 and that includes your battery lease.

Think about it. You could buy a new Focus for 21/22k or so? I go through €65 petrol per week, so thats €260 per month, and €3120 per year. Over three years thats €9360, or more than the difference in the outright cost. Not to mention no servicing costs.

I know that I would have to pay for the electricity but it wouldnt add up to anywhere near the 9 and a bit k I've spent on petrol and servicing the car.

Just a thought.

-Corkie- · 21-07-2010 09:49PM

Drummerboy08 wrote: »

The Leaf is set at €29995 and that includes your battery lease.

Think about it. You could buy a new Focus for 21/22k or so? I go through €65 petrol per week, so thats €260 per month, and €3120 per year. Over three years thats €9360, or more than the difference in the outright cost. Not to mention no servicing costs.

I know that I would have to pay for the electricity but it wouldnt add up to anywhere near the 9 and a bit k I've spent on petrol and servicing the car.

Just a thought.

I have planning in for a wind turbine behind my house so something like this would work out very well. I think we are looking at 3 years before this comes on stream..

Paparazzo · 21-07-2010 09:54PM

Heroditas wrote: »

Watch the 100 mile range drop in winter when you have the heaters on in the cabin!

And doesn't the cold effect battery performance? I wonder what the real range will be in winter?
Air con in summer, lights on, radio on, heaters in winter, windscreen wipers. Will they effect range? After buying phones and other consumer electronics with batteries, I don't trust manufactures battery run times!

Heroditas · 21-07-2010 10:01PM

Paparazzo wrote: »

And doesn't the cold effect battery performance? I wonder what the real range will be in winter?
Air con in summer, lights on, radio on, heaters in winter, windscreen wipers. Will they effect range? After buying phones and other consumer electronics with batteries, I don't trust manufactures battery run times!

Exactly! Factor in the cost of having to charge it every day and you'll start to see the alleged advantage of buying one of these things over a petrol/diesel car frittered away fairly fast.

KamiKazi · 21-07-2010 10:03PM

I really hope electric motorbikes never become mainstream, they're hard enough to notice as they are, they'd be practically invisible with only a whirring motor.

jock101 · 21-07-2010 10:33PM

Only one answer to plug in electric cars:(, Hydrogen Fuel Cell:D! Its the only hydrocarbon alternative!:) Lucky Honda is investing shred loads of cash in that technology and Govn. Arnie is forcing Filling station in California to provide at least one Hydrogen pump! Let hope we follow in 20 years!

Cookie_Monster · 21-07-2010 10:40PM

will it do 600km+ on a charge and go at 120kph+?

if not why even bother...

Berty · 21-07-2010 10:43PM

Remember, The idea of bringing in Electric car or Hydrogen fuel cars was not to make things cheaper for us, it was to enable us to have a mode of transport once we scorched the earth of non renewable sources of energy.

Im still not convinced by the electric cars. I would like somebody of some type of authority and without bias to tell me how much it would cost per week, month, year if I had to charge my car twice a day?

kasper · 21-07-2010 10:47PM

we will just have to build a nuclear power plant to feed our car

mb1725 · 21-07-2010 10:47PM

The i-car! Suppose it had to happen! Maybe you could download the vuvuzela ring tone to warn off pedestrians!

Paparazzo · 21-07-2010 10:50PM

Berty wrote: »

Remember the idea of bringing in Electric car or Hydrogen fuel cars was not to make things cheaper for us, it was to enable us to have a mode of transport once we scorched the earth of non renewable sources of energy.

Im still not convinced by the electric cars. I would like somebody of some type of authority and without bias to tell me how much it would cost per week, month, year if I had to charge my car twice a day?

Bang on! I want to see a proper review in a car magazine, with someone that will give real figures on it. Not e-car magazine, or greenmachines or something with a greenparty sounding name thats obviouslly biased.

How much energy does it take for them to run? Most of out electricity is made from burning oil/gas anyway.

Heroditas · 21-07-2010 10:55PM

Berty wrote: »

I would like somebody of some type of authority and without bias to tell me how much it would cost per week, month, year if I had to charge my car twice a day?

According to THIS, the i MiEV has 47kW of power in a fully charged battery.

So you need to use 47 units of electricity to charge it .... at about 16c per unit, that's about €7.52

Charge the car 7 times a week from, say 50% to full, you'll spend about €26.

A Yaris will cost €52 to fill. A Yaris will easily do well over 300 miles in city traffic in all sorts of weather all year round.

bladebrew · 21-07-2010 10:56PM

the nissan leaf seems like a great idea,
its €29,995 after the goverment grant, i think the grant is €5000, 109bhp, 0-62mph in 11 secs, then the problem, the range is 100miles and it take 8 hours to charge

, so cork to dublin would take near 3 hours+8 hours charge,
that is pointless,

I Drove one of the ESB ECars Today

Comments