Electric Cars - Advise?

[Pebble thats Stubby]

Don't just limit yourself to the Tesla, there are several fully electric cars out there now with good mileage so do shop around and find one that suits you best for the price.

 

My Leaf has 2 charging sockets.   Normal and Rapid.

Rapid is the fast charging things at most services which will kill your battery faster if you use them often. Rapid charging will always come with a tethered cable

Tesla also has super fast - I don't know if that uses the same plug as the Rapid charger, but for my little leaf I won't go near them.  Tesla's are designed for the superfast chargers mine ain't.

 

Rapid charging works by overloading the battery so it chargers faster.  say your battery is rates at 10kwh,  its designed to handle at most 10 kw per hour  so zapping it with 20kw  will charge it twice as fast so 30 mins but its not ideal for battery life.  zapping it with 60kw will charge in 6mins but is more damaging to the battery as its not designed to handle that load.  Tesla has put in a lot more thought into their superfast charging and done things to counter the damage that would normally be caused by using them.

 

With normal charging most public points will require you to bring your own cable.  Your car will either have a type 1 or type 2 socket.  (the only difference is the shape).   When using a public charge point I plug my cable into my Type1 car socket and the other end into a type 2 (normally all you will ever see these days other than older 3 domestic pin plugs) public charge point.   I can also use with my other cable any domestic 3 pin plug for a slow charge.

 

I've only used public charging twice.  (once at a free site)  and the other I needed to pay.  with pay public charger points you need to join the right group for that charger.  most of them allow you to use an app on your phone to pay.  some allow you to use a special pre-paid card (bit like an oyster).   If you end up doing a lot of public charging its worth it join multiple companies with the pre-paid cards in-case of internet access failure (dead phone).  if you rarely intend on public charging then  one that your most likely to use (eg  on the way too / from work).  There are also schemes with some like monthly subscription then X number of free chargers. (these probably work best for those who can't charge at home)

 

 

 

[Jen'ari]

I’m kind of sold on a Tesla I think, the semi autonomous driving mode and mind boggling performance have convinced me so far.

As far as I can tell I’d get free access to the Tesla supercharger points and I will check out what local public charge points are nearby as it doesn’t look like there are any of the Tesla ones near me, I do think like 99% of charging will be done at home though, I could get a charge point installed in the garage and just charge it there once or twice a week, does that battery tend to deplete much in your Leaf if you just leave it parked?, or does it hold its charge quite well?.

[Pebble thats Stubby]

32 minutes ago, Bittersweet Distractor said:

I’m kind of sold on a Tesla I think, the semi autonomous driving mode and mind boggling performance have convinced me so far.

As far as I can tell I’d get free access to the Tesla supercharger points and I will check out what local public charge points are nearby as it doesn’t look like there are any of the Tesla ones near me, I do think like 99% of charging will be done at home though, I could get a charge point installed in the garage and just charge it there once or twice a week, does that battery tend to deplete much in your Leaf if you just leave it parked?, or does it hold its charge quite well?.

I'm not saying don't get a Tesla, just make sure you check out the competition for a similar price.

it holds charge no problem.  at least so far.  I've not really had it long as you can tell if you read back in this thread.  It remained charged after going on holiday for almost 2 weeks in the summer.

There is no reason why you shouldn't charge up (to the 80% mark) after every journey if its convenient.  This way you will always have a topped up car if you need to make an unexpected journey, and it won't take long to charge each time.  Of course with a longer driving range there is no need to charge it up each time either.

 

 

[Jen'ari]

1 hour ago, Pebble thats Stubby said:

I'm not saying don't get a Tesla, just make sure you check out the competition for a similar price.

it holds charge no problem.  at least so far.  I've not really had it long as you can tell if you read back in this thread.  It remained charged after going on holiday for almost 2 weeks in the summer.

There is no reason why you shouldn't charge up (to the 80% mark) after every journey if its convenient.  This way you will always have a topped up car if you need to make an unexpected journey, and it won't take long to charge each time.  Of course with a longer driving range there is no need to charge it up each time either.

 

 

I’m not really sure what other EVs are around at the moment that are in the same segment as Tesla’s?,I don’t really fancy getting a hybrid to be honest, and I kind of promised myself that my next car would be an EV, it’s just it’s happened a lot sooner than I thought because of the numerous issues I had with Land Rover and their poor quality.

The only thing I can see being much different to at the moment is I never bother to park in the garage but would have to with an EV but that’s not a huge thing at all.

Are you glad you made the swap away from petrol/diesel?.

[Pebble thats Stubby]

5 hours ago, Bittersweet Distractor said:

I’m not really sure what other EVs are around at the moment that are in the same segment as Tesla’s?,I don’t really fancy getting a hybrid to be honest, and I kind of promised myself that my next car would be an EV, it’s just it’s happened a lot sooner than I thought because of the numerous issues I had with Land Rover and their poor quality.

The only thing I can see being much different to at the moment is I never bother to park in the garage but would have to with an EV but that’s not a huge thing at all.

Are you glad you made the swap away from petrol/diesel?.

you don't have to park in the garage.  my charge point is outside.

A quick goolge says there are several EV's out there now several in the premium range along with the Tesla.

 

And yes,  I'm loving my Leaf.  would not go back to a petrol or Diesel.   I was in a similar position,  I wanted to wait about 3-5 more years when I believe the range would be better for the price I was willing to pay, as it is my car forced me to make the jump earlier.  However my 90-100 mile range (on my leaf at max charge)  is not long enough for it to be the sole car of the household.  I do need a longer ranged vehicle occasionally.  Luckily Hubby has 2 other cars (3 if you count the race car)  so I do have that option.   His cars are the reason I don't park in the garage.  I'm not allowed.

[Jen'ari]

11 hours ago, Pebble thats Stubby said:

you don't have to park in the garage.  my charge point is outside.

A quick goolge says there are several EV's out there now several in the premium range along with the Tesla.

 

And yes,  I'm loving my Leaf.  would not go back to a petrol or Diesel.   I was in a similar position,  I wanted to wait about 3-5 more years when I believe the range would be better for the price I was willing to pay, as it is my car forced me to make the jump earlier.  However my 90-100 mile range (on my leaf at max charge)  is not long enough for it to be the sole car of the household.  I do need a longer ranged vehicle occasionally.  Luckily Hubby has 2 other cars (3 if you count the race car)  so I do have that option.   His cars are the reason I don't park in the garage.  I'm not allowed.

There is an Audi one which looks kind of interesting too but the Tesla has it beaten for me on range, performance and tech, the boot space is pretty good in terms of storage space for baby stuff too but definitely going to hold on to the Toyota as I know what kids are like with destroying car interiors, well when she gets a bit older anyway!.

As for the garage parking space, my house, my rules , my wife never parks in the garage anyway though, she approves of the Tesla too, it’s really intuitive how all the controls and settings are essentially like using a big iPad.

[Pebble thats Stubby]

I never really looked at the Telsa or its completion to compare when I was looking as those where far too far out of my price range, I just know there is some so worth checking out in some way.

Although my personal biggest criteria for a car is one most people take for granted.  being able to reach the peddles and see over the steering wheel at the same time without needing a booster seat.  This seriously eliminates a lot of cars.

The garage belongs to Hubby, the house to me.  I think I do best in this arrangement.

 

the one thing I don't like about the leaf is the "gear" selector  - Yes I know it doesn't have gears.   to put it in reverse you have to push it forward.  and to put it into drive forwards, you push it backwards.  this takes a lot of getting used to and to me seems so wrong.

[Jen'ari]

You definitely got the better deal with the house and the garage!, men do seem to like tinkering around with stuff in the garage, sadly one drawback of being married to another woman is we’re both far more interested in the house and don’t really care about the garage .

The gear selector on the Tesla is pretty normal,with the exception it’s  on a stalk on the steering column instead of in the middle of the car.

I hear you with being able to reach the peddles, I’m 5’4” so generally find most vehicles fine but I do have to have the seat pretty far forward.

[Pebble thats Stubby]

2 minutes ago, Bittersweet Distractor said:

You definitely got the better deal with the house and the garage!, men do seem to like tinkering around with stuff in the garage, sadly one drawback of being married to another woman is we’re both far more interested in the house and don’t really care about the garage .

The gear selector on the Tesla is pretty normal,with the exception it’s  on a stalk on the steering column instead of in the middle of the car.

I hear you with being able to reach the peddles, I’m 5’4” so generally find most vehicles fine but I do have to have the seat pretty far forward.

your a giant.   ya got 6 inches on me.

[Jen'ari]

2 minutes ago, Pebble thats Stubby said:

your a giant.   ya got 6 inches on me.

First time I’ve ever been called that , I occasionally get teased for being short, although that is mostly by a friend of mine who is 6’4” and can and occasionally does pick me up one handed.

[Jen'ari]

Ok so I gave it back and have decided to get my own Model S in white, order placed .

[Pebble thats Stubby]

3 hours ago, Bittersweet Distractor said:

Ok so I gave it back and have decided to get my own Model S in white, order placed .

awesome.

[Jen'ari]

Ok, so after a week and a half of living with my new EV I'm really enjoying it, loving the quietness, the braking when you come off the gas is a bit weird at first but you get used to it quickly.

Range wise I'm getting around a genuine 260 miles between charges at 80%, I've not tried charging to 100% yet, this is with normal town driving and some motorway as well, and using the cars features like music, the AC/heater etc like I would do in a ICE car, with charging to over 100% I think I'd get well over 300, it's quoted as having a 365 Mile range which I'm not sure you'd get.

I've had a home charger put in and just top it up on that when the battery has gotten to about 15%, leaving it on overnight charges it back up to 80%, although I'm going to start just topping it up all the time.

The interior is nice, but not quite as nice or refined as other cars in the same price bracket but it's so easily overlooked by the cars positives, the huge touchscreen is really intuitive and easy to operate, oh and I won't lie, ludicrous mode is fun.

[Erik of Hazelfield]

Congratulations! You'll probably find, like most Tesla owners do, that range is pretty much a non-issue if you can charge at home. Since the car is always well charged, the only time you really need the range is for longer trips, and even then it's perfectly fine with the fast charging networks that are out there nowadays. Many EV owners take their cars on trips through Europe, an eco-friendly and cheap way of traveling. 

[Loge]

11 hours ago, Erik of Hazelfield said:

Congratulations! You'll probably find, like most Tesla owners do, that range is pretty much a non-issue if you can charge at home. Since the car is always well charged, the only time you really need the range is for longer trips, and even then it's perfectly fine with the fast charging networks that are out there nowadays. Many EV owners take their cars on trips through Europe, an eco-friendly and cheap way of traveling. 

Well, it's only as eco-friendly as the power grid you are charging from. 

[Liffguard]

2 hours ago, Loge said:

Well, it's only as eco-friendly as the power grid you are charging from. 

True, although I'm pretty sure that the carbon emitted by a fossil-fuel power plant generating enough electricity to power an EV is less than the amount of carbon emitted by an ICE travelling over the same distance.

[Jen'ari]

14 hours ago, Erik of Hazelfield said:

Congratulations! You'll probably find, like most Tesla owners do, that range is pretty much a non-issue if you can charge at home. Since the car is always well charged, the only time you really need the range is for longer trips, and even then it's perfectly fine with the fast charging networks that are out there nowadays. Many EV owners take their cars on trips through Europe, an eco-friendly and cheap way of traveling. 

Yeah the range isn’t an issue for me at all, it’s so easy to just plug in at night, you can set it to charge at different times when the electricity is cheaper too which is quite handy.

2 hours ago, Loge said:

Well, it's only as eco-friendly as the power grid you are charging from. 

I would say it was more eco friendly than the 5 litre gasoline powered V8 that preceded it in my case!.

[Which Tyler]

15 minutes ago, Liffguard said:

True, although I'm pretty sure that the carbon emitted by a fossil-fuel power plant generating enough electricity to power an EV is less than the amount of carbon emitted by an ICE travelling over the same distance.

My understanding now that an oil / gas power station is more efficient than an ICE, but it's all produced in a concentrated geographical area - so I E (just about) wins for rural drivers, but loses for urban, where it's concentrated again.

Of course, nuclear / renewable generation moots the argument, whilst coal power stations are worse than ICE.

[Loge]

4 hours ago, Liffguard said:

True, although I'm pretty sure that the carbon emitted by a fossil-fuel power plant generating enough electricity to power an EV is less than the amount of carbon emitted by an ICE travelling over the same distance.

According to the numbers I found, a Tesla Model X is roughly on par with a diesel-powered BMW 3-Series (320d). That's based on the German power grid, which has about 1/3rd renewables and 12 % nuclear. 

[Jen'ari]

The Model X is marginally less efficient than the Model S in terms of range and performance iirc, would make sense because it’s bigger and heavier, I honestly went for the S because I think the X is kind of quirky and ugly at the same time.