Any BEV users on the forum?

[Noel]

As a matter of interest are there any full electric vehicle users on the forum? (BEV=Battery electric vehicle, as opposed to hybrids or plug-in Hybrids). Lots happening in the EV area in Ireland during 2019. As opposed to BEV=Beverage which I know has been naturally active amongst modellers.  

[Noel]

No EV users on here? There must be at least one Leaf driver?

[Broithe]

If somebody hits my trusty old Getz, I might be tempted to go for a Kona.

[PorkyP]

Well I've got an old land rover, and over the years I've been interested in various electric conversions folk have done to them and similarly old vehicles.

I might be tempted to try something along these DIY lines at some point....there's a firm in London that do a kit for land rovers and Morris minors, tho these are very expensive, and I certainly wouldn't be buying new cars, all way beyond my means !

[Broithe]

On 8/6/2019 at 8:41 AM, PorkyP said:

Well I've got an old land rover, and over the years I've been interested in various electric conversions folk have done to them and similarly old vehicles.

I might be tempted to try something along these DIY lines at some point....there's a firm in London that do a kit for land rovers and Morris minors, tho these are very expensive, and I certainly wouldn't be buying new cars, all way beyond my means !

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-48956000

[PorkyP]

Interesting, good find!

Most of this commercial available conversion stuff is still aimed at "Ritchy Rich & the Rich Folks" at the mo tho !

I must find the blog or whatever it was by the American fella who did his Land Rover himself, he made a converter plate to fix the elec motor onto the gearbox, (pretty easy really) I think it's the battery business that's the problem, with cost again, and weight. Tho a motor of that kind it can carry a hefty load no worries...

[Noel]

Had my road to Damascus conversion from a super sceptic to a cautious EV driver this time last year. A talk given at a presentation by Richard Branson and others pushed me over the edge a year ago with no brainer numbers and stats, which gave me the courage to try it after some detailed research. Got fed up of listening to annoying EV taliban evangelists, kept telling them its not there yet, too many scare stores, too much inconvenience, etc.  Well the end result was €8/week to fuel on night rate electricity at home, instead of €85/week on diesel.  Just back from Donegal in one leg, no stopping so I guess it does what it says on the tin. Just curious if there were any other EVers on this forum.

PS: One thing, I wondered why there isn't a market for Sound packages for EVs as they are too bloody quiet, sounds like V8 engines roaring with simulated exhaust roar, etc. There has to be an aftermarket for that.  (ie instead of the silent egg whisk noise).

Edited January 23, 2020 by Noel

[Broithe]

I (still) heading that way - the car that I've had for the last ten years has never done more than 250 miles in a 24 hour period, so current ranges are completely realistic for me now.

Discussing this in Ireland with a chap in his late 70s, I was interested to see him converting my miles into kilometres, so that he could visualise the potential...

There are loads of advantages that start as soon as you've survive the initial purchase.

Servicing is minimal - no engine, no clutch, no gearbox,, very lightly used (friction) brakes, etc.

No penalty on idling, or banging the starter-motor every few yards in traffic.

Range anxiety can be lived with, anybody who rode a motorbike in the 1970s will remember trying to keep it full on a Sunday, especially in Wales, and the 24 hour garage is still a modern thing to me

I would feel rather less unhappy having a fairly solid battery on fire than 15 gallons of liquid hydrocarbons running about on the road.

The heating/demisting will work immediately.

There's no short/cold journey penalty.

I like the idea of personalised sounds, there is an EU directive about making some noise below about 30mph/50kph, I believe. I have been nudged on the leg by a Prius that approached me silently.

The current ranges would seem adequate for things like An Post vans, etc.

You do need to remember to charge it, and we all know people who can't manage that with their phone and always have to put fuel in to go anywhere more than a few miles away...

[Broithe]

OK, hassling a Tesla-driver friend has revealed that there has been some consideration of aftermarket sounds.

Do be aware that this video contains an appallingly irritating 'presenter'.
 

 

Although, it does seem possible that, in the future, the form of your 'warning tone' could become an NCT issue. Replacing it with a recording of 082 may not be acceptable...

[DiveController]

Just when there was the opportunity to reduce the ridiculous amount of noise pollution that has crept into our lives governments around the world are mandating that the masses should continue to endure it just in case ..... (I'm not trying to be insensitive here, but that is just ridiculous)

.....and as for 'futuristic' sounds that is just the thin end of the wedge 

[skinner75]

I wonder how much a Nissan Leaf will be worth secondhand in 10 years time, and also what the condition of the batteries would be like after 10 years of use. It is one thing for the govt to say no more diesels after 2030, but a lot of people won't be able to afford to switch over to EV, although by that time hopefully there would be plenty of used EV about. Again, what the batteries are like remains to be seen.

For anyone commuting into a city from the suburbs, the EV is ideal. My dad reckons that he'll go EV for his next car - he is currently driving a 1.6L diesel Skoda Yeti. 

I myself only drive motorbikes - I never learned to drive a 'cage', and I'm 44. I've come to thinking that I will never drive either a diesel or petrol car. I've been keeping an eye on the electric bikes though, and would have no problems switching over to one once the prices come down, and more choice is available from more manufacturers.

[Noel]

@skinner75 Batteries are due to drop below $100/kWh this year and lower next year as more factories come online. That should more than anything drive down the costs of BEVs to be closer to Petrol, Diesel equivalents. Battery density also improving exponentially. It'll never catch on though as Nokia said about touchscreen smartphones back in 2007. The cost savings are massive though both on fuel and servicing.  Early gen Leafs which gave EVs a bad name will have a second life with low cost 3rd party replacement battery packs, but so far the battery packs are outlasting the vehicles. Tesla aiming for 1m millage on a pack before degradation becomes an issue. It will be interesting to watch this play through in the next 5 years. Disruptive or what?  

 

Edited January 24, 2020 by Noel

[Broithe]

It can be interesting to wonder how things would look if it was moving in the opposite direction. If electric cars were the norm and somebody now suggested petrol/diesel cars could be introduced for half the selling price, but the fuel would be much more expensive, would continue to rise faster than electricity, plus the likelihood of punitive charges and restrictions in cities and ever more strenuous emissions tests, etc., would people be queueing up to buy them?

I believe Toyota have already stopped making diesel cars.

On the subject of sound, my Tesla driver also has an electric motorbike. People stepping out in front because they "didn't hear it, mate" is quite a problem, more so than with the car. The sounders that I have heard on cars are really just enough to be the 'alert' that they are meant to be, not an attempt to make the same sort of row that 'real' cars make. Beyond car-parks and shopping areas, tyre noise is a greater signal these days.

It's going to happen. It's really just a matter of timing it for your own circumstances. In Ireland, renewable generation, so far this month, has been 39.5% of the total supply. Charging vehicles overnight fits in well with the evolving generation system.

[skinner75]

I just hope to god that the Teslas sold over here don't have that 'autopilot' system in them, as the amount of clowns over is US-land having accidents with them is mad. Last one I read of, the car ploughed into two police cars, and another car they had pulled over. The police had put out flares on the lane to warn drivers too. The guy's excuse was that he had turned around to check on his dog in the backseat!

[Broithe]

Mmm, you can be banned for 'dangerous driving' whilst not actually driving and not even sat in the driver's seat...

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-43937073/hemel-hempstead-autopilot-tesla-seat-switch-driver-banned

[Warbonnet]

1 hour ago, skinner75 said:

I just hope to god that the Teslas sold over here don't have that 'autopilot' system in them, as the amount of clowns over is US-land having accidents with them is mad. Last one I read of, the car ploughed into two police cars, and another car they had pulled over. The police had put out flares on the lane to warn drivers too. The guy's excuse was that he had turned around to check on his dog in the backseat!

I dunno, cant be worse than the driving I see on a daily basis on the M50. Horrendous carry on! Electric is certainly the future, and once it comes to all the run of the mill cars we use it will be widespread in popularity. Considering the small size of the country I cant see range anxiety being much of a problem. 

[skinner75]

1 hour ago, Broithe said:

Mmm, you can be banned for 'dangerous driving' whilst not actually driving and not even sat in the driver's seat...

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-43937073/hemel-hempstead-autopilot-tesla-seat-switch-driver-banned

Proper order - the bloody gobshite! 
I blame Musk for calling it 'autopilot' in the first place

Autopilot fails:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPMvQphJQiE

Edited January 24, 2020 by skinner75

[Broithe]

For me, it is just a matter of when to go full electric.

I have no interest in going hybrid and still carrying on with all the ICE complications as well.

My Tesla-driving friend does loads of miles on the continent, pulling a trailer, and has had no range issues - it just requires a bit of forethought, as it used to do in the old days, anyway.

We may start to see a time when filling stations that still have a liquid fuel supply start to become more scattered. There are a lot of things to consider when storing those sorts of quantities and reducing sales may start to make some wonder if it's worth the expense/bother. people will start to need something to do/eat for the few minutes that a quick-charge will take.

On the subject of fire - I filled up in the Applegreen on the way out of Mountrath a couple of weeks ago - they have an LED advertising screen by the entrance door. Nothing exotic about that now? Indeed not, I was only vaguely aware of it - until it changed to a Bord na Mona advert, which I saw out of the corner of my eye, the other side of the pump, as I was firing petrol into the car - this advert was a five foot high moving image of a raging fire - I very nearly ran off...

[BosKonay]

[DiveController]

Love it, Bosko!

So I wonder if the government or EU might mandate that an 071 sound system be fitted to the DART or some DMUs that don't reach the minimum noise level threshold on the grounds of H&S, stations, LCs etc.

Y'know the lads at IRM might be onto something with this new A class sound project but maybe a slightly larger speaker?

 

Edited January 24, 2020 by DiveController

[Broithe]

It's maybe less of an issue in Ireland than in many other, more urban, countries, but home-charging may not be an option for a lot of people, without an off-road parking space of their own. That introduces an extra level of inconvenience that many people wouldn't think of, if it doesn't affect them.

There is a picture going round, purporting to be a generator that is towed out to charge up empty electric cars (I'm reminded by the humorous shot above) - intended to show the lack of practicality of EVs, I suppose - checking up on this revealed that it is actually a battery pack, mounted on a trailer, so that they don't need to be carrying it round all the time, just when needed.

You will see this described as "a diesel van with a petrol generator..." - but it isn't.

It's basically just like going out with a can to get you to a proper refilling point.

I should have endeavoured to find the van's power source, but failed to do so.

[spudfan]

"The current ranges would seem adequate for things like An Post vans, etc."

An Post do not use any electric or Hybrid vehicle for rural deliveries. Dublin between the canals yes .

[Noel]

On 1/24/2020 at 2:05 PM, Warbonnet said:

I dunno, cant be worse than the driving I see on a daily basis on the M50. Horrendous carry on! Electric is certainly the future, and once it comes to all the run of the mill cars we use it will be widespread in popularity. Considering the small size of the country I cant see range anxiety being much of a problem. 

Yip and full autonomous driving is actually about 20-30 years away yet despite the media hype about where AI is at. Legislation hasn't even started, never mind insurance industry tooling up. Its disruptive technology though and legislators may end up being forced to catch up wither they like it or not. EU have put the foot down on safety grounds - surprise surprise, but in the mean time all auto manufactures auto-pilots continue to incrementally improve (eg lane following combined with 3rd generation adaptive cruise control, FCWA, BSM, etc). The interesting question is which of the big established legacy manufactures is going to be the first to be Nokia'd.

[Noel]

Just back from 370km run from Kenmare on a single charge. Took the same amount of time as the diesel used to. Brings new meaning to the concept of DCC keep alive Don't believe all the bull in the media about EVs. Big oil is just fighting back.  DCC will never catch on Talking of kenmare its a pity the rail link is long gone. The town was largely built around the original rail link for travellers from London.

[Broithe]

IE appear to have an electric van now - I've seen a photo on Facebook, but didn't want to steal it.

Maybe it will turn up here?

[connollystn]

Hi guys, this thread is called 'Letting off steam' not 'Letting off ELECTRICITY'. Get with the programme.

PS. The uses of the words fcuk, cnut etc are permissible (where would we be without home tuition?)

PPS. Don't know what 'Tuition' means but, as soon as the dating game gets back to normal, I'm going to use it in a chaf up line......