Electric Cars

sjt01

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
North Norfolk
Sorry to backtrack in the thread, but I'm keen on the idea of a plug in hybrid, or even full electric. But I have also decided my next vehicle will be an suv. I prefer the driving position and we have a very rough lane.
But anything I've looked at is quite a premium to get as phev or electric over standard diesel models?
Would this suit? They have just released an estate version
 

Poorbuthappy

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Devon
Would this suit? They have just released an estate version
Yes been looking at them. Would try one before making any decision. Range a bit limited, though would be fine 95% of the time. Competitive pricing👍
Not after a large suv. Very taken with the xc40.
No rush as yet though, probably won't be changing til into the new year.
 

Poorbuthappy

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Devon
Like for like standard non plug in hybrids cost the same.

Electric motors deliver a lot of torque similar to a diesel, which has always been where oil burners excelled.
As per some of the comments above, non plug in hybrids seem to offer limited benefit over a diesel in terms of fuel efficiency (or even some of the better petrols.)

A phev would mean we could probably run on just electric 80-90% of the time, and with ideas of installing solar pv, this seems very attractive.
 

RJ1

Member
Location
Wales
As per some of the comments above, non plug in hybrids seem to offer limited benefit over a diesel in terms of fuel efficiency (or even some of the better petrols.)

A phev would mean we could probably run on just electric 80-90% of the time, and with ideas of installing solar pv, this seems very attractive.

I'm really considering this. It would really help if the battery technology to store solar pv energy not used in the day was worth having, to allow charging in the night. What's the current position with such batteries?
 

Wellytrack

Member
As per some of the comments above, non plug in hybrids seem to offer limited benefit over a diesel in terms of fuel efficiency (or even some of the better petrols.)

A phev would mean we could probably run on just electric 80-90% of the time, and with ideas of installing solar pv, this seems very attractive.

I can only speak as I find, as I’ve said before 40mpg as driven by my wife and 50mpg when I drive, I consider good for a fairly big, 4x4 that rival Diesels would not match for fuel efficiency.

Add the refinement and quietness of it, plus lack of diesel fumes it’s a clear advantage to me.

I like Engineering and how stuff works, if I thought it was pants I’d say so.

Plug in hybrid suv’s offer as yet a limited range of sub 30 miles, that may be off us to a lot of people but not her as she is often doing 60-80 miles in a single stint.

Toyota’s next RAV4 is being offered with a plug in model, the RAV4 Prime with a range of 40 miles. Likely will be an excellent vehicle.

Personally I’d like my next car be fully electric. It’ll be awhile though.
 

sjt01

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
North Norfolk
Try one. They are funky little cars. Someone at college had one, was a very cool little thing.

Toyota and Honda (and Lexus but £££'s) are all bringing electrics and hybrids to the market. I don't think Volvo have an all electric car as yet but one is in the pipeline.
They do, known as Polestar 2. Polestar is now their electric brand
 

Poorbuthappy

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Devon
Would this suit? They have just released an estate version
Some good deals around too looks like -
Screenshot_20200926-184856_Auto Trader.jpg
 

Poorbuthappy

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Devon
Probably also worth a look at the Kia Nero/ Hyundai Kona. They share the same running gear and seem to get reasonable reviews. From the photos, it seems to be a slightly elevated driving position which might be enough fr you.
Yes, though about £10k more, and slightly smaller.
But certainly worth a look.

Don't really feel I can run around trying all these different vehicles until I'm ready to make the deal, particularly bearing in mind the covid situation.
 

snarling bee

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Bedfordshire
Probably also worth a look at the Kia Nero/ Hyundai Kona. They share the same running gear and seem to get reasonable reviews. From the photos, it seems to be a slightly elevated driving position which might be enough fr you.
Just test driven and bought an ex demo Kia e-Nero for the OH and general run around. Felt a bit heavy in corners otherwise a job to fault. Over 5 years left on warranty, 4 years servicing negotiated in price. Done 8600 miles, and front tyres probably 60% worn, probably worse due to being a demonstrator, but weight is telling and acceleration from standstill is brisk.
I wouldn't say driving position was elevated though.
 

Poorbuthappy

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Devon
Just test driven and bought an ex demo Kia e-Nero for the OH and general run around. Felt a bit heavy in corners otherwise a job to fault. Over 5 years left on warranty, 4 years servicing negotiated in price. Done 8600 miles, and front tyres probably 60% worn, probably worse due to being a demonstrator, but weight is telling and acceleration from standstill is brisk.
I wouldn't say driving position was elevated though.
More a Crossover than an SUV I guess.
 

snarling bee

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Bedfordshire
I would say it is a hatchback, but depends on your definition I suppose. Everything gets bigger and slightly taller as each new model is introduced. Its not a sports car though, despite 200HP and 290 torques; but only 105 top end, which is enough anyhow.
 

rollestonpark

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Burton on trent
I can't get my head around the mitsubushi outlander PHEV.
A friend had one and said it was stupid... (other hybrids may be also like this) (he sold it after about 4/5 months)

Bare with me a minute...

In winter (or any other cold day for that matter), the cabin is cold and the windscreen fogs up.
So he turns on the heaters to get warm and unfog windscreen.
In order to get heat, the engine starts up.
Well if the engine needs to run to get heat, you might as well use it to drive, yes?
So whats the point of the electric bit?
So lets say you contine to drive on electric with the engine running, the cabin takes a long time to get warm, because the engine is only ticking over and not working.

I like EVs, I run a new shape nissan leaf and think it's great. but the hybrid thing... I don't get it.
 

gmgmgm

Member
Mixed Farmer
I can't get my head around the mitsubushi outlander PHEV.
A friend had one and said it was stupid... (other hybrids may be also like this) (he sold it after about 4/5 months)

Bare with me a minute...

In winter (or any other cold day for that matter), the cabin is cold and the windscreen fogs up.
So he turns on the heaters to get warm and unfog windscreen.
In order to get heat, the engine starts up.
Well if the engine needs to run to get heat, you might as well use it to drive, yes?
So whats the point of the electric bit?
So lets say you contine to drive on electric with the engine running, the cabin takes a long time to get warm, because the engine is only ticking over and not working.

I like EVs, I run a new shape nissan leaf and think it's great. but the hybrid thing... I don't get it.
Both PHEV style and EV style are good, but they are designed for different use cases.

The Outlander PHEV is designed for people who can plug in easily, do smaller mileages each day, and also want the capability to do long journeys when necessary. e.g. 40 miles per day (2 charges) could be wholly on electric, but then it's also possible to drive down to the south of France with momentary petrol refuelling stops. Your Nissan Leaf isn't designed to do that. Your Leaf has a battery about 4x the size of the PHEV's, but when it's empty, you're stuck. Ideal if your daily mileage is say always under 100 miles. Always. (Or you have a spare diesel/petrol car for long journeys).

Heating the cabin of any car uses an extraordinary amount of energy. You will notice even your Leaf's battery reduces faster if you turn up the temperature inside. Hence if in the PHEV you turn up the temperature, the car will decide whether to use battery power, or generate some more by running the engine as a generator. As with all EVs, if the battery is cold, it's harder to get energy out of it, so on a cold morning the engine/generator may be the best choice.

This is why the PHEV (and likely all EVs) have a preheat option, so it can be set on a timer to always warm up the car at a certain time, or by buttons from a linked mobile phone. Ours for example is set to always preheat the car on school mornings. Heating from the mains power is much better cheaper than using the battery or petrol.

Hopefully rollestonpark, this helps explain why PHEV cars work for so many people, as your pure EV works for you.
 

rollestonpark

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Burton on trent
OK understood,
Yes have been to France in the Leaf, did about 600 miles in 1 go. Was a little testing due to the France charging network being much worse than our own.
But I would have no issue doing a 300 mile trip in the leaf anytime. Just need to plan carefully.
600+ miles in 1 go is pushing the leaf rather.

I just feel with 280 mile EVs around these days (eg e-niro) which cost the same (or there abouts) as an outlander, the outlander is a bit silly.
The 156 mpg they quote for it doesn't seem very realistic.
 

sjt01

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
North Norfolk
OK understood,
Yes have been to France in the Leaf, did about 600 miles in 1 go. Was a little testing due to the France charging network being much worse than our own.
But I would have no issue doing a 300 mile trip in the leaf anytime. Just need to plan carefully.
600+ miles in 1 go is pushing the leaf rather.

I just feel with 280 mile EVs around these days (eg e-niro) which cost the same (or there abouts) as an outlander, the outlander is a bit silly.
The 156 mpg they quote for it doesn't seem very realistic.
Considering how the Outlander is built, it would be interesting to remove the engine and replace with battery packs. I have been searching to see if anyone has done this and hacked the BMS to adjust for the new capacity. If I could do this I would replace the Defender, if the Outlander was cheap enough might even make a pickup.
 

snarling bee

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Bedfordshire
Hybrids are a con. End of.
Fully electric aren't much better depending on your view on scarce resources to build the batteries.
Hydrogen is the real future, made from renewable electric or nuclear.

PS we have just bought an e niro, OH loves it. 4 miles per Kw/hr. Charged from solar panels running costs are next to zero.
 

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