Non boat question Electric cars

Yes, the traction battery degrades, but only gradually, my 30kWh Leaf is 4yrs old, done 53,000miles, is at about 87%. Plenty info on "speak ev" forum, the 30s have a longer warranty, (of both years and mileage), than equivalent 24s. Post-2013 have less wasteful heat-pump heating.
A year in, I'm very pleased to be out of ICE, yes the insurance is a bit higher, but zero road tax, minimal maintenance required, and amazingly cheap to run.
Yes, pay for Leafspy Pro and a compatible Dongle, so you can get true car stats before you buy. Gather that Indra at Malvern can replace faulty cells, to restore the battery pack to its age-appropriate state of health. Usable, new on 24kWh is 22kWh, and 27kWh for the 30kWh, so mine now c25kWh, and I get between 4miles/kWh (winter) and 5 summer, best achieved 5.2.
For main battery longevity, not too many rapid charges, and operate within 20-80% state of charge unless heading straight out onto a long journey.
Plenty of choices, 3x trims, multiple colours, 2x battery capacity. Nissan's omission of any active battery temp management the only weakness, seems the 30's cope better. Not found it a problem in UK climate. And more charge points in uk than fossil fuel stations!
Youtube has vid of Spanish firm offering to install new pack of either 48 or 64kWh, within existing housing, pricey, guess they reuse your old pack as home storage for solar. But does this get Type Approval, will insurers accept? They retrofitted into a 24kWh car of c2014.
Hi Richard, Thanks for the info. I tried to contact Indra at Malvern. I could not find him, I called several Malvern garages without success. Can you supply acontact details. regard kyn
 
I have an MG EV. My minor regret is that it was built in China [and they bought the name].

Range 140 miles. It's a small SUV - I wanted a small runaround, but the price of the MG was the winner. Great to drive around locally, and the most responsive car I've driven.

I still have my Skoda Karoq for longer journeys.
It seems like you need a back up car for the occasional long journey.
 
Rental. But public charging works, you just need it more frequently for less time, with a smaller battery.
I've heard that some dealers will sell you a BEV and give you a good deal should you need to hire for a trip.
 
I've heard that some dealers will sell you a BEV and give you a good deal should you need to hire for a trip.
Nissan used to offer that, but then the Mk1 leaf struggled to do 50 miles in the winter. Not sure they offer the rentals any more. But car rental is very easy now, I happen to use Enterprise and book it online. Car delivered. I drive it. Car collected when I'm done.
 
Last edited:
That car supports 50Kw DC on CCS so you'd be fine on a longer run with a bit of planning/
The problem is that altho there may be charging points at my destination, there's no guarantee they'll be free.
Yes, hence why a bit of planning is needed whilst this infrastrcture is immature and infrequent. If I was relying entirely on destination charging I'd need to be able to reserve one.

But I don't. My EV can reliably do about 200 miles in the summer. So a 200 mile trip would need one charge and I'd aim to do it at about the 80-150 mile mark, anywhere in there. for a 350 mile trip I'd plan to charge twice, first about 120-150 and again at about 220-250 etc. That way if one charger is broken or busy I can rock on to the next. As the networks inprove, this gets easier (but then demand is also increasing).

It's all a bit wild west. EV charging has got a long way to go before it matches the conveneniece of today's filling station networks. But EVs work fine for some people.
 
Top