This page is intended for employees and visitors of STFC-RAL, until something official becomes available. This is the situation at March 2022. Hopefully some of what I've learned in nearly 6 years of EV driving is useful. TLDR; download the Chargepoint app and plug in! At the Harwell campus there are many tenants, STFC being … Continue reading Using the EV chargers at STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
EVs in 2021 and Scotland in the Model S
In 2021 EVs are coming from most manufacturers, and at some rate too. Back in 2015 when our Tesla was new, around a thousand a month were registered in the EU. In September 2021, over a thousand a day were registered! Recently on my commute along the M4, I usually see at least one car … Continue reading EVs in 2021 and Scotland in the Model S
New 2020 Ioniq Electric announced – but it’s not all good news…
Hyundai have launched the next Ioniq Electric model for 2020, with a bigger battery- up to 38.3kWh useable. Hardly a surprise there. A modest increase, within the existing platform, sounds like a sensible but incremental step. Think of it as Ioniq V1.5 rather than V2. 38kWh compared to the existing 28kWh means up to around … Continue reading New 2020 Ioniq Electric announced – but it’s not all good news…
Ioniq electric battery health at 3 years and 36,000 miles – very healthy, 100% health and 28.6kWh net capacity *Updated*
Welcome to my most popular blog post. Looks like battery health/life is a big concern amongst my readers! NB this post relates to a 2016 "IONIQ electric". Since then the IONIQ has become available as a 38kWh version and IONIQ is now a sub-brand of Hyundai. When I bought my Nissan Leaf at 3 years … Continue reading Ioniq electric battery health at 3 years and 36,000 miles – very healthy, 100% health and 28.6kWh net capacity *Updated*
What spec does a long-distance family electric car really need in the UK?
I think there's a strong case for a family pure-electric car with a modest battery, good efficiency and fast charging. As public charging points become more plentiful and powerful, the modest battery EV gets more useful. A side-effect is that the embodied energy of such a car is less than one with a larger battery … Continue reading What spec does a long-distance family electric car really need in the UK?
How much can you top up an Ioniq in 10 minutes from a Polar Ultracharger?
To answer this question, I tried out a Polar Ultracharger at the Holiday Inn Swindon, in the UK. The charger is quite close to J15 of the M4, and while the M4 is fairly well-served for charging, it's on the Electric Highway network which is, how shall I put it, a little creaky right now. … Continue reading How much can you top up an Ioniq in 10 minutes from a Polar Ultracharger?
Lets compare theoretical long journey times in the Ioniq, Leaf(s) and a diesel…(Version 2)
March 2018 Update - The 2018 Leaf 40 appears to have issues with repeated rapid charging, for example see Twitter posts tagged #AberdeenEVRace . In a contest between the Leaf 30 and the new 40, the Leaf 30 won! We have yet to see what response Nissan have to this. My guess is that it's … Continue reading Lets compare theoretical long journey times in the Ioniq, Leaf(s) and a diesel…(Version 2)
Leaf vs Ioniq energy efficiency real-world test
At 70mph the Hyundai Ioniq travels 25% further than a Nissan Leaf on a unit of electricity... I had the opportunity to compare my Leaf (Mk1.5, 2013) to our new Hyundai Ioniq today. In an attempt to make it a reasonably accurate test, we used 2 different speeds, 50 and 70mph, with a GPS speedometer … Continue reading Leaf vs Ioniq energy efficiency real-world test
“I don’t do many miles, an electric car won’t be worth it for me”
In my post "A car for free" I outlined the maths that led to me buying a Leaf. I do a bit more than an average amount of miles per year. What if you don't do many miles? Maybe you're looking at swapping the second car in the family to electric. An EV should be … Continue reading “I don’t do many miles, an electric car won’t be worth it for me”
Cross-country in a 4 1/2 year old Nissan Leaf
Just returned from a holiday where I left my Leaf at airport parking for a week. It was far enough away (123 miles) that I needed to charge en route, and wanted to leave the battery at half-charge while I parked, as it should avoid any degradation that way. As any electric car battery ages … Continue reading Cross-country in a 4 1/2 year old Nissan Leaf
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