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! When I bought my Nissan Leaf at 3 years old, it had 88% battery "health" as reported by the car. Battery degradation is inevitable with electric vehicles, it's just a question of how much. If you're interested … 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
How to get the most miles out of a charge
A common question about electric cars is range. Driving the Leaf is like driving a diesel car with the "low fuel" light on all the time. In reality however, this isn't as big an issue as you might think. Nissan have done a lot to get the most out of the battery, and while newer cars … Continue reading How to get the most miles out of a charge
The Tesla test drive
Tesla Model S 75D (tesla.com) Last weekend we had a test drive in a Tesla Model S 70D, from Tesla's Bristol showroom. For those not in the know, Tesla is a relatively new, US manufacturer of high-end electric cars. Nevertheless it is now valued higher than Ford in terms of its share valuation. The … Continue reading The Tesla test drive
