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 (revised Oct ’18)
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 (revised Oct ’18)
“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
