Tag: EV

EV’s set to depreciate 90% in five years

There’s been an investigation into EV Values based on 5 years of ownership here in the UK by Glass’s guide who track used care prices. Based on an average £8000 outlay to replace batteries which will need replacing after eight years, the car will be worth just 10% of its original value, and far below its diesel or petrol equivalents.  They’ve based their research on cars such as the forthcoming Nissan Leaf with a starting price of £23,000 after utilising the £5000 Government subsidy. You can read the article here. Heck, maybe I’ll be able to afford that Tesla in 2014 after all….

AC/DC Gwiz Hillclimb

Forget hillclimbs with huge amounts of torque and wheelspin. How about my DC with almost 3 year old batteries versus a new AC GWiz? The results speak for themselves. Of course, it has nothing to do with the fact that the goingreen driver in the AC was slimmer than me, nothing at all..(ahem).  Click on the image to view video. (5 meg QT).

The Tesla (Part 1)

Thanks to autoblog green I had a tip off that the Tesla was going to be on show for a limited number of hours today at the "green wheels motorshow" in Norwich, where the car is built. The show has been organised by Cred and carbon connections, very useful departments of the University of East Anglia. Time to take the afternoon off and leg it up to Norwich. I got a really good chance to cover the car extensively, and meet the people behind it.  I’ll be posting episodic clips so that my bandwidth doesn’t go too mental and I can show plenty of detail. Click on the image to view video (10meg QT)

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Why can’t I get a Smart EV?

In terms of range and top speed (70 miles and 70 miles per hour) the Smart EV blows everything else away. They will become available in January on lease here in London, but only to a very select few businesses. Regular Smarts are all over this city – I cant believe the EV wouldn’t be a roaring success (particularly with better infrastructure but people are working on that – slowly). I met a man from Cenex recently who’s getting 5 in January. Cenex has been ‘set up with the aim of assisting UK industry to build competitive advantage from the global shift to a low carbon economy’. Seeing as Smart are the first mainstream manufacturer to promote an EV here it would be great to see them on the roads, so why cant we buy one? Click on the image to view video.(6 meg QT)

Links:   ev cenex

Batteries

George Monbiot has written an article in the Guardian today entilted "Save the planet in 10 steps" – here’s point 7:
"Oblige all chains of filling stations to supply leasable electric car batteries. This provides electric cars with unlimited mileage: as the battery runs down, you pull into a forecourt. A crane lifts it out and drops in a fresh one. The batteries are charged overnight with surplus electricity from offshore wind farms. Timescale: fully operational by 2011." Garage forecourts are completely alien right now. I drive in and try and get hold of some water for the batteries every now and again and usually fail. People are buying electric cars as quickly as they can get hold of them and the infrastructure isnt there by any means. Click on the image to view video. 3.7 Meg QT.

Links: ev

On street charging bays

With the congestion charge and high parking costs, London is fast becoming a leading electric vehicle city. There’s a total of six models due to be on the roads here soon. With all these electic cars buzzing about, there’ll be a significant need for charging bays. Enter Elektromotive. You drive up to one of these little beauties and plug in right there on the street. The first intallations will be in Islington and Covent Garden in central London. Click on the image to view video. (5 meg QT).

Links:   ev

One year in our electric car

We’ve had the car for almost a year now so it’s time for a review. The files come out pretty big (6.9meg) so I’ll sum up here for those of you without a broadband connection.

Pros.

Apart from the obvious environmental considerations it compares well as a general small purpose vehicle that is very suitable for urban living.

It is more robust than I thought it would be.

It’s nippier than I thought it would be.

Parking it is a gift because it’s both small and free.

It can fit my whole family in it, though I’m not sure for how much longer…

It really is cheap to run compared to a normal car.

Cons.

Range in winter is lessened. (25 miles)

Charging for 16 hours every month can be problematic to equalise the batteries if you don’t have a garage.

Safety, compared to a normal petrol engined car is questionable. Though I think it’s a better bet than a motorbike or a bicycle in London. I cycled for 17 years here and stopped after one accident too many.

All in all, I’m a big fan (as you probably guessed) who would recommend it to anyone who lives in a city such as this. Once range increases to get us outside the M25 the world will be our oyster! Click on the image to view video.

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Camden Green Fair

Happy New Year to one and all. Now that winter is truly with us, (reduced range and all) my thoughts have turned to summer. Back in June we went on a green rally. This was a chance for all the electric cars in London to show some muscle (a load of Revas and an electric scooter). Camden council hosted it in Regents Park and there was music, entertainment and general fun to be had. Thumbs up to Camden for hosting this but I reckon they could take a leaf out of Westminsters book if they really wanted to encourage use of the EV in London. Keep an eye out for the boy laughing. I think he’s amazed at our embracing of a green future (he is, isn’t he..?). Click on the image to view video. (3.3 meg QT.)

 

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