electric cars to be or not to be

[phantom]

Thought i would give my real life version on these new vehicles that are most likely to be the future.
In April 2018 i bought the F30 330e that i think is the only one in South Africa.This vehicle was actually sent out to journalists on launch and i got it with 12000km on the clock.This electric version is typical F30 and on google there are enough reports and comparisons that i do not need to go into.
What i do need to say you will not find written.
The summary by the notable editors was to rather buy a 320d.
So i receive the vehicle and history gives a driveable range of 26km.
I start with my driving style and eventually range jumps up to 56km.This also became the physical type of distance i could attain.The F30 330e has a much smaller fuel tank but i still ended up doing 4006km on 38litres of fuel.
Truly amazing BUT this does not happen without disciplined driving and a distance driven below the 56km mark.
Speed is the first killer of range on the electric car.On the combustion vehicles getting to 8th gear as soon as possible to let the gearbox work does not apply here.
The slower the better.Town speeds of 60 to 70 work ideally and even on open roads do not exceed 100km/h.Most of my journeys are in the 40km range which was ideal and i diligently charged up the battery pack.
The vehicle is supplied with a home charger that measured 2775 watt.It took 3 to 4 hours every journey to charge. Even the charging station at the local dealer only saved about 20 minutes. Irritating.
This vehicle had a recall for starter and has been sitting in a bmw workshop for the last 3 months waiting for the correct spare and technical staff able to work safely on it.
Three months after i bought the 330e a X5 40e became available which was my first choice to start with.Only 60km on the clock and a very affordable price.Once again there a reviews to read on other sites so just the info you do not get there.
Same driving style the x5 40E managed to give me 2700km 3.2l/100. Max distance i got on a charge was 45km.The battery pack on this car is larger and supplied with a similar charger took over 4 hours to charge.Due to the range being less i did end up driving the vehicle without electric power on occasion, but, even then consumption was not over 11l/100km.This was actually a fantastic vehicle.
Last week BMW gave me a I3s full electric to test.
Very nice.Comfortable,high seating,easy to get in and out of,no restrictions on your view of the road.The battery has 4 bars of indication of distance possible.What i found was that bar one gave 95km, bar 2 gave 85km.bar 3 gave 70km and bar 4 reflected 55km to go.So i managed 250km with a probable 55 left.The car is supplied with a pathetic 2200w charger and it took me 12hours of charging so i could return the vehicle.
My advice is that anyone buying these vehicles make sure you also purchase a wall box charger that will allow 3500w.
What am i driving presently? 2018 F30 320d.Say much?

:smilebounce:

 

[naren512]

thanks for the info well worth the read. Out of curiosity, were you able to monitor how much electricity was used on each charge?

My friend has a Prius, 3rd gen i think, he is a very chilled driver and averages 3.9 to 4.1L/100km making it quite economical.

We had a discussion around cars like the i3, Nissan leaf, Honda CRZ etc and just by chatting, with out having the opportunity to test any of the cars other than the 2nd and 3rd gen prius, we concluded the following:

1) The i3 would not be practical for someone who lives in a complex as some complexes have a general parking area so there would be no place to have the charger installed making it only ideal for a home owner with a garage

2) Hybrids will be out of reach for most car buyers due to their initial price when new, if you look at the new prius and the new leaf you're looking at between R490 000 and R510 000 which is a lot if you're starting off in the car market. Im sure this will change in the future as they become more popular

3) From a car guys perspective, if you're spending this kind of money on a car, you may as well driving something that is going to give you more fun.

This is just our personal opinion and mean no disrespect.

 

[SubLoaded]

A worthy read. Nice to see things from a different angle/perspective.

Not too surprised that you're in a 320d tbh :cthulhu:

 

[yush1]

Thanks for this information. Range and charge time remains the biggest hurdle. I think they still have some way to go. :thumbs:

 

[phantom]

thanks for the info well worth the read. Out of curiosity, were you able to monitor how much electricity was used on each charge?

My friend has a Prius, 3rd gen i think, he is a very chilled driver and averages 3.9 to 4.1L/100km making it quite economical.

We had a discussion around cars like the i3, Nissan leaf, Honda CRZ etc and just by chatting, with out having the opportunity to test any of the cars other than the 2nd and 3rd gen prius, we concluded the following:

1) The i3 would not be practical for someone who lives in a complex as some complexes have a general parking area so there would be no place to have the charger installed making it only ideal for a home owner with a garage

2) Hybrids will be out of reach for most car buyers due to their initial price when new, if you look at the new prius and the new leaf you're looking at between R490 000 and R510 000 which is a lot if you're starting off in the car market. Im sure this will change in the future as they become more popular

3) From a car guys perspective, if you're spending this kind of money on a car, you may as well driving something that is going to give you more fun.

This is just our personal opinion and mean no disrespect.

These vehicles are all plug in hybrid.The 330e accepted about 6kw/h, the x540e about 9kw/h and the I3 28kw/h.
The Prius is similar to the original 335i hybrid.By this we mean that all battery power is supplied by the vehicle itself and not the external source.
:skit:

 

[Solo Man]

Interesting read! My one son is serious about EV and hopes to buy a Tesla one day. Hope they will be available in this market. I personally think that no matter which way you look at it, they are probably the cars of the future and i hope that the problems associated with an electrical vehicle ie range/charging/weight/performance/PRICE will be soon sorted out and that they will be more readily available pricewise to pensioners like myself! mgwaiting::=):

 

[VictorMike]

they are probably the cars of the future

100%, no doubt about it.

Its not only ecologically responsible, but as far as I can tell, the kids these days really don't give 2 poops about motoring. To them, a car is an appliance like a washing machine.

 

[Jeremy.d]

Tesla has proven that it can be done well. I think EVs will definitely take over, but when that will be, is to be determined by how available they can be made to the average consumer, the cost to buy vs the cost to buy a regular petrol/diesel car, and how practical they can be, i.e Charging faster, nobody wants to charge for 4 hours, when you can fill a fuel tank in 5 minutes.

 

[Captain_Stealth]

There is a new build of an electric drift comaroI thinks its finished not sure if its competing as yet

 

[zippy320]

Since we are talking about electric cars , I thought this would be an interesting vid for you guys to watch . These electric cars are pretty simple yet have some complicated components.

[video=youtube]

 

[Gordvisr]

they are probably the cars of the future

100%, no doubt about it.

Its not only ecologically responsible, but as far as I can tell, the kids these days really don't give 2 poops about motoring. To them, a car is an appliance like a washing machine.

some kids may be but not all.....

 

[CyberMatix]

As Agent Smith said to Neo: 'It is inevitable".

The main problems with EV's are still mainly long charging times, range anxiety and vehicle cost. I think with time and continuing research and development, with more and more manufacturers joining the market, these problems will be solved probably in the next few years. There are already some fast charging batteries in some labs.

There is also a push from the Green Lobby to reduce use of fossil fuels.

Electric cars will eventually become mainstream and ICE cars will become the exception. How long it will take I don't have a clue, maybe a decade or more.

 

[yush1]

Electric taxis :fencelook:

 

[PsyCLown]

Interesting read, so end of the day you agree that a 320d is still the better buy for now.

In terms of an EV, the Tesla's seem to be doing things right for the most parts with regards to charging, range and performance.

I feel EV will take over, although it's still going to take some time. I'd love one - although price is an issue currently.

Not sure whether trading petrol / diesel for lithium batteries is really that much better for the environment though...

Sent from my Nokia 6.1 Plus using Tapatalk

 

[Fordkoppie]

Regardless of the pros and cons or what we like or dont like......

Fact is, anyone buying an EV in DARK Africa lives in a dreamworld

 

[phantom]

Regardless of the pros and cons or what we like or dont like......

Fact is, anyone buying an EV in DARK Africa lives in a dreamworld

Agreed. One of the reasons i tried the electric vehicle is the fact that i run solar power.On a sunny day there is so much excess power that going this route seemed to make sense.
While i had the I3s on trial we actually had a power outage day and the thought did cross my mind what would someone, not in this position, do with a full electric/battery vehicle if unable to charge.I think Escom will first have to be fixed and readily available to supply this market.
The alternative is what i did.Proper solar power(go big or go home) is expensive but return on investment was 4 years.Into 6 years i still have not had to replace anything.
As things stand i by far prefer the plug in hybrid compared to electric alone.This way if there is a hiccup you can still rely on your combustion engine,even if it is now much heavier on fuel.
:skit:

 

[CyberMatix]

I see a dark future for petrolheads (like myself).

The car engine is a technological marvel: thousands of moving parts, each engineered to some level of precision. Even a normal person with a less than stellar skillset can make small changes and exult in the outcome. Sharper cam, updated ecu, better exhaust, etc.

An electric motor essentially has one moving part. So what are you to do to modify it? Thicker copper wire in the windings, bigger transistors in the inverter, maybe a bigger motor?

How boring.

Car ownership has always been a pleasure. It's "your" car and any improvements you've made is "your" improvements that you feel proud about. You have personal bond with "your" car and makes you feel good.

It is predicted that the future this model will change. You won't have a personal car, when you need a car one will be supplied by a service company. When you're done you give it back and that's end of it.

It is one of life's small pleasures to drive a nice car. Sometime in the future autonomous driving cars will take over. If is shown that they are much better at driving than humans and cause fewer accidents and deaths than human drivers, the time might come where human drivers would be forbidden to drive at all.

Great.

 

[RacerX]

South Africa still has that hurdle of changing over to clean energy instead of relying on fossil fuels for their energy supply which Eskimo controls. Once this is is done maybe we can see advantages of having an ev but even then batteries will remain batteries and will not be reliable for long term purchases. We will have a solution maybe in hydrogen ? Or some other power source definitely but battery power is filling in the blanks and reducing the carbon footprint but not entirely stopping it.

 

[Twinz]

Electric cars is certainly the future and the markets, lobby groups and international governments will determine and compel compliance to that future. There was a time when we thought bmw will never produce a turbo car or will never produce a front wheel driven car...the NA bmw generation vehicles are no longer rolling out factories. But i can also see a sad future without turbo charging technology.

Hybrids & electric cars are on our roads already even though the South African infrastructure may not be ready for it...the technology has been introduced and the trend has been set and is slowly growing.

 

[PsyCLown]

I see a dark future for petrolheads (like myself).

The car engine is a technological marvel: thousands of moving parts, each engineered to some level of precision. Even a normal person with a less than stellar skillset can make small changes and exult in the outcome. Sharper cam, updated ecu, better exhaust, etc.

An electric motor essentially has one moving part. So what are you to do to modify it? Thicker copper wire in the windings, bigger transistors in the inverter, maybe a bigger motor?

How boring.

Car ownership has always been a pleasure. It's "your" car and any improvements you've made is "your" improvements that you feel proud about. You have personal bond with "your" car and makes you feel good.

It is predicted that the future this model will change. You won't have a personal car, when you need a car one will be supplied by a service company. When you're done you give it back and that's end of it.

It is one of life's small pleasures to drive a nice car. Sometime in the future autonomous driving cars will take over. If is shown that they are much better at driving than humans and cause fewer accidents and deaths than human drivers, the time might come where human drivers would be forbidden to drive at all.

Great.

I agreeto a degree and see your point.

In terms of performance mods - EV's can be super quick and powerful, Tesla have displayed this well and with time I expect the performance (speed) to improve even more along with the range.
As for performance mods to be done on an EV, yes that may be limited unfortunately. Probably cost a lot more as well.

At this point I'll be very happy still.

Once the model changes over to vehicles becoming a service, that is when things start to change. Then it is no longer yours, you cannot customise it to make it your own and chances are its no longer a source of fun either as self driving cars will most likely be a thing.
It'll possibly be comparable to taking a train.

We shall have to wait and see what happens though.

Sent from my Nokia 6.1 Plus using Tapatalk