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Electric cars.
- Thread starter Gramaisc
- Start date
proactive
Enjoying a drop of red.
So, partly inspired by comments in this thread earlier jr and I hatched a plan whilst at a track day on Friday night to head off for a journey in the wife's EV on Saturday, with no planning whatsoever for charging or anything else, save a few destinations for some sightseeing as the weather was supposed to be good.
Leaving at sparrow fart, with the car fully charged, we headed across Derby way and oop North up the M1 for breakfast in Knaresborough. As luck would have it the car park had a couple of 50kw chargers, so by the time we'd filled our faces with a full English at Marigold's Cafe, charge was back up to 100%.
We then headed off to Whitby, stopping along the way on the Moors for a stroll and to take in the scenery. Arrived in Whitby in time for a fish and chip lunch at Quayside and a stroll along the seafront. Charging infrastructure in the North East is woeful. 50kw chargers are few and far between and the best your likely to find in a convenient location is 7kw. We didn't need to charge anyway, so that didn't matter.
Then we headed further north to Durham, where jr had never been before and I bored him solid for an hour or so showing him all the haunts from my uni days. To try and cheer him up a little, I allowed him to buy us ice creams... Not knowing when the next charge was likely to be I'd left the car charging at 7kw in the city centre. As you might imagine that didn't add a great deal of range at that speed but it's better than nothing.
Then we headed across to Carlisle with the intention of charging on the M6 on the way home where the range indicator suggested we'd need to do a meaningful charge somewhere around Manchester. We decided we needed a pitstop in Carlisle and also replenish our stock of travel essentials (Jelly Babies and Wine Gums). Low and behold there was a 50kw Instavolt charger at the supermarket so hooked up to that. After just over an hour we had enough range to get us home.
Drive back down the M6 and arrived home at about 11pm with 34 miles of range left.
We drove everywhere sticking to speed limits but with my usual heavy right foot. No concession was made to economy, aircon was used all the time. Not once did I even think about the possibility of running out of juice on a journey that has quite poor charging infrastructure.
Had we been able to charge at 350kw where the car can get from 10% to 80% charge in 18 minutes we'd only have needed to charge the once during our 624 mile trip.
Leaving at sparrow fart, with the car fully charged, we headed across Derby way and oop North up the M1 for breakfast in Knaresborough. As luck would have it the car park had a couple of 50kw chargers, so by the time we'd filled our faces with a full English at Marigold's Cafe, charge was back up to 100%.
We then headed off to Whitby, stopping along the way on the Moors for a stroll and to take in the scenery. Arrived in Whitby in time for a fish and chip lunch at Quayside and a stroll along the seafront. Charging infrastructure in the North East is woeful. 50kw chargers are few and far between and the best your likely to find in a convenient location is 7kw. We didn't need to charge anyway, so that didn't matter.
Then we headed further north to Durham, where jr had never been before and I bored him solid for an hour or so showing him all the haunts from my uni days. To try and cheer him up a little, I allowed him to buy us ice creams... Not knowing when the next charge was likely to be I'd left the car charging at 7kw in the city centre. As you might imagine that didn't add a great deal of range at that speed but it's better than nothing.
Then we headed across to Carlisle with the intention of charging on the M6 on the way home where the range indicator suggested we'd need to do a meaningful charge somewhere around Manchester. We decided we needed a pitstop in Carlisle and also replenish our stock of travel essentials (Jelly Babies and Wine Gums). Low and behold there was a 50kw Instavolt charger at the supermarket so hooked up to that. After just over an hour we had enough range to get us home.
Drive back down the M6 and arrived home at about 11pm with 34 miles of range left.
We drove everywhere sticking to speed limits but with my usual heavy right foot. No concession was made to economy, aircon was used all the time. Not once did I even think about the possibility of running out of juice on a journey that has quite poor charging infrastructure.
Had we been able to charge at 350kw where the car can get from 10% to 80% charge in 18 minutes we'd only have needed to charge the once during our 624 mile trip.
Cue
Well-Known Forumite
Just to resonate that from the other side: I don’t necessarily “plan” my trips either. First time I went down to Digbeth I just popped by a charger in Cannock on the way home that I found on the fly. A few weeks ago we went to Dudley and on the fly decided to pit stop at IKEA where a quick wander through the market and food store has us back at 80% without much worry at all
This is a first generation car with far less range than @proactive has available too.
This is a first generation car with far less range than @proactive has available too.
Mudgie
Well-Known Forumite
When my father first bought a car sixty years ago we were quite content using a travelling rug.
If that worked through the winter of 1962 to '63 I'm sure it would now.
joshua
Well-Known Forumite
You haven't mentioned some random pub from 50 years ago, are you ill ?
Gramaisc
Forum O. G.
Heaters were sometimes an optional extra on cars in the fifties - de-icing could be a bit of a struggle, especially in freezing fog.
A kilowatt would probably be well sufficient for passenger comfort? Maybe less when things had warmed up.
proactive
Enjoying a drop of red.
Just think how much better off we are now then.
Mudgie
Well-Known Forumite
I didn't think anyone would be interested but the pubs I used fifty years ago, during October 1971, were
Saturday 2nd – Birmingham – Wandering Minstrel, Golden Eagle, Trocodero,
Monday 4th – Cannock – Pied Piper,
Friday 15th – Rugeley – Red Lion, Cabin,
Saturday 16th – Stafford – Sheridan, Grapes, Stafford Arms,
Wednesday 27th – Wolverhampton – Exchange, Queens, Sir Tatton Sykes,
Thursday 28th – Cannock – Roebuck.
Mudgie
Well-Known Forumite
No, the roads are too busy nowadays.
proactive
Enjoying a drop of red.
What does that have to do with car heaters?
Mudgie
Well-Known Forumite
This topic isn't only about heaters which are but one aspect of motoring,
BobClay
Well-Known Forumite
I can't wait to get back to the days of no heaters, you had to crank the engine by hand, you had to wind the windows, you had to change the points every ten minutes, the engine drank fuel like there was no tomorrow and the brakes were about as much use as a vibrator in a nitro-glycerine factory.
proactive
Enjoying a drop of red.
Ah, the good old days. That and having 10 pints of crap beer before getting back behind the wheel of the car and demonstrating your helmsmanship by crashing into a wall or a pedestrian and being able to laugh about it with your mates down the pub the next day.I can't wait to get back to the days of no heaters, you had to crank the engine by hand, you had to wind the windows, you had to change the points every ten minutes, the engine drank fuel like there was no tomorrow and the brakes were about as much use as a vibrator in a nitro-glycerine factory.
Great days indeed.
Mudgie
Well-Known Forumite
..... to the days when cars had less gadgets and less things to go wrong ?I can't wait to get back to the days of no heaters, you had to crank the engine by hand, you had to wind the windows, you had to change the points every ten minutes, the engine drank fuel like there was no tomorrow and the brakes were about as much use as a vibrator in a nitro-glycerine factory.
Mudgie
Well-Known Forumite
I remember my friends who learnt to drive in the early 1970s, well before me, understanding that a pint and a half was the limit if driving.
I am though shocked to recall several years later one or two people I knew drinking several pints and later boasting about not knowing how they got home. Thankfully that attitude has all but disappeared although it does prevail regarding the ignoring of speed limits which can have just as tragic consequences, as can fatigue through driving excessive distances or after not enough sleep.
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proactive
Enjoying a drop of red.
They did have less gadgets, but they were far more unreliable than modern cars and particularly than electric cars.
BobClay
Well-Known Forumite
The very thought of going back to points, distributors, carburettors and the like ........ uuuurrrrgggghhhhh. Give me a modern engine management system every time. (With an OBD socket so you can see your engine's performance via a phone app.) In fact once I'd found the OBD on the current car (and that wasn't easy) I plugged in a head up display which now sits in the corner of the windscreen and makes me very conscious of what speed I'm doing.
Also, back in the day, if you had a fast bike ... a few pints made it go faster ....
Also, back in the day, if you had a fast bike ... a few pints made it go faster ....
The Hawk
Well-Known Forumite
An OBD is also very useful for keeping track of the efficiency/health of the battery on an EV.The very thought of going back to points, distributors, carburettors and the like ........ uuuurrrrgggghhhhh. Give me a modern engine management system every time. (With an OBD socket so you can see your engine's performance via a phone app.) In fact once I'd found the OBD on the current car (and that wasn't easy) I plugged in a head up display which now sits in the corner of the windscreen and makes me very conscious of what speed I'm doing.
Also, back in the day, if you had a fast bike ... a few pints made it go faster ....