The future meets the past...

[stephen01]

Had this installed today, 

 

Now just waiting for the car to plug into it

 

I know this is not everyone's cup o tea, but every now and then I have a mad moment and buy something crazy, this is probably the most expensive moment I've had though!

 

I genuinely believe that this is the future and there will be people retro fitting this tech.. 

 

 

[MarvinsMom]

that is a electric charging point thing isn't it, and not a fancy hose pipe?

[cort1977]

What car?   A leaf?  

[fred]

Branch?

[AnthonyG]

I reckon a Renault Zoe, as they seem to giving them away at the moment, £0 down and 0% APR or something.

 

I saw a BMW i3 yesterday and it looked like a toy car. A pair of giffers were inside, perhaps wondering why they were still in first gear...the i8 on the other hand is a lovely looking thing.

 

Whatever it may be, Mr Wobbler will be interested to see how you get on.

[AlabamaShrimp]

Get a twizy!

[Des]

Nice and easy for your neighbors to steal your electric now.

[Bear]

I reckon a Renault Zoe, as they seem to giving them away at the moment, £0 down and 0% APR or something.

 

Cor, that would tempt me if I had longer term plans. I've driven a Zoe and it was a lot more fun than you'd expect. Plus, no internal combustion engine, so one less "french" bit to worry about.

[Ghosty]

But... electric...

[overrun]

I reckon a Renault Zoe, as they seem to giving them away at the moment, £0 down and 0% APR or something.

I saw a BMW i3 yesterday and it looked like a toy car. A pair of giffers were inside, perhaps wondering why they were still in first gear...the i8 on the other hand is a lovely looking thing.

Whatever it may be, Mr Wobbler will be interested to see how you get on.

I saw an i8, yesterday.

As I was listening to some futuristic sounding Netsky track.

 

It fit the moment rather well.

[Volksy]

My knob of a neighbour had an i8 for a few weeks, which he'd borrowed from his mate who works out in the middle east. Lovely looking thing, he liked it - apart from the doors which made it necessary to be a bit of a contortionist to enter and exit the vehicle. 
Come to think of it, the Toyota Sera myself and H.Imp had was similar, made me oddly self conscious everytime I got in and out of it. 

[stillOrange]

I had a chance of driving pretty much every electric car currently sold in UK other than Teslas, i8 and Kia Soul (yet).
ZOE is by far the nicest and best, especially when you take the price into account.

[pshome]

Electic car = dead end until they agree on a standardized battery pack that you swap for a full one at a "gas" station when you run out of juice.

That doesn't seem to ever happen, they can't even agree on a standard quick charge connector...

[dollywobbler]

I have serious concerns about the charging network - already you see queues at motorway points, and others need repairs that never seem to happen.

 

But, I still love the ease and torque of electric. The Model S is an amazing car, though a Leaf is considerably more comfortable.

[stephen01]

I've opted for a nissan leaf, fully electric as you know. be nice to not rush about everywhere for a change. 120 mile range but as myself and the wife work within 5 miles of home I think the general day to day driving wont give much of a problem. plus we're keeping the honda for when we need to blast off on holiday, 

 

I'm a little disappointed as I was meant to be taking delivery of the car yesterday but nissan are running behind with the production of the cars so another couple of weeks to wait.

 

We looked at the Zoe, but at the time there were no great deals on the car, smaller range, and a much smaller car than the Leaf. The leaf will be better for us as we have two kids and have had big car for the last 7 years. 

[Junkman]

And we all know: Electricity is made by magic.

[dollywobbler]

Doesn't really matter how the electricity is made. Far more is made from renewables than petrol/diesel. Very green at point of use too, so far better in cities. I know it goes against the Autoshite grain, but electric cars really do fascinate me now they're actually practical. I still really want one.

 

I'm still considering the possibility of building an electric 2CV. Few cars are better suited to conversion - no power assists, so removing the old engine isn't an issue, and nice and light, so there's less to haul about. Main issue is the cost of batteries still - a conversion kit with decent batteries would probably be in the order of £8000.

[Partridge]

Cor, that would tempt me if I had longer term plans. I've driven a Zoe and it was a lot more fun than you'd expect. Plus, no internal combustion engine, so one less "french" bit to worry about.

Oh they'll find a way to fuck electricity up, trust me. You'll probably find it needs special French electricity will only works in Renualts and nothing else will do.

[stephen01]

And we all know: Electricity is made by magic.

 

I'm not pushing that whole 'zero emissions' but at this moment in time splashing out £600 quid a year on raod 'tax' for two cars, and one of them doing 25mpg, it makes sense for the next couple of years. espically as we dont plan on driving to france for the next two years..

[barefoot]

In the future then, when we're all clattering about in our super torky cars with fucked batteries and ten mile ranges, but they're OK because we only work 4 miles away and someone says 'Shitefest!' and no-one can go because there's no re-charging facility in Devils Bridge... 

[brickwall]

What car?   A leaf?  

 

 

Branch?

 

Weed.

 

Anyway, the future is in the past.

[stillOrange]

I used Leaf around 6 months ago for a week and after using ZOE and VW up! previously, I thought Leaf was old and tired. The energy management system was unintuitive and software seemed just old.

Which version did you go with?

[oldcars]

Cool, electric hookup for a caravan, you can camp in the drive 

[Negative Creep]

Doesn't really matter how the electricity is made. Far more is made from renewables than petrol/diesel. Very green at point of use too, so far better in cities. I know it goes against the Autoshite grain, but electric cars really do fascinate me now they're actually practical. I still really want one.

 

I'm still considering the possibility of building an electric 2CV. Few cars are better suited to conversion - no power assists, so removing the old engine isn't an issue, and nice and light, so there's less to haul about. Main issue is the cost of batteries still - a conversion kit with decent batteries would probably be in the order of £8000.

 

 

Surely a few old C batteries connected via tinfoil would still represent a performance boost over the standard engine?

[dugong]

If you want to present your car as the 'green' option, it has to be 'whiter than white' from the very beginnings of its production to the way it charges its batteries. If not, it's hypocritical. The Toyota Prius, for example, the world's most complicated and wasteful way of achieving 42mpg on the motorway. Great in stop start traffic, mind. 

That's my problem with the likes of Leafs, Zoes, Model Ss, etc. Chris Klein and Elon Musk need to understand that the rest of the world isn't like California. Until coal fired power stations bite the dust (around the 8th of never, cheers China) an electric car won't cut the mustard for me from an 'I'm better than you, I'm saving the planet' standpoint. 

[Justin Case]

Surely the Shiter's choice must be the Renault Effluent  Based on a Megane Saloon for bonus shite points and unloved saloon cheapness, the £70 a month battery leasing should be balanced by the saving on fuel. I also assume that the range is not up to the Leaf or Zoe, so you will not miss the familair sensation of completing your journney on the back of a recovery truck:)

 

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201501080028173/sort/default/make/renault/postcode/ws12pl/page/1/radius/1500/onesearchad/used%2Cnearlynew%2Cnew/model/fluence/usedcars/channel/cars?logcode=p

[stephen01]

In the future then, when we're all clattering about in our super torky cars with fucked batteries and ten mile ranges, but they're OK because we only work 4 miles away and someone says 'Shitefest!' and no-one can go because there's no re-charging facility in Devils Bridge... 

1

I may bring this to shitfest 2015, I was going to come in the herald,but this may prove a talking point! (if i make it)

 

 

If you want to present your car as the 'green' option, it has to be 'whiter than white' from the very beginnings of its production to the way it charges its batteries. If not, it's hypocritical. The Toyota Prius, for example, the world's most complicated and wasteful way of achieving 42mpg on the motorway. Great in stop start traffic, mind. 

 

That's my problem with the likes of Leafs, Zoes, Model Ss, etc. Chris Klein and Elon Musk need to understand that the rest of the world isn't like California. Until coal fired power stations bite the dust (around the 8th of never, cheers China) an electric car won't cut the mustard for me from the 'I'm better than you, I'm saving the planet' standpoint. 

 

glad I'm not flogging it as the green option, or saving the planet, Just fancied a new car and this ticks all the boxes for 80% of our journeys, massive boot, no road tax, low running costs.. 

[Junkman]

 

Anyway, the future is in the past.

 

The future was better too in ye goode olde dayse.

[John F]

massive boot, no road tax, low running costs.. 

 

 

Low* running costs if it's a diesel...

[dollywobbler]

1

I may bring this to shitfest 2015, I was going to come in the herald,but this may prove a talking point! (if i make it)

 

 

 

glad I'm not flogging it as the green option, or saving the planet, Just fancied a new car and this ticks all the boxes for 80% of our journeys, massive boot, no road tax, low running costs.. 

 

Excellent! I'd love to see another Leaf. And I'm glad you're being realistic about owning one rather than jumping on the Green bandwagon shouting LOOK HOW GREEN I AM WITH MY CHEMICAL-LADEN BATTERIES.

 

I don't agree with Dugong. I don't think you CAN build a car that's whiter than white (or should it be greener than green?). Every aspect of manufacturing ANY car uses up resources. Even the paint has nasties in it. Sure, the Pious smug factor annoys me - as you say, they deliver few benefits over a normal car unless you're entirely driving around town - but I don't see why electric has to be perfect when internal combustion is many leagues away from it.