The new news 24 thread

[Sloth in a bowl]

Using up leave before the end of the year day for me today.

Bathroom taps fixed, kitchen radiator leak bodged.

 

Now for an hour driving nowhere in the Datsun.

[dollywobbler]

DW I take it, it was just charging off your normal house supply? Did it take a full charge overnight? How was the charge rate when you drove it was it steady or did it take any sudden downward turns?

 

Yup. Domestic input, about a nine-hour charge overnight (much like myself). Was averaging 3.4 miles per kWh, or about 5p per mile. Can't say I ever really drove it steady during my test, but I did noticeably smooth out my driving style. I didn't want to pussy-foot around because if the Leaf is going to be a real alternative, it needs to be able to go as quickly as I like to travel. No point going electric if it's slower than my 2CV!

[trigger]

I cleaned the paint of the rest of the rear seat yesterday, It's looking much better now although it will need to be dyed again.

 

[wackywacerwill]

Classy looking seats those Trig. They'll be well worth the effort when done.

[DeeJay]

Look in good condition for 40 year old covers and interiors.

What colour are you going for?

[trigger]

They will be staying blue, I'll need to do some homework on the dyes though as I've never done it before, I need to make sure it's the same colour as the door cards but the rear seats are in surprisingly good condition, just a shame they were painted over.

 

[HMC]

Trig you mentioned possibly changing the Cortina's wheels, what did you have in mind?

[cort16]

Venoms?

[r.welfare]

Has to be dartboards, surely?

[trigger]

Well I was going to change them, I was even offered a set of 5.5x13 dartboards by a mate for £50 which needed repainting which i agreed to buy but the more I thought about it the more I thought I may as well keep what i have (they are also 5.5x13 but 1600E wheels) and just invest in new matching tyres all round, looking at 175/70/13's instead of the 30 year old Michelin MX's (Made in West Germany) 165x13's that I currently have fitted.

[hairnet]

Thanks* to Trigger for inspiring me to get my hands on a Nissan Leaf. I now really want one. I've had a very enjoyable 300 miles in it and am seriously going to miss the effortless power, serenity and the heated seats and steering wheel. OMG ALL MODERNZ R NOT SHIT! The automatic wipers were rubbish though. 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2013-63-Nissan-LEAF-LEAF-80kW-AC-Electric-Motor-Visia-/301021003904?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item4616400080

 

sod 25k

 

thats more like it - a micra or this

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

Why is that Leaf so cheap?

[trigger]

Those Leafs are great and I'm pleased that you've had a good experience with one, I'm still not sure if I'd actually want to own one just yet though.

[cort16]

It maybe doesn't include the batteries . You can buy a leaf with or without batteries believe it or not. If you buy without batteries you need to lease them from Nissan for about 70 quid a month.

The best way to own a leaf is to lease one there are deals on the go that will get out one for less than 200 a month .

 

I've a horrible feeling the BMW i3 is going to make the leaf feel dated very quickly. I think it might end up being a bit of a Betamax .

[r.welfare]

I saw an i3 yesterday at Bicester, looked like an overgrown VW Up with a kidney grille.

[TimothyClaypole]

Working on Mattblack's knob...

 

 

 

My stuff's gone off hence the bubbles and rubbish/eroded edges so new stuff is on it's way. 

 

 

[DVee8]

That Leaf is the base model without all the toys like the regenerative braking and the fancy heating system also less miles to the charge.Plus as said may need to rent the batteries

[dollywobbler]

I quite like the sound of the BMW i3. I'm not sure whether to be depressed by this status or not. Before I go ga-ga, I've decided to spend money on cars I already own. A full set of winter boots for the Sirion have been ordered. In other fleet news, the 2CV has been entirely ignored for a week so I'll take it for a run tomorrow to remind myself what an engaging car feels like to drive. The Discovery is annoying me. The indicators started flashing quickly earlier, but when I hopped out to see which bulb had gone, they all started working again. I got back in, quick-flash but it stopped as soon as I put my hand on the door handle. In conclusion: <shakes fist at Land Rover and goes grrrrr!>

[cort16]

Does the i3 not do an 80% charge in 20 minutes or something daft like that?  You can also specify a petrol range extender, which kind of wipes out nearly every argument you can have against an electric car regarding range.

[vulgalour]

I think I found DW's Disco problem...

 

Brother is taking the Golf for its MoT tomorrow, he's been secretly making it better.  I'm going to tag along in the Princess if I wake up early enough.

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

It maybe doesn't include the batteries . You can buy a leaf with or without batteries believe it or not. If you buy without batteries you need to lease them from Nissan for about 70 quid a month.

The best way to own a leaf is to lease one there are deals on the go that will get out one for less than 200 a month .

 

I've a horrible feeling the BMW i3 is going to make the leaf feel dated very quickly. I think it might end up being a bit of a Betamax .

 

Wow, if that's not worth mentioning in the ad nothing is! I knew you had to lease the batteries on the Renault EV range but didn't know it was an option on the Leaf. 

[dollywobbler]

It's a new thing this year I think. Presumably the Renaults share a fair bit of Nissan know-how. I do find it really interesting at the moment. There's probably more variety on the new car market than there has been for decades when you think about it. I love the sheer variety of new cars in the 1980s and we're getting close to that again. Actual variety and manufacturers actually taking risks and hoping their technology is VHS not Betamax.

[DeeJay]

I don't fancy a Betamax car, I'd never fit through the sunroof.

[ShiteRider]

There's a lad from the blue forum coming to look at the bmw sunday, fingers crossed he'll have it. I don't want to sell really but, i need the money and it's been sat there for two months doing nothing.

Also finally got the logbook for the ebay cortina today, nine previous keepers , (still doesn't beat the estates' 16).

[cort16]

Bloody hell 5000 posts. I guess it's time to do what we agreed and break open the tooth with the cynanide in it.

[Pete-M]

Electric cars would strand me every working day of the week. I couldn't do a days work in one as they simply don't have the range. Even if they could do a reliable and guaranteed 300 miles on one charge it is not enough.

 

I'd want an electric car with a 500 mile range from a ten minute charge or there's absolutely no point in them for me.

 

Hydrogen fuel cells are the way forward for anyone who does more than a few miles a day.

[vulgalour]

I can see electric cars being ideal for those who travel infrequently and over shorter distances.  I can well imagine my grandparents getting along famously with a little electric shopper if it was proportioned like a real car as things like the Leaf are so I do think they have their place even now.

 

I'd love to have a little electric shopper painted like a 70s fairground Dodgem, I reckon that'd be just about the happiest thing to own, ever.

[HillmanImp]

I am pretty sure I have probably raised this on here before as I bang on about it enough everytime anyone else mentions them but.....

......if everyone switches to electric cars how are we going to power them? We are constantly told that we are nearing a power crisis and new ways to produce electricity needs to be found but yet we are being led to believe that electric cars are the future? Can't see it. PeteM is probably right, it will have to be hydrogen or something else as electic aint gonna work . 

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/10428950/Power-crisis-risk-worse-than-feared-this-winter-SSE-warns.html

http://metro.co.uk/2013/06/27/britain-risks-blackouts-in-two-years-in-power-crisis-3860110/

http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/441589/Crisis-ahead-Britain-to-be-hit-by-blackouts-and-power-shortages-this-winter

 

Yeah, I know we should not believe the horseshit from the press but y'naa when it helps prove a point I am happy enough to quote it 

[catsinthewelder]

Fair enough if you're doing several hundred miles a day then electric cars ain't going to be an option.  But lots of us don't drive more than 50 miles a day and if all of us motoring lightweights swapped over to electric cars then the petrol would last a lot longer.

 

If I swapped our 2 cars for electric ones then I could use the camper for my less than monthly long journeys (assuming that I fixed it).  It ain't going to happen though as I'm far too tight to pay £200 per month + 5p per mile for a Leaf when the BX costs me about £50 a month + 12p ish per mile in fuel.

 

Sounds a reasonable bet as a second car for those who would otherwise have a newish 1series or mini though.

[Pete-M]

A working week for me mileage wise is often something like this.

 

Mon      440 miles

Tues      220 miles

Weds    460 miles

Thurs    380 miles 

Fri        120 miles

For example, I know next week I'll be in Stoke on Toast, Wolverhampton, Cardiff and Bristol. I live in Liverpool and I like to get home every night. So, Stoke on Toast and back is possible on a 120ish mile range. 120 miles in everything from stop start congestion to 70ish on the motorway, no realistic chance of a half hour recharge. Wolverhampton is about 95 miles so a one way trip there is on the cards, provided the M6 isn't a car park. Cardiff is 224 miles door to door. Normally a pretty gentle run once past Dudley on the M5 couple of hours of just taking it easy for the final 110 miles or so. Bristol is a similar run, but the M4 gets a bit shit sometimes. Normally driving Skodas, Superb 2.0 TDi will average around 58-61 mpg on a good clear run down to Cardiff. Takes just under four hours on a good day. So, it's easily done on just under a third of a tank. Octavia 2.0 TDi will do 65-72 mpg on the same run. I did the run to Shitefestâ„¢ 2012 and back in an Octavia TDi on just over half a tank of fuel - and I wasn't hanging about. I reckon a current shape Octavia TDi is capable of 800ish miles to a tank of fuel on a good run, so possibly from here to Berlin.

Now, to do the same run as any of these in a purely electric car 

At the weekends I'll often do a couple of hundred miles, whether visiting family or whatever.

In the latest electric cars with the biggest range available my weekly motoring would probably take more than a fortnight.

Those of you who only do a couple of miles a day, why have a car? If you can walk it you may as well!