I nearly titled this ‘Electric cars for mountain biking’ before I realised the ambiguity.

What electric cars could you use to support trips to the Peaks, North Wales, and possibly the Lakes from Manchester? The car needs to be able to carry 1-3 bikes and 1-2 passengers.

Anyone got experience of changing options for those kinds of journeys?

I saw the ‘new car…’ thread earlier and saw mentions of Teslas and Leafs. The Tesla X P100D will fit the bill but seems…expensive and a bit too luxurious.

Mitsubishi phev.
Parts of N Wales are still without hot running water or electricity so charging a car might prove difficult. 😛

PHEV is a hybrid. I’m wondering about full electric to replace my diesel.

🙂 thought infrastructure might come up.

Edit and I see auto correct got me in ‘changing’ options. ‘Charging’ options.

There aren’t any big purely electric cars on the market yet other than the two Teslas. The Mitsubishi and Passat are both plug in hybrids. That said, they’re half the price and don’t give you the same range anxiety as a battery-only car. While range anxiety is somewhat over hyped, the lack of reliable charge points as of yet in rural areas remains an issue. I would have been stranded twice this week if I had been driving a BEV rather than a PHEV.

I’d have a look at the Passat GTE – or if you’re committed to a BEV see what you can fit in a Leaf or Zoe with the wheels off (bikes, not car).

PHEV is a hybrid. I’m wondering about full electric to replace my diesel.

I’m aware of that, but I think full electric until the Tesla technology filters down means that journeys of the range you’re talking about will mean hybrids for the time being. Most charge points are likely to be along the A55, but have a look at some of the apps https://www.zap-map.com/app/ or https://openchargemap.org/site. Be aware that not all charging points are open to the public, a local hotel has charge points listed on the map which are only availabe for customers.

The Tesla X P100D will fit the bill but seems…expensive and a bit too luxurious.

The problem is you’re asking for market leading technology without the premium package. The manufacturers know that the technology is currently expensive so to sell it they need to package it in a luxury or premium car to be able to justify the costs. I seem to remember that with the model s if you stripped it back to a “basic car” spec level it would only be about £6k less, making it crazy money for what it is when compared to other “basic” level cars

EDIT: my uncle actually has one of those PHEV Mitsubishis and likes it, he uses it in electric mode for short journeys (sub 15 miles) and then think it’s switched to eco mode for the rest of the time

A friend has the PHEV, nice machine but it appears to only have a 40-mile range on the battery, which sounds ridiculous…it isn’t full battery but such a small range seems strange.
Another mate has a Leaf and I think the full range is about 250 miles…drops to about 180 if temp is below 2c (or thereabouts)…(I may be +20 miles on those figures) – that also assumes no other electrics are being used I.e. Heater/lights/charging of devices.
They sound great providing you ignore how the raw materials are sourced…it isn’t entirely a green solution when that is factored in.

They sound great providing you ignore how the raw materials are sourced…it isn’t entirely a green solution when that is factored in.

Hit the nail on he head – 99% of the time the greenest car is the one you currently own – not that the government will let you believe that!

Manchester to Keswick =115 miles. Assuming inability to charge whist you are there that’s 230 miles return plus a bit of driving around – 250miles. But its not a nice flat journey which will knock your range considerably. Then there’s the reduction in range if the temperature is low. A car big enough to carry a couple of people and bikes with that range (and a little bit in reserve). Not convinced it exists yet.

Nissan e-NV200 Van?

OP – You have £120k to spend on a car??? A car????

They sound great providing you ignore how the raw materials are sourced

It’s quite hard to get a definitive answer on this, when I’ve tried. Seems mostly to be insinuation and suggestion.

Another mate has a Leaf and I think the full range is about 250 miles kilometres

ftfy, fairly useless for the likes of big mtb trips

Has anyone ever been in one of those Tesla’s?

There are loads of them as Taxis in Amsterdam.

Very fast,(even when restricted as the taxis are) quiet and smooth.

However, crap headroom in the back, build quality of interior seems a bit ropey. They feel a bit cheap when compared to a £60k Mercedes.

Simple answer, fully electric = none. As its stands fully electric cars are basically for city driving. Hybrid if you want to go further.

@gobuchal – my friend bought one as a retirement present to himself. Pretty nicely finished but not £100k quality. Instant acceleration is amazing however that thrill quickly wears off.

The Renault range is being refreshed with much better battery life.

You can get a Kangoo Maxi as a crew van (kombi) – on the new batteries it’ll be good for NEDC range of 168 miles, or a realistic 120ish.

So it’d get you to the Lakes, you’d just need somewhere to charge it in order to get home.

Whack a few of these in the boot for the return leg

Has anyone ever been in one of those Tesla’s?

Funnily enough, I see them regularly in the Highlands – I think there is a hire company that does them – where petrol stations are few and far between, let alone charging things.

EDIT – Reading fail, I thought you asked has anyone ever seen one.

I have a Nissan Leaf.

Could only get one bike in it with the wheels off.

Real world range is about 65 to 70 miles.

I wouldn’t go back to a petrol or diesel car, but it’s not going to suit everyone’s driving habits. Best when your daily mileage is around 50 miles.

The newer 30kw battery Leaf will have a bit more range, but real world driving will give lower range than the manufacturer claims. Should probably be more like 80 miles.

I considered the Nissan e NV 200, but the range ie even lower due to its weight and slab profile.

or

Based on their range, just ride there instead 🙂

They feel a bit cheap when compared to a £60k Mercedes. [/I]

Agree, we had a look at them in their Edinburgh store and wasn’t particularly impressed, but then I’ve never been impressed with any US car I’ve been in.

For rural charging, quite a few Lakes towns, including Keswick, have public charging points. There’s a website somewhere with all of them listed/mapped.

As its stands fully electric cars are basically for city driving

No, more than that. Suburban duties easily, but you could commute to the next town in most cases.

It’s not even quite that simple though. If you arrive and the chargers are already taken you’re pumped (see this fairly often at a Glasgow point where there’s a regular battle between Leafs, PHEVs and a Tesla)

I have a Leaf. From experience,sticking 2 bikes on the roof and driving motorway speeds will give you 50 miles at best!

There is currently nothing (in the UK – the US has the new Bolt which is awesome) except a Tesla that will do reasonable distance at reasonable pace. The Model X is also pretty useless as you can’t get a roofrack on it due to the stupid rear doors and even a rear bike rack is a faff. The S can take a rack and looks way better in my opinion. Still has loads of room as it has 2 boots. I had one for a week and its an awesome car but I wouldn’t buy one with my own money, as others have said its build quality is not quite there yet.

The next best BEV is probably the Hyundai Ionique but still can’t do more than 100 miles. It comes as a PHEV as well and thats the one to go for at the moment. They are selling exdemo’s off at around 22k at the moment. The Outlander may be popular but its truly rubbish with hardly any boot space, very low real world electric range and awful fuel economy otherwise. Not very nice to drive either.

Unfortunately the fossil car companies have up till now done their best (understandably) to stymie the development and growth of electric. However we are reaching a tipping point and they can’t put it off much longer. Expect to see a lot more choice over the next 5 years

I worked as a mining geologist in one of the worlds largest aluminium mines in Jamaica. I don’t buy the ” hybrid/electric are not green due to how they are made”. All mining is polluting and consumes huge energy. The metals in batteries are mined in lithium mines etc in africa and south america… but so are all the parts for petrol cars!

coconut
The metals in batteries are mined in lithium mines etc in africa and south america… but so are all the parts for petrol cars!

Would there not be some percentage of car parts coming from recycled sources?

You are not going to get an electric car that will do the kind of mileage you want full of people and bikes.

You will get a PHEV, however they will be less economical (greater environmental impact) than doing the journey in a standard car.

‘Affordable’ electric cars currently do about 70-90miles max

BMW are bringing out a fully electric 3 series in 2018. I would expect that to be the first real challenge to Tesla.

If your bothered about the environment ride to where you are going 🙂

I would expect that the majority of recycling sourced parts in a ‘normal’ car would be carried over into electric

BMW are bringing out a fully electric 3 series in 2018. I would expect that to be the first real challenge to Tesla.

Also the F-Pace Electric from Jaguar in 2018 – they reckon they’ll be getting 310 (max of course) from a charge

My electric car has roughly the same mass as a diesel car full of diesel. Thus I would assume it costs roughly the same CO2 to produce it. My electricity is provided mainly from renewable sources (GreenEnergyUK) and Ecotricity EH
When I’m driving it there are no tailpipe emissions for those in the street to breath in.
When its finished with, I am sure the battery will be recycled or used as a home storage battery.
Its not as green as a bike or walking but its a hell of a lot greener than fossil fuel powered cars

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201602181156147?sort=price-asc&radius=1500&advertising-location=at_cars&onesearchad=Used&postcode=sy45ry&fuel-type=Electric&page=1

Perfect biking car

I agree with Winston. They are way way ahead of petrol for the environment.

I bet you could get two bikes in the back of. A BMW i3. Given how many bikes some people claim they can fit in their golfs and mini’s an i3 should easily swallow 2 bikes with wheels off. They’re about the size of a Fiesta/Ibiza aren’t they?

But charging infrastructure is an issue assuming you want to venture out and about. For example, Most motorway service stations on the M1 and M6 have the fast chargers where you could get 80% charge in half an hour, which sounds ok, but often there are only 3 or 4 stations and I’ve often seen them fully occupied so there might be some queueing involved.

..and its not just about co2 and climate change, its local polution from tailpipe emmisions which is the most immidiate to all our wellbeing.

My niebhour has a Tesla its the best car available in the UK imo.
Given a more modest budget the best is probably the Hyundai Ionique mentioned early.

You would still be an early adopter and the way you use a car would need to change but feels very doable to me.

Biggest draw back at the moment would be if you dont have parking at home, that would probably mean its not for you.

Each new model is better than the last though at the moment so rehashing old top gear nonsence is ridiculous.

Too many old/poor arguments being trotted out here.

Reviews of many cars here

And for chargers here and I know this is out of date. I can think of anoth three within 10 miles of me not on this map and I’m in the Northern half of Scotland. Many do 100 miles and get 80% of a charge in the time it takes to have a pee abd grab a coffee.

I think Robert Llewellyn (sp?) did some form of European roadtrip in a Tesla to prove it was possible?

http://www.fullychargedshow.co.uk/new-blog-1/2015/8/27/driving-a-tesla-to-italy-with-guilt

https://www.autoevolution.com/news/tesla-model-s-roadtrip-from-oslo-to-london-costs-only-5-video-95328.html

wilburt

Each new model is better than the last though at the moment so rehashing old top gear nonsence is ridiculous.

That’s the third time in four days you’ve qualified your opinion on Teslas by saying anyone who disagrees with you is a “jezza” fan, dresses like Jeremy Clarkson, or is spouting “old top gear nonsence”.

No one is denying that Tesla are good cars, but they simply aren’t suitable for everyone yet. If everyone awoke tomorrow morning to find their petrol or diesel car had been replaced with a £139,000 Tesla the country would soon grind to a halt because the infrastructure just isn’t there yet. So you’re claim that the fossil fuel car is dead as a dodo is far from true. It’s also worth remembering that you are looking at this from a western European/extremely developed world view.

I certainly wouldn’t turn my nose up at a £139,000 Tesla p100d but if I had that kind of money to spend on a car it would be well down the list because of personal taste and requirements. Please stop assuming everyone who disagrees with your personal opinion “worships Jezza” or some other bollocks.