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^^^^ wonder what a rack does to the range though ? I have ordered the towball as a factory option. That said I do often carry an ebike, so the roof option doesn’t really work.
There's a chap in my road with a camping tent on the roof of his Tesla!
A rack will ruin efficiency of course- scaling as you go from just the bars to a bar and bike rack to bikes actually being on it.
I’ll do some tests once I’ve got it - same trip with the bike in the car or on the roof, and with with the bars fitted but bike inside to see the difference. Not just being nerdy but also to help plan trips away - range hence where / whether to charge etc.
I imagine a towbar rack would be less of an impact - I wanted a towbar on the i4 for that reason and also because it’s less faff to out on and take off, but budget allowance didn’t allow it (at the time you needed to pay for the towbar AND a circa £1k options pack to get the button which deploys the bar which took outside my allowance). That button now seems to come as standard but hey ho too late for me now.
A bike on a towbar rack does impact economy a fair bit in my experience, but as said they are super easy to remove. I do remove roof bars when not in use, but that's me.
So I've not done proper efficiency figures... But at 30mph on a flattish road with either bike, or just rack, it's a actually a minimal difference to economy.
But.. 60-70mph and the mpWh suffers!
DrP
AND a circa £1k options pack to get the button which deploys the bar which took outside my allowance). That button now seems to come as standard but hey ho too late for me now.
I had to add a comfort pack when I selected the towbar option, which I think was about £1000 total
Last couple of cars I have had a towbar fitted by a towbar company at around £800 a pop so felt it was ok as a factory option.
Why I would never buy a second-hand EV. The cost of a replacement battery would be much higher than the cost of the actual car. A replacement engine on a ICE would be actually affordable.
https://insideevs.com/news/658962/tesla-roadster-ev-battery-end-of-life/
Have you read the article?
It's about a specific model of a niche car that has been fitted with a component that fails. It's not exactly representative of a wider issue, as the article points out.
So first Google results tell me a brand new battery for a Tesla Roadster (now very much a classic super car) costs $29 000 and a rebuild of a Ferrari engine of the same vintage costs $40 000 dollars.
Given the cash saving on fuel over the life of a battery replacing the battery on the Zoé if it dies after 8 years will be cheaper than a reconditioned engine for a Cléo plus the additional fuel cost.
You logic is back to front on EVs as usual Countzero. When I compared running costs of the Zoé and Clio the longer I keep the Zoé the more it will save me, even if it needs a new battery at 10 years which is unlikely given how most 11-year-old Zoés are doing.
Replacing the entire battery isn't the only option. Below is quite an old video so this sort of diagnostic work will more than likely grow a market of small specialists.
had to add a comfort pack when I selected the towbar option, which I think was about £1000 total
Yes that was it. Towbar was £900 from memory and the comfort pack was £1000. There was nothing else I wanted in the comfort pack hence I was looking at a £1900 towbar. Aside from value for money, my car allowance (company car) would not allow it.
To be fair, this isn’t an EV issue, it’s a BME issue - I believe the ICE version of the same car had the same issue.
I wonder if an aftermarket non retractable towbar is an option - would be much cheaper.
Yes, an expensive option, but I couldn’t see an easy alternative, esp as I regularly transport an eMTB. Mine is on a Tusker lease through work so I just added it on..
Also noticed that since I placed my order for the i4 40 they have now bought out a 35, with smaller battery, lower range and almost £10k lower price..
I do think I prefer the idea of extra range and performance though 😁
Just joined the growing ranks of EV drivers with a second hand BMW iX3. Found one with a folding tow hook so bikes will go on a rack at the back. Hopefully that won’t destroy the range.
We were looking for around a 300 mile range (not real world obvs) and 30 min charge speed (10-80%). Test drove a whole list of cars (ioniq 5, Skoda enyaq, ev6, id3, id4) but finally went for the iX3 given the drive quality and goodies.
Had the full spectrum of charging experience so far (from “this is easy what is everyone worried about” to “standing by a charger in the rain downloading apps and uploading card details”, “being blocked”, “being iced” and back to “this is easy”)
I’ll let you all know how it is to live with…
Looks like the love child of a Humvee and a Suzuki Ignis designed by Lego and built by IKEA. Interesting indeed 😆
You might think by that comment that I hate it. I don't. Quite the opposite actually. Except that windscreen rake (or lack thereof).
Replacing the entire battery isn’t the only option.
Quite so. Here's a vid of the analysis of an old Leaf Bjorn Nyland bought with 40% battery state of health. Looks like the culprit might be one bad cell. Will be interesting to see if replacing that cell does the job. Cost is about £1000 of which only £155 is the battery cell and the rest labour.
Just joined the growing ranks of EV drivers with a second hand BMW iX3.
good choice 😉
Just coming up to 16 months (13500) miles in mine MSport Pro. It’s been faultless and a pleasure to drive. This time of year getting around 230 to a full charge ( did a 330 mile round trip today). Mostly at 70 with return journey in the rain.
@revs1972 - we also went for the Pro. Great to hear positive experience. Not sure I’ll ever understand all the gadgets but the HUD has been a revelation and I’m loving the heated steering wheel.
I’m yet to try the battery pre-heat function ahead of DC charging to stop coldgating - has it worked for you?
Woody
Rain has a huge impact on range.
Why does rain have such a big impact?
I think it's the amount of water you have to move around driving on a wet road. I haven't done a lot of motorway trips in the wet in my EV but it would take 10% off the average MPG in the Prius.
Why does rain have such a big impact?
Presumably as you're shoving water as well as air out of the way + wipers + lights + demisting/blower/heater. It's also not uncommon for there to be strong winds with heavy rain.
I've never bothered to look at the fuel consumption in different conditions in any car I've owned but I suspect this isn't an exclusively EV/hybrid issue.
I suspect this isn’t an exclusively EV/hybrid issue.
correct, this applies to any kind of car/vehicle etc
Wipers and lights run off the standard car battery and won't make any odds on range. Can't say I've noticed much difference in range in the rain it's the temp that affects it the most I find.
Wipers and lights run off the standard car battery and won’t make any odds on range. Can’t say I’ve noticed much difference in range in the rain it’s the temp that affects it the most I find.
whilst that is entirely correct….
You do know where the power for the 12v system comes from don’t you ?
I’m yet to try the battery pre-heat function ahead of DC charging to stop coldgating – has it worked for you?
I do 95% of charging at home and when I’ve charged away from home I haven’t given it much thought. I’ll have to look into it.
And yea HUD is a gamechanger . In fact I like it so much , I have specced it on next car . I think it is something that should be standard on all cars.
The BMW HUD is far superior to any other car I have tested though.
Lots of toys , have you run the relaxation program yet ? Got to make sure you have the Aircon in the correct setting though
I don't think wipers and lights make a lot of difference, it's the water on the road. You can feel the deceleration when you hit a puddle; of course standing water on motorways isn't usually that bad but it's constant and adds up.
What tyres are you all running?
I've michelin eco things on my Leaf - though they're EV specced and LRR, they really do spin out quite often.. I'm not trying to accelerate like a nutter, but Brighton is hilly, and often when accelerating out of a junction UP a hill it'll spin spin sugar...
I REALLY wanna stick michelin crossclimates on it, but reaf it'll bugger the range...
DrP
Are they they OEM tyres? OEM tyres are crap versions of after market tyres even though they bear the same names.
The current best energy saving premium tyres that I know of are Bridgestone Turanza T005.
It looks to me from reviews they've messed up the cross climates a bit in their current version, they seem to have improved their very cold weather/snow performance at the expense of wet performance
Water on the road is around a 10-15% loss.
The bugger have cancelled my Q4 order as they say it will be here before my current E-Tron is due to be returned. Just have to wait nearer the time now and reordered.
Are they they OEM tyres? OEM tyres are crap versions of after market tyres even though they bear the same names.
May i just LOL at that massive and inaccurate generalisation.
Some manufacturers MAY, in SOME cases get a version that is optimised for fuel economy or durabilty.
The vast majority get bog stock production tyres same as everywhere else.
Another small number may get upgraded tyres with improved traction/grip or reduced NVH characteristics or other tweaks.
though they’re EV specced and LRR, they really do spin out quite often.. I’m not trying to accelerate like a nutter, but Brighton is hilly, and often when accelerating out of a junction UP a hill it’ll spin spin sugar…
Do you not think these things are linked?
Reducing RR is a trade off Vs traction (and tyres with a higher weight rating tend to stiffer carcasses as well, which doesn't help) unweighting an inner wheel on a corner and applying torque in a heavy car while going up hill?
You do know where the power for the 12v system comes from don’t you ?
Just to put it into perspective
Just cruising along at 50mph driving the car is about 85% of the power demand on the battery, AC (at full chat) is about 14% all the rest of the 12V systems combined is the remaining 1%, give or take. (Lot of hybrids and EVs have 400v HVAC these days, so it needs to be separated out.)
Some manufacturers MAY, in SOME cases get a version that is optimised for fuel economy
A lot of people have reported the same thing, particularly when Michelin Energy Savers came out. They were fitted to a lot of cars and everyone hated them, however I bought some after market ones and they were pretty decent. I had a car with Turanzas on it that were incredibly shite, but the aftermarket ones are good. It may not be all cars, but it seems very common.
Re rain and range.
I've noticed a pretty significant effect on the motorway - about 10-15% ish drop in predicted range on a 3 hr journey where the car predicted enough range to get to the destination before setting off, but dropped considerably after driving through fairly heavy rain for an hour. Once the rain cleared up the predicted range went back up. I didn't track efficiency at the time but think this equates to about 10-15% "ish" based on the predicted range changes.
It makes sense - rolling resistance will increase due to displacing the surface water on the road. Moving dry air past the car at 70MPH is surely easier than rain plus raindrops which are more or less stationary compared to a cars speed.
I can't see lights and wipers making any measurable effects - they're pretty small power drains especially with modern LED lights - 15W or so each, so lets say 60W total for the whole car. I reckon my ETron uses about 26kW at 70MPH, so the lights account for 0.2% of the power consumption on the motorway.
What tyres are you all running?
I’ve michelin eco things on my Leaf – though they’re EV specced and LRR, they really do spin out quite often.. I’m not trying to accelerate like a nutter, but Brighton is hilly, and often when accelerating out of a junction UP a hill it’ll spin spin sugar…I REALLY wanna stick michelin crossclimates on it, but reaf it’ll bugger the range…
DrP
I've got crossclimates on my Leaf. Absolutely superb, and did not make a noticeable difference to the range.
Which did you go for?
I just stuck xc2s on my Octavia...
Not sure if EV would warrant xc+, xc2 rei forced, or normal...
Probably reinforced....?
DrP
The required load rating for your car will be in the manual...
Another CrossClimate 2 user here. No noticeable impact on range on my Model 3, and if anything they’re quieter than the PS4 that came fitted to the car.
The load rating is 89 for 16s.. to 91 for 17s...
I'm running on 16s..
But the fuel efficiency for the reinforced (94!) XC2s is B rated... C for the 91 load.
Will it mess up the ride having a firmer tyre sidewall? (Bearing in mind I'm fitting some coilovers when they arrive, to lower it and set the suspension!)
I think I've got a mix of the normal/reinforced on the octy..!
DrP
You're dicking about with the suspension, I wouldn't worry about tyre load ratings...