Just been listening to Harry’s review of the Lotus Eletre, what a disappointment! Frigging enormous, weighing 2.5 tonnes, enormous battery (112KW) and piss poor efficiency (he clocked 2.16 miles/kwh driving carefully in ‘range’ mode on a 145 mile journey).

That review was an odd one, if you read any other reviews they all reckon they go close to the manufacturer claimed efficiency. Not sure whether Harry had a pre prod version or whether the other reviews are wrong.

Anyway, speaking of efficiency, I tried driving my car in eco mode yesterday on a motorway journey and got substantially better ‘fuel’ economy that I would normally get in the cars default mode, ie it was around 20% better. So then I tried it on a non motorway journey and got and even bigger improvement. There’s surprisingly little actual info about what eco mode does in this car (merc eqc) , aside from reduce throttle sensitivity, but I’m wondering if it prevents the rear motor from being used, and defaults to front motor only, because it’s surely not possible to get that kind of improvement from reduced throttle sensitivity alone.

In both tests I was driving as I normally would, same sort of average speed (ie between 70 and 80 on mway), with the same regen settings as I normally use. I can feel the reduced throttle sensitivity, but cant feel any other differences.

I was just surprised how much difference it made

julians
That review was an odd one, if you read any other reviews they all reckon they go close to the manufacturer claimed efficiency. Not sure whether Harry had a pre prod version or whether the other reviews are wrong.

Could be something as simple as a sticking brake, but if Lotus send a review car out with a problem like that…

Harry is anti-EV. He’ll have thrashed the living daylights out of it, and the charge cost comparisons are based on the most expensive public charging available.

I’ve no doubt a massive high-powered SUV isn’t going to be spectacularly efficient, but with a 110kW battery it’ll have usable range when not driven like a tit. And I find it a bit rich coming from someone who’s daily driver probably struggles to crack 15mpg.

bensales
Free Member

Harry is anti-EV. He’ll have thrashed the living daylights out of it, and the charge cost comparisons are based on the most expensive public charging available.

I’ve no doubt a massive high-powered SUV isn’t going to be spectacularly efficient, but with a 110kW battery it’ll have usable range when not driven like a tit. And I find it a bit rich coming from someone who’s daily driver probably struggles to crack 15mpg.

“Thrashed the living daylights out of it” … over a 140 mile round trip. And how exactly does one “thrash the living daylights” out of a 600BHP+ car over that distance without losing their licence? It’s nonsense.

Secondly what is the incentive for Harry to make stuff up, especially regarding Lotus which he is a fan of and owns IIRC two cars including an Emira? If anything this type of criticism would be likely to get him blacklisted from reviewing Lotus products in future.

Finally regarding harry being ‘anti-ev’ and driving a ’15 mpg daily’ … what’s that then? I seem to recall his daily is actually a hybrid of some sort, and he’d been seriously considering a Taycan but couldn’t live with the range.

I didn’t say he was making things up. I said he has an obvious bias, that you can see if you watch any of his videos featuring an EV, and he’s hardly known for taking it easy in cars. It’s a test car. It’s a ‘sports’ SUV. He’s going to drive it with a heavy right foot. It’s what he does and how he makes his money. He’s painting a picture to get YouTube clicks and he knows what his audience likes.

Assuming he had an Eletre R, that has a projected range of 310 miles which with a 110kW battery gives a completely shite 2.8 miles per kWh, and that will be driving as economically as possible in warm temperatures. So a real world efficiency of not much more than 2 miles per kWh seems pretty likely especially in winter.

bensales
Free Member

I didn’t say he was making things up

Yeah you did, he explicitly says he was driving it with range in mind, at the speed limit and no more, in the range-maximising mode, and you are stating that he “thrashed the living daylights out of it” “to get youtube clicks”.

But this is all besides the point – let’s pretend that what you’re asserting above about him having ‘a heavy right foot for clicks’ is true.

So it follows then that he would that he would have driven the Taycan the same way?

Yet somehow he got nearly 50% more miles/KWH from the Taycan than the Eletre.

Assuming he had an Eletre R, that has a projected range of 310 miles which with a 110kW battery gives a completely shite 2.8 miles per kWh, and that will be driving as economically as possible in warm temperatures. So a real world efficiency of not much more than 2 miles per kWh seems pretty likely especially in winter.

It’s comparable with the Tesla Model X P100 (100kWh usable – 333miles), BMW iX M50 (105kWh usable 315miles) and other large SUeVs.

Quick Q (apols if already covered in previous 130 pages)- if you have a charge box at home, what stops other people plugging in  & using your leccy?

Not sure the model X P100 is a fair comparison being a much older model. Model Y long range has a 319 mile range from 75 kW battery = > 4 miles per kWh for a comparable size car.

FB-ATB – they’re always locked with a PIN code to use.

… mine isn’t (pod point from 12yrs back) but we’re out woop woop so it’s an unlikely scenario. I have padlocked my cable thou as it’d be annoying for that to be stolen

@FB-ATB my Tesla charger when being installed had the option to either allow all cars to charge from it or just your own. I had the same concerns!

@andylc: cheers. Work are considering setting up a salary sacrifice scheme so I am contemplating using that but had wondered about all the wall chargers that are now popping up on people’s houses!

Harrys numbers didn’t sound that far off what I got from my Audi ETron – similar size and weight cars. I got between about 2.2 and 2.8 m/kw/hr between winter and summer use.

Basically – if you drive something that has the weight and aerodynamics of a village pub then it’s going to have poor efficiency.

what stops other people plugging in & using your leccy?

The ohme chargers have a setting that you can enable that means you have to approve each charge in the app before it will charge the car.

It’s always amazed me with all the publicity around cloning car remotes and stealing cars that pretty much all new cars don’t have the option of a PIN number to drive which you can enable if you want. Would solve that issue so easily if you couldn’t just drive them away once unlocked.

Easee charger recognises you and your car so you don’t need to use the App each time, just plug in and it starts. But if my neighbour plugs in it triggers the app to ask if I allow it to start. 

An EV is on my radar in the not too distant future, but we don’t have a drive or off-road parking.  Wondered if I could fit a charger on the stairs, then run cable down a lamppost when charging, like the image below.  I’m assuming that council might take a dim view, but it would only be a few hours a week. Cable well above head height, 7 foot or so. Anyone done anything like this?

Anyone done anything like this?

There’s a house near my father in law that runs a cable across the pavement to their tesla parked on the street, but it’s a granny charger they use, not a 7kw wall charger.

Not sure on the legality of it etc, it certainly causes much grumbling from my fil.

They don’t use a cable protector etc, it’s just the cable laying loose across the pavement, common sense would suggest to get one of those bright yellow cable protectors Togo over the cable

Not sure the model X P100 is a fair comparison being a much older model. Model Y long range has a 319 mile range from 75 kW battery = > 4 miles per kWh for a comparable size car.

Model Y performance is 303 miles from 81kWh (78usable) and is smaller and slower.  There’s not much in it.

That’s 3.88 miles per kWh versus 2.86, so over 35% more efficient. Worlds apart. Performance is very similar just over 3 secs 0-60. Size looks pretty similar.
Also not relevant to the discussion but it looks more like a Kia than a Lotus. Although if Kia had made it, it would probably be more efficient…

maybe you could get someone to put a drainage channel across the pavement to run your cable thru. Could get you in trouble with the council tho, if someone reports it.

Quick Q (apols if already covered in previous 130 pages)- if you have a charge box at home, what stops other people plugging in & using your leccy?

My Podpoint doesn’t have a lock on it either (it’s 3 years old), but through the app, is only scheduled to come on at 1 in the morning and go off again by 4, to charge my PHEV. If someone tried to use it in the daytime, when my car isn’t there, it wouldn’t work.

That’s 3.88 miles per kWh versus 2.86, so over 35% more efficient. Worlds apart. Performance is very similar just over 3 secs 0-60. Size looks pretty similar.Also not relevant to the discussion but it looks more like a Kia than a Lotus. Although if Kia had made it, it would probably be more efficient…

Having sat in an Eletra and owning a Tesla, I’d say it has nothing in common with the Model Y apart from being a big electric SUV. The lotus is much bigger, heavier, extremely plushly equipped and will go round corners a whole lot better. Might just as well compare it to a Volvo EX30 which is faster than either of them to 60 but also not really comparable in any other respect if it wasn’t an EV. 

Re pavement crossing, definitely talk to the council as something will have to happen about this and councils won’t make changes unless they know how many people want it.
I might write to someone as well, even though it does not affect me directly.

Run it down the wall and across the pavement with a cable protector over it? Some councils take a dubious view but to be honest if you trip over a bright yellow cable cover but survive the rest of our appalling pavements the blame has to be on you.

I wouldn’t run it at 7ft, someone will be tempted to swing on it and you can’t easily attach it to the telegraph pole.

https://www.stockport.gov.uk/parking-for-other-vehicles/home-charging

My council (Stockport) says no trailing cables across pavements. I suspect their stance on this will have to change, don’t know what the answer is though

Norfolk has quite a good approach to cables across pavements I think: https://www.norfolk.gov.uk/business/licences-and-permits/ev-cable-permission

Calderdale council not so progressive unfortunately.  That being said, they don’t enforce any other traffic or road rules seemingly, so I reckon if I follow rule 1, it’ll be reet. Maybe.

“Thrashed the living daylights out of it” … over a 140 mile round trip. And how exactly does one “thrash the living daylights” out of a 600BHP+ car over that distance without losing their licence? It’s nonsense.

Not really, i can take two identical cars, same time of day, same journey, broadly similar average speed/journey time and pretty much half my economy by driving like a tosser and *without* breaking any laws.

In fact, i actually did it for some real world driving emissions testing work a few years ago. We only had a 420bhp EV though, and a 450bhp PHEV, and a 350 bhp PHEV, and a 250bhp diesel, and a 300 bhp petrol MHEV.

Holy crap, it’s Jason Bourne!

mert

Not really, i can take two identical cars, same time of day, same journey, broadly similar average speed/journey time and pretty much half my economy by driving like a tosser and *without* breaking any laws.

In fact, i actually did it for some real world driving emissions testing work a few years ago. We only had a 420bhp EV though, and a 450bhp PHEV, and a 350 bhp PHEV, and a 250bhp diesel, and a 300 bhp petrol MHEV.

Yes, I don’t doubt you can make “a car” lose efficiency by driving it badly. I presume you were doing things like continuing to accelerate up to traffic lights and braking at the last second.

But if you read the post I replied to, what it actually said was that Harry “thrashed the living daylights out of it” (in other words “used maximum performance of”) the car.

What I disputed is that you could use anything like the maximum performance of this particular (600 BHP AWD) performance car over any decent proportion of this particular 140 mile round trip from Oxfordshire into and out of London. There is too much traffic and too many speed cameras. You would go to jail or kill somebody.

but to be honest if you trip over a bright yellow cable cover

Written as a perfectly able and well sighted person I presume.

Them bright yelloww cable covers are a pain in the arse for the front wheels of wheel chairs(and kids buggy’s, Zimmer frames, partially sighted – sack barrows , wheel barrows etc etc) – we use them on location alot -locations with zero partial sighted/wheelchair users and they are still a pain in the arse.

Taping the cable to the pavement would actually be a better move.

For folk who are looking for help setting up their Ohme with Intelligent Octopus

How do I set up Intelligent Octopus Go?

Not really, i can take two identical cars, same time of day, same journey, broadly similar average speed/journey time and pretty much half my economy by driving like a tosser and *without* breaking any laws.

Interested in your findings, as (not at all rigorously) when I’ve booted my low power EVs around without exceeding the limits the economy has barely changed, unlike with ICEs.

Interested in your findings, as (not at all rigorously) when I’ve booted my low power EVs around without exceeding the limits the economy has barely changed, unlike with ICEs.

Economy seems like a random number generator in my car, one day I get 2.3mkwh, the next on the same journey with largely similar traffic conditions, driven in the same manner ,with similar outside temp, I get 3.5.

Interested in your findings, as (not at all rigorously) when I’ve booted my low power EVs around without exceeding the limits the economy has barely changed, unlike with ICEs.

Pootling in my (500bhp) Tesla, I’d get 280wh/mile.

Not pootling, it would be 450-500wh/mile.

Don’t know yet what the Poledancer (300bhp) does when not pootling as it’s only four days old, but its rear wheel drive, so when it need new tyres…

Shiny…

Zappi chargers are now compatible with Octopus Intelligent Go.

Had notification on Monday and I switched tariff this morning in about 5 mins. 

Been on ‘normal’ Go for a couple of years but this will give us longer off peak prices, and a reduction from 9p off peak to 7.5p 

Yes, I don’t doubt you can make “a car” lose efficiency by driving it badly. I presume you were doing things like continuing to accelerate up to traffic lights and braking at the last second.

Yes, lots of WOT and hard braking, Lots of changes of speed, lane hopping etc. Driving like a tosser.

But if you read the post I replied to, what it actually said was that Harry “thrashed the living daylights out of it” (in other words “used maximum performance of”) the car.
What I disputed is that you could use anything like the maximum performance of this particular (600 BHP AWD) performance car over any decent proportion of this particular 140 mile round trip from Oxfordshire into and out of London. There is too much traffic and too many speed cameras. You would go to jail or kill somebody.

The rated figures for range/consumption won’t come within a million miles of the rated power output of the car. So you don’t actually have to actually “thrash the living daylights” out of something to massively miss the rated consumption. Ably demonstrated by thousands of drivers on a daily basis.
As an aside, every moderately quick electric vehicle i’ve driven, and most of the ICE/PHEVs as well, physically won’t allow you to try and put their rated power through the wheels until they are doing (almost) illegal speeds. They’ll put a lot more than you need (enough to spin the wheels) but they won’t be chucking 600bhp down until they are already borderline illegal.

TLDR I doubt bensales knows what thrashing the living daylights out of a 600bhp car on the public highway looks like, “driving like a tosser” is probably what he means.