What would you consider acceptable range?

What would you consider acceptable range?

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AW111

Original Poster:

9,674 posts

140 months

Saturday 14th December 2013
quotequote all
What would be acceptable range for

a) Urban commuter (may be second car) charged overnight / at work.
b) Replacement for your daily driver
c) Weekend fun car - again assuming overnight charge

For me :
a) 150 km without work charging, 100 km with would do. I have built in a margin for side trips / errands.
b) 250
c) My fun car is my DD, but for weekends away, 350 would do the trip to my mother's with about 1/2 "tank" in reserve.

Assuming a 1 hour fast charging station, 350 means 700 km with a leasurely lunch break, over 1000 if you press on after dinner.
It would mean Melbourne to Sydney / Adelaide in a day, which is about as far as I feel like driving in a day these days.


Note that I have parking at home, and 240V 15A power.


peterperkins

3,209 posts

249 months

Saturday 14th December 2013
quotequote all
a) 100 miles
b) 400 miles
c) 200 miles

McWigglebum4th

32,414 posts

211 months

Saturday 14th December 2013
quotequote all
For the daily commute 100 miles is perfect as it is a 46 mile commute
For the daily driver it would only be used for the commute
For a fun car can i have a petrol one please

AnotherClarkey

3,639 posts

196 months

Saturday 14th December 2013
quotequote all
a) Urban commuter - Not sure that I have an answer, I don't think I would buy a car with such a narrow brief.
b) Daily driver - 300-350 miles
c) Weekend toy (which would also be a commuter and the one I would buy first) - 200 miles



Edited by AnotherClarkey on Saturday 14th December 08:42

McWigglebum4th

32,414 posts

211 months

Saturday 14th December 2013
quotequote all
AnotherClarkey said:
a) Urban commuter - Not sure that I have an answer, I don't think I would buy a car with such a narrow brief.
b) Daily driver - 300-350 miles
c) Weekend toy (which would also be a commuter and the one I would buy first) - 200 miles
I'm not so sure what the difference between a commuter car and a daily driver

AmitG

3,361 posts

167 months

Saturday 14th December 2013
quotequote all
150 miles between charging stations, and < 15 minutes to recharge.

150 miles is about 2 hours' driving at the UK legal limit, and I need a break at that point anyway.

Critical variables are "how close is the nearest charging station" and "how quick/easy is it to recharge". They help to determine the acceptable range.

I had a look recently and I must admit that there are more charging stations than I thought. Rural areas are still very poorly served, which is understandable since most people buying EVs are city/commuter types.

AnotherClarkey

3,639 posts

196 months

Saturday 14th December 2013
quotequote all
McWigglebum4th said:
AnotherClarkey said:
a) Urban commuter - Not sure that I have an answer, I don't think I would buy a car with such a narrow brief.
b) Daily driver - 300-350 miles
c) Weekend toy (which would also be a commuter and the one I would buy first) - 200 miles
I'm not so sure what the difference between a commuter car and a daily driver
Yeah, that wasn't as clear as it could have been. The daily driver would be some hulking thing used by the other half, for longer trips and dog walking duties.

AW111

Original Poster:

9,674 posts

140 months

Saturday 14th December 2013
quotequote all
Sorry I was a bit vague.

I suupose the urban commuter thing would be purely a "get to work" vehicle, with the assumption that there is a second car / van / wagon about for anything other than shortish trips.

eg my father had a 3 cyl charade years ago just for his 10 km commute to work, and a semi-luxo barge for other duties.

LimaDelta

6,951 posts

225 months

Saturday 14th December 2013
quotequote all
I don't commute. The majority of journeys I do are less than 10 miles. Very occasionally I do 500 mile days. I could easily manage with a second car range of 100 miles.

LordFlathead

9,643 posts

265 months

Saturday 14th December 2013
quotequote all
AW111 said:
What would be acceptable range for

a) Urban commuter (may be second car) charged overnight / at work.
b) Replacement for your daily driver
c) Weekend fun car - again assuming overnight charge
a) 500 miles - If I commute with it, I would expect it to go a week without a charge.
b) 700 miles - If I am going distances in it at a steady pace on a motorway.
c) 200 miles - Spirited driving.

Yes yes I know we don't currently have the battery technology for that but it's around the corner so we're told.

98elise

28,268 posts

168 months

Sunday 15th December 2013
quotequote all
AmitG said:
150 miles between charging stations, and < 15 minutes to recharge.

150 miles is about 2 hours' driving at the UK legal limit, and I need a break at that point anyway.

Critical variables are "how close is the nearest charging station" and "how quick/easy is it to recharge". They help to determine the acceptable range.

I had a look recently and I must admit that there are more charging stations than I thought. Rural areas are still very poorly served, which is understandable since most people buying EVs are city/commuter types.
Thats about right for me, or the tesla model s performance of 250 miles, and a 45 minute fast recharge. After 4-5 hours of driving I want something to eat and to stretch my legs.

conkerman

3,379 posts

142 months

Monday 16th December 2013
quotequote all
100 miles of real world driving.

Commute is about 80 miles + a bit of comfort.

scubadude

2,618 posts

204 months

Monday 16th December 2013
quotequote all
Honestly 85% of my driving could be done with a real world 80mile range and overnight charging.

The problem is the other 15% requires 600mile range (what my Megane manages) weekend trips from one end to other of the country or down across Europe all at 70"ish", I can't see batteries having that capability for a long time.

I have nothing against electric drive but I think the energy must be stored in a better way or created locally (onboard) and/or in a clean fashion before a usable EV makes big inroads. I spent a while in a friends Vauxhall Amphera and that wasn't a bad compromise.

Manufactures need to get the point where it isn't a vehicle option just a drive train one, at the moment its either (many different variations) of Astra or an Amphera, is should be (for example) Astra Estate, Hatch, Saloon, coupe or Convertible with Petrol, Diesel or Hybrid/EV, mix and match to suit, until it is EV isn't an option for people.

Synchromesh

2,428 posts

173 months

Monday 16th December 2013
quotequote all
b) 150 miles "worst case", but with a 30 minute charge time.

HustleRussell

25,205 posts

167 months

Monday 16th December 2013
quotequote all
AW111 said:
What would be acceptable range for

a) Urban commuter (may be second car) charged overnight / at work.
b) Replacement for your daily driver
c) Weekend fun car - again assuming overnight charge
a) If it was a very cheap machine used only for commuting I could easily live with an 80 mile range
b) Replacement for daily driver? about 350 miles
c) 150 miles

AW111

Original Poster:

9,674 posts

140 months

Tuesday 17th December 2013
quotequote all
Interesting consensus re a). Most posters would be happy with 100 miles / 150 km.
Eminently doable with current technology.

McWigglebum4th

32,414 posts

211 months

Tuesday 17th December 2013
quotequote all
If we had a decent fast charging network where you could get a decent coffee and bacon roll then 150 mile range with a 15 minute charge would suit all of my driving i have done in the past 5 years.

An 80 mile range with a overnight recharge would manage 95% of the past 5 years

Apart from when i am towing something but no EV currently exists that can do what my 90 can do and nor do i expect there ever to be one.