Charge at No Charge

[Tronhard]

We have lashed out and bought an Electric Vehicle - a Nissan Leaf. Not just any Leaf but a sort of "boy racer" one with enhance electric power control to give maximum torque, and the longest-lasting batteries for the time, giving us a range of about 200km.

In NZ we import every drop of petrol, and with that at over $2 per litre it's in our own interests to avoid the Internal Combustion Engine (ICE). We also prefer the relatively non-polluting option of electricity - which in NZ is almost 90% generated from renewable sources. As the government website says: a diesel or petrol-powered vehicle has around 2,000 moving parts, while an EV has about 20 - so there are very few maintenance costs. There is no noise and the torque is amazing!

In an effort to get people away from ICEs quite a few electricity suppliers offer free recharge stations located at generators' offices and sites, malls and parking lots. We took advantage of a couple of them when we made a round trip of about 450km to visit family. It's a whole new driving experience, especially when the charge stations are quite a distance apart! This is what a recharge facility was like at one of the stations along the way. We did the whole journey essentially for free, when in our previous vehicle it would have cost of well over $100.

At some stage, when the number of EVs reaches a critical mass, some suppliers will impose a cost, but until then (and that is likely some time away) we can charge up at no charge!


A leafy charge-up.

[pnodrog]

As I am thinking of replacing one of our cars with an EV I find this interesting. Not sure if the golf clubs will fit. Your photo indicates a tow bar. If so what weight will it tow? 500kg?

[Tronhard]

Hi Paul:

We actually put the tow bar on just to take our bike rack. That said the dealer said that it would have no difficulty pulling a load comparable to a compact to mid-sized vehicle - you'll just use a bit more electricity!

Your golf clubs will fit just fine - the Leaf is really roomy: more so than our previous car, and has lots of headroom. It comes with all mod cons - remote keyless access, electric everything (as you would expect), factory tinted windows. The back seats fold down in 2/3 and 1/3 option.

Driving it is a bit different and has been a learning curve... There are two settings: D is for normal driving and on the highway. B is for stop and go, or where there will be considerable downhill elements. The difference is that while D captures energy back when using the brakes, B uses enhanced engine breaking and thus improves the energy return. There is also an Eco mode, that pretty much kills the performance but would likely be useful if you were really down on energy.

Auckland is the best place to have an EV in NZ, simply for the number of charge stations available. Of course you can charge your own battery from a normal outlet overnight if you want, but I have set myself the challenge of using free fast-charge stations that will completely energize the vehicle in about 30minutes. They recommend for local driving to keep the energy stored between 30 and 80%.

The government website is: https://www.electricvehicles.govt.nz...SAAEgLVAPD_BwE
There is a website of charging stations around the world: https://www.plugshare.com/

[Shadowman]

Very nice, on the car and image capture.