[MFillingham]

It was suggested that I started a guide from those of us who own one of the many Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) on the scheme for those who were either considering for their next car or were looking into the future feeling the inevitability of the switch looming in the distance.

 

For those who own a BEV, please feel free to add your experience but bear in mind this is intended to help, not preach.

I fear this might be a long post, so I’ll probably break it down into several posts just to ease the reading.

Ownership can be broken into 4 areas (which might expand over time) Terminology, Driving, Charging at home and Charging away from home.  I am not in a position to go into depth about the environmental impact of any vehicle, let alone the new technology, so I’m going to gracefully bow out of that area.

Terminology.  There’s a lot of changes to keep in mind.  Starting with the various types of Electric Vehicles.

There’s the Mild Hybrid and Full Hybrid – both running on petrol/diesel most of the time and adding power from a small battery through a motor either to add power or to provide a short range of running without burning fuel.

Plug in Hybrid (PHEV) this is a half way solution between ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) and full BEV.  The battery is big enough to typically give between 15 and 50 miles of pure electric driving.  Then, should that run out, there’s a ICE ready to take over and keep driving.  This means that long trips don’t come with the thoughts about charging and taking breaks but local trips have all the benefits to the local air quality of electric driving.

Regenerative Braking, Regen. When an ICE vehicle slows down, there’s physical resistance put through the braking system which slows the car.  This generates a certain amount of heat as wasted energy, it also requires a number of materials that will need replacing over time.  Whilst an EV will still have these,  there is a system in place that can slow a car using the same motor that drives it forward.  It uses that motor to run in reverse – using physical motion to create electrical energy.  This puts a little back into the battery and reduces the speed of the car without physical braking.  Some cars have one level and it’s either on or off, others have several different levels between a slight slowing over time to a rather aggressive and dramatic stop.

One Pedal Driving – a continuation of Regenerative Braking is the ability to use only the accelerator.  Much like a go cart you press the pedal to go forward and release it to slow down.  This can be at a rate where the car will come to a complete stop in a reasonable distance or can reduce to a near stop in a controlled but still useful manner.  When driving around town this becomes a very useful manner of driving, especially for those of us with lower limb struggles who may find twisting the foot between the accelerator and brake to be a struggle at times.  Easing this movement down to either a point where you need to come to a complete stop or even just to hold the car once stopped is much better for the driver that the constant stop/go of heavy traffic.

Measurements of power – the Kilowatt Hour (kWh) is the measure of storage, it’s how much the battery holds and is the release of 1 kilowatt over for an hour.  The Kilowatt, is a measure of power and is usually the power provided by the motor.  Even dealers get these mixed up, so don’t feel bad if you don’t get it.  Storage is simple, the more you have the further you can go (bearing in mind that more batteries equals more weight).

If anyone has more they’d like to add, please feel free.

My next post will be driving.

I'm Autistic, if I say something you find offensive, please let me know, I can guarantee it was unintentional.
I'll try to give my honest opinion but am always open to learning.

Mark

Topic

[kezo]

Mark – Did you place an order today?

[MFillingham]

I’ve literally got back from doing that very thing.

 

Having test driven an Enyaq, Ioniq 5 Ultimate with tech pack, Ioniq 6 Premium, Audi Q4 AWD and a Mustang Mach E AWD, I’ve settled for the Ioniq 5 Namsan Edition in Digital Teal Green.  Estimated pick up date is Feb 1st, I’m not excited much!!  I am a whole grand poorer though, bloody holding deposit.

I'm Autistic, if I say something you find offensive, please let me know, I can guarantee it was unintentional.
I'll try to give my honest opinion but am always open to learning.

Mark

[kezo]

Chuffed for you mate and the days will soon pass 🙂

Apart from the HP, pan roof, whats the difference between the Namsam and Ultimate?

[MFillingham]

kezo wrote:

Chuffed for you mate and the days will soon pass ? Apart from the HP, pan roof, whats the difference between the Namsam and Ultimate?

 

Thanks mate, it’s only 2 weeks and there will be plenty to do with getting mine ready to be sold and the charger installation organised.

 

The additions aren’t many – Heat Pump, Panoramic roof, digital side mirrors and electrically adjustable rear bench (slide forward/back – tilt is still manual).   Available stock in the country are either Premium, Ultimate, Ultimate with tech Pack AND heat pump or Namsan Edition.  Given the heat pump is enough to halve the gap between the two APs and isn’t refunded if anything goes wrong, the extra money feels justifiable.  Given when I started looking it was the Ariya Advance at £9500 AP and then a lot was added between the £6k and £8k levels, ending up paying £5,249 for the Ioniq 5 Namsan Edition isn’t quite as bad as it could have been.

I'm Autistic, if I say something you find offensive, please let me know, I can guarantee it was unintentional.
I'll try to give my honest opinion but am always open to learning.

Mark

[MFillingham]

Bump, it’s been a while and some may like to read this again.

I'm Autistic, if I say something you find offensive, please let me know, I can guarantee it was unintentional.
I'll try to give my honest opinion but am always open to learning.

Mark

[kezo]

Good to see your still alive and well mate 🙂

[MFillingham]

kezo wrote:

Good to see your still alive and well mate 🙂

Ive been posting when I see something worth commenting on.

I'm Autistic, if I say something you find offensive, please let me know, I can guarantee it was unintentional.
I'll try to give my honest opinion but am always open to learning.

Mark

[Author]

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