15-10-2019, 07:29 AM
Hi Everyone,
I am surprised at the generally negative responses to this topic.
My wife was given a new Nissan Leaf two years ago by her Aunt who was dependent on her for daily care and transport.
Previous to this her 2.3 litre Mazda was used for this at a cost of $50 (25 pounds ) per week for petrol.
The Leaf is charged at 15 amps from a dedicated circuit on our front verandah. It costs around $1-50 to charge at night taking 6 hours. It will go 200 kilometers on this charge which gets her to work and back for a week.
We are nearly 200 pounds better off per month or 2400 per year.
It is very pleasant to drive being almost silent, has wonderful acceleration and goes 30% further in heavy traffic/Jams.
We have done virtually no maintenance on it in two years /37000 kms.
When we first got it we worried about range but have never run out of charge ,it goes about as far on a
charge as my chummy on a full tank.
OK it may have taken some carbon credits to make but in use it is not causing any pollution in the city environment and is not using any imported fuel which is good for the economy as well as for the health of the pedestrians and cyclists using the roads.
All of our electricity is from hydro and wind generation so there is no fossil fuel used to charge it. At present there is no extra road tax and registration is the around 55 pounds per year and insurance 125.
The battery will probably last another 5 years so the car will have done 250,000 kms by then.
The electric drive will still be servicable by then as the motor is brushless 3phase through an inverter. A new battery will cost about 3000 pounds or less as they are getting cheaper. The rest of the car will still be sound by then as there is no gearbox etc to wear out. Brake pads last a very long time as the electric motor regenerates power and aids the braking effort through the transmission.
Dont get me wrong these cars are not for everyone but as a city commuter they have much to offer. We have a large property with offroad parking and space to charge. We never fast charge, in America 80% of E vehicles charge at home ,it is so much cheaper (75%) but slower.
People living in urban areas without parking cannot do this easily.I very much doubt that more than 20% of our cars will be electric in N Z in 10 years time. We have driven from Wellington to Auckland in it and charged it 5 times on the way. So its not for that sort of use unless you can afford a Tesla and the time to charge it to get there in time.
I still drive a petrol Honda CRV and of course the 28 Top Hat which I love also.
When the Petrol cars first arrived those with (7?) horses also were negative about their impact. I agree that Hydrogen would be great but extremely expensive to establish and reticulate in a country with difficult terrain and only 5 million inhabitants.
I think electric cars are here to stay in the forseeible future here in New Zealand.
I am surprised at the generally negative responses to this topic.
My wife was given a new Nissan Leaf two years ago by her Aunt who was dependent on her for daily care and transport.
Previous to this her 2.3 litre Mazda was used for this at a cost of $50 (25 pounds ) per week for petrol.
The Leaf is charged at 15 amps from a dedicated circuit on our front verandah. It costs around $1-50 to charge at night taking 6 hours. It will go 200 kilometers on this charge which gets her to work and back for a week.
We are nearly 200 pounds better off per month or 2400 per year.
It is very pleasant to drive being almost silent, has wonderful acceleration and goes 30% further in heavy traffic/Jams.
We have done virtually no maintenance on it in two years /37000 kms.
When we first got it we worried about range but have never run out of charge ,it goes about as far on a
charge as my chummy on a full tank.
OK it may have taken some carbon credits to make but in use it is not causing any pollution in the city environment and is not using any imported fuel which is good for the economy as well as for the health of the pedestrians and cyclists using the roads.
All of our electricity is from hydro and wind generation so there is no fossil fuel used to charge it. At present there is no extra road tax and registration is the around 55 pounds per year and insurance 125.
The battery will probably last another 5 years so the car will have done 250,000 kms by then.
The electric drive will still be servicable by then as the motor is brushless 3phase through an inverter. A new battery will cost about 3000 pounds or less as they are getting cheaper. The rest of the car will still be sound by then as there is no gearbox etc to wear out. Brake pads last a very long time as the electric motor regenerates power and aids the braking effort through the transmission.
Dont get me wrong these cars are not for everyone but as a city commuter they have much to offer. We have a large property with offroad parking and space to charge. We never fast charge, in America 80% of E vehicles charge at home ,it is so much cheaper (75%) but slower.
People living in urban areas without parking cannot do this easily.I very much doubt that more than 20% of our cars will be electric in N Z in 10 years time. We have driven from Wellington to Auckland in it and charged it 5 times on the way. So its not for that sort of use unless you can afford a Tesla and the time to charge it to get there in time.
I still drive a petrol Honda CRV and of course the 28 Top Hat which I love also.
When the Petrol cars first arrived those with (7?) horses also were negative about their impact. I agree that Hydrogen would be great but extremely expensive to establish and reticulate in a country with difficult terrain and only 5 million inhabitants.
I think electric cars are here to stay in the forseeible future here in New Zealand.