% It is winter in NZ %
https://www.stuff.co.nz/motoring/road-tests/105808219/how-an-electric-vehicle-has-made-our-winter-warmer How an electric vehicle has made our winter warmer July 30 2018 DAVID LINKLATER [images / DAVID LINKLATER/STUFF https://resources.stuff.co.nz/content/dam/images/1/r/0/o/h/n/image.related.StuffLandscapeSixteenByNine.620x349.1qzu57.png/1532897572902.jpg You can stay very warm and still be very green in the i3s. But you have to spend another $1100 https://resources.stuff.co.nz/content/dam/images/1/r/0/o/h/d/image.related.StuffLandscapeSixteenByNine.620x349.1qzu57.png/1532897572902.jpg BMW Connected app happy to suggest new cars you might added to the fleet. Dream on https://resources.stuff.co.nz/content/dam/images/1/r/0/o/h/g/image.related.StuffLandscapeSixteenByNine.620x349.1qzu57.png/1532897572902.jpg Come in, the temperature's fine... any time you want https://resources.stuff.co.nz/content/dam/images/1/r/0/o/h/m/image.related.StuffLandscapeSixteenByNine.620x349.1qzu57.png/1532897572902.jpg Here's the screen you don't want to see: desperately low on charge https://resources.stuff.co.nz/content/dam/images/1/r/0/o/h/o/image.related.StuffLandscapeSixteenByNine.620x349.1qzu57.png/1532897572902.jpg Extra track and larger wheels of s-model gives a bit of muscle to the appealingly oddball look video flash We've hit 1000km in our long-term EV. Time to take a closer look. ] We've hit 1000km in our long-term EV. Time to take a closer look. BMW i3s LONG TERM TEST Base price: $85,900 (our car: $92,640). Mileage so far: 1000km. Powertrain and performance: BMW eDrive electric motor with eight Lithium-ion modules, 33kWh capacity, 135kW/270Nm, single-speed automatic, RWD. Average power consumption on test 17.5kWh/100km (average range 189km), official Combined power consumption 14.3kWh/100km (Combined range 230km). What have we done lately? Had toasty-warm mornings, nearly run out of juice. Problems so far: None with the car, careless driver that nearly ran out of juice. How's your winter been? Mine's been quite pleasant actually, thanks mostly to our long-term BMW i3s. I have a relatively early commute to work, leaving at 6.30am. The car lives in a carport but is technically outside, so the temperature can be a bit, well, refreshing on a winter morning. You can stay very warm and still be very green in the i3s. But you have to spend another $1100. Not with the i3s though, which is always beautifully warm inside before I get into it. That's due to a couple of techy tricks. One's a smartphone app called BMW Connected that gives you real-time access to the car via an embedded SIM card. You can do all kinds of stuff but there's one function called Climatise Now, which allows you to heat the car's interior remotely in preparation for your trip. You can either do it on demand or set it for a particular time. BMW Connected app happy to suggest new cars you might added to the fleet. Dream on. This is not something unique to the i3s or even to BMW, but our car takes it to the next level. It's fitted with an $1100 heat pump that heats the ambient air much more quickly and efficiently, which means you get toasty-temp straight away without taking too much charge away from your precious battery and eating into driving range. Extravagant? Yes. Necessary in New Zealand, especially the relatively mild climes of Auckland? Well no. But as previously discussed, I do object to EV discussion being solely about running-costs and other boring stuff. The i3s is not a boring car. If you're spending $90k on a premium machine, why not have a heat pump and whatever else you want and can afford? Love it. Come in, the temperature's fine... any time you want. The BMW Connect app is pretty smart generally. Smart enough to recognise that I'd paired my phone to the BMW i8 [pih] roadster I had on test recently and add that vehicle to the Connected menu in case it was a permanent part of the family fleet. I wish. And no, you don't just get control of a car that easily; to activate it you have to input information that you only have access to if you're actually driving the vehicle. We've racked up 1000km of mostly city commuting in the i3s, although a lot of that is motorway work. Here's the screen you don't want to see: desperately low on charge. It's still weird thinking in terms of power consumption rather than litres per 100km, but on test so far the i3s has averaged 17.5kWh per 100km through some very enthusiastic driving, which translates to a theoretical range of 189km. In general I've not found it a chore charging up and at no time have I thought the range-extender version with the petrol generator would be desirable, but I do concede that you probably have to be a car person to run an EV like this because you have to be focused on the vehicle. By the time you're down to 50km range for example, you have to think pretty seriously about when you can plug in next. Extra track and larger wheels of s-model gives a bit of muscle to the appealingly oddball look. If you charge overnight at home you'll always have that 180km-plus for the day of course. But I've preferred to use DC fast charging stations to avoid adding to the winter power bill too much. Or at least compartmentalising my winter power bill into home and car. After sharing this wisdom, I will now confess that I did almost run out of power recently. I'd had a busy day of driving and slightly misjudged the distance to my nearest fast-charging station, which meant I arrived with red lights flashing and sweaty palms: less than 3km range remaining. When your EV goes flat, you can't just run to the BP with a jerry can. The i3s is next-level when it comes to construction: this is the door sill, exposing the carbon fibre reinforced plastic "tub" it's built around. Yes, I could have plugged into a domestic socket somewhere, but I needed the car for another journey that day and it takes overnight-and-a-bit-more to charge it on a domestic supply. Whereas half an hour at a DC fast-charger and you've got enough to get through the day again. So I risked it. I cannot blame the car for this episode as the "range remaining" readout is clear and really quite accurate. Just goes to show, no matter how smart technology gets, it's still reliant on the dummy operating it. [© stuff.co.nz] + https://reneweconomy.com.au/first-all-electric-delivery-van-available-to-aussie-freight-operators-70082/ First all electric delivery van available to Aussie freight operators 24 July 2018 -12 hours ago The E4V, also available as a 14-seat minivan, is the first of SEA Electric's delivery vehicles, and was joined by the company's E4B 12-seater model in the ... http://www.sea-electric.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/e4v-front-side-1024x682.jpg For EVLN EV-newswire posts use: http://evdl.org/archive/ {brucedp.neocities.org} -- Sent from: http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/ _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org Please discuss EV drag racing at NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
