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I will be open to offers when a supercharger is in place
That won't happen until they start selling the RHD versions officially. Elon said they will be making those in March.
chickensevil
Active Member
I bet the BBC (if they say anything) will claim that the test still isn't "fair" because charging in the UK has gotten much better over the past few years.
To which I would respond with: So are you saying that now it is feasible to buy an EV?
To which I would respond with: So are you saying that now it is feasible to buy an EV?
artsci
Sponsor
As I posted on Sunday, it's 3 years since I raced the BBC's Brian Milligan from London to Edinburgh in a Tesla. Some of you may remember that he set out to do the trip in 4 days using a Mini-E.
That was clearly rubbish, as that car had 50A charging and with a proper plan it could have been done much quicker. Anyway, I borrowed a Tesla and did the trip in a day.
The BBC cried foul, claiming I had the EV equivalent of a "jet fighter" and they were trying to demonstrate what reality was like for a family car. Nevermind the fact that the Mini was a prototype that was not on sale and I was driving a production car which showed a glimpse of things to come.
At the time my retort was that the Leaf was going to be on sale within weeks and that it would also be able to do this trip in a day. Well, now we can
I mentioned it to Robert Llewellyn and he jumped at the chance of coming along. The original plan was to do it on the 3rd anniversary but other things cropped up, so instead we are going for it on the 24th.
Robert is going to film it for Fully Charged and he's blogged about it here: The LlewBlog - Electric Cars
Awesome! I hope you and Robert have a great trip and get good news coverage, including the BBC. :smile:
GSP
This is the provisional route. It could change if we get word of any chargers offline, traffic, weather and indeed one isn't installed yet so we may have to alter the plan if that doesn't materialise.
I'll publish timings later on.
I'll publish timings later on.
artsci
Sponsor
This is the provisional route. It could change if we get word of any chargers offline, traffic, weather and indeed one isn't installed yet so we may have to alter the plan if that doesn't materialise.
I'll publish timings later on.
Years ago I did that drive in the original Cooper Mini, but with a detour through the Lake District. A wonderful drive then, which I'd love to do in a Model S.
mgemmell
Scottish chap
This is the provisional route. It could change if we get word of any chargers offline, traffic, weather and indeed one isn't installed yet so we may have to alter the plan if that doesn't materialise.
I'll publish timings later on.
This is fantastic David, and Robert has to be the best partner for such a venture. Awesome! I really look forward to the live tweets as the journey unfolds.
The Leaf is trickier because of its range, but as with all journeys in any EV, its the quality of the preparation that decides if you make it or not.
All these charge points have been verified by other drivers? Any chance they might be occupied when you arrive? (Maybe you could ask some volunteers to stop anyone ICEing the spaces, or other EVs getting parked and left while they go to the shops).
Each stage looks well within the car's range, but maybe the hills in the stages around Hexam should be considered:
You will lose some range as you never regen everything back on the downhills as you know.
I always find I waste 10 minutes between finding the charge point, plugging in, and unplugging. If you know each charge point then maybe this will be a lot less, but if you want to estimate the journey time fully you may want to consider these lost minutes as you have 7 stops which could add up to a lost hour.
Good luck!
Thanks for the inputs (and sorry I've been unresponsive).
I think we have all chargers checked but depends who turns up.
OK this is the (hopefully) final schedule. I am hoping there is some padding in there as I have added 10% margin to all the predicted battery usage calculations.
I didn't include Woodall at the moment, as it only just came back and hasn't been super reliable, but if that is on then we have a small shortcut.
Full plan will be kept up to date here: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/44715735/Ldn-Edi.pdf
I think we have all chargers checked but depends who turns up.
OK this is the (hopefully) final schedule. I am hoping there is some padding in there as I have added 10% margin to all the predicted battery usage calculations.
I didn't include Woodall at the moment, as it only just came back and hasn't been super reliable, but if that is on then we have a small shortcut.
Full plan will be kept up to date here: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/44715735/Ldn-Edi.pdf
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mgemmell
Scottish chap
Looks like there has been a formatting issue in your post, but the PDF is very complete. Thanks.
Interesting to note that the energy consumption is predicted to be very similar to that of the Model S (I take it these figures are intended to be for the Leaf)... between 185Wh/km and 245Wh/km mainly influenced by the average speed. The impact climbs have on energy consumption is similar too (strange as the Leaf is a much lighter car). It will be interesting to see how close these predictions are to real life.
Good luck and looking forward to reading about the trip...
Interesting to note that the energy consumption is predicted to be very similar to that of the Model S (I take it these figures are intended to be for the Leaf)... between 185Wh/km and 245Wh/km mainly influenced by the average speed. The impact climbs have on energy consumption is similar too (strange as the Leaf is a much lighter car). It will be interesting to see how close these predictions are to real life.
Good luck and looking forward to reading about the trip...
Hi,
Yes there is something weird going on. In the editor it looks fine and over at Leaftalk it is fine. I'll embed an image instead.
These are indeed figures for the Leaf from Jurassic Test. I've tried to crosscheck them with real life data from a colleague. He reckons that at lower speeds it's a bit pessimistic and I heard the same from another driver, but conversely there are people in the Newcastle area prophesising doom and gloom for the hilly legs each side of Hexham. Nevertheless they seem to have the Ampera and Roadster well modeled.
I've heard the BBC's Brian Milligan may be coming down to the start line. Should add some spice to the proceedings.
Finally - Mark, I'll get back to you on the other thing, just been snowed under with this...
Yes there is something weird going on. In the editor it looks fine and over at Leaftalk it is fine. I'll embed an image instead.
These are indeed figures for the Leaf from Jurassic Test. I've tried to crosscheck them with real life data from a colleague. He reckons that at lower speeds it's a bit pessimistic and I heard the same from another driver, but conversely there are people in the Newcastle area prophesising doom and gloom for the hilly legs each side of Hexham. Nevertheless they seem to have the Ampera and Roadster well modeled.
I've heard the BBC's Brian Milligan may be coming down to the start line. Should add some spice to the proceedings.
Finally - Mark, I'll get back to you on the other thing, just been snowed under with this...
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OK so Milligan bottled it. Again :-/
We, on the other hand, are ready to go. Expecting some pretty poor weather though.
We, on the other hand, are ready to go. Expecting some pretty poor weather though.
mgemmell
Scottish chap
It's interesting to see that the energy use is lower than predicted. As a lighter car the Leaf should use less power, although the Model S might of course be more slippery, so maybe not.
Either way, the charge network is what determines your speed... If you are charging at 43kW (Chademo right?) you could drive faster... as long as your energy consumption doesn't go over 43kW/h you are ahead of the game.
43kW/h would correspond to about 280Wh/km at 150km/h (280Wh/km x 150km/h = 42kW/h).... which sounds about right at least for the Model S.
So David... gun it!
Either way, the charge network is what determines your speed... If you are charging at 43kW (Chademo right?) you could drive faster... as long as your energy consumption doesn't go over 43kW/h you are ahead of the game.
43kW/h would correspond to about 280Wh/km at 150km/h (280Wh/km x 150km/h = 42kW/h).... which sounds about right at least for the Model S.
So David... gun it!
Well I'm super impressed with the Mk2 Leaf. Now that I know its abilities, I'm sure this trip can be done in 11 hours and 6 recharges.
BBC News - Electric car attempts London-to-Edinburgh in a day
BBC News - Electric car attempts London-to-Edinburgh in a day
chickensevil
Active Member
"But will Mr Llewellyn's journey to Edinburgh Castle in a single day signify that electric cars themselves have arrived?As ever, the answer will probably be "not yet".
Seriously? Still can't be positive... just have to end the article on a negative note... sigh. Just wait until they get the RHD Model S in the UK. You will cut your drive time in half. Because you will only need to make one supercharger stop somewhere in the middle of all that (maybe 2).
Seriously? Still can't be positive... just have to end the article on a negative note... sigh. Just wait until they get the RHD Model S in the UK. You will cut your drive time in half. Because you will only need to make one supercharger stop somewhere in the middle of all that (maybe 2).
SebastianR
Active Member
I can't believe it! While the BBC sounded like 'big oil' in 2011 and remained a skeptic ignoring technological progress until today, they increasingly sound just plain silly: I predict in 10 years they will say something like "sure you can go anywhere on the cheap with a reasonably price electric car - but you will never get that '1960's gasoline smell at a gas station' feeling in one of those electric cars!"
In so many ways this reminds me of the Black Knight Monty Python sketch: "yea that car you have? that's just a flesh wound -- electric cars will never work!"
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It's not a linear relstionship between battery use and speed, especially into a headwind.
climate control has to be taken into account.
Charging rate slows down after a certain point.
Every time you stop to charge there's a detour. (Not an issue in a Leaf where you'd have to stop at every charger).
So, the minimum time on a long trip could come from being able to avoid harsh taper, especially if you can skip a charger.
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Negative, as ever.
The London to Edinburgh run isn't about traveling that far, it's about the impact fast DC charging can have. Every charger makes more journeys possible, and in the case of lower range BEVs relieves more anxiety. Of course, at the Leaf's range it's not really scalable the way it is with a Tesla.I really look forward to the UK Superchargers so in 2015 or 2016 they can take a Model S 60, then Mr Milligan can write "This time the answer is if you have #X to spend." Then in 2018 they can take a Model E and he can write #x instead.
Congratulations David and Robert. Fine work.
I see that this year's Speed Trials are on again in Brighton at the start of September (after some issues with the council trying to ban it). Someone REALLY needs to enter a Model S for that.
Are you and Robert busy in September? :biggrin:
I see that this year's Speed Trials are on again in Brighton at the start of September (after some issues with the council trying to ban it). Someone REALLY needs to enter a Model S for that.
Are you and Robert busy in September? :biggrin:
