BBC FUD Fest: Mini-E London to Edinburgh

[tomsax]

Road trips are all about the charge rate, not the battery size. For trips over about 300 miles, a Nissan Leaf with access to Level 3 charging will be faster than a Tesla Roadster.

So the whole argument that only the expensive Roadster with its giant battery pack is suitable for long trips is totally wrong.

 

[doug]

David on Nikki's show now: http://www.transportevolved.com/live

 

[cinergi]

It's on Tesla's facebook page now ...

Tesla goes the distance! A BBC correspondent claims it takes four days to get from London to Edinburgh, but UK EV advocate David Peilow reached Edinburgh Castle last night -- no worries, no range anxiety, no drama. But will the Beeb reporter rise to the occasion and interview David about the true abilities of EVs? We'll keep you posted.

http://www.facebook.com/teslamotors#!/album.php?aid=281466&id=18790602800

 

[richkae]

This made me curious to do some Excel calculations on a race between a Tesla Roadster and a Nissan Leaf.
If you assume that the Roadster has a 70A 240V HPC available exactly when it wants to stop ( about 180 miles by my calculations )
And the Leaf has a Level 3 charger available exactly when it wants to stop ( every 70 miles by my calculations )

I also assume that both cars will travel at 60mph ( note that they could actually get a better overall time by driving slower ).
The Roadster will charge optimally according to the numbers from Tom's calculations ( up to about 85% - full standard charge) http://www.saxton.org/tom_saxton/2010/07/tesla-roadster-charging-rates.html
The Leaf will take 30 minutes to get an 80% charge from the Level 3 charger. http://www.egmcartech.com/2010/09/1...n-on-nissan-leaf-allows-80-charge-in-30-mins/
Both cars stop to charge when they have about 5 miles range left.
And I assumed a 15 minute penalty on a charge stop to ( get off the highway, wait through a light or two, pull into the charge station, plug in, leave the charge station and get back on the highway )

There is some sawtoothing happening because of the different pitstop strategy, but obviously on your last stop if you dont need a full charge you cut it short.
Up to 70 miles its a tie when the Leaf stops for the first charge.
Up to 180 miles the Tesla wins handily.
While the Roadster is on its first charge stop the Leaf will briefly pull ahead.
At about 360 miles the Tesla is still winning but its not a big margin.
And at the 540 mile mark its a tie when the Roadster pulls in for its 3rd stop.
The Roadster manages to complete a 540 mile journey with 2 stops at 37mph
The Leaf manages complete a 540 mile journey with 7 stops at about 37mph
Once the journey is longer than 540 miles the Tesla falls further and further behind.

Considering that 540 miles in a day at 37 mph is a lot more than anyone wants to do, I think the Tesla is a better car for long trips when optimal charge infrastructure is present.

But the Leaf can complete this particular 483 mile trip pretty easily in 13 hours.

 

[vfx]

I think that this picture sums up the guy we're dealing with here:

From the BBC's facebook page here: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=6189439&id=294662213128

View attachment 1279

A commenter on ABG pointed out. Is that car facing the right way?

 

[richkae]

Go to the facebook and look at the next picture:

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?p...pid=6189439&id=294662213128&fbid=499683273128

It is obvious that he parked the wrong way on the street on purpose.

 

[Alan]

Story just on BBC Radio 4. Went on about the 4 days it takes, no mention that they were beaten / the Tesla did it in a day.

Also said they have put the mini on a low loader to get it back to London!

 

[AndrewBissell]

Yes - I actually managed to speak to Brian Milligan yesterday and offered him the opportunity to charge at my house (next to the Tesla that David was driving, as it happens!) if he was short of charge just before getting to Edinburgh. He declined, saying he was only allowed to charge from "public charging points". This prompted me to ask him how he would be recharging in Edinburgh as there are no pubic charging stations in Edinburgh at all! At that point he admitted that actually the car would be taken back by BMW on a low loader.

David on the other hand is driving back - no sweat, little carbon.

 

[doug]

At that point he admitted that actually the car would be taken back by BMW on a low loader.

Absolutely ridiculous. What was the point of this BBC stunt then??

 

[Kevin Sharpe]

Electric car challenge: Arrival in Edinburgh http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-12189321

 

[doug]

Electric car challenge: Arrival in Edinburgh http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-12189321

I'm pretty sure they just did their best to avoid meeting up with David.

 

[Kevin Sharpe]

http://twitvid.com/4JBNU - Okay folks, it's time for #electriccarrevolt. Watch this, upload your own short video & tweet with the same hasht

 

[aminorjourney]

I was lucky enough to be the first person to interview David after the trip up. Thanks for joining me on Transport Evolved, David!

Here's the show, in case anyone is interested.

Nikki.

 

[JRP3]

Absolutely ridiculous. What was the point of this BBC stunt then??

FUD Fest, as this thread title suggests. BBC seems to have quite a track record of anti EV bias. Someone has an agenda.

 

[mpt]

Enjoyed Transport Evolved; David nailed it!

 

[Kevin Sharpe]

http://twitvid.com/4JBNU - Okay folks, it's time for #electriccarrevolt. Watch this, upload your own short video & tweet with the same hasht

three videos already.... please help us educate the BBC with a 30 second video about the reality of driving an EV.

 

[mpt]

Got mine in; who's next?

 

[Kevin Sharpe]

here's mine...

[video]http://twitvid.com/NX8SR[/video]

 

[mpt]

The BBC have ended the article with the MINI E being loaded into a transporter.

The message that they leave is one of failure, few will read the text.

I guess that Brian Milligan doesn't like his own children; they'll be the one to bear the brunt of the future he's bequeathing them.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-12138420

 

[Jaff]

Reporters like Milligan are very short sighted in my view.

When they craft illegitimate reports such as this, they completely lose credibility amongst those readers who recognize their initial transgressions.

After reading / watching Mr. Milligan's Mini Adventure and recognizing the reports faults, flaws & bias, how can I take any of his future work seriously?

Mr. Milligan has compromised his integrity with an active and educated portion of his audience...not a good recipe for success in the journalistic field!