Yesterday, I reserved a Nissan Leaf Ev. Due for release here in the UK in March. Nissan were asking for a refundable deposit of £257 to secure a car. I went for black, with the optional solar cell spoiler that can draw 2 watts of energy to add to powering the myriad of controls the car has. And this morning, in the cold light of day I realise that there’s no way i’d spend £23,000 on a new EV (and thats if we get the £5,000 government grant for it).
Its a fantastic, unbelievable car and I love it. Its powerful, comfortable, roomy for an EV. Just check the video post below. And its pure electric. Real, unbridled joy took over yesterday and before I knew it I’d secured myself one. Then I told my wife, who reminded me of why we should keep our cars as is, and I knew that the warm glow of owning a new car wouldnt last. You see, we already have a roomy estate car with a big boot for those long journeys - 10 years old and still going strong. And we have a Gwiz - a small urban runabout EV that is on still on its first set of batteries and has a ton of life left in it yet. And the gwiz can still fit the kids in it, amazingly, and you get free parking, and it you can fit 2 in a bay. And thats before you mention how cheap the car is to power. And we live in London. The Leaf wouldnt provide us with a big boot for those long journeys and you cant fit more than one in a parking bay. And its range is only 100 miles so it cant really become your only vehicle. Not while the infrastructure for EV’s remain as it is. And then there’s the small issue of £23,000 to buy the car which really should go on more important stuff, were we to have it anyway.
So, within 24 hours I realise I’ll have to let that lovely Leaf go. I knew I’d never get it when I put that reservation in. But boy do I love that car, and all my EV mad mates were ordering them. I’ll have to sit and wait for a third hand Tesla in five years that sets me back £10,000. In the meantime, if you want one, and I highly recommend it, go to Nissans preorder site and bag yourself one. And then let me come and film you telling me how wonderful it is. Not that I’m jealous.
I got to drive the new Nissan Leaf last week. Here’s film of the car, the journey and talking to Nissans EV staff.
On another note, great news that the new Govenrnment has stuck with the £5000 subsidy (or at least for some of the intended investment). Fantastic as these family cars are, they need subsidies to help reach prices that are realistic for most people to even consider switching to electric drive.
I was down at the LCVP conference last week. They had a fantastic range of speakers discussing low carbon transport for the future. One of their speakers was Lew Fulton who works with the International Energy Agency in Paris and his specialism is transport energy. We chatted about the future for energy consumption and its implications in the developing world.
On another note, I’ve been playing around with the idea of a new broadcast site called Primetime EV. I’ve stuck an ident we’ve been working on at the beginning to start trying some stuff out.
Roger Saul (top man from Mulberry) and Kevin McCloud (famous sustainable housebuilder from the telly) were driving Think EV’s at Ecorally ‘10. I got a chance to have a chat with them both about how they felt about the car and the forthcoming EV Cup, which looks great.
I was down at the ecorally yesterday talking to Peter Curran about his 4500 mile odessy in a Think EV as part of a programme for the BBC called Electric Ride. He ended the trip driving from Brighton to London with a host of low carbon vehicles.
He’s an interesting and entertaining guy and he offered a unique perspective into the world of electric cars.
I managed to grab a few good pieces of content at the eco rally and I’ll be posting it over the next few days.
Trusty Tom from the office went to Paris and got some great footage of the Fluence ZE being driven yesterday, along with help from Lem over at Green Motor (thanks Lem). This is the better place car in action and it looks mightily impressive. A real four seater family car with (some) boot space being driven on public roads, that isn’t drop dead ugly! Thought I’d never see the day.. Keep an eye out for the ZE blog and also the sustainable mobility site where news and interviews are regularly posted by Renault. Click on the image to view video.
There’s been an investigation into EV Values based on 5 years of ownership here in the UK by Glass’s guide who track used care prices. Based on an average £8000 outlay to replace batteries which will need replacing after eight years, the car will be worth just 10% of its original value, and far below its diesel or petrol equivalents. They’ve based their research on cars such as the forthcoming Nissan Leaf with a starting price of £23,000 after utilising the £5000 Government subsidy. You can read the article here. Heck, maybe I’ll be able to afford that Tesla in 2014 after all….
Never quite had the chance yet, even if it looks a great family car. But today Mitsubishi announced pricing for this vehicle - over £33 grand! Yes thats £33,699. Incredible, for a small 4 seater. The ICE version is a shade under £9 grand! (and that’s not cheap in this sector). I understand that these cars will come down in price, but how can they ever expect to be taken seriously with luxury car launch prices and limited range.
I really hope this isn’t the start of ridiculously expensive electric cars in the UK, or anywhere else. Another reason to keep us in the gwiz for now!
Heres some footage I got of the Sport and the regular Imiev in Geneva
Just back from a whistle stop tour of Renaults EV range including a look at this, the new Twizy ZE Concept. Reminds me of somewhere inbetween a BMW C1 Moped and the good old crazy Tango EV. But a great little urban runabout for that busy executive that hates getting wet. Here’s a chat with Thierry Koskas, Renaults head of Electric vehicle development about it. Renault are also onto the whole social networking thing with this sustainable mobility site, which is worth a look.
Having chased these halfway across the UK and the US, I was pleasantly surprised to see a Tesla parked in the road next to my office right here in London’s West End. Us EV drivers enjoy free parking in Westminster. I see the Tesla’s already catching out the good old parking wardens who had slapped it with a ticket. Just shows you should make your cars much uglier Tesla!
I got a chance to take a ride in Nissans hydrogen FCV. Very smooth, very responsive, very quiet…even goes a long way on a tank full. Now all we need is a few hydrogen filling stations. I think we’re up to three in the UK now..
I got the chance to take one of the Zytec powered Smart ED’s for a spin recently. This is the Electric car everyone wants to buy but cant get hold of. Well, hopefully that’s going to change. Smart have announced that they will be upping the trial and extending it to the public. If you want to get your name down follow this link.
Sian Berry. Green party candidate for Mayor of London 2008 and co-founder of Alliance Against Urban 4×4’s Sian has interesting opinions on the future of transport and is often seen to be endorsing the EV. I got a chance to talk to Sian and her partner Blake Ludwig about transport, EV’s in general and We are Futureproof, their new venture. Riversimple is worth checking out too. They have an ‘open source’ proposition that could really help shape the future of car design..
Click on the image to view video. Thanks to Sian and Blake.
There was the Revolve Brighton to London Eco rally today - a range of low carbon cars ending up at City Hall, along with an interesting conference organised by the Low CVP. I dived down there at lunchtime and grabbed some footage. No desperate stories of searching for a power socket or a hydrogen filling station, I’m afraid.
Here’s Dan Jenkins from Smith Electric Vehicles talking about their first foray into electric passenger vehicles with the Ford Torneo Connect EV. Smith Electric, as you may know have been building excellent commercial vehicles here in the UK and Dan knows his ‘electric onions’…Could be the start of some great passenger EV’s!
I know, I know, time’s against me at the moment but I’m planning to get the rest of my Geneva interviews up as soon as poss… This one’s a discussion with the head of electric vehicle development at Renault. Talking about the upcoming ZE Concept (Kangoo..) technology and project better place.
Toyota have been showing off their pure electric FT EV. Phew, I was beginning to think Toyota were going to miss the boat on that one… It’ll make a nice little city EV. Bring ‘em on Toyota! Here’s a chat with Dirk from Toyota Germany. Click on the image to view video..(5 mins)
I got to have a good chat with Christian von Koenigsegg about the NLV Quant. Solar paint charges this thing up! When it’s not resting and charging it’ll reach 100km in 5.2 secs with a 275kmh top speed. 512 BHP. Seats 4 adults and as much space as an S class…Click on the image to view video.
Finally… Got to take a look at Tata Motors Indica Vista EV, and the chance to have a chat with a representative from Tata. 200km range on lithium Ion batteries. 110Kmh top speed. Pretty impressive, until you get an idea of the price in Norway…. Click on the image to view video.
A look around the new Opel Ampera to be badged Vauxhall in the UK with GM’s head of Electric Vehicle development, and a chance to ask him whether this could be another EV1.. Click on the image to view video.
Here’s where Bob meets the bloggers…! It’s coming in at 20ish minutes, and I’ve left most of it in for you. Broadly speaking the subject matters were in the following order;
State Of the Automotive Industry / Bobs views on Formula 1 / The Volt / Gas prices / The Opel GM Split / The future for cars and the hydrogen/electric debate.
A load of bloggers (and a vlogger!) were invited to the Vauxhall Ampera launch at the Geneva Motor show… The car will run on battery alone and run 60km on plug in only, but it also has a range extending engine built in that charges the batteries, similar to the Chevy Volt. Nice idea…great looking car…but can it save GM? Click on the image to view video.
Today was preview day in Geneva. Tomorrow is the first press day. It’s a whirlwind of interviews for the GM execs and they’re spending a lot of time fielding questions about the state of their business. Click on the image to view video.
Dale Vince, founder of Ecotricity, a very successful wind energy electrical power company here in the UK, is building an electric car in 7 months flat. You can follow it’s progress on Dales blog over at Zero Carbonista. I filmed this interview with him last month. The first part (above) is a discussion around the ‘wind car’ and electric cars in general. Click on the image to view video.
Amidst the misery of Think and Nice disappearing, let’s celebrate a fully blown EV sports car in action. The Lightning GT. The people that sent me this video say that because the wind noise on the day was so much greater than the car they’ve made most of the film mute, so dont worry if you dont hear anything…! Merry Christmas everyone. Reckon there’s still plenty to look forward to in 2009.
Good news from Camden Council. I was wrong about them not doing anything - they just hadn’t told anyone about it. They’ve introduced free parking for electric vehicles along with more charging points. If you charge your car from a renewable source you don’t even have to pay for the permit, otherwise they are £50 per annum! It got me thinking about my power from juice. I was on the phone talking bills with them on Saturday (as everyone is these days) and they told me that they “guarantee” to replace any electricity drawn from the national grid with energy drawn from renewable sources. Great! Thing is, there seem to be some questions out there over whether the green power we are being sold actually is green power. Take a look at this recent article.
I’m going to talk to some of the people involved in power generation to find out more. Whilst we are all gearing up to rush into the showrooms to buy all these electric cars, we may as well know they are being powered in the most efficient way.
Jorg, my Tango owning friend has posted this great video of a drag race between a Tango and a Tesla EV. Not any old cars, but the fastest production electric vehicles in the world. Check out these times;
“In this race, the Tango got 92.15mph in 14.480 seconds, beating its 14.7 “dial” handicap and thus losing the competition; the Tesla got 101.23mph in 14.666 seconds, slower than its 14.5 “dial” handicap and allowing it to proceed to the next round. (Two rounds later, the Tango’s driver got behind the wheel of the Tesla and also beat its “dial” handicap… and thus lost!)”
I’ve heard that Nice Car Company are going out of business. I sincerely hope this isn’t the case. I’ve been following their fortunes along with those of goingreen who sell the GWiz since I started this vlog in spring 2005. If it’s true then it’s a huge blow to the electric car industry here in the UK. Whilst the major manufactures are asking for bailouts in the UK and US, smaller innovative businesses are left to go broke. We’ve had empty promises for years from the larger car makers and the Government. All in the same week that the climate change report states that electric cars are the only way for a sustainable transport solution…
“Motorists will have to drive electric cars for UK to meet climate change targets.” So runs the Telegraph headline today.
The reality of driving an electric vehicle here is getting harder as time goes on. There are more than 1000 vehicles on London’s roads now. Charging facilities are extremely limited, and most people do not have the luxury of a garage or off street parking. Since my local car park closed, I can never guarantee a charging space in the west end as the bays are permanently full. This makes life difficult in a limited range car such as the GWiz. The City of London has started to charge for EV’s to park in their garages and they haven’t added any further charging points. Camden Council who promised to bring in free parking for electric vehicles more than 2 years ago have still done nothing… and so the list goes on.
I’ve had to resort to charging at home. Not ideal as I have to run a cable across my pavement. If the Government is serious about getting Electric Vehicles on the roads here then lets start with a proper infrastructure now.
..and continuing our Californian theme, here’s a big better place announcement. Come on London. You’ve some catching up to do. Don’t forget, Elektromotive already have an infrastructure here.
Apologies to anyone trying to access my site recently and found nothing here. It went down due to a surge in traffic. Everything’s fixed now, so it shouldn’t happen again.
On my visit to their showroom in Menlo park, I got a chance to go out in a Tesla and talk to one of their (impressive) sales people. I’ve been seeing these cars stationary for a while now on stands at various motor shows, and I was beginning to think it didn’t move. Well, no worries, it does! Keep an eye out for that flying Tango too. Here’s the first part. Click on the image to view video.
Whilst in The Tango, we stopped by the Tesla showroom. Yeah, right….and then I woke up….Actually, I wasn’t dreaming.
Here’s a look around the Tesla Showroom in Menlo park. I got a go in one too and I’ll be posting that soon. I know Tesla have been having trouble recently (along with everyone else in the credit crisis), but hats off to them. To walk into a proper electric car showroom with no sign of an internal combustion engine is a real accomplishment, and something I was beginning to think would never actually happen.
Calvey Taylor-Haw is a man with a mission. He runs Elektromotive, a company that produces The Elektrobay street charging posts. They’re very popular around the West end of London where I work. You get free parking and a chance to grab some much needed juice. Whilst there is much talk of Project Better Place and the like, this is one scheme that’s up, running, and proving that electric vehicles are a viable transport alternative. Keep ‘em coming Calvey! I got a chance to catch up with him at The Motor Show back in July. Click on the image to view video.
Nissan invited me to Paris the other day to take a look at the NuVu Concept EV, ahead of it’s debut at The Paris Motor Show. Blimey! That’s a sign of the times. A major manufacturer ready to make claims about release dates on EV’s. Things are looking up! It’s a very promising concept. Let’s hope the city car they produce will bear some resemblance to this one. Looks to me as though Nissan may leave the other manufacturers standing in the race to get a commercially sold EV runabout on the market.
Lithium Ion
125 KM Range
120 KMH Speed
3-4 Hour charge time with a 80% Quick charge in 10-20 mins.
Talking to Honda’s Environmental Manager, John Kingston, about the FCX Clarity Hydrogen car. Hmmm. Still no plans for a pure EV Honda? Click on the image to view video.
When he gets to work at Google, Jorg plugs his Tango into one of the many charging bays that are powered by solar panels. EV’s are popular with Google. You may have heard about their rechargeIT scheme. Even Sergey Brin and Larry Page, Googles founders, drive Tesla’s to the office. And I thought us Londoners were doing well with the odd street charging point….Click on the image to view video.
Jorg’s a lucky man. He gets to drive a Tango to work each day. I was lucky enough to get a trip in the car with him. The film is in 2 parts with the second part below.
Part 1. First look at the car. Part 2. Take it on the freeway and open it up.
Thanks Jorg. It was a lot of fun. Click on the image to view video.
Got some instruction on the way Hydrogen Fuel Cells work from Brian Johnston, Nissan’s senior product engineer who looks after their hydrogen fuel cell projects in Sacramento, California. We also talked a bit about Nissan’s plans with EV’s.
A look at the Opel Flextreme - Europe’s version of the Chevy Volt. 40 mile range on the battery and a small engine purely for recharging purposes. They say we’ll have it by 2010. Gosh, that’s only 2 years away. Doubt we’ll even have the Smart ED and Subaru R1e by then, but there’s always hope….
I’m back to posting some of my remaining BMS footage. I have a ton of content to cutdown and upload (including a trip in a Tango and a Tesla. Yeeeeehaaaa!).
The Venturi Eclectic runs via solar panels on the roof or an optional wind turbine. Here’s a film I made with Venturi, shot earlier this summer. Special thanks to Simon at Final Cut for his fine editing skills.
Taking a look at the new Nice Zeo, the My car and the all electric Fiat 500 with Julian Wilford, co- founder of the Nice Car Company. Click on the image to view video.
Darryl Siry. Senior Vice President of Global Sales, Marketing, and Service at Tesla Motors. Nice bloke. I got the chance to have a chat with him in the EV Village at the British Motor Show. Click on the image to view video.
Lightning unveiled the GT, their EV super car at the Motor Show today. I got a chance to talk to Chris Dell, from Lightning, and watch the launch. Click on the image to view video.
While the blogosphere buzzes with rumours of problems at Tesla, enter the Venturi Fetish. At a cool €300,000 you’ll need a bit stashed away, but what a car! Whilst I was visiting Venturi yesterday to do a piece on the Eclectic, I came across this Fetish under wraps. Click on the image to view video.
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