OK - this is a Zed forum, but, its clear there are a few EV users amongst us. I suspect that there are many things to learn and understand, and we can only do that by sharing experiences.
There are probably some confusion caused too by the outlandish claims of the manufacturers about distance you can get on a charge. It's not the whole story.
So, for starters, here is my experience today. Day 1.
Both tank and batteries full before setting out to do a 55 mile trip up the M1 and back. About 4 miles each end on normal roads, both town and country.
While the mpg from car computers is frequently misleading, it's all I have for the moment.
The only time I intervened in choice of power source was in the 6 miles northbound through the roadworks from Jn 23a to 25 where I used only the ICE. Being the first trip, that was due to some anxiety on total range. I ended the outward journey with 80% of charge being left, For the remainder of the journey both there and back, the car decided which power source to use, switching as it thought necessary while retaining good performance.
I wasn't being frugal - pretty much driving at speed and acceleration that I would have done.
Overall, I did 28% of the journey on batteries. That is 30.2 miles - on one charge! That includes the whole section of roadworks on the way back. The days MPG was a reported 54.2mpg.
The surprising things was the amount of energy put back into the batteries when coasting, slowing and braking. You can see the charge level going up at times and not down. That recharging process is clearly quite efficient and extends the range above battery only claims. It works irrespective of what mode is selected.
There are a number of modes available to use, but, on today's experience, letting the car itself work out what to do is probably better than over thinking the situation and believing you know better. Only when you know that you'll need battery power for a significant distance at some stage is it worth commanding ICE only operation.
OK - only one days experience, one swallow and all that....
Compared to previous experience in the Disco, a fuel cost saving on the day of over £10. Against the same engined E89 a saving of £5. OK - it needs a lot of miles to recoup the capital costs, but, for good performance that's quite a difference. Build in lots of local journeys, it mounts up.
The petrol use ignoring the battery use works out at 39mpg. That is about the same as overall real-world reported figures for the 20i (same engine - 37.8mpg), although all mine were high speed where the 20i would do better.
So, day 1 is done. As good as if not better than I expected on a journey where I expected a lower saving.
What are the experiences of others?
There are probably some confusion caused too by the outlandish claims of the manufacturers about distance you can get on a charge. It's not the whole story.
So, for starters, here is my experience today. Day 1.
Both tank and batteries full before setting out to do a 55 mile trip up the M1 and back. About 4 miles each end on normal roads, both town and country.
While the mpg from car computers is frequently misleading, it's all I have for the moment.
The only time I intervened in choice of power source was in the 6 miles northbound through the roadworks from Jn 23a to 25 where I used only the ICE. Being the first trip, that was due to some anxiety on total range. I ended the outward journey with 80% of charge being left, For the remainder of the journey both there and back, the car decided which power source to use, switching as it thought necessary while retaining good performance.
I wasn't being frugal - pretty much driving at speed and acceleration that I would have done.
Overall, I did 28% of the journey on batteries. That is 30.2 miles - on one charge! That includes the whole section of roadworks on the way back. The days MPG was a reported 54.2mpg.
The surprising things was the amount of energy put back into the batteries when coasting, slowing and braking. You can see the charge level going up at times and not down. That recharging process is clearly quite efficient and extends the range above battery only claims. It works irrespective of what mode is selected.
There are a number of modes available to use, but, on today's experience, letting the car itself work out what to do is probably better than over thinking the situation and believing you know better. Only when you know that you'll need battery power for a significant distance at some stage is it worth commanding ICE only operation.
OK - only one days experience, one swallow and all that....
Compared to previous experience in the Disco, a fuel cost saving on the day of over £10. Against the same engined E89 a saving of £5. OK - it needs a lot of miles to recoup the capital costs, but, for good performance that's quite a difference. Build in lots of local journeys, it mounts up.
The petrol use ignoring the battery use works out at 39mpg. That is about the same as overall real-world reported figures for the 20i (same engine - 37.8mpg), although all mine were high speed where the 20i would do better.
So, day 1 is done. As good as if not better than I expected on a journey where I expected a lower saving.
What are the experiences of others?
. It would be worth considering (even if the FiT is now next to nothing), as you will still be able to use your own cells to charge the car
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