"The strongest card in the pack the automotive industry can play is the fact that electric powered vehicles will reduce our dependency on the use of the diminishing stocks of more and more expensive oil (petrol/diesel).
We all need transport but is electric power really the solution?
It is not really sensible to talk about electric cars being ‘green’, they are low emission. Like any car or commercial vehicle they are not green to produce or use and don’t even go in the direction of current lithium-ion batteries being ‘green’ – they are not because of their dubious components.
Electricity is not ‘green’ either as 74 per cent of this power is provided by fossil fuels, oil, gas or coal.
Currently the UK is seen as the European powerhouse for the development of low carbon automotive technologies as we enjoy having major manufacturers already building cars and engines in this country and these will include electric cars and already hybrid models are built here.
The recent annual Society of Motor Manufactures media test day at the Millbrook Proving Ground produced a significant line-up of new electric and hybrid powered models as well as he most fuel frugal petrol and diesel fuelled models.
Electric models ranged from the tiny Mitsubishi i-MiEV hatchbacks to the similar Citroen C-Zero to the Nissan LEAF midsized hatchback to the future Chevrolet Volt and Vauxhall Ampera, also midsized hatchbacks which use electric batteries and a petrol generator as range extenders, to the Rolls Royce Phantom Experimental Electric.
The current sales rate of alternatively fuelled vehicles which include electric models, is just over one per cent of the new car market but with a raft of similar cars due to appear in the next 12 months sales will undoubtedly increase providing the public ‘switches on’ to them.
Nobody knows what the sales potential is for such vehicles, anywhere between three and 10 per cent of the new car market by 2020 depending on who I talked to at the SMMT event.
The Nissan Leaf
Looking for facts over fiction I headed to Nissan who have already have their LEAF five door hatchback model on sale. This is currently built in Japan but production for European markets will move to their Sunderland plant in 2013 and a battery production facility is also being built close by.
Initially the UK will be allocated around 1,000 LEAF units this year as demand is strong in Japan and the USA.
The annual UK production of LEAF model is expected to be in the region of 50,000 cars and the company expects 10,000 to 15,000 of this production to be sold in this country.
Already Nissan have sold and registered 400 LEAF units in the UK to early adopters, more than the total of all other electric models added together.
Early adopters are mainly retail customers who want the latest in motoring technology and of course there will be well known people in that line-up wishing to publically show off their perceived ‘green’ credentials.
Power companies who wish to demonstrate their use of low carbon vehicles are likely early buyers but initially, and quite reasonably, fleet interest is happening in small numbers on a trial basis to gauge public reaction and to see if the 109-mile range between charges is viable.
Currently the five door all-electric LEAF hatchback costs £25,990 AFTER the British Government’s Ultra Low Carbon Car £5,000 incentive has been taken off the £30,990 price.
This promotional subsidy is scheduled to finish at the end of March next year. The initial LEAF is a fully specified and includes equipment such as satellite navigation and air conditioning.
Once UK production is underway lower specification versions will be available and the aim is to offer them at prices competitive with the latest low emission family sized turbodiesel hatchbacks – circa £20,000.
With zero CO2 emissions the VED road tax is nil, for company car drivers the Benefit-in-Kind tax is nil, for London drivers the Congestion charge is nil and for every owner not having to visit a fuel station ever again has to be an incentive to buy despite the purchase price.
The LEAF has a Euro NCAP five star safety rating and the insurance group is 22E. Service intervals are 18,000 miles or 12 months whichever is the soonest.
Leaf battery and charging
Perhaps the biggest question likely to be asked is battery life? Well the LEAF is covered by a three year/60,000 mile warranty and the battery pack, motor inverter, control module, AC/DC converter and charger have a five year warranty.
Nissan says batteries should last over 10 years but there could be a gradual loss of capacity of around 30 per cent depending on usage patterns.
The next question is how much will it cost to charge and run the LEAF and how long does it take to charge up the battery? Depending on the tariff charged by the customer’s electricity supplier, no more than £2.50 but it could be as low as £1.50 for off-peak and Economy 7 customers.
Using a conventional 13 amp socket a full charge at home can take up to 12 hours. Using the Nissan approved £990 option of a dedicated home charge posPOINT directly wired to the main fuse box in a house, or business premises, it takes up to eight hours.
Ironically this is done exclusively by British Gas as they are the only nationwide power supplier. The LEAF comes with a six metre extension lead to plug into either power source.
A conventional DIY store supplied extension lead cannot be used because of the load capacity and neither can a family 13amp socket be used if it shares the ring-main circuit with other heavy use items such as a washing machine.
London and other leading towns and cities, plus out of town showing malls and supermarkets, are all installing charging points and numerous payment schemes are being wheeled out.
On the issue of how much will it cost to run a LEAF? In theory the £1.50 to £2.50 cost of a charge will provide for 109 miles.
A new generation diesel mid-sized hatchback will from my experience use around 2.0 gallons of fuel to cover the same distance so that would costs around £12, but the diesel powered car is currently considerably cheaper to buy so that leaves a lot of money for fuel. You do your sums.
For me the larger issue is the range of the Nissan LEAF and all current pure electric powered cars.
The same concern does not apply to the forthcoming electric/petrol generator range extender models such as the Chevrolet Volt or Vauxhall Ampera, which will have a range between charging/petrol fill ups of 350 miles - a huge advantage over the 109 miles between charges for the LEAF and they all cost about the same to buy.
For some people the LEAF will be fine, just commuting from home into town and back. But what about the longer runs for family or business visits or the unforeseen diversion or traffic jam, where the LEAF could well come up short?
Most LEAF owners will need a second car and having to have two cars is not so low carbon after all. There is an argument that says hire a car when a longer run has to be made but where is the convenience in that?
The other issue is for city dwellers. Unless they have off road parking how will the owners easily charge their car unless their town follows London’s lead by having electric charging podPOINTS everywhere?
LEAFs cannot be charged by using household extension leads, or even if a high capacity charging lead is available, it cannot be run from a house or workplace across pavements or car parks. The practicality of charging will be a big issue for some people."
Em: http://motortorque.askaprice.com/news/a ... future.asp