How much does your electric car add to your electricity bill?

[apk55]

A typical car driving at 70mph typically uses about 30KW of power. Obviously a smaller car will use less - maybe 15-20KW and a larger car with barn door aerodynamics will use much more. Most of this is air resistance which increases with speed hence the reason why why electric cars do very badly for range when driving fast. In contrast petrol engines are very inefficient when running on light load and use fuel when idling. At 50 MPH the power requirements are almost halved and while you will take longer to travel the same distance you will use almost a third less energy.
How big a genset would need to be for a hybrid type car is a good question. Industrial generators are typically designed for longevity and 24/7 operation as well as a stable output. I am sure some 10-15KW units could be made that weigh less than 100Kg and would last long enoght to last the lifetime of a typical car.

 

[jon0844]

There's a company in France seeking to convert your existing small car (and possibly later, larger cars) to electric - and the prototype car has a very small battery, good for around 100 kilometres per charge - ideal for city dwellers, and those who can charge overnight (and may only do 30-40 miles a day).

I would consider myself the ideal customer for such a thing and bet an awful lot of other people would be too.

The French Government is subsidising the conversions too.

Video description: We’ve showcased plenty of EV conversions on the channel before, but up until now they’ve mostly been high-end, beautifully refurbished classics. In this episode, Jack heads to France to investigate the entry-level of EV conversion. For €5,000 after government subsidies, a company by the name of Transition One claims it can turn your old banger into a no fuss, no-emissions electric car. Is this the answer to overpriced new cars? Could this be the key to accelerating EV uptake? Check out the episode to find out.

I consider this to be one of the many job opportunities of tomorrow - and will give mechanics who might fear the loss of income when EVs take over a chance to keep a job.

 

[The Ham]

There's a company in France seeking to convert your existing small car (and possibly later, larger cars) to electric - and the prototype car has a very small battery, good for around 100 kilometres per charge - ideal for city dwellers, and those who can charge overnight (and may only do 30-40 miles a day).

I would consider myself the ideal customer for such a thing and bet an awful lot of other people would be too.

The French Government is subsidising the conversions too.

Video description: We’ve showcased plenty of EV conversions on the channel before, but up until now they’ve mostly been high-end, beautifully refurbished classics. In this episode, Jack heads to France to investigate the entry-level of EV conversion. For €5,000 after government subsidies, a company by the name of Transition One claims it can turn your old banger into a no fuss, no-emissions electric car. Is this the answer to overpriced new cars? Could this be the key to accelerating EV uptake? Check out the episode to find out.

I consider this to be one of the many job opportunities of tomorrow - and will give mechanics who might fear the loss of income when EVs take over a chance to keep a job.

An interesting idea, especially given that car prices are fairly high at present, meaning that (as an example) my 11 year car with over 100,000 miles on the clock which would probably have been circa £1,500 is about £4,000. Making the viability of buying a cheap banger and running cheaply for a year or two to keep your purchase costs (and therefore overall costs) low.

By spending, say £10,000 (assuming the French Government is reducing the cost by half) it would give us cheap running costs and fairly low maintenance costs for easily 4 years.

Whilst 100km would be more than enough for day to day use, it wouldn't be for the circa 7 times a year we go and see family (230 mile/370km trip). That would be difficult to do on a 100km system however if there was a system which provided 200km for not much more then it would certainly be an interesting option to consider.

 

[jon0844]

The tipping point for EVs will be when the cost a new vehicle is around £12-15k, as apparently the Dacia Spring EV is in France (with a subsidy) - yet that's still trying to look and be like a SUV. I realise that's what people want (or think they want) but I'd be quite happy with a Fiesta sized car that can get me around with a charge once or twice a week. Sure, if I need to do a long drive I'm going to be making lots of stops - but rapid charging will make that less of a big deal.

Sure, there's the Citroen Ami which is a bit too extreme as a city car IMO, but there's an all-important middle ground where prices need to fall rapidly. £25k-30k for a super mini just isn't going to appeal to many, given most of them probably do low mileage and you won't get to recoup the extra money in the mileage cost savings.

I'd hope that if other businesses start up to do conversions of existing cars, they look to do it on the common small cars, and offer ranges of 50-60 miles, which really will be ideal for a lot of people. Those who do tens of thousands of miles will get the savings to justify the higher costs, and are more likely doing those drives for business anyway.

 

[paul1609]

A typical car driving at 70mph typically uses about 30KW of power. Obviously a smaller car will use less - maybe 15-20KW and a larger car with barn door aerodynamics will use much more. Most of this is air resistance which increases with speed hence the reason why why electric cars do very badly for range when driving fast. In contrast petrol engines are very inefficient when running on light load and use fuel when idling. At 50 MPH the power requirements are almost halved and while you will take longer to travel the same distance you will use almost a third less energy.
How big a genset would need to be for a hybrid type car is a good question. Industrial generators are typically designed for longevity and 24/7 operation as well as a stable output. I am sure some 10-15KW units could be made that weigh less than 100Kg and would last long enoght to last the lifetime of a typical car.

I think if you are installing a genset in a car you'd struggle to get much below 200kg for a 10 KW Euro 6 Diesel and fuel would be in addition.