The Transport Energy Futures Forum 2014 takes place on Thursday 2nd October and will highlight the concerns of the transport industry. Entry is free and there will be test drives of the Nissan e-NV200 on the day. For further information see www.fleet.ie
A couple of months ago, I wrote about my experience of the first four months of driving a Nissan Leaf and my reasons for buying it in the first place (Click here to read it.) It’s taken slightly longer to cover my next 10,000km due to some time off during the summer months, but I’ve just crossed that next milestone this week. As an update to the previous post, below is the updated cost comparison against my old commuting vehicle, a 2003 1.4l Petrol Skoda Octavia; Nissan LEAF Skoda Octavia kWh/100km 13 L/100km 7.1 €/kWh 0.0865^ €/L 1.553* kWh/10000km 1500 L/10000km 710 €/10000km €129.75 €/10000km €1,102.63 *= Average petrol cost Dec ’13 through Mar ’14 from http://www.theaa.ie/AA/Motoring-advice/~/media/Files/AA%20Ireland/Reports/Fuelprices%20history.ashx ^= Energia Smart Choice Night rate electricity tariff (including 15% discount) In the last 10,000km, I’ve saved €972 on driving my Nissan Leaf for my daily commute in comparison to the Skoda Octavia. If you compare this figure to the previous post, where I had a saving of €941, you can see that my savings have actually increased. There are three reasons for this difference. The average cost of petrol has risen (surprise, surprise!) by just a little over 2c per litre in the last few months. Since January of this year, the average price of petrol has gone up by 3.6c per litre. That’s not much, but it’s certainly going up. It’s probably worth pointing out that diesel has remained relatively consistent in price, sitting at around €1.46/1.47 per litre. I changed my electricity provider and my unit rate price has decreased by a little under 10% as a result. It’s summer time! This means better average temperatures, which gives better efficiency from the Nissan Leaf’s battery pack. As the figure on the odometer goes up, of course the question turns to long term effects on the battery. There are many in-depth technical discussions and articles online about the longevity of electric vehicle battery packs, but I find the popular Android app “Leaf Spy” to be quite useful. After over 37,000km on my Leaf since new from the factory, it still retains a battery State of Health of 97%.
Sent from Galaxy S3 on Three
Sent from Galaxy S3 on Three
Sent from Galaxy S3 on Three
Sent from Galaxy S3 on Three
The first ever Irish Electric Vehicles Photo Rally, sponsored by ESB eCars and Windsor Motors Deansgrange, is in full swing at the moment. The basic aims of the EV Owners Irish Photographic Rally are: To encourage people to get travelling in their electric cars & have some element of fun, travel & adventure. To get using our EVs more and travelling further. It is open to all pure electric vehicles drivers and their passengers both Irish and from abroad. An interest in photography might add an additional dimension to your travels. The rally is not a competition. It is not a driving rally. It is a Photographic Rally. Plaques are awarded for photographing a preset number of locations. Both Driver an passengers can enter. Full details can be seen at http://www.irishevowners.com/ev-photo-rally/
Sent from Galaxy S3 on Three
Sent from Galaxy S3 on Three
Green Power Education Trust are running the first Schools Electric Vehicle race day in Nutts Corner Race track in Antrim on 31st May 2014. The Irish EV Owners group have been invited to attend. Our main aim is to be on-hand and available to answer questions from students and parents from the perspective of every day EV drivers. Throughout the day, students from schools all over Ireland will be competing on the race track in electric vehicles they have built themselves, with assistance from University students. There will also be several car manufacturers on-site offering test drives. If you are interested in attending, please Get in Touch.