Bargain Basement Electric

[NewcastleFalcon]

Springtime Leaf

[NewcastleFalcon]

Down by the Riverside
The Butts Warkworth

More of the butts

Regards Neil

[myglaren]

Butts, you say.
May give that a swerve

[Mandrake]

11,500 electric miles now takes the BB Leaf to the 40,000 mile mark.

I think I'm catching you up Neil. My Leaf was just under 24,000 miles when I bought it in July, it has now done 33,500!

Ironically lockdowns have increased my mileage because on days when I was furloughed and Sara was still working I had to drive into Glasgow twice a day instead of once a day to get her to and from work...

[NewcastleFalcon]

This caught my eye....Cheltenham EV Specialist getting a visit from Robert Llewelyn and Fully Charged about battery replacements.

Inevitably until we get a battery which is going to outlast the car, and we don't just dump the car and the battery after 8 to 10 years it is likely that battery replacements will become a thing.

So with a Leaf on the lift, I'll be giving this a watch out of personal interest so I can set aside 15 minutes for a full watch. Should others wish to give it a watch and comment so much the better.



Regards Neil

[mickthemaverick]

Well, I gave it a watch and came away with one overiding thought. Would I spend £8-13k on a 10 year old car or would I simply buy a newer car with the same money if I had it? The problem for me is that once the car reaches the age where battery degradation has become too great the chances are lots of other things may need attention like worn carpets and seats or sloppy door hinges etc etc and I would almost certainly prefer to get a newer car for my money. So I can see this becoming an activity for dealers taking in cars in part ex for low value, swapping out the batteries and then reselling an upgraded and possibly refurbished model back into the used car market.

[NewcastleFalcon]

More reading on the same subject and a decent analysis. Covers some of Micks points. Batteries at the end of their useful life should be taken back and recycled by the original manufacturer, and a replacement offered at a fair price, not a blatant rip-off price, way in excess of the battery pack cost to the manufacturer.

An aftermarket will develop like our friends at Cheltenham, but still way way too pricy as Mick points out. £8,000 today buys you a newer used Leaf with 12 bars on the battery, or a decent deposit on finance deal on a newer one.

https://www.greencarfuture.com/electric ... tery-guide

Regards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

This is a 2018 story but far more encouraging, and what it should be...Over in Japan...

Cost of replacing the Nissan LEAF’s Batteries DROPS 90% in seven years

The cost of replacing the batteries in a Nissan LEAF has dropped to just £2,000, thanks to a new Nissan scheme to offer refabricated batteries in Japan.

Cant confirm the validity but that is much more like it. As the comments on the article state Nissan UK do not have a refurbished battery scheme, and it doesn't appear to have travelled out of Japan. One commenter indicated that as at the date of the post (28/1/2020) Nissan UK offered a Battery Replacement at £17,000 plus VAT. I guess at that price they have replaced zero batteries , and aren't really trying.

Regards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

Plug life Television.....Dr Euan McTurk

He's quite wordy, but very good with his charts and illustrations and explaining things in a very good teacher/uni lecturer type of way.



Regards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

just a dusting

[NewcastleFalcon]

I found this a useful video, and today, with the on road NCC chargers now being 35p/kwh, rather than charge on the road decided to charge up to 100% for the first time ever in my ownership. Left me with 88 miles on the guess-o-meter which was quite enough for our up and down journey without charging "on the road", and still have an indicated 26 miles in hand.

There are a lot of different preferences, and reportedly some result in a considerable differences in number of cycles, and hence useful life of the batteries. Working most of the time from 20% to 80% is a reasonable compromise, and is facilitated by the 24 kWh Gen 2 Leaf I have. A charging option can be set to automatically stop charging at a reported 80% State of Charge. For subsequent Leafs the option was removed.




Regards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

The ICE part of my detached hybrid, the Bargain Basement Micra, got a looking through the window photo here

https://www.frenchcarforum.co.uk/forum/ ... 56#p682156

So for the Bargain Basement Electric , a nice bit of taking possession of the road and stopping for a photo produced this...

lookin through the window
Gorse was in full bright yellow bloom today

Regards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

BB Leaf reflects on the aftermath of BB Micra's Oil Change

Regards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

Not so bargain basement from now on, Northumberland County Council have ended their freebie with a bang, straight up to 35p/kWh. I'll probably look to make more use of my BP Pulse membership, and days out may well be heading north to make more use of my Chargeplace Scotland card.

So today saw the first charging up session using the "granny charger" with the 3 pin plug chugging along for 4 to 5 hours to take me back up to my customary 80% state of charge.

Its done its job, and for now that is going to be the normal charging up routine, consuming household electricity at 16p/kWh.

Smart Meters/ Smart Home Charging points may get you 5p/kWh from Octopus but for now the home fuelling is going to come through a 3 Pin plug

REgards neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

No 8 Point and Shoot Brochure-esque setting