Just a bit of further thought-analysis;-

Even if the Fluence had rapid charging, most of those particular trips were with family, or other time-related commitments applied, so hanging around at rapids for a half of them wouldn't have been 'permitted'.

But let's assume I did have a BEV with rapid charge. How many rapid charges would I have needed?

Assuming I'm in a Leaf-type car (no Model S for me) topping up 50 miles a shot.
- For the commuting, no charges needed.
- For the 70 mile trips - no charge needed in a Leaf (though I wonder if I'd have the pleasure of affording such a warm cabin, thanks to the contribution of the engine heating?)
- For the 200 milers, say 3 rapid charges, so ~20 rapid charges in a year for those.
- For the couple of 300 milers, say 4 rapid charges (charging opportunities the other end) ~10 rapid charges.

So if I had a BEV, would 30 rapid charges sound about right for that usage?

If rapid charges end up at £7.50 each, which looks like where they are heading, then that'd be at least 15 hours of charging time spent (assuming no arsing around waiting for blocked chargers) and £225.

In the Ampera, that'd be £25 more than the fuel I have bought, and long trips made significantly longer.

I wonder how much coffee I'd end up buying, and ice creams for the kids?

If I had an i3 type car with a 90 mile range and a fuel tank, as would be possible with newer battery tech and better packaging (the Bolt is an amazing batter pack!), the petrol miles would halve.

As I have said a few times, for me PHEV is looking like the end-point, not a stepping stone to a BEV. That is, of course, dependent on one's viewpoint which is a function of one's particular driving profile.

 

Owning a LEAF and a Volt at the same time maybe gives me a different view.....

The Volt over nearly 3 years and 37k have an average of 130 mpg.
The LEAF in nearly 1 year is at 10k.

The Volt gets used (now we have the LEAF) for less than 30 mile and over 80 mile trips.
The LEAF gets used for everything else.

If we only had one car it would be the Volt, I love the LEAF but it just won't work for us 25% of the time and that is too much of a compromise.

 

I like the maths @donald this shows that for most charging for charging has little overall impact, not sufficient to cover the cost of a 2nd car or for me the price difference of a Rex over a BEV, time is the impact, we need faster charging. (We needed 5 seats so no Ampera option for us)

 

So after your first 12 months @donald what are your likes and dislikes regarding the Ampera specifically, as opposed to electrics in general please?

 

Well, I have generally covered that in other emails, and this one was just giving bald facts about fuel usage.

But I'll give it a quick go:-

Top Likes;
- hasn't bored me yet into thinking about my next car, which is pretty much unique in the several dozen cars I have ever owned.
- all the EV ride quality/top scores for on-road comfort, but never having to worry about getting cold in winter, just start the engine up for heat. (The engine gives that more 'intense' heating (~85C) than slightly cooler EV systems give (~60C).)
- very good on wind noise (none at all, really, right up to motorway speeds and beyond!) so together with EV driving is among the top two or three most sublime drives I have ever had.

Worse dislikes;
- TBH, none of any significance really. I dislike keyless entry and keyless start, and other 'common' things that are supposed to go into top-end cars that I am, apparently, supposed to 'like'!
- The menus are not very well programmed, I'd like to see radio + energy info + heater controls together on one screen without having to press buttons, but you have to scroll through three separate screens to see them, each full of redundant information which could easily be removed or shrunk.
- The engine, as a REx is not very well programmed. It would be much better if there was a setting where it just came on at a quiet, slow, sedate pace and just murmured away to itself to slow down the battery depletion, but instead if you accelerate in 'hold' the engine can pick up and rev very noisily away, for no darned good reason really, then turns off down a slope, then revs up again when you go back up a slope! Mad. Infuriating madness.
- No pre-heater timer. You have to press a button in the morning 10 mins before you want it. Doh!
- Honks when I plug it in, day or bl00dy night. WHY DOES IT DO THIS!!!!!?????

I'm quite happy to tolerate these things really. For me, having a car that can deliver silent stress free EV driving for most of the time, with no regard for range issues whatsoever when I might need serious range, and that I can heat up nicely without fear of diminished range, all done with >250mpg on average (with my particular commute cycle most of the time), and a fair ol' turn of speed when commanded. I'm struggling to think of any car ever that has ever been able to compete with those superlatives, and I can't yet see anything on the horizon to do that either.

 

Great car and agree with the likes. Dislikes, agree with the display having to go through the menus, much better would be if you were able to select a default menu system or a customisable one. I'm now up to almost 62k in just under 30 months with a lifetime mpg of 178 and 227 for the last 33k (accidentally reset trip 2).

 

The funny thing is .... when I read ['reed'] over what I write about the Ampera, I always think to myself 'what a fantastic sounding car!' ... and then I realise it's mine!! I've got one!

 

All right, all right, no need to get smug about it!

 

I really don't get keyless entry, TBH, but it clearly works for some people, and that's fair enough.

If I walk out of the house with a house key, I want to put it somewhere convenient, and having it attached to a car key stuck in a slot in the car is a very good place to keep it!!

I guess you've also never pressed the 'off' button 4 times when trying to get HOLD mode set. I've not yet done that, but I reckon only a matter of time!!!

 

Keyless entry and start, great until you have two different cars with it and take both keys in one vehicle. Ampera key overwhelmed the signal from the Elgrand key, a couple of warning lights came on the dash but it kept running fine....... then we stopped for fuel and it would not restart, I stepped out, popped my jacket in the back and my brother tried and the Elgrand started, no warning lights and drove home faultlessly.

 

What are the annual numbers for other Ampera drivers?

Five months completed. Average fuel economy per month so far: 53mpg / 67mpg / 144mpg / 62mpg / 39mpg. The blip was because I was able to charge daily (free) and limited my daily mileage. The other months involved some (paid) charging and some ICE use, with a more realistic daily mileage.

 

Here's my summary since April 2014...

 

What are the annual numbers for other Ampera drivers?

I don't have exact figures going back a year, my myEV logger was only installed in March last year.
So 17th March 2015 to 15th February (not yet uploaded the last couple of days) the figures for my Volt are:

19682.73km, 210.8l of petrol, 2607.53kWh electricity, average 2.5l/100kmeq
In old money I make that about: 12230 miles, 46.4 imp.gallons, 264mpg (petrol only), 115mpge

 

In old money I make that about: 12230 miles, 46.4 imp.gallons,

snap!

 

48500 miles in 21 months
481 gallons of fuel used
It was a lot lower fuel usage until December, having spanked 8500 miles in the last 7 weeks ....
Obviously burned a lot of petrol to do that.

So roughly speaking, as I tend to get 50mpg on petrol, that means I have been around 50/50 ev/ice with my usage.

Hopefully I should be spending a bit more time in the office over the next month or so, dragging my lifetime economy back towards my high of 114mpg.

 

Just thought I would post my consumption

After 12000 miles 41 gallons = 292mpg
18000 50 gallons = 360mpg

Quite chuffed to be honest