So this Mini E?

[Stewart]

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/45671000/gif/_45671728_electric_cars2.gif

So this Mini E, does on average 156 Miles to a two hour charge….Great about town but not for Mini Runs………:frown:


I’d have one in a Minute if it kept its Mini characteristics, the E just now does 0-60 on 8.5 seconds and by the looks of the footage today in the news it pulls away fine. I think if they got the range up another hundred miles and got that charge down to even four hours they would be on to a winner…..and a second off the 0-60....but no back seats just now................

Big question is do they add an artificial engine noise……………and would it be a dull automatic drive with the fun ripped out of it.
I think we better enjoy our petrol runs as we know what’s going to happen they will say we have a choice and Tax the hell out of petrol users in road tax and Fuel tax to the point that it will no longer be an option. :ragin:


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7762840.stm

[Ivano]

Apparently there was one of these Electric MINIs at Knockhill today for those Government meetings in Scotland.

[doogz__]

Is it just me, or does it take 8 hours to charge, not 2?

[Stewart]

The graph says 8 but on a few reports they were talking about 2 hour charges…..

[Smitty]

Brilliant idea and keeping a close eye on it. :yes nod:

The "utility giant" I work for actually have a deal with BMW in Germany to test these and and work are in partnership to work out more effective methods of charging and putting infrastructure in place to do so.

Put in a few feelers to try and find out a bit more information as a side project/career prospect!! So then I can get involved with MINI's at work :D

[doogz__]

Battery powered cars are very soon going to be behind us anyway, really they're a non-solution.

Woop-de-do, you don't put petrol in your car, you put electricity in it.

Only, the electricity is made at a power plant, where most of it is made from burning fossil fuels anyway, the government is doing away with all the nuclear stuff pretty much, and so called "renewable" energy just isn't cutting it just now.

When petrol/diesel/gas/whatever cars are replaced, it'll be with hydrogen fuel cells, having to charge your car for hours before you can use it is a step backwards.

Also, battery powered cars are ridiculously overweight. Ever seen a Tesla go round a track? No thanks.

[Stewart]

Let’s face it; I know five areas up north that are Hydro. So there is no carbon emissions apart from the actual production of the car. The figure branded about is that it would cost half what it cost to run a petrol car………….

Another site.

http://www.miniusa.com/minie-usa/ (http://www.miniusa.com/minie-usa/)

[doogz__]

Yeah, but how much power do the hydro stations produce, compared to a coal/oil/nuke.

Also, the hydro ones pump the water back up the hill at night, so they're not self sufficient.

If we turned off all the fossil fuel and nuke plants, the country would be f*cked.

Fair enough though, if you want to wait 8 hours to fully charge your overweight and slow mini, with a range of 156 miles, charge on.

I'm just pointing out that it's definetely not the solution to the problem in the long run

[Stewart]

I understand your point, on the green front its probably not much in it, Reports claim that’s its just as fast as the normal mini. But it’s a start! With technology in to batteries marching on with a few predicting instant charge batteries on consumables by 2011 it probably wont be far off.


Love it or hate it, by ten years I say we wont have a choice. I remember if you got 27 mpg in my Dads car that was considered great in the 80’s! Oh how things move on. We will be turning round to our kids telling them about this petrol stuff we used to put in our cars mark my words…..Had to explain the concept of the radio cassette a few weeks back as my Godson had never seen one…….and got that look “ That sounds like crap “ look.
:D

[Smitty]

the government is doing away with all the nuclear stuff pretty much

I think you need to have a little read of Mr Milibands long term strategy on Energy production in the UK before you throw in false statements such as that ;) :p



on the green front its probably not much in it, Reports claim that’s its just as fast as the normal mini. But it’s a start! With technology in to batteries marching on with a few predicting instant charge batteries on consumables by 2011 it probably wont be far off.

Completely agree with you Sav :thumbs up:

We have to change - our current choice of motoring is not sustainable, and in order to make electric cars more affordable and practical they have to get consumers onboard to increase the spend and as a result increase the investment of development.

The main problem right now is not the cars themselves, it's more to do with the infrastrucutre to charge the. But the goverment are investing - maybe not enough...but once again it's a start!

[doogz__]

Ok, fine, they have released a list of potential locations for new nuke plants, in England, not Scotland, as the Scottish government opposes it.

Batteries are not the future, mark my words.

Hydrogen fuel cells will be what we're using.

Batteries still carry the environmental failing, that they have to be disposed of, and they don't last forever. They are also particularly heavy, and take time to charge. Although i'd like a read at this "instant charge" malarkey, as it sounds pretty ridiculous to me.

So if the Scottish government opposed nuclear power, presumably it won't be purchasing electricity from power stations in England, created by nuclear power.

So are we going to fill the north sea up with windmills when they're finished drilling for oil?

[Stewart]

The instant Charge is all about trickle time, instead of the old slowly, slowly they say the new tech more or less fills with energy that lasts like filling up a kettle of water. The energy pours in not trickles….National Semiconductor is developing technology to charge cell phones in an instant by plugging the phone into a wall oulet and voila! it's charged.

Not that it was connected to cars at all, it was more about laptops and mobile phones that would instantly take a charge.

I hope we don’t go down the nuke route in Scotland, although if we use the French model it’s reliable, much cleaner and safer. I’d rather we invested in Wind and Wave as if it does not work here then it wont work anyplace………

[doogz__]

I’d rather we invested in Wind and Wave as if it does not work here then it wont work anyplace………

Ha, that's true!

[Livi]

did you hear that!!!! .............. :confused:




















Silent killer! :knife:

[The Dogfather]

Hydrogen fuel cells will be what we're using.



Hydrogen also has to come from fossil fuels if you don't go down the nuke route, but I'm sure you knew that, forget renewables its a waste of money.

Battery technology is still in its infancy, I expect charge times to drop and capacity to increase. Think of the way computing power moves forward, battery technology will be the same. The advantage of electricity is that the distribution network already exists unlike Hydrogen.

[Smitty]

Batteries are not the future, mark my words.

Hydrogen fuel cells will be what we're using.


I agree with you - but until we can safely store and transport Hydrogen that solution is not viable - although give it a couple of years and we will be taking about introducing them.

As a result, right now we must focus on Electric Cars.

The way I see the future mapping out is Electric cars for inner-city drivers/low distance commuters and Hydrogen cars for the rest.

I will be a mixed portfolio (electric, hydrogen, bio fuel & good old petrol/diesel)....makes it much more sustainable, as our motoring habits as they stand are far from that :frown:

[Smitty]

forget renewables its a waste of money.

NO...it's not a waste of money :argh:. It's the future...

It's all about having a balanced generation portfolio. Renewable energy will become more finical viable as technology advances and the cost of installing renewable generation sources decreases.

But it is not the answer by itself - what happens on a calm, dull, cold day?? Rules out wind, solar and wave energy!

And that point we need "Clean" Coal, Gas and Nuclear to take the load for our energy demands.