Vauxhall Ampera

from_atozinc

slicedpanman wrote: »

Nothing that I can think of... Other than to know (you probably already do) of its a my12 (no arm rest) or 13 (arm rest between back seats)

Well wear... Out of interest what price are you paying?

Is the my12 a 5 seater?

Alkers

from_atozinc wrote: »

Is the my12 a 5 seater?

No, they're all 4-seaters because of the battery configuration between the rear seats.

Alkers

We are well into our second year of ownership now, almost 13,000km tracked for just over €500 worth of petrol at an overall fuel economy of 2.6l/100km or over 100mpg in old money.

http://www.fuelly.com/car/vauxhall/ampera/2012/alkers/877577

Over 95% of fuel used has been on long-distance trips where it returns about 5.5l/100km on the motorway when the battery is empty. This is definitely worth it to us considering what BEV's we could have afforded on our budget at the time.

Best from one tank (which is small - circa €40 to fill) is over 2,000km.

Interestingly, we have never undertaken a journey which was long enough to require stopping for fuel more than once. Typical GOM range from a full fuel tank is 500km + whatever battery range at the time.

gunnerfitzy

Alkers wrote: »

We are well into our second year of ownership now, almost 13,000km tracked for just over €500 worth of petrol at an overall fuel economy of 2.6l/100km or over 100mpg in old money.

http://www.fuelly.com/car/vauxhall/ampera/2012/alkers/877577

Over 95% of fuel used has been on long-distance trips where it returns about 5.5l/100km on the motorway when the battery is empty. This is definitely worth it to us considering what BEV's we could have afforded on our budget at the time.

Best from one tank (which is small - circa €40 to fill) is over 2,000km.

Interestingly, we have never undertaken a journey which was long enough to require stopping for fuel more than once. Typical GOM range from a full fuel tank is 500km + whatever battery range at the time.

Very similar stats here. 2.5l/100km with 16000km done since I purchased it about 10 months ago. 95% of journeys are electric only. Contemplated changing to Outlander PHEV for a while but I think electric only journeys would drop significantly for me and the MPG of the petrol engine is less.

reaper12

Never heard of the Ampera until yesterday when I saw one on Autotrader UK.

I wasn't looking for a hybrid car or anything, but, I stopped on the Ampera because it looked so good. Started reading some reviews and the reviews were mostly good. So then I found the thread here and, again, mostly positive feedback about the car.

In fact I am thinking about buying one. Most of the ones that are within my price range are high mileage though, 90K+ (Miles) The other thing I am wondering about is would it be worth it for my use case?

These are my current driving distances. (all round trips)

A. One trip most weeks of 210km (mostly motorway)
B. two trips of 84Km most weeks
C. two trips of 84Km every second week.
D. Most of the rest of my driving is less than 50km round trip.

I would be charging the car most nights at home. Also for trip C: above, I will be able to charge the car while I am at work for a few hours as there are charging stations close to both places. I was thinking that if I could get 50 km out of the electric motor per trip, I would get roughly half the B trips and all the C trips for just the electricity cost. The lack of power because the battery would be empty wouldn't be a problem because those are journeys on bad roads.

Trip A is mainly motorway and would be driving at speed. Does the car use the battery then switch over no matter what? or can you set it up so that it conserves the battery and you use the petrol engine mostly except for those times when you need the extra power?

Currently driving a 2011 BMW 120D with 95K miles that does 53 MPG.

Alkers

reaper12 wrote: »

Never heard of the Ampera until yesterday when I saw one on Autotrader UK.

I wasn't looking for a hybrid car or anything, but, I stopped on the Ampera because it looked so good. Started reading some reviews and the reviews were mostly good. So then I found the thread here and, again, mostly positive feedback about the car.

In fact I am thinking about buying one. Most of the ones that are within my price range are high mileage though, 90K+ (Miles) The other thing I am wondering about is would it be worth it for my use case?

These are my current driving distances. (all round trips)

A. One trip most weeks of 210km (mostly motorway)
B. two trips of 84Km most weeks
C. two trips of 84Km every second week.
D. Most of the rest of my driving is less than 50km round trip.

I would be charging the car most nights at home. Also for trip C: above, I will be able to charge the car while I am at work for a few hours as there are charging stations close to both places. I was thinking that if I could get 50 km out of the electric motor per trip, I would get roughly half the B trips and all the C trips for just the electricity cost. The lack of power because the battery would be empty wouldn't be a problem because those are journeys on bad roads.

Trip A is mainly motorway and would be driving at speed. Does the car use the battery then switch over no matter what? or can you set it up so that it conserves the battery and you use the petrol engine mostly except for those times when you need the extra power?

Currently driving a 2011 BMW 120D with 95K miles that does 53 MPG.

Things to note - the car doesn't fast charge or even quick charge - I think 3.5kW is the most it can draw. This means that you get very little mileage for every hour of charging - not an issue for overnight charging or if there are plenty of chargers in work but if they're busy you will be be hogging a charger to save a few euro.

The car has a massive battery buffer which isn't used when driving on EV mode so you don't have to worry about the car being down on power at all unless you're really hammering it for an extended period of time. There is a 'mountain mode' which further increases the buffer but you won't need it in Ireland.

You can set the car to 'hold' mode where it will not deplete the battery but instead use the ice to power the elec motor, it's recommended to use this once above 50mph/80kmh if you know you'll be depleting the battery. Fine to do over 130kmh on battery but it depletes quickly at that speed.

53mpg is very good, I would say that for the long motorway spins your diesel may be more economical, especially with petrol more expensive than diesel. Otherwise the ampera should be more economical.

Aside from that it's a fantastic car - let me know any questions you have

reaper12

Alkers wrote: »

Things to note - the car doesn't fast charge or even quick charge - I think 3.5kW is the most it can draw. This means that you get very little mileage for every hour of charging - not an issue for overnight charging or if there are plenty of chargers in work but if they're busy you will be be hogging a charger to save a few euro.

The car has a massive battery buffer which isn't used when driving on EV mode so you don't have to worry about the car being down on power at all unless you're really hammering it for an extended period of time. There is a 'mountain mode' which further increases the buffer but you won't need it in Ireland.

You can set the car to 'hold' mode where it will not deplete the battery but instead use the ice to power the elec motor, it's recommended to use this once above 50mph/80kmh if you know you'll be depleting the battery. Fine to do over 130kmh on battery but it depletes quickly at that speed.

53mpg is very good, I would say that for the long motorway spins your diesel may be more economical, especially with petrol more expensive than diesel. Otherwise the ampera should be more economical.

Aside from that it's a fantastic car - let me know any questions you have

Wow, thank you for the informative post.

I understand that it isn't fast charging, the places where I will be charging are empty all day. But, going by the rest of your post, it looks like I wouldn't really need to charge during the day because there is no real savings.

I am not a fast driver. I pretty much obey the speed limits. So I would rarely be driving at 130kph. Just a little confused about the buffer zone. For examples, let's say I am driving 100 miles and I have it in normal mode, does the car drive for 30 miles using electric power and the rest of the journey using petrol power, and the buffer makes sure that I have power when I need it?

Would you have any worries about buying an ampera with 95K miles on the clock? I understand that the batteries supply enough power for between 25 and 50 miles depending on various factors. But, those figures are from launch, will 8 year old batteries still have the same range? If I go to test drive one, how accurate is the range estimate on the dashboard?

Charging: Can I charge from home using an outdoor wall socket, if I get that socket checked by an electrician? Is there any real need to install a home charging point? It will be at home most nights for more than 8 hours, so the slower charging time from the granny plug is not an issue.

The car I am considering is the MY12, Electron model.

(I am sure I will have more questions)

n97 mini

If you have somewhere to charge during Trip A (presume it's to visit family or similar), you're in full electric territory. Have you considered that instead?

Alkers

reaper12 wrote: »

I understand that it isn't fast charging, the places where I will be charging are empty all day. But, going by the rest of your post, it looks like I wouldn't really need to charge during the day because there is no real savings.

You save ballpark €5 vs fuel costs each time you fully charge the battery. It's absolutely worth doing if it's convenient and you're not inconveniencing anyone else - e.g. your driveway! In your other post it sounded like you were planning on using public chargers. FYI the car doesn't come with a public charge cable so you might have to buy one if you planning on using a work charger - circa €200 so this needs 40 full charges to pay for itself.

reaper12 wrote: »

I am not a fast driver. I pretty much obey the speed limits. So I would rarely be driving at 130kph. Just a little confused about the buffer zone. For examples, let's say I am driving 100 miles and I have it in normal mode, does the car drive for 30 miles using electric power and the rest of the journey using petrol power, and the buffer makes sure that I have power when I need it?

Yeah, that's pretty much it. Basically the capacity of the battery is 16kWh but only about 10.5kWh is usable. Once this 10.5kWh is used the car will display 0% battery and 0km range remaining and the ICE will kick in to generate electricity as the car drives. The remaining 5.5kWh is the battery buffer. This is used any time the car needs more power than the ICE can generate so you don't experience any loss in power. Even when driving with the range showing 0km, the electric motor & battery are driving the car, with the engine at the same time recharging the battery. It's a little strange at first as the engine revs are not related to what you do with the accelerator. e.g. you could be cruising at 120km/hr and bury your foot, car will accelerate with no increase in engine revs for maybe 10 seconds. Then if you stop accelerating, the engine will still rev until the battery buffer is topped up to the normal amount. Using "mountain mode" further increases the size of the buffer, to I think around 10kWh. If you engage this mode when the battery shows less than 50% remaining, the engine will kick in to recharge the battery until it reaches 50%. This is not needed in Ireland unless you were on a track, it's basically for driving over mountain ranges as if you actually deplete the buffer, the car will display "reduced propulsion" and you can only use as much power as the ICE can provide - possibly resulting in some slow uphill speeds.

reaper12 wrote: »

Would you have any worries about buying an ampera with 95K miles on the clock? I understand that the batteries supply enough power for between 25 and 50 miles depending on various factors. But, those figures are from launch, will 8 year old batteries still have the same range? If I go to test drive one, how accurate is the range estimate on the dashboard?

Not at all, we bought ours with 100k miles, which is when the manufacture warranty expires. In order to keep the warranty valid, you need to get the car serviced by an authorised dealer, the only one of which is in Belfast. We didn't want this hassle anyway, so didn't mind buying out of warranty. There are a few niggles that can happen - stuck charge port, steering lock etc but they are all workable and I wouldn't want to have to get to Belfast to get them looked at in any case. Because of the large battery buffer and the slow charging speeds, the battery in the ampera has a very easy life compared to other EVs. I don't have a link right now but there was a study of all EVs done and the ampera came out tops for the lack of battery degradation. We have over 220,000km on ours and can still get 60km summer range. We don't try and drive economically at all, (defeats the purpose IMO) and will happily use heating, accelerate hard etc.
If you test-drive one, the range on the dashboard is not a representation of battery health at all - it's an estimate of the remaining range depending on recent driving conditions / habits / outside temperature etc. If you drive like Ms. Daisy, the display will increase, turn on the heating and go onto the motorway and it will drop quickly. The remaining milage on petrol will also change similarly.

reaper12 wrote: »

Charging: Can I charge from home using an outdoor wall socket, if I get that socket checked by an electrician? Is there any real need to install a home charging point? It will be at home most nights for more than 8 hours, so the slower charging time from the granny plug is not an issue.

This is what we do, the car was never sold in Ireland so does not qualify for the home charger grant. Even if you got a home charger installed, the car can only charge at 3.5kW on it vs about 2.4kW on the granny charger so you're talking about a 3-4 hour charge time instead of a 4-5 hour charge time - not worth paying for IMO. We had an electrician put in a new outdoor socket on it's own circuit with oversized wiring to accommodate a charger in the future. The car draws 10a continuous so is likely to overload an existing socket so definitely get this checked before doing it.

reaper12 wrote: »

The car I am considering is the MY12, Electron model.

That is what we have. There are some changes in the 2013 model including a slightly larger battery but it's still a great car. You are aware it's a strictly 4-seater, because of the location of the battery?

reaper12

n97 mini wrote: »

If you have somewhere to charge during Trip A (presume it's to visit family or similar), you're in full electric territory. Have you considered that instead?

Unfortunately there is no place to close to quick charge. It's not to visit family, it's for sport, a 2 hour training session.

I was just listing of my most regular journeys. I also make a few even longer trips each year for competitions. These would be outside the range of any fully electric vehicle.

reaper12

Alkers wrote: »

You save ballpark €5 vs fuel costs each time you fully charge the battery. It's absolutely worth doing if it's convenient and you're not inconveniencing anyone else - e.g. your driveway! In your other post it sounded like you were planning on using public chargers. FYI the car doesn't come with a public charge cable so you might have to buy one if you planning on using a work charger - circa €200 so this needs 40 full charges to pay for itself.

Yeah, sorry should have been clearer, I will be charging it at home every night. I just mentioned the public chargers as they are close to places that I work.

Alkers wrote: »

Yeah, that's pretty much it. Basically the capacity of the battery is 16kWh but only about 10.5kWh is usable. Once this 10.5kWh is used the car will display 0% battery and 0km range remaining and the ICE will kick in to generate electricity as the car drives. The remaining 5.5kWh is the battery buffer. This is used any time the car needs more power than the ICE can generate so you don't experience any loss in power. Even when driving with the range showing 0km, the electric motor & battery are driving the car, with the engine at the same time recharging the battery. It's a little strange at first as the engine revs are not related to what you do with the accelerator. e.g. you could be cruising at 120km/hr and bury your foot, car will accelerate with no increase in engine revs for maybe 10 seconds. Then if you stop accelerating, the engine will still rev until the battery buffer is topped up to the normal amount. Using "mountain mode" further increases the size of the buffer, to I think around 10kWh. If you engage this mode when the battery shows less than 50% remaining, the engine will kick in to recharge the battery until it reaches 50%. This is not needed in Ireland unless you were on a track, it's basically for driving over mountain ranges as if you actually deplete the buffer, the car will display "reduced propulsion" and you can only use as much power as the ICE can provide - possibly resulting in some slow uphill speeds.

That's a great explanation.

Alkers wrote: »

Not at all, we bought ours with 100k miles, which is when the manufacture warranty expires. In order to keep the warranty valid, you need to get the car serviced by an authorised dealer, the only one of which is in Belfast. We didn't want this hassle anyway, so didn't mind buying out of warranty. There are a few niggles that can happen - stuck charge port, steering lock etc but they are all workable and I wouldn't want to have to get to Belfast to get them looked at in any case. Because of the large battery buffer and the slow charging speeds, the battery in the ampera has a very easy life compared to other EVs. I don't have a link right now but there was a study of all EVs done and the ampera came out tops for the lack of battery degradation. We have over 220,000km on ours and can still get 60km summer range. We don't try and drive economically at all, (defeats the purpose IMO) and will happily use heating, accelerate hard etc.
If you test-drive one, the range on the dashboard is not a representation of battery health at all - it's an estimate of the remaining range depending on recent driving conditions / habits / outside temperature etc. If you drive like Ms. Daisy, the display will increase, turn on the heating and go onto the motorway and it will drop quickly. The remaining milage on petrol will also change similarly.

220 thousand km and still getting 60km range, that sounds brilliant. Certainly puts my mind at rest about the battery!! The thing is, I don't like a car that's too warm, and I will rarely, if ever, use the heated seats. So I imagine I should get pretty decent range.

Just a quick question on servicing. The 8 year warranty is out, I understand that. But, will a good local garage be able to service the car? Or is there anything with the electric side of things that will have to be handled by specialist?

Alkers wrote: »

This is what we do, the car was never sold in Ireland so does not qualify for the home charger grant. Even if you got a home charger installed, the car can only charge at 3.5kW on it vs about 2.4kW on the granny charger so you're talking about a 3-4 hour charge time instead of a 4-5 hour charge time - not worth paying for IMO. We had an electrician put in a new outdoor socket on it's own circuit with oversized wiring to accommodate a charger in the future. The car draws 10a continuous so is likely to overload an existing socket so definitely get this checked before doing it.


That is what we have. There are some changes in the 2013 model including a slightly larger battery but it's still a great car. You are aware it's a strictly 4-seater, because of the location of the battery?

Great, I can get a electrician to make sure it's safe. Not having to install a charger might just swing it for me

The MY13 is out of my price range at the moment so I don't have much of a choice MY12 or bust!! And I am aware it's a 4 seater. My current car is only a 4 seater coupe. But, I wouldn't put any adults in the back seats!!

How do you rate the car for comfort? And how is road noise and wind noise?

Alkers

reaper12 wrote: »

Just a quick question on servicing. The 8 year warranty is out, I understand that. But, will a good local garage be able to service the car? Or is there anything with the electric side of things that will have to be handled by specialist?

Suspension, brakes etc are all fairly standard and actually share a lot of parts with the Opel astra. You'd have to check with the garage that they're happy to work on a hybrid though. I've confirmed with http://www.bmg.ie/ that they will carry out any servicing / repairs needed on the EV side of things and I used them for last year's service and also got the EV coolant changed through them as there was no record of it being done before. There's another EV place in Wexford that carry out EV servicing who would look at it but that's all I know - I did start a thread on here looking for more but most EVs are still in warranty so people use the main dealers. BTW opel Ireland won't go near the car! Another thing is if you're in a crash, parts are slow and hard to come by so keep that in mind!

reaper12 wrote: »

How do you rate the car for comfort? And how is road noise and wind noise?

Very good but I ride a motorcycle primarily and otherwise have a 96 campervan :cool: Previously I had ford focus vans through work so I've not owned a "premium" car before. I would rate it not quite at audi / BMW level but not far behind, particularly the electron spec. The soundsystem is great but controls take a bit of getting used to and if you're into tech and gadgets there's loads of info and stuff to play with. Road noise is very noticeable but only really because the car is so quiet and smooth otherwise.

If you do go to look at one , there's an excellent guide here:
https://www.speakev.com/threads/guide-to-buying-a-second-hand-ampera.26041/

reaper12

Just one more question. Been reading a little on that Speakev website you recommended. Lots of good info about the car.

My question is about the lights, are they as bad as that site suggests they are?

Alkers

reaper12 wrote: »

Just one more question. Been reading a little on that Speakev website you recommended. Lots of good info about the car.

My question is about the lights, are they as bad as that site suggests they are?

I haven't noticed them being poor at all but we do very little driving with full beams.

reaper12

Alkers wrote: »

I haven't noticed them being poor at all but we do very little driving with full beams.

Thanks Alkers. Just been doing up some calculations, trying to figure out what my savings would be versus the car I have now.

Can I go ask about something you said earlier in the thread. You said with a full battery I would save €5 vs fuel costs. Did you mean that it's better to drive the car in petrol mode with a full battery than an empty one?

Like, when I am driving a journey that's out of range of the electric motor, I should drive using petrol mode for the start of the trip and switch to electric more when I am nearing end of my journey?

Also, is 45mpg an reasonable estimate for mpg when using Petrol only?

Alkers

reaper12 wrote: »

Thanks Alkers. Just been doing up some calculations, trying to figure out what my savings would be versus the car I have now.

Can I go ask about something you said earlier in the thread. You said with a full battery I would save €5 vs fuel costs. Did you mean that it's better to drive the car in petrol mode with a full battery than an empty one?

Like, when I am driving a journey that's out of range of the electric motor, I should drive using petrol mode for the start of the trip and switch to electric more when I am nearing end of my journey?

Also, is 45mpg an reasonable estimate for mpg when using Petrol only?

Hi, no I didn't mean that. I meant for every full charge of battery you use, the equivalent mileage would cost you around €5 in fuel. So every time you use a public charger, you could block it for 4+ hours to save 5e!

It doesn't make much difference whether you use much battery at the start or end of a trip, just it's easier to use it all if you use it at the start rather than having some left when you get home. Also, if you use the engine at a start of a trip, you get "free" heating from the engine without using the electric heaters (presuming you haven't pre-heated). You should use the engine when over 80km/hr when you're on longer trips.

45mpg would be a pessimistic estimate I think but would depend on how much motorway mileage you do.

reaper12

Alkers wrote: »

Hi, no I didn't mean that. I meant for every full charge of battery you use, the equivalent mileage would cost you around €5 in fuel. So every time you use a public charger, you could block it for 4+ hours to save 5e!

It doesn't make much difference whether you use much battery at the start or end of a trip, just it's easier to use it all if you use it at the start rather than having some left when you get home. Also, if you use the engine at a start of a trip, you get "free" heating from the engine without using the electric heaters (presuming you haven't pre-heated). You should use the engine when over 80km/hr when you're on longer trips.

45mpg would be a pessimistic estimate I think but would depend on how much motorway mileage you do.

Yeah, I took it that way, but just wanted to make sure

For working out my savings, I estimated the range of the electric motor as 30 miles on average and the petrol engine as 45mpg. With those estimates I save about €600 a year on fuel. Of course that doesn't include the cost of the electricity!!

Those estimates are probably on the low side based on what you told me, so I might be looking at savings of around €750+ when I include all the short trips.

Not too shabby I guess. I would need to keep the car for at least two years to make up for the cost of switching.

Alkers

Have you factored in low tax and partial toll refunds?

reaper12

Alkers wrote: »

Have you factored in low tax and partial toll refunds?

Well, I am only paying €190 at the moment, so I am not going to be saving much on road tax and I rarely use toll roads. But, I will be saving a little on servicing as the BMW really needs to be serviced every 10,000km.

The way I worked out the cost savings is a little off though. The reason I am thinking of changing is because the BMW will need some extra bits and pieces done on the next service, new tyres etc. So was going to cost over €1000 to get it all done.

Been reading more of that site you linked to, it seems 50 miles range on the electric motor is the norm. It's only on really cold days where the temp is less than 3 or 4 degrees that the range drops down to 25/30 miles. IF that's the case than fuel savings for me would be pushing €1000!!!

It really does sound too good to be true.

n97 mini

reaper12 wrote: »

Just one more question. Been reading a little on that Speakev website you recommended. Lots of good info about the car.

My question is about the lights, are they as bad as that site suggests they are?

Yes. They're like candles. The MAXGTRS replacement LED lights recommended on one of the threads work very well though. Still not up to the LED headlights on the Leaf, but a vast improvement. And ours passed the NCT with them no problem.

reaper12

n97 mini wrote: »

Yes. They're like candles. The MAXGTRS replacement LED lights recommended on one of the threads work very well though. Still not up to the LED headlights on the Leaf, but a vast improvement. And ours passed the NCT with them no problem.

Are they simple replacement? Can I just swap them out?

Oh, Do you still have the Ampera, the one in the opening post of this thread? It's a beautiful car. If the one I am thinking of buying looked that good, I wouldn't be just thinking about buying

n97 mini

reaper12 wrote: »

Are they simple replacement? Can I just swap them out?

Oh, Do you still have the Ampera, the one in the opening post of this thread? It's a beautiful car. If the one I am thinking of buying looked that good, I wouldn't be just thinking about buying

They're pretty much just drop in. The dust cap fits back on perfectly too as the fan is low profile. Very simple and quick job. You've just to make sure the blades on the bulbs are vertical, and you're good to go.

Yep, still have it!

reaper12

Jut checking out the SEAI Home Charger Grants page. It says the Ampera is eligible if you buy it new or second hand.

I was originally going to just use the granny charger, but, the preheating and top off only take minutes on a proper charger but nearly 45 minute on the Granny charger at 10A.

gunnerfitzy

reaper12 wrote: »

Jut checking out the SEAI Home Charger Grants page. It says the Ampera is eligible if you buy it new or second hand.

I was originally going to just use the granny charger, but, the preheating and top off only take minutes on a proper charger but nearly 45 minute on the Granny charger at 10A.

That's a very recent development. It was not on the approved list for a long time as it had not been offered for sale in Ireland. That's very welcome news.

Alkers

reaper12 wrote: »

Jut checking out the SEAI Home Charger Grants page. It says the Ampera is eligible if you buy it new or second hand.

I was originally going to just use the granny charger, but, the preheating and top off only take minutes on a proper charger but nearly 45 minute on the Granny charger at 10A.

Verified at https://www.seai.ie/grants/electric-vehicle-grants/electric-vehicle-home-charger-grant/eligible-evs-for-the-home/index.xml and I've just made our application.

I've had multiple correspondences with the SEAI about this and never got anywhere!

Now to decide whether to go for a tethered type 2 charger as future proofing or get an untethered charger even though we don't have a type 1 cable!

gunnerfitzy

Alkers wrote: »

Can you provide a link? I've had multiple correspondences with the SEAI about this and never got anywhere!

https://www.seai.ie/grants/electric-vehicle-grants/electric-vehicle-home-charger-grant/eligible-evs-for-the-home/index.xml

Just had it open myself to confirm

reaper12

Alkers wrote: »

Verified at https://www.seai.ie/grants/electric-vehicle-grants/electric-vehicle-home-charger-grant/eligible-evs-for-the-home/index.xml and I've just made our application.

I've had multiple correspondences with the SEAI about this and never got anywhere!

Now to decide whether to go for a tethered type 2 charger as future proofing or get an untethered charger even though we don't have a type 1 cable!

Good luck with the application. Will be interesting to see how much they give.

For me, it's another tick box in the "reasons to get an Ampera" column.

Kramer

reaper12 wrote: »

Good luck with the application. Will be interesting to see how much they give.

Probably in the region of €600 I reckon .

reaper12

Ok, I had a quick look at an Ampera over the weekend. Didn't have time to give it a test drive though. Pictures don't do justice to this car. I was surprised just how good it looks. It was surrounded by Mercs and BMWs and it looked like it belonged there. It's a very solid looking car!!

Sat into the car then, it looked fine. The seats were firm but comfortable, but this would need more than 5 minutes to test properly, but first impressions were good and they look like they would last forever.

The dash looks very modern. I like it, but it doesn't give off the same aura of quality as the outside.

Didn't get to see what it looks like on though.

The steering wheel is horrible, it looks cheap and feels cheaper!! Very disappointed in that.

So first real impressions are mainly positive.

I was also doing a lot of reading over the last week on the Speakev site. There are a few areas of the car that I want to ask you guys about.

We already discussed the lights, so that's a negative. But I am also reading a lot about the demister on the car not been good enough and moisture getting into the lights. Have any of guys had these issues?

And during the summer, does the air conditioning use a lot of power?

One more question, what are the wipers like?

Alkers

reaper12 wrote: »

We already discussed the lights, so that's a negative. But I am also reading a lot about the demister on the car not been good enough and moisture getting into the lights. Have any of guys had these issues?

And during the summer, does the air conditioning use a lot of power?

One more question, what are the wipers like?

Haven't had any issues with moisture in the lights.

I have the opposite experience with the demister, it will clear the windscreen very quickly and there's a dedicated button to the best settings to clear it. It's a bit of a moot point anyway as most of the time you'll have pre heated and the windscreen will be perfectly clear. What I read is some people found the window fogs a bit when in use, if this happens you just press the above button leave it clear for 30s then put climate back to auto.

Hasnt been warm enough in Ireland to notice any impact with the AC for us either

reaper12

Made enquiries about another Ampera today. Got a friend to take a look at it. Perfect condition on the inside. Some small dings on the outside. 92,000 miles on the clock. According to the calculation on the SpeakEV site, using the liftetime mpg, that means it's done roughly 35,000 on the petrol engine. So no worries about that side of things.

The dealer said he would do a HV coolant flush as well, that would be good for another 5 years/50,000 miles.

reaper12

Alkers wrote: »

Verified at https://www.seai.ie/grants/electric-vehicle-grants/electric-vehicle-home-charger-grant/eligible-evs-for-the-home/index.xml and I've just made our application.

I've had multiple correspondences with the SEAI about this and never got anywhere!

Now to decide whether to go for a tethered type 2 charger as future proofing or get an untethered charger even though we don't have a type 1 cable!

gunnerfitzy wrote: »

https://www.seai.ie/grants/electric-vehicle-grants/electric-vehicle-home-charger-grant/eligible-evs-for-the-home/index.xml

Just had it open myself to confirm

Hi Guys, hope you are keeping safe. Things have changed a lot in the last month.

Just wanted to ask you how did the grant application go? Does it take long? If it went through and you have had one installed, which one did you go for?

The Corona virus has put my Ampera plans on hold, but, maybe later in the year I will buy one.

Alkers

Grant permission came through very quickly but we still haven't had the electrician around. Got the EV mini untethered chargepoint.

There's a new one on Donedeal, 14 plate but steep price
https://www.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/vauxhall-ampera-hybrid-very-rare-car/24480008?campaign=3

ELM327

Imported a year or two ago from Electric Autos in kildare
I remember seeing it listed.

unkel

€13k? That's mad money. You can get them from GBP5.9k in the UK. That's well under €7k landed on Irish plates. Great value if you are on a budget, do most of your driving on electric, but also do some longer trips and you couldn't bear having to (multiple) fast charge a 70/80km range Leaf on those trips.

coolisin

Alkers wrote: »

Grant permission came through very quickly but we still haven't had the electrician around. Got the EV mini untethered chargepoint.

There's a new one on Donedeal, 14 plate but steep price
https://www.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/vauxhall-ampera-hybrid-very-rare-car/24480008?campaign=3

Gas considering Phil in electric autos was selling that with 140K for around €12000/13000 last year, I know because i went to look at it, not to kick tyres but was thinking about pulling the trigger for a commute car.
I meant even if it was tidied up a bit not so sure it would be worth the extra with the extra miles.

n97 mini

That one is a 2012 MY too, iirc.

reaper12

Alkers wrote: »

Grant permission came through very quickly but we still haven't had the electrician around. Got the EV mini untethered chargepoint.

There's a new one on Donedeal, 14 plate but steep price
https://www.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/vauxhall-ampera-hybrid-very-rare-car/24480008?campaign=3

So it's pretty quick, that's good to know. Surprised you went with untethered in the end!!

And I have to agree with the posters above me, that one on DoneDeal looks mad expensive.

After looking at the costs involved in importing one, that Ampera on Donedeal would have to less than €10,000 for me to even consider it.

reaper12

unkel wrote: »

€13k? That's mad money. You can get them from GBP5.9k in the UK. That's well under €7k landed on Irish plates. Great value if you are on a budget, do most of your driving on electric, but also do some longer trips and you couldn't bear having to (multiple) fast charge a 70/80km range Leaf on those trips.

Yes, it's a crazy price, don't think it will sell for what he is looking for.

Might take a look if it drops under the 10K price point.

Alkers

reaper12 wrote: »

So it's pretty quick, that's good to know. Surprised you went with untethered in the end!!

If I got a tethered unit, we'd have to change it out when we eventually upgrade to a type 2 car, either replacing the ampera or as a second car.

reaper12

Alkers wrote: »

If I got a tethered unit, we'd have to change it out when we eventually upgrade to a type 2 car, either replacing the ampera or as a second car.

I was planning to get a tethered unit with a type 2 connection and get a type 2 to type 1 adapter to use with the Ampera.

Alkers

I had to travel today for work (essential work). Just shy of 170km on 100km/h or 120km/h motorway or national road. I set the cruise control to the speed limit and due to the reduced traffic levels, hardly had to touch the pedals. Managed over 66km on battery with 2km showing as remaining when I arrived home. I use the 'hold' function when the speed limit is higher than 100km/h. Interestingly, shows I used 10.6kWh which is higher than the usable capacity of the battery so explained by regen I guess.



Another trip I did over the sallygaprecently, before the lock-down was announced:

coolisin

That's pretty impressive.
How far off the speed limits where you

n97 mini

6.12L/100km or 46 MPG on petrol alone, which sounds about right. Once the journey is beyond a certain distance (160hm iirc, though it's been so long now I can't remember) we take the Civic IMA as it will return better economy overall that a single charge and the rest on petrol in the Ampera.

Alkers

coolisin wrote: »

That's pretty impressive.
How far off the speed limits where you

I set the cc to the speed limit, I find the car over indicates by about 5km/hr Vs the phone. All of the 120km/hr sections I was using the engine

reaper12

That does sound pretty good. The MPG on the Petrol engine is impressive when you consider how heavy the car is and it's only a 1.4 litre engine.

n97 mini

Just spotted these screens are slightly different




@Alkers, what MY is your Ampera?

Alkers

Ours is a 2012. Although the screen I took a pic of is the one that pops up when you turn off the car / open the charger port (can't remember which), I think my screen looks the same as yours if I navigate to it through the "leaf" button.

n97 mini

Alkers wrote: »

Ours is a 2012. Although the screen I took a pic of is the one that pops up when you turn off the car / open the charger port (can't remember which), I think my screen looks the same as yours if I navigate to it through the "leaf" button.

Ah ok. I think I might have turned that screen off. Can't remember seeing it...

barry181091

Thinking about my next car after my Fiat Bravo and this has caught my eye. This seems like a perfect car at the prices right now. From what I can see the VRT is very low, plus the prices in the UK are reasonable. Depending on mileage, but this could pay back in 4 years +. Are there any catches? Does the battery degrade much?