Random EV thoughts.....

Dardania

Stealthirl wrote: »

If it was mostly doing local runs around Mullingar it would be grand. Doing a 170km airport run not so much, but how often would that happen ? it's a €150-200 fare and maybe 30-45min top up after.

But from reading the OP the killer was the pre charge time before taking the job

unkel

charlieIRL wrote: »

I was talking to a lady recently who had a brand new leaf as a taxi, she regretted buying it big time, it’s not working out for her and her husband at all. Not getting the range they expected, lack of FCP for quick top ups, if they get a decent run to the airport etc and they only have half a battery they can’t do it.

They are in Mullingar btw.

They bought the wrong car so. Leaf is basically a city car and very good at that. Not suitable for regular long runs where fast charging is needed. That said, Mullingar to the airport is only 84km. How the hell could they not make it there if they have half a battery? For sure they would have to charge at the airport but the generous takings from that trip would be good to allow some time off (waiting at the charger and charging)

I've spoken to several L40 taxi owners in Dublin and every single one of them is delighted with their car. If I were a Dublin taxi man, I'd probably get a L40 too. Scrap that, I'd get a Tesla

Markcheese

Would a newer ionique or e-niro be an even better bet ?
I suppose it's not just range, charging speeds is a big deal too...

Old diesel

Is the eNiro actually approved as a taxi?????

The 64 kwh battery would be solid on range.


On the IEVOA there was someone complaining that their L40 taxi wasn't working out.

Charging 3 times a shift on his long Saturdays and he was finding that the cost to charge AND the lost work added up.

As in if he wasn't needing to charge - he'd be earning.

KCross

https://www.autoblog.com/2020/01/28/nissan-cuts-layoffs/

Shutting down lines and plants!

Ghosn saying they will be bankrupt within 2 years hasnt helped Im sure!


Sunderland must be worried with all that and then Brexit thrown in for good measure.... hard to understand why they voted for Brexit in Sunderland itself!

The next few years will have alot of turmoil in the big OEM's!

JohnC.

AAA (US) did a survey. Results may not be too surprising to this forums readers. Things like 96% of EV drivers staying with EV for their next car. 78% also have an ICE, but 87% of those do the majority of driving in their EV. Range anxiety falling away.

https://newsroom.aaa.com/2020/01/aaa-owning-an-electric-vehicle-is-the-cure-for-most-consumer-concerns/

zg3409

Old diesel wrote: »

Is the eNiro actually approved as a taxi?????

The 64 kwh battery would be solid on range.


On the IEVOA there was someone complaining that their L40 taxi wasn't working out.

Charging 3 times a shift on his long Saturdays and he was finding that the cost to charge AND the lost work added up.

As in if he wasn't needing to charge - he'd be earning.

Eniro can be a taxi. Kona boot too small
Search online for " nta taxi suitable vehicle list " for late 2019 list. There is a couple of Tesla model 3 taxis (one Dublin one cork) and one Tesla model s taxi. Tesla does not seem to be on this list, I am not sure why as model s was on older list.


There was a taxi EV thread on boards.ie. Fuel costs are not a big part of taxi running costs, but maintenance and depreciation are. That said there seems to be hundreds of Prius as taxis, many I assume are jap import in Dublin city.

To get quick change over they need a bank of taxi specific fast chargers at Dublin airport and city centre.

unkel

I overtoke a white Tesla Model 3 taxi a couple of days ago on the ORR (R136) northbound. It was filthy dirty

richardsheil

Lumen wrote: »

Quiz time!

Who invented the unit of horsepower?

James Watt as far as I remember.

ELM327

Old diesel wrote: »

Is the eNiro actually approved as a taxi?????

The 64 kwh battery would be solid on range.


On the IEVOA there was someone complaining that their L40 taxi wasn't working out.

Charging 3 times a shift on his long Saturdays and he was finding that the cost to charge AND the lost work added up.

As in if he wasn't needing to charge - he'd be earning.

L40 as a taxi should be fine if youre only doing city runs.
You're getting much reduced maintenance and fuel costs at the trade off of some lost income.


I would suggest a niro or model 3 would be better.

Water John

I really think you need a 60+kwh car to be a taxi. You really don't need your work day revolving around recharges. Maybe one fast charge top up. Of course the other issue is will your car fully charge overnight, at home?

NIMAN

KCross wrote: »

https://www.autoblog.com/2020/01/28/nissan-cuts-layoffs/

Shutting down lines and plants!

Ghosn saying they will be bankrupt within 2 years hasnt helped Im sure!


Sunderland must be worried with all that and then Brexit thrown in for good measure.... hard to understand why they voted for Brexit in Sunderland itself!

The next few years will have alot of turmoil in the big OEM's!

Main reason I'd guess would have been lack of information. Or just stupidity.

The likes of the NE of England and Wales voted in the highest numbers for Brexit, yet are the areas in receipt of most EU funding.

Go figure.

Water John

Not to digress, but they've spent 40 years reading sh1te newspapers telling them, every problem in their lives is caused by the EU.

ELM327

Water John wrote: »

I really think you need a 60+kwh car to be a taxi. You really don't need your work day revolving around recharges. Maybe one fast charge top up. Of course the other issue is will your car fully charge overnight, at home?

7kW *8 hours gives 56kWh, plenty to give almost 100%

unkel

Water John wrote: »

I really think you need a 60+kwh car to be a taxi.

Why? A Dublin taxi does 200-250km per day on average, which is within the range of a Leaf 40kWh for city traffic. Of course they're is the rare occasion of a trip beyond the range, but that would be so profitable that it justifies an hour on a fast charger somewhere (even at 29c or more per kWh on top of the time lost)

MJohnston

Presumably because as a taxi driver you can't necessarily predict how far your next passenger wants to go, so then you'd be that bit more paranoid about keeping the charge topped up "just in case". If you have a few kWh buffer on your normal daily range, you can relax a bit more.

KCross

I think for Taxi's as well you wont get as good efficiency as someone who is just commuting. You are in the car all day with heaters etc running even when not taking a fare. Therefore, alot of short journeys in an EV are less efficient than a couple of long journeys.

It would be interesting to hear from a taxi owner what range they get from a BEV in the real world. I bet its less than the general commuter we get on the forum.

And as MJohnston says, you cant have someone hopping in with 30% battery left and then having a discussion about whether the taxi can make it to the destination or not... there needs to be alot of spare capacity in a Taxi scenario.

unkel

Next time I talk to a L40 taxi man, I'll specifically ask what their average daily km is and what their experience / anxiety is about picking up longer fares. Any of them I spoke to until now were very happy with their setup though. But they were all in Dublin. Probably not the same / more anxiety for taxi drivers outside of the pale...

ELM327

If I were a taxi driver not a hope would I have an EV right now.

unkel

If I were a taxi driver in Dublin there's not a chance I would still be driving an ICE.

redcup342

ELM327 wrote: »

If I were a taxi driver not a hope would I have an EV right now.

Here in Dusseldorf the Elektro-Taxis (Tesla/Leaf/E-Golf) are only possible to book via Freenow/Uber/Sixt Ride where you specify your Destination in advance. I don't think they are possible to just flag down on the street.

It's a mad saving for them though, they have flat rate charging for 45 euros a month vs the 750 euros in Diesel they would normally spend + the maintenence.

Or at least thats what I've heard from the drivers, they are saving 8500 a year in Fuel alone for the car.

unkel

Plus in Ireland there's a 7k subsidy I think when buying one new. Several grand a year saved in maintenance (excluding substantial missed revenue avoided), 500 saved on tolls. A no brainer really unless money is unimportant. But if that was the case, you wouldn't be a taxi driver

ELM327

Let me clarify, I'd have to assess the feasibility of saving money vs the awkwardness of having to keep the car charged

peposhi

There’s one eNiro taxi in Portlaoise. It must be making a good saving already...

imfml

3 year service on my 24kW Leaf today, cost me a chunk on corroded break disks, apart from that all is well and battery still has full capacity. I drive in Dublin, less than 60km a day with an average of about 30km a day. Leaf catches me out a handful of times a year for range but I just swap with my partners ICE for those days. All that said, I still have an urge to change car and go hybrid. Only thing stopping me is having made a few sacrifices and paid for the Leaf for 3 years, the frugle part of me wants to reap the savings now its paid for, but the flippant part of me wants to indulge. Could see us maybe changing the ICE which is the older of the 2 cars for a PHEV in the future when there are more options. The new Passat phev catches my eye, might be good value in a second hand in a couple years. Random thoughts 💭

Black_Knight

imfml wrote: »

. The new Passat phev catches my eye, might be good value in a second hand in a couple years. Random thoughts 💭

Randomly spotted one today in the cork airport carpark, plugged in. Couldn't but think about the poor battery sitting at 100% for a few days, doing it no favours.

Did vw increase the price with it being a phev now? Is the phev petrol or diesel? Is full ice still an option?

innrain

The Passat plug-in hybrid petrol 1.4, starts at 50k while a corresponding ICE Passat Elegance is around 40k.

tom_tarbucket

imfml wrote: »

3 year service on my 24kW Leaf today, cost me a chunk on corroded break disks, apart from that all is well and battery still has full capacity. I drive in Dublin, less than 60km a day with an average of about 30km a day. Leaf catches me out a handful of times a year for range but I just swap with my partners ICE for those days. All that said, I still have an urge to change car and go hybrid. Only thing stopping me is having made a few sacrifices and paid for the Leaf for 3 years, the frugle part of me wants to reap the savings now its paid for, but the flippant part of me wants to indulge. Could see us maybe changing the ICE which is the older of the 2 cars for a PHEV in the future when there are more options. The new Passat phev catches my eye, might be good value in a second hand in a couple years. Random thoughts 💭

How much did the corroded break discs cost?

Black_Knight

innrain wrote: »

The Passat plug-in hybrid petrol 1.4, starts at 50k while a corresponding ICE Passat Elegance is around 40k.

Hardly worth it so from a financial perspective. €10k gets you a lot of petrol vs the ~40km on a charge you get from the PHEV. 40km a day for 300 days of the year is only 12k km so guessing maybe saving €800 a year, max.

Not sure i've yet seen a good justification for a new PHEV from a financial perspective.

ELM327

Black_Knight wrote: »

Hardly worth it so from a financial perspective. €10k gets you a lot of petrol vs the ~40km on a charge you get from the PHEV. 40km a day for 300 days of the year is only 12k km so guessing maybe saving €800 a year, max.

Not sure i've yet seen a good justification for a new PHEV from a financial perspective.

40km each way with work charging and home charging is 25k km