At the BSFG meeting in May last year, Russell Klose of Kilowatt Cars demonstrated and spoke on EVs, and offered BSFG a loan vehicle for members and friends to be able to experience an EV through an "extended test drive". David and Kevin followed up with Russell and picked up his Nissan Leaf in January to bring to Benalla. So far we have had around half a dozen members and friends try the car, some taking it for an overnight test and experiencing the home charging task. The list of interested people is around 20 and growing, so if you're interested you will need to get in quick before it is returned to Russell in the next couple of weeks!
A quick sample of comments so far from our testers include:-
On the positive side:
A few downsides were noted:
(Note: of the above concerns, only the range issue is specific to an EV)
The model Leaf supplied by Russell is the one with a 40 kwh battery, with a nominal range of 240 km. There is also a model with a 60 kwh size battery with a commensurately larger range. Range is greatly affected by speed, terrain and (less so) use of aircon, lights and other features. For those interested, V2L is a feature some EVs have which allows the vehicle battery to be used to power the home. Since a Tesla home battery is around 11-12 kwh, the advantage of having an EV with this capability is obvious, and examples occurred in the recent Qld flood power blackouts where EVs were used to power home-based medical devices (reports in The Age and Guardian)!"
A quick sample of comments so far from our testers include:-
On the positive side:
- Love it!
- Would certainly consider something like this
- Zippy
- Quiet
- Great
- Love how it doesn't roll back!
- Good cruise control
- (if it had V2L capability) good for emergency use in the home
A few downsides were noted:
- No spare tyre (seems to be space under the false floor of the boot)
- Lack of an electric back door closer
- Low profile tyres no good for rough tracks
- Range anxiety
(Note: of the above concerns, only the range issue is specific to an EV)
The model Leaf supplied by Russell is the one with a 40 kwh battery, with a nominal range of 240 km. There is also a model with a 60 kwh size battery with a commensurately larger range. Range is greatly affected by speed, terrain and (less so) use of aircon, lights and other features. For those interested, V2L is a feature some EVs have which allows the vehicle battery to be used to power the home. Since a Tesla home battery is around 11-12 kwh, the advantage of having an EV with this capability is obvious, and examples occurred in the recent Qld flood power blackouts where EVs were used to power home-based medical devices (reports in The Age and Guardian)!"
Peter Holmes giving the thumbs up to his EV extended test driving experience!
David Blore
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