Lightyear One solar EV range testing

[Mr Gus]

Believe me, I've thought about both, car port would have to be in front of house so would need planning permission and we have a steep sloping driveway which would make the panels face away NE from the sun. I did consider extending the front porch roof along the whole house frontage as a shade but the border with next door is not straight so could not go the full length and decided it was not worth it.

Only reasonable upgrade from now on is to replace the 4kW main roof system with a 6kW system now possible with higher efficiency panels. But that's only likely when the FIT contract runs out in 15 years time, and then I might be able to replace it with a 7kW or 8kW system if efficiencies keep improving.

Motorised dual layer cassette panels to extend over the frontage & back in again at night are long overdue for people like you Nowty.
Best get yon self down to Ikea for some drawer runners & the like.

Shall I patent em now?

[nowty]

Believe me, I've thought about both, car port would have to be in front of house so would need planning permission and we have a steep sloping driveway which would make the panels face away NE from the sun. I did consider extending the front porch roof along the whole house frontage as a shade but the border with next door is not straight so could not go the full length and decided it was not worth it.

Only reasonable upgrade from now on is to replace the 4kW main roof system with a 6kW system now possible with higher efficiency panels. But that's only likely when the FIT contract runs out in 15 years time, and then I might be able to replace it with a 7kW or 8kW system if efficiencies keep improving.

Motorised dual layer cassette panels to extend over the frontage & back in again at night are long overdue for people like you Nowty.
Best get yon self down to Ikea for some drawer runners & the like.

Shall I patent em now?

Now it just so happens that I bought such doors to blank off all the gas / water / electric stuff from the utility room over 10 years ago but it was on the "To Do List" until last winter when SWMBO whinged at me so much I had to throw in the towel and do the work including an oak floor. But if it had some solar efficiency aspect to it, it would have been higher up the priority list.

In fact I recall they ended up being free, because B&Q delivered two sets on separate days by mistake and we were out so we just found them left down the side of the house. So I phoned them to take one set back, so they did and refunded me. I decided to not re-phone them, and simply let them off their second mistake.

[dan_b]

Just how many, who intend actually keeping their EV for more than the lease period, would regularly charge their battery to 100% and run it to (nearly) 0%?

Does the ‘mantra’ of 20% to 80% still not hold for maximising battery life?

As I see it, regular steady charging, between those values, is the way to go to look after that expensive piece of kit. Hence, a larger battery, while costing a little on economy, may be the way to save one’s hard earned possession remains in good working order with minimum degradation.

I do this - basically run it between 80-20 on daily use, but then when I know I have a long trip planned will charge it to 90 or even 100% before I set off, just for the extra margin really. Lowest I've ever gone was 1% when on the way back from a long work day trip but that was how much charge I had upon arrival at a Supercharger, so all was fine, lol!

[Oliver90owner]

Quite, dan_b.

Dunno what your real range is but for a 300 mile full range, that means recharging about every 180 miles, or so, if one does not have the opportunity of home/work-charging and like to run between those limits.

I don’t particularly want a second hand electric vehicle that has been “thrashed” - no more than I would choose an ice car that has had a hard life, unless the price was right. Can’t easily tell with electric vehicles from dealers.

Clearly the Leafs, with no active battery management, showed up problems with excessive battery temperatures while discharging/rapid charging. While minimising the degradation, with active battery temperature management, I don’t expect it totally disappears.

[Mr Gus]

Apart from a few "Thrashers" (or more non technology transitional drivers) Most folk I've encountered are pretty careful adhering to attaining the near max possible for their localised driving environment, ..that sound typical of early adopters??

As the mainstream convert, there will be a lot of A-holes (again) cursing EV rather than their own innate stupidity & accelerator to brake driving.
There is always the time you need to get off a fast running T junction & will floor it for a few seconds, ditto when you just get sick of the liability of a driver in front of you & make haste with the accelerator (getting quickly to 100mph & still pulling)

Therefore it will be harder to ascertain how hard its been driven & more especially charged / discharged unless you get data pulled.
(you may have to resort to clues such as fluffy dice & "max power" magazine decals)

I think early leafs are a safe bet as pottering about vehicles. (for now)