{"id":1403,"date":"2015-03-08T20:27:04","date_gmt":"2015-03-08T19:27:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/samjwatkins.com\/blog\/?p=1403"},"modified":"2015-03-08T20:27:04","modified_gmt":"2015-03-08T19:27:04","slug":"havent-you-been-good","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/samjwatkins.com\/blog\/?p=1403","title":{"rendered":"Haven’t you been good!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Driver<\/a>It’s been incredibly busy the past few months so this is a long time after the fact.\u00a0 I thought you might like to know…<\/p>\n

What?<\/h2>\n

Well, we had our first service of the Leaf (although to be honest, we have enjoyed owning it so much that it really didn’t feel like a year).<\/p>\n

It was a bit cheaper than we were expecting which was good.<\/p>\n

It also gave us a reasonably comprehensive set of results from the battery testing.<\/p>\n

In an electric car, the battery is everything.\u00a0 The longer you can keep it performing well, the longer the range of the vehicle and the more confidence you have in it.\u00a0 It should also prolong the life of the car with its first battery.<\/p>\n

The life of the battery, according to the Leaf’s manual, is dependent on many factors not least the way you look after it.\u00a0 Being a lithium ion battery (Li-ion) it prefers being often and lightly used (i.e. not running the battery down) and not too many full charges.<\/p>\n

Apparently, the way we are managing the battery is all good.\u00a0 Which is a little surprising.<\/p>\n

Surprising? Does that mean you been reckless?<\/h2>\n

No, I have just used the car as I would a car with an internal combustion engine.\u00a0 I try to ensure it doesn’t go past 15% before charging and I don’t bother charging it if it is above 60% in my normal day to day running.<\/p>\n

We have done the odd long run and too be honest, I’d like to take it a bit further this calendar year.\u00a0 I just wasn’t expecting the way I run the car to give us five stars.<\/p>\n

Over the winter, we have found we are using more of the battery for the basic runs to work, for example.\u00a0 It will be interesting to see how it compares during the summer.<\/p>\n

Nice to know…<\/h2>\n

The other piece of news the past six weeks has been the loss of the Source East and London cards.\u00a0 These allow us to charge the car at work for example.\u00a0 Instead, all of our charging has been performed at home.<\/p>\n

Expensive! Would it be better to have a petrol car, especially given the fuel prices…<\/h2>\n

Actually, no.\u00a0 I thought it would be, but as we have solar cells we charge for free during the weekend and only a few pence a couple of times a week.\u00a0 This has had very little affect on our electrical consumption.\u00a0 The other surprising thing is we’re not having to queue for fuel.\u00a0 Time wise, I get back a good 30 minutes a month.<\/p>\n

I cannot believe how cheap petrol is at the moment and filling up the motorbike is a good deal less than it was.\u00a0 For convenience the electric car has it beat for the commute.\u00a0 I don’t know if the car is better at its estimation levels or I accommodate it more, but a couple of evening charges a week is plenty with a top up on either Saturday or Sunday.\u00a0 I now find I can get 90 odd miles from an 80% charge even with the heater on.<\/p>\n

What has been strange is not being able to use the Waitrose charging points.\u00a0 We haven’t lost the car yet, but nestled in with other cars in the shopper’s car park, it is very ordinary looking.<\/p>\n

Having ordered replacement cards when the Source East one was lost and the Source London one stopped working as it snapped during use, it did feel a little restrictive.\u00a0 But in reality, that didn’t appear to be the case.<\/p>\n

But then the Source London one finally arrived yesterday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s been incredibly busy the past few months so this is a long time after the fact.\u00a0 I thought you might like to know… What? Well, we had our first service of the Leaf (although to be honest, we have enjoyed owning it so much that it really didn’t feel like a year). 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