Concerns continue to swirl over “true” range of electric vehicles
Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Green Daily
Nissan Leaf dash display – Click above for high-res image gallery
Here’s a discussion we’ve had many times before. Let’s say that you assess your driving habits and are convinced that an electric car with a range of 100 miles is perfectly suited to you. So you head on down to a dealership, buy that electric car and go about your business. A month or two of time passes and you begin to realize that the hundred miles of claimed range is more like 70 miles. Well, it turns out that 70 miles doesn’t quite cut it for you. Disgusted, you demand a refund for your purchase and vow to never buy an electric car again.
This is obviously not how automakers want things to play out, but when they become boastful about the range of an EV, this is exactly what could happen. Case in point, BMW initially listed the range of the Mini E at 156 miles. The company later amended this number to 100 miles. Most Mini E drivers have rarely achieved the 100 number and instead see typical averages of around 80 miles with a full charge.
As Chelsea Sexton wrote on PluginCars.com:
It only takes a few days for consumers to get over it, but if backlash over unmet range promises keeps them from trying an EV in the first place, range anxiety becomes permanent and it won’t matter how good the EV is otherwise.
2012 León essential to SEAT’s future
Seat will use its next-generation Leon to launch its first hybrid and electric cars from 2012 as part of its new 5 year plan, even though there are still no plans for the firm to enter into new market segments.
The Spanish manufacturer is currently testing a plug-in hybrid version of the Leon, known as Twin Drive, and this is expected to be part of the next Leon range that’s planned to arrive in late 2012.
An all-electric version of the Leon is also likely after Volkswagen announced plans to build an all-electric version of the Golf (the car on which the Leon is based) from 2013. The Golf blue-e-motion drivetrain is likely to come from the IBE concept from Geneva, although there are no plans to put the IBE itself into production.
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More details on the 2011 Le Mans technical regulations, now with hybrid power
Filed under: Motorsports, Hybrid, Audi, Honda, Porsche, Peugeot, Diesel, Racing
Peugeot 908-HY hybrid prototype – Click above for high-res image gallery
On Thursday, June 10, the Automobile Club de L’Ouest (ACO), which organizes the 24 Hours of Le Mans, held its annual press conference and announced new technical regulations for the 2011 event as well as the European Le Mans Series. The ACO has long encouraged a variety of powerplant configurations, which is what prompted first Audi and then Peugeot to develop diesel-powered prototypes. 2011 will bring the official introduction hybrid power to Le Mans racing in all of the new classes.
Next year the club will move even further in the direction already pioneered by the American Le Mans Series with its “green racing” initiatives. The top LMP1 class will adopt what are essentially the current LMP2 rules, with gasoline racing engines limited to 3.4 liters normally aspirated or 2.0 liters turbocharged. Diesels can displace no more than 3.7 liters. The current LMP1 cars will be allowed to compete in 2011, but performance will be restricted by as-yet-unannounced means that will likely include more weight and smaller air restrictors. Check out the rest of the changes after the jump.
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