My first week driving electric SUV

[cyprusmax47]

My dream has become real last week when I received my first electric car. It is the first in the fleet of cars from Green Air Paphos, well known for it's business in renewable energies like photo-voltaic systems, called net-metering or solar pool pumps.

So it is not just talk when Green Air advertises on Cyprus Living Magazine or RockFM, that one can charge his future electric car at home, using up the electricity the own PV-system on the roof had produced in the past. (I am charging right now and it needs max. 4 hours)

As in Cyprus are not sufficient charging points yet to recharge the car battery, there was only one option: a hybrid plug-in car.
What was available from Paphos car dealers was a Mitsubishi Outlander SUV PH-EV, not the latest from their model range and with no-frills, but good enough for a start.

The first week I was just test driving the car into town, a bit on the motorway, and of course to my fish tavern at Timi beach.

It is unbelievable quiet when you drive with ca. 50 km speed and you hear only the wind with open windows and the tyre-noise, when on empty roads. (which many roads are at our country side)

With fully charged main batteries I could drive 55 km pure electric and after that the petrol engine comes on and the built-in generator recharge the batteries if you want.
In general the car drives first electric as far as it is enough in the batteries even on the motorway with 110 km.
There are two electric motors in the front and the back as well, and a 2.0 l petrol engine which comes only on if you push full throttle.

What I liked also a lot was the regenerative braking system with 2 padel on the side of the steering wheel which you can use instead of the normal breaks, to slow the car down if necessary, for example if you see a red traffic lights in front of you. Every time this system is used, the batteries get a charge from it. (energy recuperation)

So, this was only a first review from electric driving that car, but I will post again after I am more experienced after a while.

Here one of the many videos about that car. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFMitmZgaCY

Max

[LouiseCastricum]

I wish you a lot of safe kilometers Max.

[LouiseCastricum]

Surely this is a HYBRID car and not fully an electric car as it has a petrol engine.

That is what Max wrote in his post !

As in Cyprus are not sufficient charging points yet to recharge the car battery, there was only one option: a hybrid plug-in car.
What was available from Paphos car dealers was a Mitsubishi Outlander SUV PH-EV, not the latest from their model range and with no-frills, but good enough for a start.

[bmwx5]

€€€€€€€€€ please no mention I can see of costs of car itself is it from Green Air themselves or another motor car supplier plus what's the cost of fitting photo voltaic / solar panels for the charging of the car when not contributing to the grid 55 km before petrol engine comes in and charges the system thats just a return trip to drop the kids off at school and a bit of shopping, it's a hybrid is it not ? Don't get me wrong it's the future but very limited at the moment you are still reliant on fossil fuels unless the car manufacturers can build a car that's purely powered from the sun , possible for some countries but not most of them . These Hybrid cars lose there value quickly as technology advances .

[Dominic]

Even if it is a return trip to the school and a bit of shopping, so what? It will then be charged up again in time to pick the kids up.

[JimX]

I absolutely agree this is the future of motoring, but after asking the cost of the main battery pack I nearly fell over, as we all know batteries have a life span and the cost of replacement here on Cyprus would be astronomical your talking of thousands, maybe a future investment, but for the average buyer be aware of the battery replacement cost should they ever go, even if the Dealers say they are a 100% reliable, just like those rechargeable Vacuum cleaners, there not.

[bmwx5]

https://cartreatments.com/hybrid-cars-pros-and-cons/ as Jim x States battery life is not forever and sometimes recharging 100% and letting the charge drop below 20 % is detrimental to some types of battery and reduces the working life but as seen with mobile phones technology advances and the capacity and ampere hour increase with smaller sized units so I can see such advances in hybrid / electric car technology. I have seen a number of Tesla cars running around paphos would be interesting if any readers own one and what costs and requirements are to run such a car.

[Devil]

Several years ago, I wrote my take on hybrid cars for use in Cyprus. Try http://bnellis.eu/cyprus/cyhybrid.html

[Aargent]

Several years ago, I wrote my take on hybrid cars for use in Cyprus. Try http://bnellis.eu/cyprus/cyhybrid.html

My take on the best future is Hydrogen powered cars but there is the usual problem. Filling stations will not offer Hydrogen until there are enough cars to use them and and people will not buy the cars until there are sufficient Filling points. They are using Hydrogen Buses and I beleive Trains. The only emisssion is water.
As this is your field I would be interested on your opinion.

[emgee]

Not for me, yet. 55km doesn't even get me there, never mind coming back.

One day perhaps when the price of electricity in Cyprus comes down.

Good luck

Alan

[Earlsfield]

Let’s be honest, it’s 2 Ltr SUV with a very limited hybrid capability designed to save a few pennies rather than the environment. I do think it’s the way to go because unless you are a “Urban” driver who does short hop journeys around town then electric cars are just not practical. And as it has been pointed out, these cars are expensive and when/if the batteries fail very expensive, unless of course it’s a company car?

[Devil]

My take on the best future is Hydrogen powered cars but there is the usual problem. Filling stations will not offer Hydrogen until there are enough cars to use them and and people will not buy the cars until there are sufficient Filling points. They are using Hydrogen Buses and I beleive Trains. The only emisssion is water.
As this is your field I would be interested on your opinion.

No! I cannot see hydrogen becoming mainstream. The manufacture of hydrogen gas is not energy-efficient (it requires much more energy to make than you get out of it!) I did a take on the idea at http://bnellis.eu/cyprus/cyhydrocar.html about 5 years ago and I believe it is still valid.

[cyprusmax47]

Interesting for me that there is not one positive post concerning the environment, when one tries to avoid CO2 emissions also here in Cyprus. It is a big issue in large towns in Germany and certainly in London as far as I know.

Forgot to mention that road tax I payed was 10 Euro for Aug-Dec....

Max

[JimX]

Most of us on this discussion are in favour of duel fuel motors or all electric, but total reliance on battery only powered cars is probably many years away certainly past my life span, and Max if you can afford to purchase your dual fuel SUV I'm sure the road tax fee is on no consequence, enjoy your purchase.
As for the local environment yes, but have you seen the plastic and other rubbish in the sea? if not this is what needs to be sorted before over large SUVs are available for those fortunate to afford one.

[Uncle D]

The Toyota Prius have been around since 2003, they sell a lot of them in North America where they are very popular especially with Taxi drivers, from what I have read the batteries are good for 200,000 miles, also when they need replacing their are generic batteries that are less than half the price than the Toyota ones.
I cant speak for Mitsubishi batteries, but if I was going to buy a hybrid crossover I would go for Toyota Rav4

[JimX]

I asked at a Lexus dealer out of interest only, and the cost for new units was 7K plus fitting, sort of put me off.

[Dominic]

Perhaps you should have asked a Mitsubishi dealer?

[cyprusmax47]

The Toyota Prius have been around since 2003, they sell a lot of them in North America where they are very popular ....
I cant speak for Mitsubishi batteries, but if I was going to buy a hybrid crossover I would go for Toyota Rav4

I was also interested in a RAV 4 hybrid, but there is no plug-in version YET. (but soon!) So you cannot drive pure electric for a distance and you cannot charge the batteries at home or charging station. The whole idea was, that owners of a net-metering photo-voltaic system at their home can charge their new electric car as well from their own renewable energy they produced. Only then the maximum is achieved concerning CO2 emissions as in Cyprus electricity is still produced from heavy diesel. Green Air wanted to show how "Green" is already possible in Cyprus if you know it.

Max

[Devil]

The whole idea was, that owners of a net-metering photo-voltaic system at their home can charge their new electric car as well from their own renewable energy they produced.

So you use the PHEV during the day, as most people do, come home in the evening to recharge the batteries, but it's already dark, so it's the EAC that helps you. I can't find the ref, offhand, but I did read that many PHEV owners in the USA don't plug in and use the car as an ordinary hybrid.

[cyprusmax47]

The whole idea was, that owners of a net-metering photo-voltaic system at their home can charge their new electric car as well from their own renewable energy they produced.

So you use the PHEV during the day, as most people do, come home in the evening to recharge the batteries, but it's already dark, so it's the EAC that helps you.

No, you got that wrong Devil, I am not like most people, my work is mainly in my home office. So when I am back from town early morning I can plug-in at home when the sun produces the most electricity between 10AM and 2.30PM...and from the short trip to town and back, the batteries are charged with that period of time. (<3 hours)

Max