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Please note all comments are from my own brain and don't necessarily represent the position or opinions of my employer, previous employers, colleagues, friends or pets.
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Mike
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Talkiet:
I'd love to know if anyone can make progress on the English conversion of the headunits...
Autolink (one of main used Nissan leaf importers)has this add on some of their trademe pages:
HEAD UNIT CONVERSION TO ENGLISH SERVICE - ASK US
I haven't inquired further, but sounds like good news...
It's a pity that Nissan Japan doesn't just enable English in the menu. They already have to do the work for it for offshore markets, and we know the interface can handle multiple selective languages as the USA cars have both English and Spanish options... Would help the residual values of their cars in japan, and improve the reputation of their brand in NZ.
grant_k:
The very poor headroom in the i3 is the main reason I like the eGolf better.
Credit to Kalus on http://www.myvwegolf.com/forum for the image.
i3 is has slightly more headroom in the front, But e-golf better in back, we are only talking about 20-30mm anyway
The i3 is a much faster car. e-golf is similar speed to the Nissan leaf which is plenty fast (especially at lower speeds), but not golf GTI fast if that what you are used to. (I got to take a golf GTI for a drive last year, and it was a lot of fun)
e-golf 0-100 is 10.4 sec
BMW i3 7.2 sec
BMW i3 REX 7.9sec (more weight from petrol fired generator under boot floor)
Can't comment on handling sorry.
I am really glad that VW are bringing the egolf to NZ, will be great to have more variety of plug in cars. I hope they bring the Passat GTE Wagon (plug-in hybrid) to NZ too, it would make a great competitor to the Out-lander PHEV , particularly for the green minded company car market.
MikeAqua:
Is charging standardised (voltage, plug format etc) between EVs?
As larknz said, No.
Basically there are two typed of EV charging:
All EV's have normal AC charging, many also additionally fast charging capability.
There are 2 vehicle side socket's:
Type 1 (single phase):
Type 2 (single / There phase):
Both these sockets are based on the same standard and use the same communication protocol etc.
Both these standards require a wall/pillar mounted box (or inline brick on charge cable). Inside this is some electronics that tell the car the maximum power draw that particular outlet can handle, and a relay that makes sure that the power terminals are dead untill the plug is fully mated and the earth is properly connected. (makes it safe to use outside and plug in in the rain).
This equipment is called "EVSE" or electric vehicle supply equipment. Most people call it a charger for convenience although the actual charger is mounted on the vehicle.
In regards to home charging, you simply get an fixed or portable EVSE with a tethered cord to suit the plug on your car.
Portable EVSE's that plug into a 10A domestic plug or a 16A campground socket are readily available, and most EV's come with one.
In regards to public charging, there are two approaches:
European (type 2 mounted socket): Bring your own cord.
Both type 1, and type 2 car's can plug in as they simply bring an appropriate cord to plug their own car in.
USA (type 1 tethered cord):
Only type 1 car's can plug in (technically it is possible to use an adapter cable to plug in type 2 car's but it breaches the standard)
In regards to fast charging, there are again two competing standards.
The charge.net stations have 2 cords, one for each standard.
Tesla has their own proprietary fast charge standard (supercharging), but they can use other fast charge stations with an adapter.
I think all the Tesla Model S's in NZ come form Australia or Europe so have the type 2 socket on the car. (unlike in the USA where they use another propriety connector (included 3" adaptor turns this into a type 1 port)
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