Economy 4

A bit like a petrol car if you keep the speed about 65 there is a marked improvement in "economy". When you push past 70 you are travelling about 8 miles for every 10 the car thinks it should be able to do.

With non-electric cars, it's also down to gearing. In town or if driven aggressively on back roads, my car's fuel consumption plummets and it's probably not materially different from what I used to get from the M135i.

But the 440i's 8spd auto means the engine is spinning at barely 2,000 rpm at French/Italian motorway cruising speeds of about 85-90mph (given that the speed limit is 80mph), hence the decent long distance range. At those speeds, the 6spd manual in the M135i meant it was doing nearer 3,000 rpm with a consequent effect on economy.

I assume that if I stuck to the speed limit in the UK, the 440i would probably achieve 500 miles per tankful doing only motorway miles.

You might very well think that. I couldn't possibly comment (further)!

Solar panels might be enough for the aircon but not for the motor.

If you bring it to St Andrews you're welcome to stop by for some juice.

I'll get you to cut the grass or wash a car in return (although no need to spend all day on it with ceramic coatings, etc)

Interesting video (again) from Harry M talking about 12 months with a full electric and why that hasn’t really worked as a family car and how even after 3 weeks with a PHEV he’s convinced that’s the best solution right now. Nothing earth shattering about that, as I think we’ve all come to that conclusion, but interesting to hear for someone who’s lived with both. The mileage they’ve both done tells the story on its own.

I think we will be in the M5 for the Nottingham/Peterborough trip because of the range anxiety on such a long journey (and being the first trip longer than 50 miles it is too big a first step)

I watched Harry's Garage and his move to the X5 45e. I would agree that is an eminently sensible car for 99% of people. Unfortunately the Government have set the bar too high for hybrids with a requirement that they do 120 miles on electric only to get the same tax benefits as a fully electric car. The personal tax cost of the X5 45e is still significant (£4,500 +) due to the blinkered Government thinking and it is unlikely to make many people choose them as company cars unless they are at the very sharp end of the earnings ladder or very wealthy and able to buy personally. Company's also get less tax benefits so may not even give the option of a vehicle costing a likely £70K with extras.

Yes it was personal tax. I know £1,600 a year isn't huge but it's a lot more than zero and only heading in one direction. However from an employer's point of view the cost of an electric car can be deducted 100% from profits in the year of purchase whereas a hybrid like the 45e costing £70K would be restricted to 18% p.a. on a reducing balance basis and it would be added to the pool effectively meaning 20 years to get tax relief on the full cost.

Is the range readout on your 500 as erratic as my wifes Panda? I had to run it down to the shop the other day and it started out with 177miles range and by the time I'd driven the couple of miles to the shop it had dropped to 130. I started up after getting the milk and it showed 160!

That's because the range is based on the driving over the last few miles only. Cold start and a few stops on the way to the shop and it reckons it will only do 130 miles under those conditions. Warmed up a bit after leaving the shop and it's feeling a bit better about distance. Many cars base their expected range on this kind of calculation.

That is exactly how it works but I've never driven a car in which the range flips about so much.

The new job isn't doing my fuel economy any good.....
From getting just under 50mpg commuting 20 miles each way largely on the M3, the Fiesta is now struggling to crack 35mpg on the approx 3 miles each way drive to and from work.
I can at least console myself with the fact that a week's commuting costs about the same as a day's commute previously did, but I'm not sure that these short trips are good for the engine. I'll be interested to see what consumption I get out of the Kuga on the new commute, and the bike seems a realistic option in the summer on dry days

I went to Northampton earlier to get my first jab and was listening to a call on the way back, so just pottered along the dual carriageway at about 65mph.  Apparently that was a new efficiency record, which is pretty good considering the first few miles were roundabouts/traffic lights and normally I'm doing well to get 30mpg plus when I've looked before (as you have to look at this trip screen to get the mileage since a fuel stop) I've not seen my acceleration score better than 3.5 out of 5.   Must have been a good tailwind!

Martin, in your post, the screen in the car shows the accelerator at 4.6, what looks like a speedo and a symbol for the brake. What are these. The i-Pace has started to show these on the dash after a recent software update and I can't work out what they are trying to tell us.