How much should it cost to charge a car?

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on · · 2 comments · 1,000 words · read ~211 times.
A large electrc charger with the Shell logo on it.

Back when nuclear power stations were first proposed, we were promised "energy which is too cheap to meter". That is, the cost of electricity would be so low, invoicing for its use would be prohibitively expensive. Well, that didn't exactly turn out that way! But as our electronics have become more efficient, the cost of […]

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Review: Kia Soul EV

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on · · 600 words · read ~257 times.

I'm now on my third EV. You can read my thoughts on the BMW i3 and the Renault Zoe. This review is primarily focussed on the tech included with the car. Bluetooth Connects quickly, and no glitches with streaming audio. Call quality was clear, but didn't show caller's photo - which is a shame. Doesn't […]

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Real fuel efficiency of an electric car? 165MPG

By
on · · 2 comments · 250 words · read ~331 times.
Trip counter on a car.

I've been driving EVs for a few years now - and people often ask me about running costs. I can't tell you what your insurance, maintenance, or leasing costs will be - but I can show you how much it costs to drive. Here's a fairly recent trip in my Renault Zoe: That's a mixture […]

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Review - BlueSkySea DashCam

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on · · 650 words · read ~525 times.
Dashcam product shot

The good folks at BlueSkySea have sent me their 1080p dashcam to review. It's a sub-£50 dashcam with built in WiFi and a 150° field of view. Let's take it for a spin! Unboxing and first use Video Samples Video resolution: 1920x1090 formatted to play back at 1920x1080. Audio: 16KHz AAC stereo - although seems […]

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Renault's Secret Mileage API

By
on · · 1 comment · 550 words · read ~728 times.
Website showing my car and its mileage

Last year I reverse engineered Renault's Electric Car API. One of the curious omissions was mileage - it just doesn't appear there. However! All is not lost. If you log in to your Renault Account - https://www.renault.co.uk/my-account/my-car.html - you'll get details back about your car including its make, model, date of next service, and mileage! […]

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Reverse Engineering the Renault Zoe API

By
on · · 34 comments · 1,450 words · read ~7,696 times.

Last year I published details of the BMW i3's API. I've now swapped my i3 for a Renault Zoe - so I thought I'd perform the same exercise. 🔋 100%🚗 76 miles🔌 Plugged in⚡ Not charging⚠ Secured and Locked#RenaultZOE — edent's Car (@edent_car) October 15, 2016 All these API calls can be found by using […]

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Twelve Thousand Miles in an Electric Car

By
on · · 1 comment · 1,600 words · read ~1,595 times.

I've spent an entire year driving the BMW i3 Electric Car. This is a long-ish term review which is intended to reflect my experience with the car and the UK's charging infrastructure. I spent three days a week commuting between Slough and Oxford, on a mix of motorways and quieter streets. I drove all the […]

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BMW and the GPL

By
on · · 7 comments · 500 words · read ~10,541 times.

I accidentally caused a little brouhaha last week - for which I would like to apologise. In my blog post about BMW's unencrypted software updates, I said: Judging from the files, it would appear that the infotainment system is made by Magneti Marelli with components by Wind River, AutoSAR, and Nvidia Tegra. Looking at the […]

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BMW are sending their software updates unencrypted

By
on · · 7 comments · 950 words · read ~15,544 times.

The BMW i3 is an amazing electric car - let down by very shoddy software. That's a huge problem - software runs our lives and, if it is defective, it can ruin us. We used to have separate categories of device: washing machines, VCRs, phones, cars, but now we just have computers in different cases. […]

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Drive the car, tuppence a mile!

By
on · · 4 comments · 650 words · read ~616 times.

(To the tune of the popular Mary Poppins song.) How much does it really cost to drive an electric car? Well, I've had my BMW i3 for a few months, so I thought I'd crunch the numbers. As part of the UK Government's OLEV scheme, there's a subsidy for installing car charging points at home. […]

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