Report 1, more on the car

To other road users, the Peugeot 106 electric is virtually silent. We are aware of this when driving when, for instance, pedestrians are about to cross the road. Driving requires perhaps a little more than the usual care when in a built-up area. However there has been no risk of hitting or even alarming anyone.

The acceleration performance has met the needs of all driving conditions found within a 10 mile radius. This includes pulling out into fast moving traffic and going up steep hills. The load various from one adult alone to two adults and three children. When taken on the A3 where the speed limit is above 50 mph, a top speed of 59 mph has been reached which reduces only a little on a slight uphill gradient.

Driving comfort is excellent. The ride is very smooth with no jerks on accelerating up to speed then slowing down on "regen" (the braking affect of recharging the batteries) before having to touch the foot brake only when about to come to a stop. Coupled with the lack of noise and vibration, driving in conjested start-stop conditions is almost tolerable!

Radio reception can be a problem in EVs if the power electrics are not properly designed to prevent this. Reception was very good at the start but has deteriorated. However a break in the link to the aerial is probably the cause.

Instrumentation for the electrical aspects used while driving consist of a large state-of-charge dial for the traction battery and an "ECO" meter indicating acceleration and regen currents.

The state-of-charge meter has been taken down to 10% and appears to be very reliable and consistent. The graph below shows readings taken for three long trips. The lines are surprisingly straight, especially given that they were taken for a mixture of conjested and fast driving conditions. Although the maximum displayed on the meter is 100%, extrapolating the lines in the graph back up to zero distance suggest an effective maximum level of 107%.

Some types of nickel-cadmium batteries are susceptible to a memory affect ("loss" of the lower states of charge following a series of shallow discharges). There is only a hint of this for the readings taken on 17^th May.

The full range expected from the battery can be estimated after a partial discharge, assuming that the charge meter is linear (a reasonable assumption from the graph above). On this basis and for a starting percentage after each charge of 107%, the average predicted range is 40 miles. The best estimated range achieved of 54 miles (shown in the graph above) was for one occupant and some care with not accelerating rapidly (keeping the "ECO" needle within the green zone). The lowest estimated range was 23 miles.

Generally we delay connecting the car for charging up until the state of charge is below 50%, at Peugeot's recommendation. Occasionally charging up is done above this level if a heavy use is anticipated for the next day.

The graph below shows the mileage between each charge together with the full range estimated. There seems to be no trend with time or relationship between the sets of data. Instead, two questions of interest for future use will be whether there is a trend for reduced range, first, in winter with the cold and, second, next year when the batteries are older.

Graph of range.

The standing loss from self discharge has been measured at 1.0% per day.

No servicing or other garage attention has been needed. The first planned work will be for the 15000 mile initial service. This will be done at the nearest Peugeot representative trained for this work: Warwick Wright City, Mile End Road, E1.

We have had one flat tyre that was noticed one morning before about to drive off. In place of a spare wheel, Peugeot supply an injection can marked with the advice that driving is immediate and limited to 6 miles. Several days passed before there was a convenient opportunity to drive and leave the car at a tyre replacement centre. The centre didn't find any puncture and the tyre is still in use. Perhaps the tyre was let down maliciously, but we've really no idea as to the cause.

We now have a footpump in case we have to check for slow leaks and we will be getting a spare wheel to keep in the house.

We have one complaint about Peugeot's indication when in reverse. The same button is used to both select and deselect reverse. The indication of reverse is a flashing light on the dashboard but this is well below normal vision when manoeuvering to park. If distracted, say by children, we sometimes forget which way the car will go. As an audible aid, we have now fitted a small 12 V buzzer across the reversing light.