Driving in winter, eco-sliding, cable costs, buying a plug-in hybrid, cold batteries & Hitler jokes.

After enjoying Christmas in summer (the way it should be) down in New Zealand, I had to learn what it was like to own an electric car in winter. This meant effectively learning the characteristics of the car all over again.

I was eager to discover exactly how much range the average electric car driver loses in the depths of winter, and there’s really only one way to find out: a series of cold weather comparison tests.

I also got to test-drive a BMW i3 which was nice, but it had a gas engine in the back, which made it less nice, and I had the chance to see an i3 being dismantled in a BMW service centre in Auckland. Fascinating stuff.

After years of wanting one I also bought a plug-in hybrid (an electric-assist bicycle) which, thanks to our destroyed climate, I was able to test-ride in the very middle of winter. In fact, this winter was so warm that I had trouble finding a day cold enough to really test the battery’s cold weather performance.

Some extra stuff in this video include turning off the traction control and doing ‘eco donuts’ in the snow (highly recommended in a rear wheel drive!), making lame Hitler jokes (the result of watching too much ‘Allo ‘Allo), plenty of glorious technical failures, meeting friendly electric car owners, and even appearing on the nightly news.

It wasn’t easy compressing around 7 hours of footage into 14 fun-filled minutes but I reckon the finished result is pretty entertaining with all the boring bits removed.

Check out www.kiwiev.com for more videos, photos and entertaining electric car related stuff!

Видео Driving in winter, eco-sliding, cable costs, buying a plug-in hybrid, cold batteries & Hitler jokes. канала Kiwi EV adventures