Citizens collect data on electric vehicles, defects and all
Thursday, 27 December 2018
Thinking of buying an electric vehicle in 2019? Check out this New Zealand website and the citizen scientists behind it before purchasing. WILL HARVIE reports.
Petra Hoggarth is super keen on electric vehicles (EV). Like about 700 other Kiwis, she contributes data on the performance of her Nissan Leaf EV to website Flip the Fleet.
It's a citizen science initiative that tracks EV performance in New Zealand conditions and may be the only consumer-led EV data collection effort in the world.
Hoggarth and her partner bought a 2011 Nissan Leaf with about 36,000 kilometres on the clock for just under $14,000 earlier this year. They were soon collecting data from the on-board computer once a month and sending it off to Flip the Fleet (FtF), where it was collated with data contributed by other keen EV drivers.
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The free website then reports back on Hoggarth's monthly savings, pollution avoided, fuel not used, as well as providing information on her batteries' state of health, car efficiency, maintenance costs, return on investment and comparisons with other NZ vehicles.
She initially collected her data using a dongle inserted into a data port under the dash, a 10-minute monthly task. But Hoggarth is so keen, she's now one of about 50 Kiwis with installed black boxes, which automatically collect and transmit significantly more fine-grained data.
Both collection methods return good scientific data, FtF co-founder and retired Otago University ecologist Henrik Moller says.
For example, electrical vehicles are less efficient the further south they are driven. In part, this is down to temperature – cold affects batteries, in simple terms. But cold temperatures also mean heaters are used more and less daylight means headlights are used more.
FtF is unashamedly in favour of electric vehicles, but it also shares information about defects.
About a year ago, for example, FtF data showed that 30kWh Nissan Leaf batteries were declining about three times as fast as 24 kWh Leaf batteries at two years of age. The data was published in March in a science journal that's not peer reviewed but looked convincing.
There had been sporadic reports overseas of similar problems, but FtF's data forced Nissan to respond, Moller says.
Nissan claimed there was an 'instrumentation error' in the 30kWh vehicles – rather than a battery problem – and issued a software correction. It appears to be a 'genuine fix', Moller says, but EV drivers still have concerns and data collection continues.
Meanwhile, another scare has erupted regarding brake failures. EV brakes are different from conventional vehicle brakes so the technology is new. The NZ Transport Agency launched an investigation in late November.
'We have to speak up about the negative bits of EV ownership,' Moller says.
Issues like these and others keep FtF's Facebook page humming with debate and info swaps.
In mid-December, a member noted his charging cable had been stolen, a problem not faced by conventional drivers. Earlier, members noted that prices of used EVs were rising. Somebody noted a new public charger had been installed outside Pak 'n Save Rangiora.
Hoggarth has a PhD and is enthusiastic about data. She has also run EV economics and says Kiwi families with two cars – a sizeable group – should sell their worst petrol vehicle and get an EV for running about town. She reckons they'll get about 100 kilometres a day on an overnight charge.
It's not the solution for everyone, but is ideal for many, she says.
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