JIMNY IS DEAD

I regularly get between 40 - 42 mpg which with the 40 litre tank ( 8.8 gallons ) equates to 352 - 370 miles, but that is brim to empty. I like to re-fill when the gauge is down to 2 bars and that is the problem for an EV. I can pop into Morrisons, park up re-fill, pay and be on my way in 5 minutes. I don't need to worry as to where I can do that as there are so many filling stations available and the chances of being in a queue is very small. On the other hand, a re-charge can take hours and needs careful consideration as to where you are going to get it and the figures stated by manufacturers for EV ranges are based on laboratory testing and bear little resemblance to actual daily driving.

Roger

I get an indicated 42mpg or so, but it's really only just over 40mpg as the computer is quite inaccurate.  I fill.it up at about 290 miles because it's on one bar by then.

As a rule of thumb, an average EV at its worst - motorway speeds in -10°C with the heater on - does about 60% of the WLTP combined range.  It will do much better without sustained high speeds and in warmer temperatures.

Battery technology is developing fast and now the problem that is mostly holding it back is the production cost. With more and more markets and car brands doing EV, the larger volume and lower production should bring down the cost for the cells.
It is very much possible today to make a battery with double the Amps for the same size and weight of leading lifepo cells, but the cost is many times that of the lifepo cells. I think and hope that a few years from now the production batteries will have reached a level where we get twice the range and half the charging time within the same weight and size. Wich would more or less solve some of the problems with EV's today.

I live in a country with as many charging stations as there are petrol stations. Here there is more or less no practical problems with EV ownership. We do not see EV's stranded with empty batteries on every corner.
25% of all registered cars is an EV and most new cars sold (87% or so) are EV.

This is sad, would I want an electric Jimny no. I have an 18 month old Tesla ( had from new). I drive 11 miles to work down the motorway and it knocks 20 miles off the range. If I go the back road way it takes 12 miles off the range. When it was new, the range was 277 miles. It is down to 261 so it appears to be losing a mile a month. Doesn’t bode well for the long term.
I much prefer to drive my 2009 Japanese import Gen 3 Jimny.

Rogerzilla wrote:

I get an indicated 42mpg or so, but it's really only just over 40mpg as the computer is quite inaccurate.  I fill.it up at about 290 miles because it's on one bar by then.

I’d say 42mpg is about the top end of what the Jimny is capable of and would require a specific driving technique.

My Jimny is sporting a few mods. A good cross country journey and I can get an indicated 37-39mpg. But have never seen 40mpg. Not even when new. Cross country would be non dual carriageway, no town, just country roads and short shifting keeps to about 50mph or under.

If you jump on the motorway and set the cruise at 70mph it’ll do about 32mpg.

Running about I like to use rev range, so make use of all 101hp and the red line. Certainly not thrashing it, but enjoying what it can offer. This works out to about 32-34mpg. Which means the fuel light coming on somewhere in the region of 210-230 miles. And then doing another 20-30miles with the light on.

Last week on a part M5 and part A and B roads including Stroud and Cheltenham, I averaged 45 mpg. I never use high revs and cruise control is pointless in modern day traffic but I still keep up with the traffic - except on the M5 - and I don't have to thrash the motor to do it.
Anyway, this is getting off topic. The Jimny is dead and we may never see it's like again. I had a lot of fun in my SJ and drove all over the UK and won lots of cups in RTV trials. I now have a Gen.4 as my daily driver and I love it and the fact that Jimny drivers wave at each other.

Roger

Having had time to digest the information I think that the realities of the situation are repeated very regularly in the wider automotive area. That the jimny is a model that we are on the whole deeply passionate about makes this feel like a personal betrayal which it obviously isn't. Yes parts are going to become more expensive as they go into shorter supply which they will as there isn't the demand to warrant competitive supply one needs only to look at the classic cars we currently have to see that support for a mini or mgb is very different to say a metro or a maestro. That's not to say it's impossible to keep going just more for the determined enthusiast.

As for what they chose to do in the future we need only look at defender as the prime example of what it was versus what it has become. I also think that if we had seen a new model every few years like the golf or corola instead of the 4 we have then we probably wouldn't be so excited especially if like the golf it was nothing like what it started out as, we might even be glad they put it out of its misery.

As for an ev even at 90 miles real world it would be adequate for me as long as I were able to home charge with the possible exception of the 5 or 6 days a year when I have to a hundred miles in a day with a full trailer on the back which would almost certainly halve the range making it impossible to justify.

I think that in the medium term I have to trust that some other manufacturers decide to put something similar into production that has real off road ability, is super compact and able to fulfil the requirements I have but honestly it's deeply unlikely as I'm just too niche.

Still it was a good run and it's not like they have all been forcibly removed and destroyed, there's many decades of jimny joy left to us true delivers yet!

That’s the thing Lambert, my Gen 3 was 12 years old when I traded it, nothing wrong with it and running well. So if I keep my Gen 4 until it is 12 years old that’s another 8 years and I suspect my Gen 4 at 12 years old will be better than my old Gen 3.

With a bit of luck it will go on until 15-20 years old (2035-2040), by which time electric points will be everywhere and petrol will start to increase in price.

I hope Suzuki change their mind and make a hybrid, but if not someone else might make something similar.

Robin

Can you confirm (not sure if I've missed it somewhere?) But is the Jimny production line being closed, or is it Suzuki are just not exporting to the UK & Europe any more?

Soeley wrote:

Can you confirm (not sure if I've missed it somewhere?) But is the Jimny production line being closed, or is it Suzuki are just not exporting to the UK & Europe any more?


 

Just the UK and Europe as far as I'm aware although some EU countries haven't annoucned this yet. For other countries the Jimny continues on.

That is good news as far as spares go, should help to keep the prices a bit lower than if it was a complete production closure.

Lambert wrote:

Having had time to digest the information I think that the realities of the situation are repeated very regularly in the wider automotive area. That the jimny is a model that we are on the whole deeply passionate about makes this feel like a personal betrayal which it obviously isn't. Yes parts are going to become more expensive as they go into shorter supply which they will as there isn't the demand to warrant competitive supply one needs only to look at the classic cars we currently have to see that support for a mini or mgb is very different to say a metro or a maestro. That's not to say it's impossible to keep going just more for the determined enthusiast.

As for what they chose to do in the future we need only look at defender as the prime example of what it was versus what it has become. I also think that if we had seen a new model every few years like the golf or corola instead of the 4 we have then we probably wouldn't be so excited especially if like the golf it was nothing like what it started out as, we might even be glad they put it out of its misery.

As for an ev even at 90 miles real world it would be adequate for me as long as I were able to home charge with the possible exception of the 5 or 6 days a year when I have to a hundred miles in a day with a full trailer on the back which would almost certainly halve the range making it impossible to justify.

I think that in the medium term I have to trust that some other manufacturers decide to put something similar into production that has real off road ability, is super compact and able to fulfil the requirements I have but honestly it's deeply unlikely as I'm just too niche.

Still it was a good run and it's not like they have all been forcibly removed and destroyed, there's many decades of jimny joy left to us true delivers yet!

 

Parts for the Gen 4 will have a long way to go till the rest of the world stops getting them. The Gen 3 may become an issue over time as not many countries got them or even any at all like India who produce alot of parts so whereas the SJ parts are still readily available because india have only just stopped making them. The Gen 3 doesn't have that lifeline but its still a way off yet. I could also use an EV Jimny if it existed as my work is only 11 miles away and thats pretty much all I do in my lcv so range isn't an issue but the cost to charge it, Depreciation and its lifespan does concern me especially with what we are seeing now with used teslas. My 2019 SZ5 is still worth more than what I paid and my LCVs haven't lost that much compared to most new cars and will now stablise with the recent news. Gen 3s  are still holding up well.  What other new cars can do that apart from high end supercars. I think they got the defender right. Yes its gone down the chelsea tractor route but it's still that countryside car you can get grubby but at least your doing it in comfort. There are tons of them around so despite the original complaints about killing the old one off it clearly worked from a sales point of view.