If I drop my 2 litre diesel Qashqai into 5th at 40 mph it will shake rattle and roll and it will not sound good…
This statement: " Use your air-con wisely" reminded me of something related, not to ICE cars, but something Marge and I were talking about yesterday.
EVs are suggested to become the usual option in the near future, despite their limits in range, etc.
What I have never heard mention is heaters!
The heater in a conventional ICE vehicle uses a by product of the engine cooling, which would otherwise not be utilised, so requires no additional fuel unless, of course, the fan was turned on.
In an EV, a heater would surely drain the battery in addition to its use for motive power. I assume (unless I have misunderstood) that, especially in cold weather, using the heater would further limit the range of the vehicle.
Is that correct?
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In that case, I expect you’ve got Nissan’s 1.5 diesel under the bonnet. Mine is 2.5 and therefore the torque band is much wider and forgiving.
I wouldn’t know as I’ve never needed the AC on in my ICE car, but I do know it does decrease the MPG. I would imagine the electrical load in an EV would vastly reduce the battery mileage range.
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I always thought that too, Omah.
Doesn’t it affect braking power too?
Mine dash tells me when to change to 5th. so as to ease work on the engine.
Oh yes, re. AC, I’m sure its use is bound to decrease the MPG.
The heater, though, in an electric car is bound to use some of the battery’s capacity.
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@JBR , And that would apply to deicing and demisting too !!
This could be significant in a climate like ours !!
Donkeyman! 
Yes of course. Funny how the government, motoring magazines, etc., don’t seem to mention that!
@JBR , Yeah, l suppose a possible solution to this could be to fit a storage
heater into the EVs when they build them, which is heated up when the vehicle
is recharged at night time ?Not a very good solution imo though is it??
Donkeyman! 
Sorry have no experience of electric cars but this article gives some idea of how AC works
LongDriver, That sounds pretty good, l had a Land rover Freelander turbo
diesel 2 litre that would stall if you let it slog too much !
And then again l had a toyota 1800 petrol bakkie that could pull away in
3rd just by careful clutch control and little throttle , this vehicle had no
engine management system !!
Obviously this is down to a low overall gear ratio ??
Donkeyman! 
That’s a very thorough and detailed article, but at the end of the day I can’t see any magic solution to the problem of heating in EVs being overcome.
The old saying ‘you don’t get owt for nowt’ has got to apply and relying on the battery to supply heat (one way or another) is in my opinion unsurmountable, hence the mention of the installation of independent heaters utilising chemical fuels.
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Imagine you are on a bicycle. The use of the appropriate gear stops you from using too much energy to move the pedals, when the gear is too high. It also stops you from having to put extra strain on the chain & rear sprocket unnecessarily. The same applies to a car. But it is the engine, drive shaft & diff etc that is put under strain.
On HGV’s it is not uncommon for a drive shaft bearing, or a half shaft to give up, especially when the truck is fully loaded & moving slowly. As speed increases so the strain lowers, as you are maintaining momentum, not gaining it. Moving away & accelerating are times when the drive train is put under the most strain, thus fuel consumption increases. Thus, the appropriate gear helps with both fuel economy & reduces strain on the drive train.
A half shaft, is the shaft that links a wheel with the diff. Each half of the axle has a “half shaft.”
AFAIK, there are 3 EcoBoost options - 99bhp, 123bhp and 153bhp.
The early Freelander TD’s were well known for poor gearing ratios all down to Powertrain Ltd, but the later Ford Duratorque with a far better EMS and gearing overcame the ‘reluctance’ of the outgoing engines.
If I had more years left in me, I’d like to test drive the new Defender 110 6 pot diesel as the write up on that engine impressed me. Realistically, I doubt if I’ve got more than another 6-8 yrs before I send my licence back, so I’m hanging onto my Pathfinder.
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Yeah, with the nippiness of her Fiesta, I took a guess that she has the mid range version.
All three are the same 3 pot engine and the difference is the set up etc.
When engine power is boosted with a TC, the amount of boost will effect the power output.
I have the Zetec S.
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DERV … I took a few mins to fill up around lunch time and paid £1.44-9 per litre at Sainsbury’s which works out at £6.54-6 per gallon. I noticed that standard E10 petrol was £1.41-9 per litre, so I sent Mrs LD out to fill the Suzuki too 
It wasn’t that long ago when diesel was cheaper than petrol, presumably because it required less refining.
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The cost of electric cars will be comparable to the mile before long .