MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
We will be in touch
My company is just starting up a salary sacrifice scheme for EV’s. For me that’s a 62% tax saving, so when it comes to the end of my current pcp in 2022 it’s a no brainer.
My current car is an A6 diesel. I’ve no particular affinity to Audi - it was just such a good deal (£300/month for 20k miles/yr)
My wants:
-AWD of some variety. I can get stuck at work in the winter otherwise (dont want to discuss pros & cons or AWD v winter tyres😣)
Something with decent ride height - roads here are lumpy & full of holes.
Heated leather seats (muddy post ride drives)
Nothing too big - A6 is Limit for work car park.
Range of 250miles. 140 gets me to work & back.
What would you get?
New Volvo XC40 electric looks interesting. Shorter than an A6. I’ve been looking at them when I replace my diesel in Autumn this year.
250 mile range ! Can you actually get that in the real world ?
We looked and found that just isn't realistic. Plus with all the issues trying to charge a car when not at home, we went for a plug in hybrid.
Xc40 is nice - my missus has a petrol one. It’s very high backed for the dogs, which makes my old spaniel grumble!
A lot of the new EV seem to be performance focussed - I want Subaru Forester rather than Impreza! The Korean cars all seem to be FRont Wheel Drive only.
Tesla 3LR can do 300, as can the new Polestar 2. Massive tax savings brings them down to my level. I’m hoping the next2 years will bring rapid improvement.
Tesla model Y sounds like it ticks those boxes. I want to see what the Pugeot E-Rifter specs are when it finally arrives.
We're waiting for the BEV version of mum bus/mini van/people carrier like our Zafira B.
Audi E-Tron 50 hits most of that except the range but in 2 years time they’ll be more choice.
https://ev-database.uk/car/1209/Audi-e-tron-50-quattro
If you can get that range for Audi money, I'm interested.
Our neighbour has just got a leaf for station committing. He reckons it has a range of 60 miles. I dread to think what it would be if we had a proper cold spell as apparently cold temperatures can knock 1/3 off the range. The range the so short I'd have a fear of flattening the battery just by using the heater in a traffic jam on a short journey.
We have an egolf.
In this weather with the heater on we get around 90 miles.
Hopefully the new breed of ev's will have a better range.
The car is brilliant though.
We found for 'normal' prices (ie less than a Tesla) the range was not good enough for us. Or it left us at the destination empty and with such poor charging infrastructure, no way to get back.
That made a Plug in the best alternative.
2022? I’d be waiting to see what happens over the next year or so, options will likely be very different by then.
There's a gov public consultation ongoing at the moment which you can share your thoughts on about the "ban" that Boris came out with. The grown ups know its not achievable and will make things worse in the short and mid term, so policy will likely change. Wait a while as the incentives will change as well by 2022..
Kia eniro at sensible money, Tesla model x at not
Kia eNiro only 2wd, otherwise I’d be tempted. Tesla charging network is the best by far, but I’m not a fan of the styling, or of the company.
Of the current crop it’s probably the Polestar2 or VW ID3. Don’t tell anybody, but I quite like the Merc EQC 🙈.
As more EVs are released I’m hoping for something like a Skoda Octavia Scout EV with good range.
Slightly off topic, but is there a good reason nobody does a solar roof on an EV for “charge as you drive”?
A solar panel produces millivolts.You would need one the size of a tennis court to get close to charging an EV
I have a small one on my leaf roof spoiler for trickle charging the 12v 'normal' battery and it even struggles with that.
My leaf is the smallest battery (24kwh), 5 years old and even that can do more than 60 miles in freezing rain and fog but only just.
Surely an AWD Tesla M3 would suit you? Thats what I'll be getting as my next car unless anything comes out in the next 12 months that blows it away.
As long as it’s big enough for your needs- We have an AWD Tesla M3, through a similar work scheme. The 300 mile range is pretty realistic. We drove a family of 4 to the Alps (French ones) last week and back. It took us about an hour and a half longer to get back than friends in a regular car, so we had a proper lunch and pee stops...
Check out the Tesla supercharger network to see if it’s handy for your regular journeys would be my tip. Also, if you want to drive on the continent, the Ionity network chargers are very fast, and share the same plug as the M3.
VW Id5 - Passat sized estate possibly late 2021. 300 mile plus range, 4WD option with 335bhp and 5 seconds 0-60. Sounds alright to me although you won't get anything like that range if you use even half the performance I expect
Tesla M3 LR with towbar (so we can carry bikes). Just about affordable and very much nicer to drive than the 10 year old van it was replacing. Never going back. Cannot wait for 100% electric on the roads - the air quality is shocking when I ride to work and I live in the countryside. The advertised 340 mile range is not far out when the weather is nice and we’re not carrying bikes. Bad weather will cut it, as will bikes - especially at full tilt on the motorway. But we’ve done two trips to France since we got it in October, several UK MTB weekends and it’s been immaculate.
I had a look at the Skoda superb hybrid as it had a range of 30 odd miles which would do me on a daily basis. However at 33 grand for a new one I could shop about and get a petrol for just over 20 grand which at 7 miles to the litre gives me about 70000 miles of fuel before I am at the hybrid price,
Also noticed on the work scheme I can get an Audi Etron for about £320 a month all included (insurance tyres etc) 10000 miles But 180 mile range and 2 manky labradors I feel it would be a waste of a 60 grand car.
I’ve ordered a Tesla M3 through what sounds like a similar scheme at work. The Long Range or Performance (maybe not on ride height) should meet you requirements. Most have heated seats (M3 has them in the back) as less impact on battery than cabin heating from what I understand. Can’t get a towbar on the M3 Performance if that’s a factor. What about a Model S? Better looking in my eyes and more useable hatch format.
We looked at other EVs but plumped for Tesla mainly due to the supercharger network.
S is too big for work parking spaces, plus a LOT more expensive.
The Sal Sac savings are making me look at cars I’d never otherwise afford.
Are other charging networks catching up? I wouldn’t normally need to charge for any of my normal journeys.
If there was a charging point at work would that widen the range of cars you could look at?
Work charging isn’t really the issue, I just feel range is getting better, so why compromise with a limited range car.
Other charging networks is a pet rant of mine. You need at least half a dozen different apps (not all of which actually work...) and then often turn up to find massive plug in hybridz camping on the spaces for free parking and power.
Charge point providers have not really worked out the difference between long stay (i.e. you’re there all day anyway for an event / day out / because it’s where you park whilst at work) type charging which only needs to be 7KW and rapid (i.e. 50KW/as fast as possible because you are on your way somewhere) and adjusted the customer experience accordingly (i.e. get people to move on from the rapids ASAP because someone else might need one).
Tesla integrate the chargepoints into your whole driving day - you put your destination into the satnav and it tells you where you’ll need to charge, how many bays are free and how much it will cost. The chargers connect to your car (and therefore your account) so you don’t need to touch the app to charge. Pricing is OK at 23p/kWh - especially compared to Genie (36p/KWh) and Ionity (crazy 80p if you’ve not got a membership). Charge point providers seem to be going down this subscription route but if you pay several different ones it seems like costs could mount up.
Plus Tesla tells you move your car when full otherwise ‘idling charges’ apply - keeps the chargers free and so rarely had a queue.
Hybrids camping out in charging bays is utterly ridiculous. In my view, if it has an ICE it shouldn't be allowed, simple as that. There's a 330e parks bang in the middle of Newcastle most days in a charge bay.. winds me up something rotten. It has a 2 litre turbo petrol motor FFS!
We've owned a Zoe that did 80 miles winter range and 130 summer range, a Kia Soul EV that did 130 winter and 150 summer now have the MG ZS EV that does 150 winter and should hit 200 summer range, they all have heated front seats (yum) we looked at the tesla but the premium car tax just couldnt justify it, maybe that will be are next car but a used one most likely, I adore the EVs as they are pretty silent compared to a petal or diesel car, I suffer from phonophobia with chronic migraine and dont get motion sickness in the EVs.
The charging network stay away from Ecotricity! worst network ever.
I also dont see the point of hybrids they charge far too slowly and hog chargers that people on longer trips need and ICE cars sat in charging bays because hey the disabled bays are too far away from the door but arnt disabled just like those bays brigade need slapping.
In my view, if it has an ICE it shouldn’t be allowed, simple as that.
In my view as they have a battery they should be allowed as simple as that. Yes, car squatting all day is a pain the arse though but it’s not unique to hybrids. My wife’s work start charging £5 if you go over 4 hours as people were squatting, it fixed the issue.