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But I had to dig my 4WD drive car on winter tyres out of a snow drift when I got (temporarily) stuck on my way to pick up my son last night so still prefer to have both 🙂
That's pretty much the only scenario i'd prefer 4wd/AWD. Once you get significant weight off one or both of the driven wheels, yer knackered. Snow mats help, but it's still a problem.
Haven't got stuck in a snow drift in 15 years though, got up the lane (ploughed but icy), on to the drive (30-40 cm snowbank from the ploughing) and into the garage (15-20 of snow over the entire length of the drive) at the weekend. That's in a FWD V60 on winters. Needed some finagling to do it though!
I too wanted to avoid Tesla.. not jsut cos I don't like the lack of buttons and driver dash, but..you know..Elon (and my Ex wife has one!!)
RE cost; It's the long range dual motor pilot plus one (with glass roof, twin motor, self steering etc etc..)
Was listed as £24,440 in their showroom, but £23,950 on autotrader. As there were a few issues on pickup that I said i'd sort, I drove it home for £22,850.
Which is a pretty good price TBH.
DrP
Must...not...buy...these...with...michelin...CCs.....
normally I jsut stick Crossclimates on all my cars – kinda struggling to find CCs for the Polestar (many garages don’t even list them)… can find the right size ones, but it seems teh rear wheels on a polestar are wider…
As standard, the wheels are staggered but the tyres are the same size front and back. Apparently catches out a few garages when they take the wheels off.
yeah - 245 width on ALL tyres, but rims are 8" front, 9" rear!
The wheels above are 9".. slightly lower ET..I wonder if 9s would fit on the front?!
DrP
apparently wheel design can have quite an impact on efficiency/range with an electric car - so you may want to bear that in mind if swapping wheels.
Open designs like the above are not good for efficiency at motorway speeds apparently - which is why a lot of ev's seem to come with awful looking wheels
Yeah - a lot of people on the Polestar forums are looking into 3d printing disks etc that clip into the rim (Tesla aero rims are normal rims with a clip in plastic disc).
TBH I quite like the stock wheels, and the tyres are fairly decent so at the moment, I'll pay my tax bill rather than pimp out the P-Wagon!!
DrP
But, you know, the yellow callipers look gauche so didn’t!
Also indicate the car has ceramic brakes...... have you seen the price of new disks for those !!
while finding a 3yo Boxster for MrsSB is proving pretty difficult.
Have you looked on here ? Filter your requirements down to what you are looking for..
https://finder.porsche.com/gb/en-GB/search/718?model=718
Test drove an MG4 and an MGZS EV yesterday. MG4 drove better, but he ZS is more practical with kids I think. Seriously considering getting one - any opinions (other than it's ugly)? We'd get the long range one with the posher spec.
New report from Epri finds that general maintenance of electric vehicles is cheaper than ICE equivalent and where maintenance or repair is required the vehicle design is a major influence on cost.
Also comparisons between market segments not usually fair.
Who saw that coming?
Abstract
Recent news has indicated that Electric Vehicles (EVs) have much higher maintenance and repair costs than conventional vehicles. Analysis performed by EPRI indicates that although there have been some eye-popping repair bills for some EVs, these have generally been due to factors unrelated to powertrain type. The difference between routine maintenance and unexpected repairs of a vehicle becomes important to identify when analyzing costs that customers should expect. The intricate relationships among vehicle design, availability of repair components, and the overall expenses of EV ownership—versus those of a conventional gasoline vehicle—are summarized below. Three key insights offer a nuanced understanding of EV costs, including the distinction between maintenance and repair costs, the importance of comparing similar vehicle categories, and the effects of design and assembly decisions on maintenance expenses.
https://www.epri.com/research/products/000000003002028788
Some links within it to more detailed research.
Yes clearly the regular servicing should be far cheaper, I think most owners know this.
Zoé has just had its 4-year service, that brings the total cost of main dealer servicing to date to 660e. Most expensive single items so far have been changing the brake fluid and service battery. It's also had a couple of front Cross Climates at 120e each IIRC
Yes clearly the regular servicing should be far cheaper, I think most owners know this.
That wasn't the bit I was really focusing on. The takeaway here is the manufacturers that build their cars stupidly *cough*Tesla*cough* are the reason EV repairs are expensive. Not because they are EV's.
Yup. Tesla model 3 (all models) are group 48-50. BMW I3, despite having a carbon fibre body…28.
anyone with a polestar had CC2s fitted?
I was going to (as had used CC's on previous cars since they first became available) but after reading reviews of the current version I decided not to bother. It seems they've improved the snow & ice performance but to the detriment of wet performance + added noise. Being in the SW it's a once a year thing that I'm driving on snow or ice so I just ended up going with a summer tire (that's good in the wet), I think Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 6's but not 100%...
I’ve got CrossClimate2 on a Golf. It’s like putting Magic Mary Ultra Softs on there but with 30tpi casing. Grip is very good in the wet and snow (what little we’ve had) but noisier than I’d want but…
…they handle horribly and feel like they feel like they have no sidewall support at all if you’re driving at all with any purpose. I imagine they’d squirm all over on a heavy EV. <br /><br />
I wish I’d bought Pilot Alpin 5, and will try them next
I have just seen that used Mercedes EQCs are fairly competitively priced, and they have a great towing capacity. But the efficiency looks awful - the WTLP range of 255 divided by the usable battery of 80kWh suggests at best 3.1 m/kWh.
Anyone got any experiences with these?
Anyone got any experiences with these?
yes, I bought one a couple of months ago ,primarily because I thought they were priced well- my first EV
They're not the most efficient of electric cars thats for sure, but its a 2.5 ton fast 4wd SUV so never going to get anywhere near the efficiency of a city car.
That said, I've seen a high of 3.5 miles per kwh on a 7 mile town based (ie no motorway/dual carriagway) journey, lows of 1.5 miles per kwh on really short school runs on a cold day, ie less than 2 miles trip . The best I saw on a motorway trip was 2.8miles per kwh over 80 miles , more typically its 2.4miles per kwh at between 70 and 80mph. The efficiency figures on EVDB are about right i would say. My experiences are all based on the car over the last 2 months, so a relatively cold time of year- i Guess efficiency will improve as we go into summer.
I figured I dont really care about efficiency with the milesage we would do (maybe 8000 per year), if it were twice as efficient it would save me 15 quid per month, hardly the end of the world, I care more about the range, which is good enough for most of our use, I also care about it being a nice place to sit, quiet ,comfy, lots of nice gadgets etc, fast, and big enough, and initial purchase price. So all these factors trumped efficiency.
Negative aspects? The brakes whilst feeling fine under normal use, feel wooden when you really want to stop fast, not sure if thats just a common feeling with blended braking systems, or because its a heavy car. Aside from that I cant think of any other significant downsides, its a really refined drive , so quiet.
I've got the CrossClimate 2 on my Model 3. Not really noticed any loss in range and wet weather performance is excellent - I'd say that even with 4mm of tread they are better in cold/wet conditions than the new Pilot Sport 4 that they replaced.
Seem to be nicely sticky on a dry road too. Can't comment on spirited driving performance, going fast on a twisty road makes me feel sick so I don't do it.
Considering they're soft tyres they've really lasted well, with 4-5mm all round left after 35,000 miles. If you're finding them squirmy (I don't) perhaps try bumping the pressure up? They're at 44 psi on the Tesla.
I've never heard that said about cross climates before, and it's certainly not been my experience although I've mainly used them as a summer tyre , and have winters on now.
(Why as a summer tyre- mountains can be nasty in the summer - wet, dirt roads etc)
Looks like other smaller posh SUVs can also tow and aren't as bad on efficiency. Q4 e-Tron and the EQA - and are similar levels of affordability to other things I was looking at. Not that I'm buying for a few years mind.
Got CC2's on my wife's ICE Qashqai - great tyres. Quieter than the Conti's fitted, and just grippy in crappy conditions, cold/wet. Perform well on snow.
DrP, you'll have to keep us updated on how the Polestar is. Seem to be a quality EV, and for that money it's fab. Looking at a car change next year, most likely a van sized people carrier in dirty diesel flavour, but if I can get a top spec EV much cheaper and significantly newer....
I think if towing is your aim then an EV is probably not the best choice, I'd imagine it will kill the range and make it more of a pain than needs to be. Suspect that diesel is still king for towing.
I've had CCs on all my cars - thin sidewall, to 55 profiles...never squirmy..
I'm undecided whether banging new tyres on teh Polestar is just a pointless extavagance at present, seeing as there's plenty of treat left on teh current tyres. Also, the current ones I THINK are michenin all season thingies, so not some naff ditchfinders.. Think i'll wait till tyres need replacing TBH.<br />Being AWD the car doesn't spin with sprightly acceleration, and grip seems good enough..
Haivng had the car for less than 24 hours I'd already popped the centre console out and done a nice 'brushed metal wrap' rather than the (slightly scratched) piano black..
A much better effort than I acheived trying to wrap the wing mirrors on my stepdaughter's beetle!!
DrP
I think if towing is your aim then an EV is probably not the best choice, I’d imagine it will kill the range and make it more of a pain than needs to be.
Yes I'm well aware of the issues. Range would be about half, or slightly more, but the biggest problem would be charging as you'd have to un-hitch.
But if I only tow twice a year, I would like to drive electric the rest of the time and put up with the disadvantages. I'm not going to keep a range of cars for every eventuality and leave them sitting in the garage the rest of the time. I mean, they're not MTBs.
Haivng had the car for less than 24 hours I’d already popped the centre console out and done a nice ‘brushed metal wrap’ rather than the (slightly scratched) piano black
Nice, the previous owner of mine had carbon-weave effect wrapped it but did a naff job, that said I know I'd end up breaking something by trying to redo it so have left it alone. Did yours come with the standard cheap looking black plastic key fob? That was the only thing I've changed on mine (besides the tires as they were on the wear limit), the replacement generic Chinese fob covers are a bit of a rip off though (£50-60...)
I need to do the console as well. Wish it was black ash like the rest of the trim. Did you get one of the precut bits of wrap, or diy from a sheet?
Key fob is easy, press the button on the top where the hole for the key ring is, then one side slides off. Once that’s off, there another little catch inside that releases the other side.
I put this on mine which is far smarter… the “Silver A” version.
Polestar 2 Key Cover Car Key Case Shell
@bensales
I did it myself... just got some vinyl from Amazon.. https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01B8EMR0M?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details
There's plenty of youtube videos on how to pop the console out. My tip is that the 'lip' under it is quite thin (as the LED lights are under it oo) so you kinda just need to pull up on the edges of the console, and not 'really get your fingers under it'..
<br />Wrapping it well...well that's just a game of patience. I used a hairdryer to stretch and shrink the wrap. But all the flat bits jsut stick down - stretching and shrinking is just at the edges.
DrP
EDIT - have just ordered a few key covers too! Cheers for that!
Nice one, thanks.
Can someone sense-check my thoughts on the below, please?
I run a company car - a diesel left over from when anything electric was barred. It's due to be replaced and I can have a Polestar 2 - yum. All electricity included. I currently have a fuel card and pay back personal miles to avoid the tax hit.
I do many miles and I can think of occasions when an ICE car would be more practical. (I'm thinking of a trip last summer back to the NW from Twickenham in a mates Tesla and had to wait in the services for 3 hours for enough power to get home)
If I was to undertake these trips in my wife's car, at my own cost, surely I can state these as unreimbursed journeys and claim 45p/mile on my self assessment? ie 3000 miles at 45p £1350 off my tax bill.
Am I wrong?
(I’m thinking of a trip last summer back to the NW from Twickenham in a mates Tesla and had to wait in the services for 3 hours for enough power to get home)
That doesn't make sense? Did he ignore the built-in navigation suggestions for charging?
I run a company car – a diesel left over from when anything electric was barred. It’s due to be replaced and I can have a Polestar 2 – yum. All electricity included. I currently have a fuel card and pay back personal miles to avoid the tax hit.
You’re going to save so much money on tax that you won’t give a shit about the occasional wait for a charger.
I had a diesel Audi A4 for 35 days over Christmas 2022. Tax bill for that month (and a bit) was £530. The tax bill for my GV60 for the entirety of this tax year is about £450.
How's the GV60?
It is an utterly fabulous thing. I chose it very carefully out of loads of options and it’s the best car I’ve ever had.
It’s supremely comfortable, reasonably efficient and charges like a demon.
It’s not perfect though. No rear wiper, the boot isn’t really big enough, appalling visibility out the back window and the turning circle of an oil tanker.
Much prefer it to the other options in our car park though which are mostly Q4’s, EQAs and Polestars.
I get asked about all the time it by strangers and small boys stare, slack jawed as I pass.
“Is that a Bentley /Aston Martin?”
“Naw mate… It’s a Hyundai innit.”
That doesn’t make sense? Did he ignore the built-in navigation suggestions for charging?
There were charger 'issues' and a lot of demand. Apparently. I was too busy being smug about my refuelling times and trying to amuse some teenage rugby fans.
...a diesel Audi A4 for 35 days over Christmas 2022. Tax bill for that month...
Looking at Listentotaxman I'd save about £500 month having a regular tax code. Plus another £100 for reimbursing private fuel. I could comfortably run another car on that budget, but that would defeat the object. Hopefully it'll all be easy and petrol will be a thing of the past.
Anyone a tax expert?
I’m thinking of a trip last summer back to the NW from Twickenham in a mates Tesla and had to wait in the services for 3 hours for enough power to get home
Rookie mistake. Don't run it down to zero, and you'll have enough juice to get off the motorway and look somewhere else - or go to the next services. Don't just stop at the next services and park and wait.
Also don't just use Tesla chargers, you can use any of them. Sure it might take a bit longer, but it beats a 3hr wait.
Lastly, new chargers are coming up on or just off the motorway network very quickly. This time last year on the M4 there were maybe four at each services - now there are 12 or more. Chievely just opened 12 new ones I think.
EDIT there are 15 CCS chargers at Chievely and 7 at Leigh Delamere Westbound. Another load at Membury are being built, so that's going to be 30-odd chargers in a 60 mile stretch of motorway that I'm familiar with. That's not including the Tesla ones which are a similar number. It's going to be fine.
We deliberated for a while over what to get and we’ve just gone for the Tesla M3 Performance. Paid a bit extra to get a Tesla approved used car and I’m very glad we did; pretty much like a new car with a brand new set of PS4S tyres too. It really is a cracking car, very nice to drive. 🙂
I had no plans to carry bikes on it, but I’m a little tempted to get a Seasucker (using the advice to stick the rear wheel attachment on the boot instead of the glass) to hopefully avoid any glass issues…
I took out a MG4 EV XPower today for a decent 30 mile drive, nice car and bloody quick off the mark with really impressive handling and road manners, brakes are just as impressive as acceleration, coped with Galloway roads very well but the driving position totally ruled it out for someone like myself with spms, had to get pulled out by a mate and it took 10 mins before I could stand. So I ended up buying what I came to have a look at which was the MG HS Trophy DCT. I sat in it whilst in the showroom, adjusted the electric seat to a position that felt comfortable and that was the sum total of my test drive, ordered one in Urban Grey using the motability scheme with no downpayment (only reason I bought it), should be ready in a fortnight and I can hand back my current motability vehicle which is a VW Tiguan 2.0 DCT which has been faultless for the previous 5 years.
Wanted the MG4 XPower, left with something as exciting as a fridge. 😉
Massive tie up between MFG and Morrisons announced. I’ve been impressed whenever I’ve used MFG charging sites, so this should be good.
MFG and Morrisons announce forecourts partnership and EV expansion
Newbie question…..my EV is on order, should be here in July hopefully.
Is motorway electric charging reasonably priced? I’ll be making 1 long journey t that at the moment I do with a single stop on the motorway. I don’t need to put fuel in so avoid motorway costs, but with the EV I’m going to need to top up on the way down and do a proper full charge on the way back up.
Total will be about 500 miles that would cost me approx £80 in petrol (at supermarket price).
I don’t mind the stopping as I would normally stop at the same services (M6 toll). I’d normally stop and have a coffee there anyway so happy enough with that.
Pricing varies a lot, from not-too-bad to how-much???!!! Zapmap will show you.
Also, you want to be fully charging at either end of a journey like that at cheaper, slower chargers and only topping up as much as is needed on each leg to complete your journey on the motorway to save you time and money.
It’s a slightly different mindset than an ICE car. If the car is sitting idle, then that’s when it should be charging, not while you’re travelling unless absolutely necessary.
Is motorway electric charging reasonably priced?
If you just rock up and pay the charger price then no - 80 p/kw compared to 10 p on Octopus Go from your home charger.
If, however, you get a subscription with you car e.g. Audi or you buy s subscription, then you can get reduced rates from places like Ionity. I think the top Audi sub is £20 per month which would pay for itself with 1 decent charge (30 ish vs 80 ish p /Kw).
As with all things EV a little planning and preparation can save cash/pain/getting recovered on a trailer after running out of juice on the M61.
Edit - Ionity Passport is £5.49 per month and reduces the charge from 74 p to 56 p/kWh
https://ionity.eu/en/network/access-and-payment
I'm sure other subscriptions are available.