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Yeah 10000 miles a year isn’t much (assuming that’s what you mean)
Yes - the car was meant to be a runabout, we nearly went for less.
Of course it's not like-for-like to comapre an Ioniq to a Passat, but I think it's bigger than a Golf in terms of rear passenger and boot space. The down-side as said above is that the overall load carrying capacity is low.
The big car carries bikes on towball and roof, or canoes on roof, regularly. What’s the EV options for a ‘utility’ vehicle with some good range for Highlands?
My shortlist for caravan towing was Polestar 2 and Ioniq 5. Although I don't know what boot space is like they have 1600kg towing limits. There's also the Tesla X but I don't think I could bear to look at it.
Max payload for those cars is still low though, at only 500kg for the Ioniq 5, so a trailer is by far the preferred option for carrying stuff.
EDIT ooh, 1,900kg towing capacity for the iD4 and a 610kg load - that could be the one to go for!
Search for “bike carrier towbar”, can get folding and fixed versions to retrofit. There are various threads about with statements from authorities and Kia saying it is ok to fit without braking laws or type approvals so long as you don’t fit anything other than a cycle carrier.
I don’t think I’ll be allowed to fit one afterwards as it’s a work company car. Needs to be factory fit as an option.
Anyhow it’s an SUV again and probably has the same driving position issues as other SUVs we’ve tried. I’ll have a look at how much it’ll cost me first before I go and have a look.
i recon the id buzz will have a higher towing capacity and load rating, given they want to flog a commercial version of it..
5lab: idbuzz will be on the same platform as the id4 is on. The.commercial one will be on a different one iirc.
Right then, just signed on the dotted line and our ID3 will arrive in about 2 weeks!
What do I need to do now...we're in discussions with the council about how to charge at home from our end of terrace house with no off street parking.
Work should be fitting chargers soon so in the meantime I'll be using the tesco and council chargers locally to me.
I have to sign up to dragon charging for the council ones here in Pembrokeshire, are there other suppliers I should have an account and RFID card with?
Any tips greatly appreciated!
Feels like we've jumped off a cliff but in a good way...
Zap-map and/or Plugshare are the go to sites and apps for charger locations. Just had a quick look at Pembrokshire on zap-map and unfortunately you appear to be, just like most of Wales, in a relative charging desert. Suggest you put every effort into getting a home charging option and hope work charging materialises. Probably sensible to get the PodPoint and Genie Point apps although the Pod Point rapid charger in Pembroke Dock Tesco appears to be FUBARed. For trips further afield Instavolt is my go-to and nowadays probably Gridserve Electric Highway. Both take contactless debit and credit card so no need for apps.
b230ftw
Full Member
I think the Octavia estate falls under the 40m official range hence it is £160 per month. The hatchback is more like £70 per month. The boot is not much smaller but less height at the back of course. Also on the tow bars you cannot currently select a factory fit tow bar. You can get the prep done at the factory but the delivering dealer needs to fit the tow bar which may or may not cause issues with your company.
Brink do bike-only towbars for things like the Kona and eNiro. They have extra nubs on the side of the ball so bike carriers fit but not trailers. Bypasses any issues around type approval etc.
More stuff has factory solutions now, ID.3 has a neat “transport hitch” that hides behind the rear numberplate, ID.4 has a proper towing towbar as an option.
I think the Octavia estate falls under the 40m official range hence it is £160 per month.
It’s 43 miles on electric.
What do you mean £160 a month?
For me I have to pay a user contribution of around £140 for the spec I want and the BIK works out at around £18 a month.
More stuff has factory solutions now, ID.3 has a neat “transport hitch” that hides behind the rear numberplate,
Yeah but it’s comically high up so the bikes sit too far up for no reason at all and crazy expensive too.
Plus the ID3 has a rubbish infotainment, terrible switchgear and is generally poor quality. The Koreans are building much better EVs right now.
Work should be fitting chargers soon so in the meantime I’ll be using the tesco and council chargers locally to me.
Tesco chargers tend to be 7Kw and run a fair usage policy. They’re not a great choice to use for a modern EV as they’re too slow.
Just ordered an Octavia SE L iV to replace our current Octavia lease which runs out in December. Went and checked it out at the dealer this week, the new Octavia is a definite step up in quality over the old one. Looking forward to getting it.
The salesman reckoned a realistic electric only range was 25-30 miles.
This should be good for us to do a few school runs, then run it in hybrid mode for days out. Even with the short range we could probably get away with using no petrol for a few weeks at a time.
First electric car so will invest in a charge point.
I'm just curious but how long does a car with a 30 mile range take to charge on a regular 3 pin plug? Surely a lot less time that a full bev?
Depends on the capability of the charger on the car but I'd assume a few hours. I've a got a 24 kWh leaf and that's only failed to completely recharge overnight once or twice in a few years, and only when I've got home late (11 or later), very low battery and cold weather. I recharge on a regular 3 pin
The Octavia comes with the three pin cable, but I feel I might as well invest in a proper charger point now. The grant is still available for a start but might not be in three years time when this lease runs out, but having the charge point on the drive will be way more convenient than plugging in to the garage. Plus this won't be our last EV.
I’m just curious but how long does a car with a 30 mile range take to charge on a regular 3 pin plug?
It’s around 2.5Kwh my golf gte took about 7 hours on the 3 pin.
Plug in hybrids have pretty poor consumption compared to pure BEVs because of the extra complexities of having both an ICE and an EV powertrain. A BEV manges between 3 and 4 miles per kWh, but a large PHEV migh only get 2 ml/kWh.
So, 30 miles is say a maximum of about 15 kWh, a 13A plug can deliver about 2.5 kW to the battery, so that's 6 hours worst case.
In reality, it would probably be a bit less charging time, because you ought to manage more than 2ml/kWh in most cases
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b230ftw
Full MemberI think the Octavia estate falls under the 40m official range hence it is £160 per month.
It’s 43 miles on electric.
What do you mean £160 a month?
Crossed wires so ignore my comment. When the estate was first announced it had a 37 mile range but the VW wizards have obviously got it up to 40+ and hence a lower tax bracket. I don’t pay capital contributions so higher rate tax on the hatchback is about £70 per month.
Shopping around for an electric hatchback and lack of roof load rating (even on cars that have ICE versions that do) is maddening.
Zoe - nope
e208 - nope
Corsa - nope
Ioniq - nope
ID.3 - nope, although at least you can option a “transport hitch” (which only takes 2 bikes or 50kg)
Honda e - nope, but has massively expensive bike-only towbar option.
BMW i3 - lol, nope
Pathetically low 35kg limit on Leaf and MG5.
Anything I’m missing? I don’t want a SUV (or a stupidly styled crossover thing) although I’m considering making an exception for the Soul that can do 100kg.
Anything I’m missing?
buying one that you like and sticking the bikes on anyway? I very much doubt the roof will collapse.
Just put the bikes inside and enjoy the unaffected aerodynamics? It’s what I’m planning to do with my ID3 when I get it. Might even splash out on a new jewsons tonne bag…
Bikes yes, but it’s also really handy to
stick a roofbox on (taking the range hit) for holidays.
Are you counting the Niro and the kona under ‘stupidly styled crossover’? Because I’d say you’re missing a good couple of options if you are, IIRC they’re both happy with roof bars.. The kona is basically a fiesta but a bit taller, the Niro probably more like a focus. Not a fan of crossovers either but I’d say both look pretty inoffensive in the flesh.
The crossover and SUV style is to allow batteries to be fit in. My Ioniq is car shaped but only available in 38kWh. The Kona also comes in a 72kWh version because of the battery space.
I test drove one, it was great. Nearly got one.
Yes I am including them in that. I know it’s irrational as they probably fit my needs nicely (and the eniro actually isn’t that tall) but I just don’t like them, and it’s a lot of money to spend on something you don’t like.
Soul just about gets a pass as I quite like it’s weird boxy looks. Shame it only comes with the SUV styling pack (fussy bumpers, side mouldings, arches) here, it looks much better without it.
Our egolf takes 75kg on the roof just like any other Golf. Why on earth can’t a 208 or Corsa do the same?
Went looking at the weekend. My usual criteria is room in the back seat and size of boot. New Leaf was great except the lip on the boot (dog cage won't open). Niro boot is too shallow. Struggling at the moment. Next door has the ID3 and I'm not taken by the look. Would welcome suggestions. I've hired petrol Konas and though them OK.
I'm not overly worried about the drive (I barely drive anywhere), but do have two adult sons who are "units" plus a medium dog cage.
Skoda Enyaq? Loads of room in the back and big boot too. Base ones about 32k with grant. Not cheap but what is these days?
@tired you need it to be full EV? Check out the new Octavia iV plug in hybrid.
The new ioniq 5 and Kia gt6 look really interesting..
Got free leccy at Tesco the other day. Went to the in store decathlon and picked up some food and got about 20p worth of power 🙂
We had a BMW i3 to try for the day, very impressed with it.
Simon_g I might well be talking out of my behind here (or not using the correct terminology), but after closely following the EV thing since 2018 I'm fairly sure I've heard some EV podcast stuff about a vehicles overall official EU WLTP score being adversely affected by stuff like including approval for roof bars, roof boxes, bike racks etc in an EU vehicle type approval. So, many manufacturers just don't include that stuff in order to improve their official WLTP figure for their EV vehicles. So in many cases it might be perfectly fine structurally (not sure how it would affect insurance tho) if it hasn't been officially type approved for roof bars etc.
EDIT: (I think it might have been in a podcast discussion centred around the MG roof rails that aren't approved for carrying anything and whether it was deliberate or a mistake when getting EU type approval)
Just ordered an Octavia SE L iV to replace our current Octavia lease which runs out in December. Went and checked it out at the dealer this week, the new Octavia is a definite step up in quality over the old one. Looking forward to getting it.
Just ordered the same car, I was the same, really impressed with the quality of it. I went for an SEL too but with the LED interior pack and some nicer wheels but I’m a tart and I like pretty colours. 😂
@tired you need it to be full EV?
Yes I want full EV for the next vehicle. I’m not a serial car swapper. The current Diesel CRV is 12 years old. I want something next size down that will take the dog cage. The Leaf felt huge inside but the boot lip is also huge so would need side cage access and hence have to empty half the boot each time.
I am probably about two years out from mature technology/format but EV is getting there, so worth looking. Also I live on outskirts of London so just a matter of ULEZ and I won’t have a vehicle I can drive inside the zone. The alternative is keep the CRV and go Zoe instead. But as others noted, they tend to use the small EV a lot more than they intended!
Will look at a Skoda.
I’m not overly worried about the drive (I barely drive anywhere), but do have two adult sons who are “units” plus a medium dog cage.
The Ioniq seemed to have more room in the back than the Kona, paradoxically, but I don't think it'd fit a dog cage at all.
How ****ing much is Ionity charging?! Bastards!
How **** much is Ionity charging?! Bastards!
He he! Did you not know? 69p per kWh which is more expensive than petrol. Plus they pre-authorise £67 for each charge and do not release the funds for the full 7 days they take to clear the charging transaction. That's £67 of your own money minus the actual cost of the charge you can't use for a week. They are an utter bunch of sh!ts and its no surprise VW is a major stakeholder in them. I've only used them once and will never do so again unless its a distress purchase and I genuinely have no alternative
Yup it’s very expensive but you can use manufacturers charge card for discounted rates. Hyundai and many others have invested in them, not just VW. The idea is it’s for a very short quick top up. 10 minutes have me 60 miles when I tested them. That was at 118KWh average at 28p KWh, so it used just over £3 of my free credit. I’m not likely to keep my charge card after the free year though.
Probably need to cap prices at charge stations to stop such ridiculous prices.
and do not release the funds for the full 7 days
To be fair as a merchant you have no control over this, although it should only take 2 to 3 days to submit the payment through, this is probably their aquirer running slow rather than anything else
I had no idea there's a Hyundai charge card.
Well I signed up, but there's no discount with Ionity until you pay a tenner a month. Not a nice business model that.
However the Charge Hyundai app tells me there's a 50kW charger right by this hotel I'm in that wasn't on Zap Map.
Probably doesnt help that the Ionity entity taking your payment is a German company based in Germany
I looked into KiaCharge and didn't bother with it. Despite Hyundai Motor Group having a stake in Ionity there is no preferential charging rate.
One possible unintended benefit of EVs came to mind yesterday evening while a local yoot, let's call him Barry, was driving laps of the neighbourhood testing his big exhaust and snap, crackle and pop engine remap. I'm assuming that the Barrys of 2050 will have to either invest in a vintage 2025 Astra (with full body kit) or find some other way to express themselves.
@thepurist yes I can’t wait for engine noise to be a thing of the past. Probably won’t be eliminated in my lifetime but greatly reduced. I like the quiet whir of an electric car and cannot stand that manufacturers want to put fake noises on the outside of EVs (or on the inside!).
Tyre noise for most cars is more audible over 30mph (IIRC) than engine noise so most residential streets will get a lot quieter.
We have an e208.. It's got Thule roof bars on and we've been moving bikes around with it just fine.