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Proper range anxiety is “Will I make it up this steep hill with these tyres?” That’s a problem that, in the moment, will likely prove to be literally intractable.
Fair point, but I'm not questioning the need to put better tyres on over the winter (that's a given). It's whether I run slightly lower efficiency tyres all year round vs switching twice a year (or some fiendishly cunning plan of reducing wheel size to allow the same range on all season tyres).
I can tell you that CC2 made absolutely no difference at all compared to the EV-specific things my Model 3 came with.
Interesting. Thanks.
I thought I was going to be a lot more worried about driving efficiency when I switched but oddly I've gone the other way. Different I guess when doing a longer trip and a bit of efficiency means I can do it in one charge (time and £££) rather than two.
Yes, I'm in a similar camp, although obviously not quite there yet 😀All that matters is whether I can complete my planned journey. I guess I should care about efficiency really, but with overnight charging at 7p/kwh it's hard to care about a small drop as long as I am easily going to make it back home.
Even on a long trip I don't really care about efficiency that much. I just care that the car can go at least 150 miles between stops as that's my stomach/bladder range. If I have to add a few more kwh while I'm enjoying my sticky bun or whatever then I don't really care. It charges faster the lower the state of charge so it doesn't really make a noticeable difference to the time I'm stopped. The car is pretty much always ready to carry on before I am. Yes, it will cost me a few quid extra, but since I charge at home at least 90% of the time I'm not so fussed about a few quid extra that it might cost on the odd long trip. It's irrelevant compared with the thousands that I save in "fuel" costs over a year.
I can tell you that CC2 made absolutely no difference at all compared to the EV-specific things my Model 3 came with.
Same, putting the heating on hit the range much harder for me.
We have Cross Climates on our ID3. I pay no attention to efficiency. Similar to roverpig above, 90% of charging is done at home (probably more tbh) - it's far too cheap to worry about a few percent.
I have the Yakima Whispbars, I left them on my Enyaq full time, didn't notice a difference in range and barely perceptible in terms of noise. Haven't put them on the ID7 yet as not needed them but once I do very much doubt they'll come off again.
120 mile commute this morning, between 1 and 3C. Kept to 70 on the cruise with occasional 75-80 overtakes. 20C on the climate, heated seat and steering wheel on, got 3.5Kw/m, pretty pleased with that on such a big car
I've got some whispbars if anyone wants them. They are the ones where the hook comes around the door jamb and fastens into a little hole.
@roverpig - just to confirm Kias appear to accept a second set of TPMS pressure sensors just fine. Within a mile of test drive the individual tyre pressures were showing fine. Obviously a Niro not a EV3 and who knows if it just worked because I was using OEM sensors....but it worked.
This is what I used... 
Oh and @molgrips ..... I can confirm that changing wheels (on a car you've never jacked up before but with a proper trolley jack) on a gravel driveway with 4 inches of snow laying on it in the dark is indeed a faff 😃. Still done in 30mins though - not going to trouble an F1 team but not too tardy.
Thanks @convert. Not sure I’ll bother with the faff of new wheels just yet but good to know it’s possible.
There's a journey I do regularly that usually uses around 30% of the battery. Today it was 46%. Something to do with either roads awash or covered in snow, heater on full to keep the windscreen clear of snow, headlights, wipers. Cross Climates meant no need to chain.
Same here... work/school commute normally uses 9%..today it was 15%!
DrP
My mates Niro has developed a fault refusing to charge 3 years old.
Intermittent.
Kia said that most garages are booking up to 3months now. Is this the norm?
If so that's useless and I agree with him I'd be put off ever buying one until that was resolved.
Kia said that most garages are booking up to 3months now. Is this the norm?
our Kia dealer is a week or 2 for routine stuff and will do urgent work within a few days.
Kia said that most garages are booking up to 3months now. Is this the norm?
I don't think so. Kia (and Hyundai) seem to suffer from issue with the ICCU (AC charging only) and the facebook group is full of stories from people about this. Some seem to wait ages for a fix while others seem to get it done almost immediately.
15k miles, 24 months, £3k deposit, £259pm....
I know nothing of car finance. Does this mean you pay 9.2k for 2 years of 'ownership' then give it back? Does this also include tax and maintenance?
Kia said that most garages are booking up to 3months now. Is this the norm?
our Kia dealer is a week or 2 for routine stuff and will do urgent work within a few days.
4 of my local dealers 3 months plus.
What county are you based in?
From the sound of that deal it's a lease, so yes. Leasing is usually about equivalent to buying the car and selling after the period - because that's what the lease company is doing. They do charge a bit to cover their expenses and profit, but they also probably buy the cars for less than you do so it can end up similar. The main benefit of this is that you can get your car without a big monthly payment, and without needing a load of capital up front.
The alternative would be:
- Borrowing the money yourself but that's pretty difficult for large amounts >£25k, and your monthly payments will be much higher because you're clearing the entire debt. But you do own a car at the end of it which is a sizeable asset.
- Buying on PCP in which again you only pay the depreciation, because you're paying the difference between the purchase price and the predicted sale price after the term. However you are guaranteed the option to buy it after the term, which is where you'd take out the loan I suppose, just like if you were buying a 3 year old car to start with. The difference is you get to drive the car for that three years rather than someone else.
- Buying an older car, which makes far more sense financially but isn't possible in the OP's case as these have only just come out.
- Borrowing part of the price and putting in cash for the rest, but that requires you to have a large amount of cash or another car to sell or part-ex.
Anyone on this thread running a Megane or Scenic? How’s it been performing? Anything to trouble a potential purchaser?
We’ve been going around the houses and struggling to decide what we want.
We started off being interested in older I4’s and Polestar 2 even Jag Ipace (ruled out due to insurance costs) basically because the massive depreciation from new made them affordable to us. I can afford whatever, but don’t want to be spending north of £30k. I also don’t want to be paying luxury car tax, so either pre March 25 or under £40k list. I’m concerned about owning older electrics out of warranty though for some reason also the Polestars feel like they could do with an update of the user experience/interface.
Saw a year old Megane at the weekend with Iconic spec and it seemed to tick most of our boxes.
There’s only 2 of us, so don’t care about rear accommodation other than the ability to put a bike in every now and then. We don’t want a massive car but we do like a lot of toys as we’re currently using a Golf GTD; heated seats and steering wheel a must, decent speakers, and I don’t want to be searching through menus to be able to drive the thing, so idiot proof would be nice. Oh, and I’d like a sunroof, but this doesn’t seem possible in a Megane; not a deal breaker. Mileage is Mrs BS’s daily commute of 20 miles each way, plus weekend trips.
what else should I be looking at?
One thing to note about the Megane is that if you are buying second hand and worried about warranty then anything registered up to end of 2022 had a 5 year warranty and after that it was 3. So potentially a Dec 22 car has a longer warranty than a much newer one...
You can get a Niro EV with a sunroof but needs to be 4 spec.
Thanks Winston, spotted that. However I think if we went Megane, I’d look for something around a year old to get most warranty but with the updated interior spec.
Ref the Kia PV5 on lease - Molgrips has it right.
My current van is getting on a bit, and costs £9 per visit into the city (which I need to do for work), plus TBH I've never had a 'nice' vehicle and now my mortgage is paid off, I feel like I'm in a position to do so haha.
The ID Buzz was the other obvious choice, but the brand new price (whether purchased or leased) is double that of the PV5, while 2nd hand prices are the same if not higher for a similarly specced (big battery, all the toys - it'll be my daily after all) PV5. The performance figures and spec lists on paper between the two are nigh-on identical (Buzz has slightly longer range).
OTR Kia wanted £33k but they don't have tailgate options from launch and couldn't give me an ETA on tailgate.
As such, I'm going for the lease for 2 years, by which time there'll either be more Buzz's available, PV5s with tailgates (2nd hand or new), or the new Renault Traffic (launching summer '26) available new or 2nd hand.
I've never even considered leasing a vehicle, always seen it as money down the drain, but I can absorb a £3k deposit by selling my current van, and I get more than £250pm in milage via work on average, so I'm seeing it as a zero loss game.
Price includes road tax, and the service interval is 20k/2 years. I just have to cover insurance.
Only thing I'm waiting on is my neighbour to green-light me running the electrics under his driveway so I can mount a charger to my garage...
What county are you based in?
central Scotland
what else should I be looking at?
Kia ? All with 7 yr warranty..
Old tennis - think the 5 is a bit small, perhaps as struggle to get a bike in?
iainc - yep, gonna take a look at Kia at the weekend.
Two 27.5 FS MTBs go in a Zoe with the rear seat down or out, wheels-out dropper down. The 5 has more space.
Unfortunately I’ve got an XL 29er that barely fits in the back of a Golf with its wheels out!
Didn't someone post a picture on this thread a few weeks back of their 5 with a tow bar rack? Looked lush.
EDIT; Found it https://singletrackworld.com/forum/off-topic/the-electric-car-thread/paged/121/#post-13644818
If anyone's interested I can give the approx lease calculations examples for Kia niro v buying 2021/22
(Lease companies can absorb the VAT and buy cheaper etc.)
The difference is huge in this example:
Kia Niro 21/22 top ticket price 37,000
Lease was 350 x 48 = 16,800
Current estimated value £13k
Depreciation 24K
Now I know there's some wobble in the RRP but there's a girth of 7K+/- loss if you'd have bought it.
Doesn't always work like this. I think this was the timing between lease cars piling into the used market recently. And there were loads of Niros on lease.
With the passenger seat not too far back or inclined it might fit, there are only 15cm between the Golf and the 5 in boot length measurement seat down. Take one for a test drive and try it. 🙂
Will certainly look, do like the 5’s and for the occasion the bike needs to go in it might be just go in enough, although on the Golf I have to make sure I don’t slam the cage of the mech in the boot seal 😂
Won’t be having a tow ball and rack though as I’ve got enough clutter in the garage already. If it doesn’t go in, we need a bigger car!
Has anyone got (or have any experience of) a VW ID7 electric estate car?
My aging and decrepit estate car won't pass its MOT in January, I already know this. Workplace has a car lease / salary sacrifice thing whereby I can get an ID7 for about £400 a month (which includes insurance, breakdown, servicing etc - this is annoying cos I know I can get those things cheaper than a bundled lease deal but whatever...)
Advantages:
no deposit, no credit check, new car, in theory at least everything is included and sorted
Disadvantages:
it's £400 a month for 36 months with nothing to show at the end of it and the potential issues of electric car charging although the range seems to cover pretty much everything I'd usually need it for and the bundle includes a home charging unit installation. There are also a couple of EV charge points about 200m up the road from me.
Estate car cos bikes need to go in it and I really don't want an electric SUV or a smaller car that I need to mess around with taking wheels off each time...
Main question though: is it a decent car or does it have annoying traits which only become apparent after a month of owning it? And might I be better off just going for an Approved Used hybrid (or petrol / diesel) estate?
Me, see above. I have had one for two weeks and it's mint. Had a Skoda Enyaq for best part of 4 years before that which was also a great car but the ID7, whilst sharing the same MEB platform, is a cut above in every department
I have the Yakima Whispbars, I left them on my Enyaq full time, didn't notice a difference in range and barely perceptible in terms of noise. Haven't put them on the ID7 yet as not needed them but once I do very much doubt they'll come off again.
I just took my Thule wing bars off for 320 miles round trip on motorways and 60mph roads having left them on for a couple of months of mostly local driving. The ID7 is so quiet compared to any of my previous cars that the extra wind noise is noticeable and moderately annoying (for me at least). I’m also fairly sure it impacts the efficiency by 0.2mi/kwh or so (not scientifically measured though!). On the flip side, I’ve decided I don’t really care much about efficiency so long as I’m not on rapid chargers constantly - £5 to charge up at home then free charging at the office 160 miles away means I could absolutely rag the thing there and back if I wanted and not run out.
had an ID7 tourer for a little over a year. Absolutely love it. 373 miles range is a filthy lie though, most I could get is 320 if I drove gently (motorways). I average about 3.6mi/kWh. But the car itself is very nice, comfortable, seems well put together. Zero issues so far.
373 miles range is a filthy lie though, most I could get is 320 if I drove gently (motorways)
Mines connected to my Home Assistant and I track "effective 100% range" - dividing current range by state of charge. That's been as high as 360 when I was doing more local ~40moh trips in summer, now down around 300 - 77kWh battery. As above the quiet cabin is a blessing and a curse as I've had to track down some annoying creaks and squeaks and pack some anti rattle tape in there.
Some features aren't (and apparently won't be) available on UK cars due to type approval happening just as we stopped accepting EU tests and there weren't equivalent UK ones (brexit bonus). That' includes walk away locking, kick to open tailgate and remote parking. And they've apparently locked down access so you can't hack in to enable them either.
So I’ve just had my ID7 rejected after a fairly nightmarish 6 months. GTX tourer, when it worked was fantastic but I had a total lemon. They never worked out what was wrong but I had hundreds of failed DC fast charges, 4 occasions where the car total immobile and one rolling to the side of the motorway. It spent over 10 weeks at the dealer, who - along with VW were totally incompetent. Suspicion was it’s a battery control module issue, which is a recorded problem on other VAG vehicles.
That being said, others are clearly fine and when it worked the car was amazing!
Yeah, VW don't really seem to know how to fix their EVs. Currently the best part of three months since something blew in the audio amplifier on our buzz. Replacing it bricked the car and they don't seem to have any idea how to fix it. A shame there aren't any alternatives with decent range.
Yeah VW were dreadful
373 miles range is a filthy lie though
As above, that figure includes lots of local low speed driving which is fairly pointless as with most people home charging it is very unlikely to matter, you only care on the long trips.
Since work has decided we're going 100% fleet now, after a few of us ordered EVs for the Tax, we've got a Kia PV5 long-range coming in Jan. Can't wait, it's going to be my Bike Van when I can nick it 😉
The noise from leaving the roof bars and bike racks on is very noticeable in our ID7, as is the noise when carrying bikes on the roof. It's made more obvious as without them fitted it is really quiet. I've only loaded bikes inside once but the extra rear passenger space made this easier than in our previous golf estate. There really is loads of space between the front seats and the rear bench. My only real niggle with the car is that IDA (the voice assistant) is quite dumb. The commands are not obvious and she gets confused easily. Sometimes just a slight variation works and I'm left wondering why the previous command didn't. She also refers to chat GPT way too often.
Has anyone been in and tested a Polestar 3, just the standard dual motor, and the Hyundai Ioniq 9?
Top tip, close the app on your phone when not using it as apparently it can drain your 12V battery. At least that was Kia's working theory as to why my EV6 stopped working.
My only real niggle with the car is that IDA (the voice assistant) is quite dumb. The commands are not obvious and she gets confused easily.
Yeah - 'Warm my feet', 'I don't know what you mean', 'Warm my feet', 'Ok, warming your feet' was my most recent experience of this. I barely use it now - used it quite a bit at first for silly things like turning heated seats/ steering wheel on/ off when I didn't know my way around all the buttons but that didn't last long.
373 miles range is a filthy lie though
As above, that figure includes lots of local low speed driving which is fairly pointless as with most people home charging it is very unlikely to matter, you only care on the long trips.
I've very much decided I don't care, even 200 miles is mostly enough (the lowest I've had is about 220 fully loaded going from Chester to Norfolk just before Christmas). When I'm at home I don't give a monkeys about driving efficiently as the charging is pennies so I've never really seen what kind of range I could potentially do (also town driving isn't really a thing as I live in the countryside).