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The back 3/4 is fine
The little plastic triangle with a '5' embossed in it nearly ruins the whole car. It's ghastly.
I note the new 1-series has it now; BMW can't help themselves.
@bassmandan let us know how you get on!!! It would tick the sweet spot of the size in back and range.
Part of the difficulty is I’ve seen the performance figures of the M60 i5 ?
With the 60kwh battery you get a reliable 150 miles even in cold weather
@northernremedy Do you have the extended range version? All the ones popping up in my autotrader search are 40kWh which suggest their actual range will be a lot less than 150miles (168 stated).
@snownrock yes we’ve got the tekna + which is the longer range. 63kwh battery or something. They’re understandably more popular but they are about. Worth hunting out. It all does feel a bit dated but if the price is right I wouldn’t discount one. Very solid car.
@bassmandan cheers. I saw a photo of an ID7 tourer parked up next to a new 5 series touring, the passenger compartment of the ID7 with the short bonnet was significantly bigger. For all the good things about the 5 series it's still a modified ICE chassis. And 20k more and not on my company car list.
I also think the ID7 in the right colour with the right wheels is a good looking car
It’s probably been asked before but seeing as the search function is unstable, I’ll go again.
What are people experiences of the octopus salary sacrifice lease scheme. The headline numbers look good especially on some of their special deals.
Part of the difficulty is I’ve seen the performance figures of the M60 i5
EVs are ridiculous - a couple of weeks ago I clocked a new EV on the drive of my neighbour. It was a very boxy small looking Volvo. Looked OK but nothing special, the sort of car your mum would potter round in. In the past he has had a few performance cars but he's getting on a bit now so I assumed he'd just grown up.
Chatting to him this morning, apparently it does 0-60 in 3.6 seconds.......I mean it looks like a shopping trolley for gawds sake.
I’m not a fan of the id7 front end to be honest but the rest I quite like (mines black). Drive yesterday was very comfy, very easy, 3.4 mi/kwh average over 230 miles with a bit of rain and the lights mostly on. Made a mistake in charging overnight so it was only at 87% when we left, could have done the whole thing in one go otherwise. 20 mins on a rapid charger gave me a 50% top up. Car was absolutely rammed with stuff and it was barely noticeable. Performance wise, it’s 6.6 to 60 which is plenty quick enough. I don’t really care too much for faster, I’d have it but wouldn’t pay 20k for it.
apparently it does 0-60 in 3.6 seconds
that’ll be the EX30 awd dual motor. The octopus deal on that is about £500 a month all in.
The only things I have against the VW id cars is the driver aids and the steering wheel buttons. The driver aids are far too aggressive and are a right pain to turn off even time you get in the thing. The steering wheel buttons are terrible, especially the cruise control ones. I just can't seem to consistently get 1mph increase or 5mph increase. Whatever I want, I seem to get the other. Getting the distance setting consistently through those buttons is blinking difficult too.
Here's hoping their buy in to Rivian will sort this sort of thing at the moment, as it is ruining a very good car (id3) for me.
Going to stick to my diesel Volvo for a good while yet with the id3 as the car for local pootling.
Steering wheel controls on the id7 are fine, similar feel to pressing on my iPhone screen. The driver aids likewise are fine, although lane assistance can be too aggressive on narrow country roads and is a HUGE pain to turn off on the stupid big touchscreen. Have recently realised I can ask the car voice assistant thing to do stuff for me so might see if I can use that. Annoying but easy.
Why do people get hung up on performance figures of EV's. I havent got a clue what mine will do 0-60mph in. I do know its speed limited to 99mph so my daughters fiesta has a faster top speed. I think i once put it in sport mode and hit the loud pedal. It went fast, it made a fake engine noise and that was it. It was actually pretty pathetic as the car weighs over 2t and has the sporting prowess of a MG metro. I only ever put it in comfort (When i need to warm up quickly) or Economy. WTF is the point of trying to drive a EV fast? It makes no sense to me to the point i drive my EV much slower these days because its so quiet and comfortable.
Does the later leaf have better battery longevity (less degredation) than the earlier versions? As I said we’ll be planning on keeping it a while so don’t want something 10yrs old that will only do 50miles.
Yes, the 40 and 62kwh cars use a different type of cell. There are still possible thermal issues but for degredation they seem to be holding up nicely. The later cars still have the "bars" display of battery capacity like the earlier ones, it's just buried in a menu - incredibly rare to see a mk2 Leaf lose a bar (15% capacity loss) and I've yet to hear of a 62kwh one lose more than 10% yet.
I like ours and given it's such a simple, well known and well understood platform it's the EV I'd choose if I was planning to keep for 10+ years. There's even CCS adaptors now which gets around the risk of fewer CHAdeMO chargers in the future.
My #1 wished me a Merry Christmas this morning. It doesn’t make up for it having pretty shit software. But I hated her a little less.
Why do people get hung up on performance figures of EV’s.
It's all numbers and data isn't it! It might not be your cup of tea, but don't yuk other's yums!
People have been boosting and modding cars forever...now we're a bit older and lazier, some people still like the idea of a powerful/fast car..and an EV allows that with realtive ease.
Unlike some modded and uber powerful ICE cars, an EV can have a billion BHP, yet drive very comfortably and quietly using only a few of them 99% of the time.. We're just big kids really!
DrP
@DrP nail on head. Firstly I’ve always found fast estates cool. Cos. The beauty of an EV seems to be it can be very fast for the 3 times a year you want to giggle like a child, then be perfectly normal and chilled (accepting slight efficiency loss from extra motor etc, before anyone points it out). Unlike a v8 petrol which will always be flawed ie emissions and mpg.
What are people experiences of the octopus salary sacrifice lease scheme. The headline numbers look good especially on some of their special deals.
anyone using this? Be particularly interested to know what the exit terms are like if you leave a job.
Do all new home chargers need to be connected directly to your meter?
I've had a Pod Point for about 8 years and its in my porch, nice and dry and convenient. Its connected to my consumer unit in the garage. Unfortunately its an old 3.6KW and has a type one tethered connector so it will need to be upgraded. I just looked on the Octopus site (I'm already with them) and it seems all their choices have to be connected direct to the meter which is absolutely miles away from my porch and will mean ugly cables being run around the house - I've just had new paths and patio built so I can't bury them.
Is this just an octopus thing? I' d just assumed I could swap my old charger for a new one using the existing wiring? I know it s a question for a charger installer but I thought I'd check if people were always getting chargers wired direct to meter?
@winston You could just replace the type1 cable for a type2 cable. Also an opportunity to buy a longer/shorter cable if it was ever a wish.
@winston my understanding of this (I am not an electrician but mate is) is the best practice has changed. They used to like it connected to the consumer unit. They now like it connected to the meter, but the gubbins (isolator etc) not in the fuse box. So you end up with a little box next to the meter cabinet. Ours is connected to the meter (3 years ago) but with the gubbins in the meter box. Happily our DNO haven’t kicked off. But it has been commented on. I’m not sure why the consumer unit vs meter.
@B.A.Nana - I really want to upgrade the power. 3.3 is fine for my Leaf as its got a tiny 24kwh battery and the onboard charger can't cope with anything higher anyway (it hasn't got the upgraded 6.6). However our next car will be something that has a battery 3 times the size and can charge at least 7kwh so our existing charger would take about 2 days to fully charge it!
@northernremedy - yes I was afraid that things had changed. That will be a pain. However I was just chatting with my neighbour and they had a charger fitted three years ago direct to consumer unit so I guess it might still be a thing
I had a charger fitted a couple of weeks ago. The guy said he could have wired it into our CU but we only had one slot left, it needed a few because it has a surge protector included, so went to the meter with a separate CU.
what capacity slot do the chargers require?
This is what PodPoint sent to me last week
We’ll need:
A minimum of 6mm SWA 3-core cable supplying the sub-board from your house - 4mm is not sufficient.
Supply from main board to garage to be a minimum of 40A - this may need to be greater if you have many electrical components on the sub-board (i.e. a fridge or freezer etc).
Supply to the sub-board is either non RCD protected or protected by a Type A RCD.
A Spare 32A or 40A MCB available on sub-board which is either non RCD protected or is protected by a Type A RCD.
All MCBs and RCDs on one board must be the same brand.
If your electrician suggests running a new feed from the meter, please consult with us first as this would change the requirements in terms of cabling needed
The eqc broke down today, in waitrose car park. it thought that the charging cable was connected when it clearly wasnt (and hadn't been plugged in for a few days) , which meant that it wouldn't do anything. We tried locking and unlocking it, press start button etc, but the error persisted.
Called merc assistance, who sent the rac round, but they had a 2 hour lead time on getting to us. Tried again with the turn it off and on again and this time it sprang into life with no errors showing and has been fine ever since. We cancelled the rac and got on our way.
Am wondering whether it's the start of something failing or just a one off software glitch.
I had one of those glitches when I first had my iX3 .
we went to Killerton for a Christmas Lights show , and when we returned the car would start up , but wouldn’t engage drive . Tried several times to lock / unlock etc. Called BMW assistance and was told about an hour to get to us. I walked back up to the house to use the toilet and then when I got back I thought I would try once more , and it worked .
Phoned the assistance to let them know , then we passed the recovery lorry as we drove out .
Never happened again and had no further issues during ownership
Another trip in my EQA yesterday which was longer than its full charge range. Once again relied on the tesla public supercharger network and it was faultless. Got to my destination with 38% charge left. Plugged in for 30 mins and on my way with 75% charge for £13 (paid contactless). Easy peasy and got home with 15% charge so really didnt need to have put so much in. This was with heaters blaring and heated seats on full journey.
One issue that raised its head in the -6 temps along the way was windscreen washers froze up. Electric cars dont generate the heat like a ICE vehicle so my bonnet never got remotely defrosted and as soon as the temps dropped sub zero my washer jets froze up. Surely heated washer jets are standard on EV's? I cant find mention of it as an option or standard on my car and if it does have them, i have no idea how to activate them.
Anyone had this issue
Surely heated washer jets are standard on EV’s?
like any car I imagine standard on some, option on others.
not really a problem if you have the correct fluid for the conditions. Though admittedly that can be hard to gauge these days with +11C a couple of weeks back and -5C for now.
Anyone had this issue
Yes, but I have a 10 year old Leaf so I just assumed this problem had been fixed by now.
After googling the two cars I'm currently looking at (Ioniq 5 and EV6) it appears not.....as usual the tech bro's give you useless crap like using your phone as a key but can't get the basics right.
on the ID.Buzz they are now standard on MY'25 vehicles, but on the original models, like mine, they were not even an option. I didn't even think to look as it's been standard on every car I've had since 1999. FFS.
Now have arctic super ice blast 0 degree Kelvin screen wash filled tanks and issue has not repeated. Top tip - if you want to gauge the scent, don't take a big noseful sniff of ammonia based screen wash. Nearly keeled over.
frozen washers - Yes had this. No way to defrost them either as No heat to warm them up at all even on a long journey.
Halfords sell -20 washer fluid which does the trick. For some reason they sell a 'concentrated' and 'ready to use' version, with the ready to use cheaper.
Reading the instructions they are both 'use neat for -20' !
Not just me then
Just realized the polestar has heated washer nozzles!
Bling bling!
DrP
Heated washers on the i4, and they are incorporated into the wiper arms, rather than on the bonnet, so all good…The auto folding mirrors however did not unfold yesterday due thick ice. A bit of a tap and some resultant whirs and bangs from the motors that fold them and they are fine, however have changed settings to leave them folded out for now whilst icy.
Polestar 2 heated washers are part of the £900 climate pack which also includes heat pump, steering wheel and heated rear seats so definitely worth having. Like the i4 the washers are part of the wiper blade which seems really effective
steering wheel
I thought that should come as standard….
@iainc - the washers on my i4 definitely are not heated. Looking closely you can see the assembly is just the hose and a few plastic fittings to.provide the jets.
I wish they were heated though.
Oof..£900 quid extra..
I got my polestar second hand, and up until 2024, they just had the Pilot (cruise control, pixel lights, lane keep) and Plus (heated things, glass roof, better stereo) and Performance (ohlins springs and brembo brakes).. mines a Pilot plus.
Still saving up for the steering wheel.
DrP
whatgoesupFull Member
@iainc – the washers on my i4 definitely are not heated. Looking closely you can see the assembly is just the hose and a few plastic fittings to.provide the jets.
I wish they were heated though.
they are listed as standard spec on uk cars, all versions. I haven’t examined them mind you. They haven’t ever frozen on me so I have believed what I have read on the spec lists.
On an icy day they steam nicely.
I was caught out on the -7c morning this week. Smugly heat the car from my armchair so all is toasty inside.
The door can still be frozen shut though...
I tell you what else can freeze..the actual rubber wiper itself!!
I thought the screen wash was freezing on my screen yesterday am (-5 deg C) as the arc of the wiper was ‘missing’ wiping a large chunk, so i thought it was just iced up on the screen.
Turns out the wiper blade was frozen bent (from the resting position I guess) and wasn’t deforming to wipe the screen! Never had that before!
DrP
Glad the steering wheel bit hit the spot ? I realised I had missed the ‘heated’ from the sentence but gave up waiting for the edit screen to respond
Surely heated washer jets are standard on EV’s?
Polestar 2 heated washers are part of the £900 climate pack which also includes heat pump, steering wheel and heated rear seats so definitely worth having.
Depends on the market. AFAIK the heated wipers and front seats are stock over here and some of the other Northern european countries, plus Canada etc. Heated rear seats, steering wheel, heat pump etc, i'm not sure on.
I tell you what else can freeze..the actual rubber wiper itself!!
More likely the water in/on the blade. You see many cars with the wipers pulled away from the screen overnight here. Three reasons:- it's easier to scrape the screen (if you need to) because the blades aren't in the way, you also don't freeze the edge of the blade to the screen (you can tear chunks out of it) and lastly, putting the blade back against the windscreen breaks the ice on the blade up nicely.
I switch my heater on in the morning to defrost everything...
More likely the water in/on the blade.
Probably/.
I have my car set to warm up/precondition every morning - makes for a lovely drive!
Also, i jsut realsied as mine is a launch edition (2021) it doesn't have the heat pump~!
DrP
Preheat is my favourite thing on my car at the moment. I take the dogs out for a walk early doors. If there is a frost i just set the preheat for when i plan to leave. Its one of the nicest things to walk out to a car, fully defrosted, seats heated and general warm temps. For what cost, about 5p? It makes next to nothing difference in my pocket and i am not effected range wise. But getting in my car this morning whilst my neighbour scraped the frost off his car and had the engine running for 20 mins made me chuckle a little.
The merc broke down the other day, flashed up a malfunction error in the middle of driving down the road and lost all drive power.
Switched it off and on again and it was fine, for about 5 minutes, before doing the same and stopping. Limped it to the local merc dealer when it stopped at the entrance.
They plugged their computer into it and got a load of fault codes, main one being a fault in the high voltage battery control unit.
After investigating, they say there is a fault with the wiring (have not yet got them to elaborate on what exactly the issue is), but it's not covered by the extended warranty (small print excludes issues with wiring or wiring loom), but as a gesture of good will they will only charge me £280 to repair rather tha the full £700 quid they reckon it should cost.
Will find out what exactly the fault is with the "wiring" and go from there.
This (exclusion of wiring faults from extended warranty, plus the failure in the first place) might consign Mercedes to the never buy from again pile.
A minimum of 6mm SWA 3-core cable supplying the sub-board from your house – 4mm is not sufficient.
Supply from main board to garage to be a minimum of 40A – this may need to be greater if you have many electrical components on the sub-board (i.e. a fridge or freezer etc).
Supply to the sub-board is either non RCD protected or protected by a Type A RCD.
A Spare 32A or 40A MCB available on sub-board which is either non RCD protected or is protected by a Type A RC.
6mm cable?
How far away is the charging point from the meter. I am looking at a minimum of 10mm cable size. Showers require a 10mm cable today if a new installation.
Hiya All,
I occasionally lurk in this thread. It's for sure interesting. For a long time I wanted to an EV but I'm not keen on the current batch of ones. I've been holding out for a Renault 5. I'm sadly a Renault Fan and the 5 suits my budget and what I need from an EV. For sure there are other EVs out there but I've been burnt a few times on so called expensive quality cars from Germany. My Renaults have been good after that epic fail of purchases. I was wondering if anyone yet has had a test drive anywhere? Probably this is directed to our mainland European cousins.
BR
Jerry
I think the R5 looks great. Is it not based on the Dacia Spring platform? You could try one of those - the real R5 will seem luxury by comparison!
I'm having an inconvenience with IOG - my smart meter stopped working mid-December. Octopus seem a bit unsure as to how to proceed.
In th emeantime I have about £800 credit on my account and no sign of a bill on the horizon...
@boomerlives you'll be paying full flexible tariff (or whatever it's called) on days of lost data so you need to keep on at them for a solution. I had some intermittent problems with my smart meter over the summer and they eventually sent out a bloke to look at the meter. He performed some sort of reboot I think. In your case they might do something similar or replace the meter, but keep hounding them to do something.
The bottom line is you'll be the one losing out financially the longer it persists, quite significantly as well.
The old Renault 4 was a wacky car. Front wheel drive, longitudinally mounted engine with the gearbox at the front which was operated by a stick in going through the dashboard. So French.
^^ I had a pal who had one, he repainted it (the whole car…) with a paintbrush to cover the rust 🙂
Reviews are out on the Renault 5 from the likes of PetrolPed and TheLateBrakeShow on YouTube, but they are not in dealerships in the UK yet AFAIK so you will struggle for any reviews from the public and very early days in Europe too.
Doing my first round trip over the next few days that will probably be over the range of my Kia eNiro. Congleton to Oxford and back. 130 miles each way will be a bit beyond it in winter I think. So, I've never actually used a public charger before given that I charge for free at work (I just use the 3 pin plug adapter at home on the rare occasion that it's been needed).
So, what's my best option? I'll probably need like a 30% top up to be safe I reckon.
This (exclusion of wiring faults from extended warranty, plus the failure in the first place) might consign Mercedes to the never buy from again pile.
Jeepers that doesn't leave much left to warranty!
How crap is that!?
Do they cover PCBs? I did an app for one of the charger manufacturers that was related to faulty PCBs..... There were "a lot" each year which gives me a bit of the fear over PCBs in high voltage environments.
Jeepers that doesn’t leave much left to warranty!
Here the full list of exclusions, I guess if it's not on the list below then it's covered...
Air cleaners
• Any seal, gasket or sealant
• Auxiliary belts
• Batteries - non HV and auxiliary batteries
• Bonnet, boot and fuel flap release cables
• Brake friction material and discs/drums
• Brake pipes and brake hoses
• Clutch assemblies/clutch fork/release bearings/pressure plate/carrier plate
• Clutch master cylinder/clutch slave cylinder
• Core plugs
• Distributor caps
• Drive shaft and steering rack gaiters
• Electrical connection blocks, terminals and fuses
• Exhaust system, muffler, heat shields and exhaust pipes
• Fuel filters
• Gearbox, axle and drive line mountings
• Handbrake/parking brake cablesHinges (all)Hoses/pipes (non-metal), hose clips and connectors (excluding coolant hoses)
• HT leads
• Light bulbs and LED bulbs (except Xenon Bulbs)
• Navigation CDs, DVDs and SD cards
• Oil filters and gaskets
• PAS high pressure hose/pipes
• Pollen/odour filters
• Reprogramming or software updates
Shock absorbers and suspension struts
• Spark plugs
• Sunroof cables, convertible cables, convertible roof material and straps
• Tyres
• Wheels
• Wiper blades
• Wiring and wiring looms.
Doing my first round trip over the next few days that will probably be over the range of my Kia eNiro.
I've been watching this thread through my period of exile and actually got my first EV 6 weeks ago - Hyundai Kona. It was between that and the Niro and then a cracking 21 Kona, 20k miles/Ultimate spec (leather, upgraded stereo, etc.) came up that was too good to miss.
Like you all my charging has been home or work; I've only charged on a public charger twice and it's been dead easy.
First time I put 10kwh in for shits and giggles (rather, to learn how to before using in anger) at a local charger to me - I'm on Octopus so have an Electroverse card that debits costs to my Octopus account and gives a discount.
Woke the screen up, pressed charge, tapped the card on the obvious RFID reader, wheels churned briefly and then it said to plug in and charging started (DC charger / 50kw)
Once enough was in (about 15 mins, only got to about 43kw actual) I pressed stop, tapped card again, machine clicked and then said unplug. By the time I was back in the car after restashing the plug, I'd had an email confirming the cost.
Second time was at MiL on NYD. There's a pair of 22kw chargers in the Co-Op car park in her village so I plugged in there. AC, same sort of process except I couldn't get the Electroverse card to read. It was absolutely hosing down with cold wet rain, so I tried another card (my credit card) at which point I realised I was tapping on the wrong point, moved it and it registered. Plugged in, and then walked away and left it for a couple of hours to put about 25kwh in (again be prepared, slower than advertised speed). Took a couple of days to appear on the CC statement, and I didn't get the special Octopus price, but ho hum.
It was range and public charge anxiety that had put me off for ages - in 6 weeks it's been entirely unfounded.
As for the driving experience. I drive everywhere in Eco or Eco+ and it's still too racy for me. Sport mode compared to my old diesel lump is frankly terrifying, I'd have it in a hedge in no time!!
And in this weather pre-warming seats and steering wheel while finishing my toast is just bliss.
Another lurker on this thread. I live in a semi detached in a small market town with on street parking and the chances of parking directly outside my house are slim and I’m retired so no charging at work - is an ev a totally unrealistic proposition? I’m assuming I would be charging in the local car parks so charging costs would be significantly higher?
What does the hive mind have to say about high mileage Tesla Model 3s?
There's a few on Autotrader that are almost affordable but they have over 125k miles.
Second time was at MiL on NYD. There’s a pair of 22kw chargers in the Co-Op car park in her village so I plugged in there. AC, same sort of process except I couldn’t get the Electroverse card to read. It was absolutely hosing down with cold wet rain, so I tried another card (my credit card) at which point I realised I was tapping on the wrong point, moved it and it registered. Plugged in, and then walked away and left it for a couple of hours to put about 25kwh in (again be prepared, slower than advertised speed).
The slower speed will more likely have been your car. Niro's either have 7.5kw or 10.5 kw max onboard charging speed so you are never going to see 22kw on AC. This is why I've been looking at the Megane or the Scenic as they both have 22kw and I spend quite a lot of time in Holland where everyone has 3 phase so 22kw chargers are literally everywhere and usually free.
What does the hive mind have to say about high mileage Tesla Model 3s?
There’s a few on Autotrader that are almost affordable but they have over 125k miles
I think its their age rather than mileage you need to be looking at. After 8 years they lose battery / powertrain warranty. My worry with EVs (and I've been driving them for 9 years) is any out of warranty repair on the battery/ inverter stack could easily write the car off. This is the big issue and it does frequently happen. Its fine if you have only spent a few thousand on a car and driven it for a few years but even secondhand EVs are 20k and the thought of something going pop after 2 years is really putting me off buying one right now. EVs are generally very reliable but when they have a fault unlike iCE cars, it just comes out of nowhere and is almost never related to how well you have looked after the car.
@claudie:
My data (6 weeks, but also winter where efficiency is lower, heaters on, etc.)
I'm getting 3.7 mile per kwh, home charging on Octopus Go is 8.5p, so 2.3p/mile. Actually a bit more because the flipside to Octopus Go is that my peak rate is a bit higher so having an EV and low rate actually costs me a bit more than just the rate. Call it 2.5p
I do 1200 miles/month approx so that costs me £30 a month.
My old diesel cost me 40mpg - so 1200 miles = 30 gallons = 136.5 litres x 1.40ish currently (quite low vs recent times) = £190 (15.8 p per mile or 6 and a bit * EV rate). So the EV is £160/mo cheaper.
Of course I'm paying for the EV (£200/mo give or take) so it's costing me actually £40/mo to be in the new car.
Things that also need considering
the diesel's clutch was going, could have been a £1500 bill.
I got a good rate on the charger install but still cost me £850. Nett those - about £650 which covers 16mo of the higher cost.
If petrol went up 10% (not impossible) the bill goes up by £20 a month and halves the £40/mo to be in the new car - contrast is that electricity would have to go up massively to increase by the same £20.
I'd hope to get the efficiency up in warmer weather - for the first couple of weeks I had it I got closer to 3.9 so EV gets cheaper.
Annual servicing is apparently a lot cheaper.
All told I reckon it's close to cost neutral to be in the new car, and it's a way nicer place to be with a way better driving experience.
For you:
If it was all commercial chargers - even low cost / low speed you'd be paying 6x the cost and that makes it very similar in fuel to diesel on a per mile basis. And the hassles of putting on charge somewhere away from home for long periods would be too much faff for me. If you put on fast chargers where you can do for an hour a time then less faff, but you'll be paying 80-odd pence per kwh (nearly 10x the home charge rate). Depends of course how many miles you do as to whether the absolute cost penalty is significant of course. And did I mention how much nicer the owning and driving experience has been so far!
Have a look at Zap Map to see what looks convenient. Personally only done half a dozen public charges in 3 years, but would recommend bigger sites a few miles away from major trunk roads.
On that note, for Oxford can highly recommend the Fastned Charging Station at the Redbridge P&R, south side of town off the ring road. Not sure if that suits you though.
The old Renault 4 was a wacky car. Front wheel drive, longitudinally mounted engine with the gearbox at the front which was operated by a stick in going through the dashboard. So French.
Was great wasn't it, My mother had one. I also had a Renault 5 the last one and loved it. I have a Twingo and Trafic ATM and love them both. I'm also half French, so a little biased 😉
I've watched the reviews and they look awesome I'm also going to have a Peek at a Citroen eC3 which also looks good. To be honest I think the French have nailed the brief to get mass Electric cars to the population. Else it will only be the wealthy and company car owners.
JeZ
Well today's the day for our charger installation - an Ohme via VW. As their T's & C's say they won't install it earlier than one month from delivery that must mean the car's not far away right? (no, I'm not holding my breath!)
Installers have been very good so far, taken me all through what they're doing and we've confirmed the cable route. Will be surprised if they're still here at lunchtime.
My Ioniq is in the dealership for the 5yr service. When I booked it in they said the cost would be around £300 without the battery coolant flush (as that was done under warranty last year).
On arrival at the garage this morning they said it would be 5yr (50000 mile ) service is costing £73. I questioned their working out without going into to much detail regarding the conversation I had on the phone with them in December when the £300 was mentioned. I'll trust their judgement.
Anyway I'm £225 better off and I get a stamp in the book and some piece of mind for until the warranty expires later in the year.
As for the car I am pleased with it. Maybe not as versatile as the ageing Roomster that it replaced but it is a nicer car to drive and so far significantly cheaper to run.
I've yet to put the bike in the boot but I aim to to that this year.
The climate app control came in handy this morning for deicing. I might pay for an extension of the bluelink app later in the year but I could probably manage without. All my home charging is started via a smart plug and my navigation is using Android auto.
I think I'll be able to manually start the climate control then lock the car in the future? Sitting in the car for 5 minutes whilst it defrosts also isn't a problem.
.
I’ve watched the reviews and they look awesome I’m also going to have a Peek at a Citroen eC3 which also looks good. To be honest I think the French have nailed the brief to get mass Electric cars to the population.
Feel like I'm shouting into the void as no one on this thread seems interested in them, but if small/funky/French is your thing then maybe also have a look at a Peugeot E208. I have one and really like it, and I see tonnes of them on the road.
What does the hive mind have to say about high mileage Tesla Model 3s?
Seems to be a bunch of YT videos looking at these of late. Seems to be a good bet if you get the right price and the inners are tidy enough!
DrP
Feel like I’m shouting into the void as no one on this thread seems interested in them, but if small/funky/French is your thing then maybe also have a look at a Peugeot E208. I have one and really like it, and I see tonnes of them on the road.
My friend has one, it's awesome. Like you I wonder what the interest on some of the other vehicles and yes I like small French vehicles and always have done 😉 It will be tested too. It's nuts why people still buy German cars when the dream team seems to be dead in terms of reliability and quality...
JeZ
Well that was an interesting drive home.
Reasonable dump of snow in East Sussex and as ever the combination of front wheel drive but no actual proper weight over the front wheels but lots in the middle of the car plus zero ability to change up a gear on a hill climb meant the Leaf was as crap as ever in the thin covering of snow. I had to keep slowing down to get a run up and hope nobody slotted in the gap.....saw two accidents on the way home and had to put my snowsocks on to get into my road as its a block paved single track incline which is slippery when wet let alone icy. Made it but there will be zero chance of getting out again if it freezes overnight
Sometimes I really miss my Terracan!
I have to be honest and say I prefer driving an ICE car in the snow and ice compared to my EV, the Born doesn’t have a choice of regen braking, it on or off. When it’s on and I take my foot of the accelerator it was sketchy on the ice, trying to brake on the ice. If I turned it off I was struggling to get the right amount of braking. I also found there is too much power, before I would be pulling away in 2nd gear in ice/snow to keep the revs down but can’t do that in the EV and feathering the accelerator is tricky.
I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s related to lots of them coming with OEM low rolling resistance tyres?