The Electric Car Thread

If you look on ev-database.com they give “real world” ranges for various EVs but also ranges in different scenarios such as highway summer, which is 70mph in warm conditions. Bear in mind that you will probably want to recharge between 10 and 20 percent (to avoid any range anxiety) and won’t charge beyond 80 to 90 percent (as charging gets really slow at the end) so 70% of the “highway summer” range would be a conservative estimate for how frequently you might need to charge each car on that type of journey. There is a big difference in that figure for different EVs though.

er, not much, lost 30 mins between Verbier and the Channel Tunnel. The English side was just deeply unpleasant and one 10min stop.

Edge case indeed. Well you won’t be doing that in an EV.

Would anyone care to guess when we’ll hit the bottom of the used EV price curve?

I had a quick play with the Chrome extension that shows the price history on Autotrader. Had a look at Smart # 1 for example. Some cars have been on sale since Jan/Feb (so demand isn’t high) and the price has dropped £5-6k in that time. Similar story with a Cupra Born. There is one that was originally listed in February for £9.5k more than they are currently asking. OK there is always an element of dealers listing cars at optimistic prices and then dropping them after a bit but even just looking at the original price that similar cars were listed at seems to suggest that prices have dropped over 10% in the past six months.  Makes me think I should probably wait (at least) another six months. Especially as nobody (else) buys cars in January 🙂

what would be the realistic range on a motorway/paege trip

There’s a bit of a difference there because motorways are 70mph and Peages are 81mph limits. However, you can use ABRP and choose a car to experiment with it. However ABRP is a bit conservative, it knocks a load off the official range figures apparently out of pessimism. Some cars can achieve their WTLP, some can’t; Mine exceeds it but I only know that from experience. It wouldn’t exceed it on a Peage though.

Would anyone care to guess when we’ll hit the bottom of the used EV price curve?

I am absolutely not the person to ask.. I bought my first house in 2007…

so we all know the MGs are relatively cheap chinese stuff, and the estate’s got a rubbish boot, but £20k (new) for the long range estate or the (regular range) SUV version is pretty cheap..

https://www.baylis.uk.com/mg/offers/pre-reg-delivery-mileage-offers/

61kWh battery rated for 250 mile range WLTP
0-60: 7.3 seconds
156bhp

Having ignored this thread for 175 pages I might have some reading to catch up on ….

After 11 years of service it might just be time to replace my trusty Golf and it’s increasingly looking like a used EV is in my future.

Currently looking like it’ll be an iD.3 at the mo because we like them and there’s some good deals around, we also have the added bonus of not being in a rush so can can wait for the right one. Also need to investigate a charger but have already picked up that the Ohme is a decent choice and since discovered that they play nicely with both VWs and our energy supplier OVO – so that might be a no brainer.

The correct answer is Octopus energy, 3 pin charger and a Hyundai ioniq (not the 5)!

Only kidding, buy whatever suits your needs best.

@madhouse maybe check out the Cupra born too. I have one and really like it, it’s just an ID3 with a different skin but was a bit cheaper for me, and I think it looks nicer.

@andy4d I like the Born too …. but Mrs M doesn’t, so it’s a non-starter.

Your missus prefers the ID3 to the Cupra Born? Maybe time to find a new missus!!

(Just kidding, mine said exactly the same and ended up costing me a load more money persuading me to get an Audi!! I really really wanted the Cupra!)

I did watch quite a lot of videos and the Born did appear to be a better car than the ID3. But it’s probably marginal and more down to personal taste.

Not looked into the Born too much as it was quickly dismissed, of the reviews I looked at, it did do well.

Briefly looked at e-Trons but the early ones haven’t got great range and the newer stuff is SUV territory which is bigger than I need, we’ve got the dinosaur-burning estate for that.

What’s the budget?

First ev driving experiences are very positive here (2021 Zoe, third week of driving it but only local so far).  Went to visit a mate last night and pootling around looking for a parking space was so restful.  Also the almost instant de-misting was great as Cardiff suffered biblical rainstorms last night.  This included some monster puddles.  I took these carefully, but only when I got home did it it occur to me that all those 600v electrics would have got a bit damp.

And sticking to 20mph is deffo easier even without using the speed limiter.  Still to do a long trip requiring a re- charge, but we have got some local slow chargers to work.

Also it must be said that modern car bells and whistles (rear camera, phone connection etc) are nice.  This car replaced a 2007 Fabia, and our other car has a cassette player…

Re. Roverpig- I’d guess uk used prices will continue to drop as there’s a lot of leased cars entering the market and you can’t cheaply export used UK cars to Europe… supply and demand in a limited market.

Anyone here owned an EV6?

Anyone here owned an EV6?

Not yet…. But I have one on the way.
A change of job has necessitated the departure of my fabulous Genesis GV60 and the EV6 is the closest I can get to it from the new list.
Currently have a temporary VW ID4 which is OK but feels a bit  like a step backwards.

I have an EV6. What do you want to know, @wbo?

@molgrips it’s more finding something that’s good value and Mrs M also likes. That said, less than £500/mth ?.

Current front runner’s an ex-demo iD.3 58kw with a few extras that’ll work out at about £330/mth. Weirdly I’m not allowed a Caravelle or Multivan but an iD.Buzz would be fine because it’s not a van … ??? But they’re too expensive and we’re not replacing the big car right now.

Just how you like it, how it’s been  I’ve been looking other cars, but I’ve seen a few low mileage 2nd hand ones, and it looks a lot of car for the money.

Similar to ionic 5, but that’s not interesting

I love the EV6. Really nice to drive, comfortable, more than fast enough if you put your foot down, loads of space.

SatNav is good, radio is good and everything just works.

I have the GT Line S so it’s got plenty of toys, inc. a really good head up display and excellent parking cameras.

Done just under 10k miles in it so far without any trouble at all. Range varies between 240-ish to 310-ish miles on a full charge depending on ambient temperature and whether heating or A/C is on or not.

Anyone experienced an EC30 yet?  Although I’m struggling with the concept of no dashboard or buttons, it seems a consideration for company EV vs Current diesel estate due to its keen pricing.

And crossing over to the other thread, if I have normal mains power in the garage is this good enough for a wall charger?

Thanks

You mean the EX30?

The Volvo, yes.

@kryton57 a wall box will be 7kw and about 40amps so will want to draw straight from your fuse box via a fat cable (not the technical term, you can probably guess I’m no sparky). You’ll be able to do 3-pin charging but it’ll be slow (around 2kw).

Ok thanks, that’s a bummer. The garage has mains electric but is 50m from the house, and the fuse box is in the house under stairs cupboard.   Something to consider.

I had one for a hire car for a few days.  It dove and handled well (fast, fluid and tactile handling)  and seemed well put together.  No problems (unlike the MG I also had for a few days).  Lack of buttons was a bit of a pain, but you do get used to it.  Rear space and rear visibility was poor.  The kids complained it was very dark in the rear.  No pan roof on this one and had the dark cloth interior.  Boot was okay, but highish load point if that’s an issue.  Seemed to suffer a significant drop in range above 65-68mph.  The MG ZS we had was fine upto 75mph and the fell off a cliff.

I am looking at 2 EV cars, same model one with 40k miles and 71 plate (with towbar fitted) other with 10k miles on 21 plate and will need towbar for bike rack.

The 71 plate one is £3.5k less. I will be adding 6k miles per year.

Which one is going to be better value ?

Go for the newer one. Your (low) mileage will soak up the extra 30k over a few years and towbars are weirdly expensive.

My 71 plate car has just gone back with 95,000 miles on it so you should be golden.

In other circumstances (ICE) I’d go with the above advice, but after 4 years and assuming a smidge more driving, the 40k car will be 70k and that puts you into battery scare (for SH EV buyers) territory.  Which can often sharply depress resale.

What was the starting price? And how long is the warranty?

I’ve driven an EX30, and they drive well.  The ‘touchscreen for everything ‘ is ok, you’ll get used to that but the rear is tiny.  Boot is ok , with the seats down

In contrast the EV6 is like a black hole for bouldering pads, and that appeals

More generic question for the STW hive …. energy efficient heat pump on your EV, good idea? just a nice to have? a must have when speccing a new one?

personally unless a heatpump is not something I’d spec at additional cost but if it came with one I’d be happy to have it. sure it improves efficiency but that not really that important in everyday use when you can charge it every night, on longer journeys I’m happy to spend an extra couple of minutes charging (as I’m stopping anyway).

That’s kind of what I was thinking. In winter if the car’s plugged in, do a pre-heat and it’ll draw from the mains rather than the battery and also remove the need for window scraping. Maintaining cabin temp will use less energy anyway.

Guardian take on best EV if you don’t want a Tesla…

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/article/2024/sep/10/the-10-best-electric-cars-to-buy-if-you-want-to-avoid-tesla

I wouldn’t want one without a heat pump. People are moaning about winter range being two thirds summer range – not me. I lose about 10%

Interesting. More research required I think!

Talking of research, I think I might need to speak to Mrs M again about the Cupra Born as they’ve a huge deposit contribution on new, which along with 0% finance and a free charger is becoming hard to ignore as financially there’s not much in it when compared to what’s available used.

Well, I am the latest to join the electric car club – I took delivery of a Lexus RZ earlier this week and I am very impressed with it. Great performance and so easy to drive, although the early consumption figures don’t look great (around 2.8kw per mile) I knew this about this particular car, but the lease deal was really good so any additional costs in charging will be massively offset against the monthly lease cost being some £120 a month lower than my original budget.

Hi. Just some corrections based on our experience – the charger will draw 32 amps and it’ll be wired to your meter box. Not fuse box.

Judging by what the electricians who came to give us quotes said, if there is a spare space in the fuse box for it, it will be wired from there.  It needs it’s own dedicated fused supply.

@johndoe The difference between 2.8miles/kWh and 3.5 is about 0.5p/mile (at 7p/kWh), or £50 over 10,000 miles. Definitely don’t worry about it 😀

The difference between 2.8miles/kWh and 3.5 is about 0.5p/mile (at 7p/kWh), or £50 over 10,000 miles. Definitely don’t worry about it 😀

I hadn’t really worked out like that so I definitely won’t be worrying about it !