The Electric Car Thread

Everyone’s waiting six weeks or more for most parts.

*laughs in Ford*

Six weeks would be **** amazing.

Wait. Hyundai still have shit spares even though I’ve not owned one for 24 years.

The compressor went in our Kia (Hyundai AFAIK) in August. Expecting to get it fixed mid October. I’d say pretty shit, yes.

Six weeks would be **** amazing.

In fords defence. Isn’t your the only one of that model of that age left on the road this side of Africa ?

It isn’t a “transmission” tunnel in the Corsa. The batteries are in the floorpan under the seats and the tunnel is used for the electrical connections etc.

Picking my Mercedes EQA250+ AMG Premium Plus up on Tuesday

I’d be interested in an update when you’ve biffed around in it for a week. A colleague had one  (that model) for a weeks loan to try out. It was a nice thing to sit in, but there was some confusion about charging speed – the dealer told him it was 100kW – surley not?

Should be OK if you mostly home charge anyway.

…and transmission tunnels – it’s an outdated term for a lump in the floor that should not be there in a FWD car. It’s a lazy design.

but there was some confusion about charging speed – the dealer told him it was 100kW – surley not?

According to evdb the max DC charge speed is 102kw, a bit slow for a recent car.

In fords defence. Isn’t your the only one of that model of that age left on the road this side of Africa ?

No, that would be my 2018 Focus. Not even Autodoc has the bit I need.

No problem, i will update.  What do you want to know about?  I think you are correct about the 100kw charging but i cant imagine me ever having too much issue with this.  I charge at 7.4kw at home 95% of the time and the chargers at work are 50kw.  The chargers i have checked out near to where my longer journeys are are 80kw.  With a 70kw battery i dont think thats too much of an issue.  Do you think it needs more?

Also remember there’s a big difference between the theoretical max charge speed and the actual max and the average across the whole charge. 100kW wouldn’t be too bad if it stayed near that for most of the charge.  Looking at this curve it’s a lot more consistent than some cars so it probably won’t feel too slow.

Compare to a Skoda Enyaq with a higher peak:

The Skoda averages 64kW from 10-90% and the Merc 76kW.  I quoted the 10-90% figure because the Merc is still charging fairly well at that point; if it were my car I’d be leaving it to 90 or more which would mean a greater effective range on long trips which is where it counts.

Charging today reminded me that the charge rate is temperature dependant. It’s best around 20-25°C ambient and slows above or below that. Leave the car out below freezing then try to charge it before driving anywhere and it’s really slow.

Took delivery of my new ID.7 tourer last night. Been out and about today, it’s a marvellous thing and it makes me want to immediately replace our other car. Does anyone with an ID vehicle have any kind of a guide on how to set up all the bells and whistles in the infotainment though – it’s a proper maze of settings!

Hobo-I eye the 20″ rims with suspicion – how is the ride?

Did you try any of the other cars in the class to compare?

Charging today reminded me that the charge rate is temperature dependant. It’s best around 20-25°C ambient and slows above or below that. Leave the car out below freezing then try to charge it before driving anywhere and it’s really slow.

Except anything remotely smart or well designed will pre heat/cool the battery as the very first thing it does on a planned/programmed charge cycle. So unless the heating/cooling systems in the car hit their operating limits or you’re a “random charging user”, it shouldn’t make much difference.

I know it’s built into a lot of the navigation systems as well, so if the car gives you a charging location on a longer route, it’ll start preparing the car before you get there.

Our MG4 is going back April next year. We’re wondering what to replace it with. Maybe another one if they do a good deal (new one has rear wiper which my wife really wants, but she also would like heated seats which I don’t think you can get). Anyway we happened to see (not drive) the e-Corsa and she really liked the look/size of it. I know someone on here had one- I can’t face going back 100s of pages to find out who, so if they’re reading this – what’s been your experience good/bad?

I just bought my ICE Skoda at the end of its four year lease. I do like the look of the Kia EV-3. but we’re going to run the Koraq for a few more years as I can’t justify spending lots of money to replace it with an EV. I would like to tho as every time I drive the MG4 I prefer it pretty much anything I’ve owned in the last 15 years!

Anyway we happened to see (not drive) the e-Corsa and she really liked the look/size of it. I know someone on here had one- I can’t face going back 100s of pages to find out who, so if they’re reading this – what’s been your experience good/bad?

I think it’s @retrorick

I have an e208, which is exactely the same Stellantis car with different styling. I’m really enjoying it a year on from purchase (used 21 plate). Range is not amazing, but sufficient for my needs (maybe 130 miles winter, 160 summer). Reliability- on board charger and air con compressor are known weak points on early cars. My OBC was replaced at Peugeots expense without fuss a couple of months out of warranty. Phone app is crap – or at least the car responds very slowly to it, think the cars mobile connectivity is the culprit not the actual app.

Stupid thing won’t let you pre heat/cool the cabin if the battery is below 50%, which drives me mad. I often want to set off with a low battery to then charge for free at work.

Re. Heated seats – on the e208 at least they were only standard on the highest spec model. Specs in general are hard to get your head round as things that you’ll read about being standard in the reviews at time of release were later dropped or restricted to top spec models – apparently due to post-covid chip shortages.

Thanks @timmys – useful stuff.

Yep I’ve had access to a Corsa e for the last 16 months. The elite nav version with the swish matrix lights.

It is a nice little car but not too small. My other half drives it daily and doesn’t have any issues with it. She likes the heated seat, steering wheel and pre heating/cooling the car prior to setting off for work or leaving work when it’s cold or too warm.

I did 45 miles in the Corsa e a few days ago and coming from driving 1600 miles in the Ioniq it does feel a little dated. The Ioniq has better features and build quality. The Corsa however for shorter journeys is good. It can do the longer journeys and it does charge faster than the Ioniq so I wouldn’t discount the Corsa for a longer journey. I did around 350 miles in a day twice in the Corsa with no issues.

The Corsa is quick off the mark. It seems to be a bit skippy when cornering and there is a bumpy surface. Maybe the 17″ wheels don’t help?

I need to take a look at the drainage around the boot area and find out why the half wheel well collects a little water. Other than that not had any issues with the car.

Would I buy another? Yes. But I hopefully won’t have to replace it for several more years.

Except anything remotely smart or well designed will pre heat/cool the battery as the very first thing it does on a planned/programmed charge cycle. So unless the heating/cooling systems in the car hit their operating limits or you’re a “random charging user”, it shouldn’t make much difference

Not sure how that’s supposed to work when it’s parked in a freezing public car park and the charge point is not far away. Get in, drive down hill with a regen warning because it’s so cold (the one time having the heater on makes absolutely no difference to range and economises the brake pads) and then plug in. Charge rate slowly increases as the battery is warmed up.

We’ve had our new EV a week now. We replaced the Octavia PHEV with a full electric Corsa (we no longer need the bigger vehicle.) Is a lovely little car. Has the feel of a little hot hatchback, great to nip about in.

But really wanted to point out that Arnold Clark are currently doing (imo) some pretty good deals on the Corsa at the moment. £289 in and £289 pm gets you a full electric, it’s cheaper than the ice alternatives. So if you’re in the market for a small ev, check them out. We got the Corsa ultimate down to £275 pm.

and transmission tunnels – it’s an outdated term for a lump in the floor that should not be there in a FWD car. It’s a lazy design

Agreed. Floors in cars should be flat.

We got the Corsa ultimate down to £275 pm.

Yes some great deals on the Corsa-e Ultimate, leaseloco £193/month for 3 years and 10k miles with 12 months up front.

Not sure how that’s supposed to work when it’s parked in a freezing public car park and the charge point is not far away. Get in, drive down hill with a regen warning because it’s so cold (the one time having the heater on makes absolutely no difference to range and economises the brake pads) and then plug in. Charge rate slowly increases as the battery is warmed up.

that’s a car issue, not an EV in general feature, and non existent in an i4..

My Model Y won’t regen when it’s cold. It also stops regen on super long alpine descents.

Picked up a 3 year old Audi E-Tron 50 Quattro this weekend, very impressed with it so far, only issue is we live in an old house so the National Grid has to uncouple us from the neighbours before we can have a charger fitted which is turning out to be a minor pain.

I’ve just got a Lexus RX450 Takuma at £296 a month (8k a year, two year deal). It was £3k upfront though, but it’s one hell more of a car than a Corsa. Unfortunately it got an unrepairable puncture after two weeks – £150 for an emergency tyre (shit non-branded thing) and £350 for the correct replacement but it’s an odd tyre size/spec and my local indie garage can’t get one until later next week.

@bassmandan congrats! What’s the ID.7 like for bike carrying?

I haven’t had a chance over the weekend what with rain and ferrying kids around. But.. the inside is cavernous. I’d be surprised if I couldn’t get a couple of bikes in on top of each other with wheels on.

What’s the ID.7 like for bike carrying?

Beat me to it! What about upright with front wheel off, (maybe back wheel too as I have axle stands that I use in my Octavia).

Thanks @retronick and @ richardkennerley – range isn’t a big problem for us as we still have the ICE car for longer journeys. The MG4 gets about 200 miles, but we just tend to charge it from 15-80% whenever it needs it. Longest journey we’ve done is Brum and back which was 130ish.

We’ll go take a look next weekend then. Bit early for us to get a great deal tho as the MG4 doesn’t go back until next year.

and non existent in an i4..

Get it properly cold then get back to me. The battery physics are the same in every EV. You can’t fast charge a cold battery, simple as.

Not sure how that’s supposed to work when it’s parked in a freezing public car park and the charge point is not far away.

That doesn’t sound very planned/programmed to me…

as the very first thing it does on a planned/programmed charge cycle

If you’d set navi to the nearest charge point, a newer car would probably have started heating the battery immediately.

Charge rate slowly increases as the battery is warmed up.

Some cars are starting to use the initial energy from charging to heat (or cool) the battery with (almost) zero charging being done, as the total time and amount of energy needed to hit target charge level is lower if you can get the battery to temp faster.

My Model Y won’t regen when it’s cold. It also stops regen on super long alpine descents.

Stops regen or stops the one pedal drive?
I know some models stop both! (Or used to, anyway!)

It’s a lazy design.

It’s also a simple, low cost and low weight way to improve multiple aspects of crash performance. Reduce NVH and improve ride and handling.

Some cars are starting to use the initial energy from charging to heat (or cool) the battery with (almost) zero charging being done,

Been done for years, any car with battery heating and cooling. The ones that haven’t had it are exceptions such as the Leaf. The only reason that the charge is lower (but not “almost zero”) is that the battery can’t take more when its cold. Which was my original point and is correct whatever an i4 owner might claim for their “special” car.

With or without setting the navi the car warms/cools the battery as soon as you start it on very cold or hot days. You can see it on the watts display in Winter, and see and hear it in Summer with the fan going flat out – and see the growing puddle of condensate under the car.

For someone in the industry you post some strange stuff on this forum, Mert.

The regen doesn’t disappear completely when the battery is cold (unless the battery is already full when you start that alpine decent). It’s just limited to the max the battery can take at that temperature which you can see on the regen watts readout on the dash.  When the battery is very cold the car will give a regen warning and it’ll feel like there’s almost no regen but some limited regen is there. As the battery warms up down the alpine decent the regen watts increase.

In practical terms the Zoe (a 12 year old design with a heat pump for heating/cooling) peaks at forty something watts of regen in Summer down the col d’Aubique and about a quater of that on a very cold day. I can’t give the exact figure, only estimate from the power indicator as the exact watts display is replaced by a big red regen limited warning. By the bottom of the hill or after 20 minutes it’s up to about a third and after another hour between half and two thirds.

Been done for years, any car with battery heating and cooling.

Active precondtioning to optimise temperature before connection/charging hasn’t.
Actively diverting all/most charge power *specifically* to optimise the battery temperature for charging after connection also hasn’t.

Limited charging speed and in cell heating due to battery physics/chemistry and heating/cooling because the temperature is wrong are not the same thing.

For someone in the industry you post some strange stuff on this forum, Mert.

You mean, what actually happens rather than what you think happens?

Actively diverting all/most charge power *specifically* to optimise the battery temperature for charging after connection also hasn’t.

“Diverting” says you’re taking from one to give to the other. That’s not the case because battery conditioning doesn’t use much power so there’s more than enough power for both. The battery heating is going to pull about 3kW (check out user experience on forums such as the Tesla forum). Even on a 7kW home charger that’s not “all/most” and on a typical 50-250kW public charger insignificant.

Took delivery of my new ID.7 tourer last night.

@bassmandan would be great if you could post some updates once you’ve had it a while. From what I’ve seen so far I’m keen on an ID7 tourer to replace our aging Golf estate (once some ex demos come up for sale). What spec did you go for?

No i have only driven my colleagues car which is on 18″ wheels.  The 20’s will of course make a difference.

I think the A6 eTron Avant looks much better than the ID7.  What is it with VW and these strange wobble lines on the rear.  The ID4 is the same.  Ford showed how much better the ID4 could look with the Explorer.

Looks better it might but its another 20k, has a smaller boot, no roof bars and weighs 10% more.

@bassmandan – my dad has just got an ID7 last week and I spent osme time on Saturday helping him set it up. The full manual is available through the on-screen menu under Hints and Tips (or somethign like that). You can then search specifics or read at your pleasure.

I have to say I was really impressed with it as a car, it’s big and solid, loads of room inside, good range and performance and probably closer to what VW should have released with their previous generation of ID vehicles.

I think the A6 eTron looks gash, Daffy. What’s with that huge ICE false grill and false exhaust diffuser things. On the other hand the ID7 looks OK in a designed-ten-years-ago way apart from those awful ninja wheels – how much is an upgrade to steels with a few holes in? Both look like they’re trying hard to be ICE cars compared with the Ioniq6 or Renault Scenic.