New car. My first EV
Discussion
daqinggregg said:
I think it will be some kind of EV Van or E-Van.
We have a winner !This is to replace my old 2005 Renault Kangoo van which my Wife has been using for work. We’ll still keep that van as a spare. Even though it’s a bit too small for our needs, it’ll do for the odd day that we need it if one of my other vans is off the road for any reason.
I had intended to reply to this thread last night, but by the time we’d got to the hotel, checked in, figured out how to put the vehicle on charge, it was past midnight, I was knackered and it was dark outside.
I’ve been looking for one of these for my Wife for a few months now. The crew cabs seem to be either hugely overpriced, sitting on forecourts for months on end with the dealers refusing to budge on price. Or they’ve got mega miles on them. Or they just look otherwise scabby and tired. I’ve missed out on two within my budget, (under £10k Inc VAT), and had promised my Wife that the next one to come up for sale that was clean and tidy, low mileage, and was clean, I’d buy it.
This one had 8755 miles on it when we picked it up. Is a one owner vehicle and is very clean inside and out, looking like it’s had very light use.
Even the loadbay area is nice and clean, with only a couple of small scratches on one of the plastic trims.
The fold down, (up?) bench seat will come in handy on the odd occasion that my Wife needs to pick our daughter and any of her friends up straight after finishing work. Once folded down the seats remain pretty flat, which is how they’ll stay 99% of the time. I could do with figuring out a way to protect the seat backs from receiving any damage from day-to-day work use, but a section of old carpet cut to shape will have to do for the time being until a more permanent and neater solution is found.
I also need to get it ply-lined. Kits are available on eBay, but at £185, I reckon I can do it cheaper myself.
Usually when I buy a new car or a van, I’ll go through it with a fine tooth comb, replacing all fluids, filters, belts, tensioners etc, but there isn’t much to do on this.
There’s a cabin filter to change, (£15?). I suspect that the 12V battery is original, so I might stick a new one in in case the old one starts throwing up any weird problems. The brake fluid is also likely original, (and now four years old), so I’ll change that as well, and one of the rear tyres is an obscure Chinese brand, (Sail Way), so I’ll change that for an OEM spec Michelin to match the other three tyres. Maybe a change of coolant as well?
Besides that, there’s not really much else to do, or that will likely need doing in the foreseeable future, which is absolutely perfect and exactly what I’d want from what is basically a work tool.
Maximum range is showing at 123 miles once fully charged. I expected that to plummet on the motorway, but it didn’t.
From the dealers house to the hotel it was 83 miles, and we arrived at the hotel with 39 miles of charge left, although we had been sticking to 55-60mph on the motorway, with me in my Renault Trafic ahead of my Wife in the EV Kangoo to punch a bit if a hole in the air for her in order to try and improve her range, as I was pretty paranoid about running out of charge before we got to the hotel.
Such range anxiety won’t be an issue once we are back home and the van is put to daily use.
My Wife does around 40-60 miles per day, (all urban driving), which even in the depths of winter, won’t see any issues with battery range. There’s no fast charging on these Kangoos. 0% to 100% on a granny charger takes 16 hours. Via a proper EV charger takes 7 hours. We’ve got a couple of different chargers in mind, so on Monday or Tuesday, (workload permitting), either myself or my Wife will make some calls and get a couple of different firms out to give us quotes for EV charger installation. Hopefully in around 10 days from now we’ll have one installed at home.
So what’s it like to drive?
Well, it’s a bit peculiar tbh. You turn the key and nothing happens. It doesn’t ’start’. There’s no priming of a fuel pump, no churning of a starter motor, no waking up of an internal combustion engine and all of the theatre that would usually go with that. All you get is a green light on the dash that says ‘GO’.
When you press the accelerator, you get this strange sense of gaining momentum without the usual noise and drama. It’s serene and takes some getting used to.
Perhaps the biggest difference between this EV and a diesel van, (besides the lack of noise), is the regenerative braking. Unless you’re going down a steep hill, when you lift off the throttle you don’t coast, you actually feel a noticeable decrease in speed. Below 30mph it’s like someone has put the handbrake on, such is the rapid de-acceleration. This continues until around 5-7mph, where it will eventually coast / crawl.
The gearbox has two speeds. Forwards and Reverse, with Neutral and Park. The handbrake is a strange umbrella handle type thing. Interior storage is a bit poor, especially for a van. The glovebox is tiny and the door bins lack depth. There isn’t a storage box between the front seats and I don’t think there’s any storage space beneath the seats either? I’ll have a look around online and see if anything aftermarket is available to increase cabin storage.
Acceleration up to 40mph is brisk enough. Certainly brisk enough for our requirements, but above that it starts to run out of steam quite rapidly. At 60mph it feels like it doesn’t have much more left to give.
We parked the new Kangoo next to my Renault Trafic and were surprised at how long the Kangoo Maxi is. I’d say that my Trafic is only around 10-15cm longer.
I know it’s only early days with this, but I’ve been impressed with it, and my Wife loves it ! She rated this new Kangoo as a solid 9/10.
Would I want an EV as a ‘fun’ car? No. I absolutely would not.
Would I want an EV as an everyday car? Probably not.
But as a work tool, which this is, I’d say it fits the bill perfectly. So much so that having had a look at some numbers the other day, I’m aiming to have sold my diesel Renault Trafic before the end of summer and to have bought myself an electric Maxus e-Deliver 3
I’ve been looking for one of these for my Wife for a few months now. The crew cabs seem to be either hugely overpriced, sitting on forecourts for months on end with the dealers refusing to budge on price. Or they’ve got mega miles on them. Or they just look otherwise scabby and tired. I’ve missed out on two within my budget, (under £10k Inc VAT), and had promised my Wife that the next one to come up for sale that was clean and tidy, low mileage, and was clean, I’d buy it.
This one had 8755 miles on it when we picked it up. Is a one owner vehicle and is very clean inside and out, looking like it’s had very light use.
Even the loadbay area is nice and clean, with only a couple of small scratches on one of the plastic trims.
The fold down, (up?) bench seat will come in handy on the odd occasion that my Wife needs to pick our daughter and any of her friends up straight after finishing work. Once folded down the seats remain pretty flat, which is how they’ll stay 99% of the time. I could do with figuring out a way to protect the seat backs from receiving any damage from day-to-day work use, but a section of old carpet cut to shape will have to do for the time being until a more permanent and neater solution is found.
I also need to get it ply-lined. Kits are available on eBay, but at £185, I reckon I can do it cheaper myself.
Usually when I buy a new car or a van, I’ll go through it with a fine tooth comb, replacing all fluids, filters, belts, tensioners etc, but there isn’t much to do on this.
There’s a cabin filter to change, (£15?). I suspect that the 12V battery is original, so I might stick a new one in in case the old one starts throwing up any weird problems. The brake fluid is also likely original, (and now four years old), so I’ll change that as well, and one of the rear tyres is an obscure Chinese brand, (Sail Way), so I’ll change that for an OEM spec Michelin to match the other three tyres. Maybe a change of coolant as well?
Besides that, there’s not really much else to do, or that will likely need doing in the foreseeable future, which is absolutely perfect and exactly what I’d want from what is basically a work tool.
Maximum range is showing at 123 miles once fully charged. I expected that to plummet on the motorway, but it didn’t.
From the dealers house to the hotel it was 83 miles, and we arrived at the hotel with 39 miles of charge left, although we had been sticking to 55-60mph on the motorway, with me in my Renault Trafic ahead of my Wife in the EV Kangoo to punch a bit if a hole in the air for her in order to try and improve her range, as I was pretty paranoid about running out of charge before we got to the hotel.
Such range anxiety won’t be an issue once we are back home and the van is put to daily use.
My Wife does around 40-60 miles per day, (all urban driving), which even in the depths of winter, won’t see any issues with battery range. There’s no fast charging on these Kangoos. 0% to 100% on a granny charger takes 16 hours. Via a proper EV charger takes 7 hours. We’ve got a couple of different chargers in mind, so on Monday or Tuesday, (workload permitting), either myself or my Wife will make some calls and get a couple of different firms out to give us quotes for EV charger installation. Hopefully in around 10 days from now we’ll have one installed at home.
So what’s it like to drive?
Well, it’s a bit peculiar tbh. You turn the key and nothing happens. It doesn’t ’start’. There’s no priming of a fuel pump, no churning of a starter motor, no waking up of an internal combustion engine and all of the theatre that would usually go with that. All you get is a green light on the dash that says ‘GO’.
When you press the accelerator, you get this strange sense of gaining momentum without the usual noise and drama. It’s serene and takes some getting used to.
Perhaps the biggest difference between this EV and a diesel van, (besides the lack of noise), is the regenerative braking. Unless you’re going down a steep hill, when you lift off the throttle you don’t coast, you actually feel a noticeable decrease in speed. Below 30mph it’s like someone has put the handbrake on, such is the rapid de-acceleration. This continues until around 5-7mph, where it will eventually coast / crawl.
The gearbox has two speeds. Forwards and Reverse, with Neutral and Park. The handbrake is a strange umbrella handle type thing. Interior storage is a bit poor, especially for a van. The glovebox is tiny and the door bins lack depth. There isn’t a storage box between the front seats and I don’t think there’s any storage space beneath the seats either? I’ll have a look around online and see if anything aftermarket is available to increase cabin storage.
Acceleration up to 40mph is brisk enough. Certainly brisk enough for our requirements, but above that it starts to run out of steam quite rapidly. At 60mph it feels like it doesn’t have much more left to give.
We parked the new Kangoo next to my Renault Trafic and were surprised at how long the Kangoo Maxi is. I’d say that my Trafic is only around 10-15cm longer.
I know it’s only early days with this, but I’ve been impressed with it, and my Wife loves it ! She rated this new Kangoo as a solid 9/10.
Would I want an EV as a ‘fun’ car? No. I absolutely would not.
Would I want an EV as an everyday car? Probably not.
But as a work tool, which this is, I’d say it fits the bill perfectly. So much so that having had a look at some numbers the other day, I’m aiming to have sold my diesel Renault Trafic before the end of summer and to have bought myself an electric Maxus e-Deliver 3
Edited by 105.4 on Sunday 21st April 10:46
Blib said:
Congratulations. That's a very tidy van.
Can you adjust the regen braking? Our Kia has three levels, which I can change by use of a button.
Thank you Can you adjust the regen braking? Our Kia has three levels, which I can change by use of a button.
As for the regen, I’ve no idea if it can be toned-down. I’ll have to look into that. At the moment it’s like driving into a sandpit once it drops below 30mph.
Just to update a little, I’ve just worked out my fuel costs on this van.
If I compare like-for-like, (cost wise), this Kangoo EV is doing the equivalent of 83.03mpg, compared to low 40’s mpg for the diesel Kangoo which it replaced. The Renault Trafic, which is my van, (the Kangoo is the Wife’s), averages 33mpg.
The diesel Kangoo is currently being kept as a ‘spare’, although it does now have a failed starter motor.
Just coming up to four weeks into ownership and my Wife couldn’t be happier….well, except that this new Kangoo doesn’t have AC, but besides that she couldn’t be happier.
Future plans?
I’d like to get it ply-lined asap, although instead of using plywood, I’m thinking of using thick, stick-on foam.
I need to get the brake fluid changed, as I suspect that that is the original stuff, now nearly four years old, and I’d like to get some alloys for it, keeping the steelies for winter with a set of Kuhmo winter tyres fitted.
Besides that, it’s been the perfect work tool, and despite some initial reservations about depending on an EV to keep a roof over my head, I’ve been very happy with it.
If I compare like-for-like, (cost wise), this Kangoo EV is doing the equivalent of 83.03mpg, compared to low 40’s mpg for the diesel Kangoo which it replaced. The Renault Trafic, which is my van, (the Kangoo is the Wife’s), averages 33mpg.
The diesel Kangoo is currently being kept as a ‘spare’, although it does now have a failed starter motor.
Just coming up to four weeks into ownership and my Wife couldn’t be happier….well, except that this new Kangoo doesn’t have AC, but besides that she couldn’t be happier.
Future plans?
I’d like to get it ply-lined asap, although instead of using plywood, I’m thinking of using thick, stick-on foam.
I need to get the brake fluid changed, as I suspect that that is the original stuff, now nearly four years old, and I’d like to get some alloys for it, keeping the steelies for winter with a set of Kuhmo winter tyres fitted.
Besides that, it’s been the perfect work tool, and despite some initial reservations about depending on an EV to keep a roof over my head, I’ve been very happy with it.
Philvrs said:
Thanks for the update.
How have you been charging it? I seen your other thread about trench digging/charger install, is there scope for cheaper charging in the future to improve the “fuel efficiency”?
The charging has been a mixture of home charging via the granny charger, and using a podpoint at a local Tescos. Probably around a 60 / 40 split. The heavy use of a podpoint is because we don’t have a letterbox to feed the cable through to leave it charging all night, hence Tescos to hurry up and get some range in it. Tesco’s is at 44p kw I think?How have you been charging it? I seen your other thread about trench digging/charger install, is there scope for cheaper charging in the future to improve the “fuel efficiency”?
We’ll be having a dual-charger fitted at home, (due to be installed tomorrow). As it’s a dual charger that we’re going for, there has been a bit of a delay whilst waiting for the installer to get one in stock.
Once we’re charging entirely at home on 7p kw, the cost per mile should decrease significantly.
Indicated range has very closely matched the estimated range on the trip computer. Warmer weather does seem to add around 15-20 miles of estimated range. Hopefully there won’t be such an equal drop-off in range once the colder weather gets here.
105.4 said:
The charging has been a mixture of home charging via the granny charger, and using a podpoint at a local Tescos. Probably around a 60 / 40 split. The heavy use of a podpoint is because we don’t have a letterbox to feed the cable through to leave it charging all night, hence Tescos to hurry up and get some range in it. Tesco’s is at 44p kw I think?
We’ll be having a dual-charger fitted at home, (due to be installed tomorrow). As it’s a dual charger that we’re going for, there has been a bit of a delay whilst waiting for the installer to get one in stock.
Once we’re charging entirely at home on 7p kw, the cost per mile should decrease significantly.
Real-world range has very closely matched the estimated range on the trip computer. Warmer weather does seem to add around 15-20 miles of estimated range. Hopefully there won’t be such an equal drop-off in range once the colder weather gets here.
We’ll be having a dual-charger fitted at home, (due to be installed tomorrow). As it’s a dual charger that we’re going for, there has been a bit of a delay whilst waiting for the installer to get one in stock.
Once we’re charging entirely at home on 7p kw, the cost per mile should decrease significantly.
Real-world range has very closely matched the estimated range on the trip computer. Warmer weather does seem to add around 15-20 miles of estimated range. Hopefully there won’t be such an equal drop-off in range once the colder weather gets here.
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