My Electric Car thread!
Discussion
Thanks Rebz!
I agree, I think EVs are here to stay and will make up a (probably fairly small) proportion of next year's new car sales. The more cars that are sold and the greater the number of players in the market, the more money will be invested in R&D. Hopefully, this will lead to range increases of 200+ miles!
So, after the trial, will I buy an iOn or a Leaf?
Well, I have just committed to my next car - but this time it's not going to be Electric.
A recent change in job means that I will have to travel a lot more for work, so the EV just doesn’t fit with my new requirements. However, if I was sticking with my old job and if I could find a lease at the right price or a 2nd hand EV, I might just consider it for a commuter vehicle!
The trial continues...
For completeness, my new car will be a VW Passat 2.0 TDi SE company car
I agree, I think EVs are here to stay and will make up a (probably fairly small) proportion of next year's new car sales. The more cars that are sold and the greater the number of players in the market, the more money will be invested in R&D. Hopefully, this will lead to range increases of 200+ miles!
So, after the trial, will I buy an iOn or a Leaf?
Well, I have just committed to my next car - but this time it's not going to be Electric.
A recent change in job means that I will have to travel a lot more for work, so the EV just doesn’t fit with my new requirements. However, if I was sticking with my old job and if I could find a lease at the right price or a 2nd hand EV, I might just consider it for a commuter vehicle!
The trial continues...
For completeness, my new car will be a VW Passat 2.0 TDi SE company car
I think this might actually be the game changer for a lot of people:
competitive on price (~£28k)
styling is ok (distinctive rather than truely beautiful)
most of the time you can use it as a pure P-HEV (cheap running costs)
if you do long journeys you can still use it (ok, it ain't efficienct as a diesel on long high speed journeys, but if you only do a proportion of your driving at high speed thats ok)
Biggest downsides i can see are:
1) it's only a 4 seater
2) it's got a vauxhall badge on
3) the interior is no where near european quality
4) no body knows what the residuals are going to be (if new tech comes along, then like last years mobile phone/ipod it could be worth buttons suddenly !)
If it drove as well as a BMW then i would seriously consider one!
competitive on price (~£28k)
styling is ok (distinctive rather than truely beautiful)
most of the time you can use it as a pure P-HEV (cheap running costs)
if you do long journeys you can still use it (ok, it ain't efficienct as a diesel on long high speed journeys, but if you only do a proportion of your driving at high speed thats ok)
Biggest downsides i can see are:
1) it's only a 4 seater
2) it's got a vauxhall badge on
3) the interior is no where near european quality
4) no body knows what the residuals are going to be (if new tech comes along, then like last years mobile phone/ipod it could be worth buttons suddenly !)
If it drove as well as a BMW then i would seriously consider one!
I’ve only got the iOn for another 2 weeks - It’s going back a month early!
My new company car is arriving at the start of April and I wouldn’t really have space for all 4 cars at home, so SwitchEV have arranged for the next trial candidate to take the car a month early.
Wow, these last 5 months have flown by!
I have really enjoyed being part of the trial. I am sure that my experiences have been helped by the mild weather this winter. I would NOT have liked to commute in this car though last winter’s snow and freezing conditions for several reasons including;
- Worries about the range substantially dropping off below -5 degrees C
- Uncertainties of how the car would behave in the snow (torque + RWD + short wheelbase)
- Regularly getting absolutely frozen being sat in the car with no heating
On reflection, I think I am going to miss the car and some of the freedoms it brings such as guaranteed free parking spots during busy times and as much “fuel” as I want for £10 a month. Looking at how many new EV and Hybrid models seem to be emerging at the moment, I would imagine that by the time my 3-year company car lease is up, we could have seen a significant improvement in EV technology and the future cars might be more tempting to the mass market.
I'm interested to see how things develop!
My new company car is arriving at the start of April and I wouldn’t really have space for all 4 cars at home, so SwitchEV have arranged for the next trial candidate to take the car a month early.
Wow, these last 5 months have flown by!
I have really enjoyed being part of the trial. I am sure that my experiences have been helped by the mild weather this winter. I would NOT have liked to commute in this car though last winter’s snow and freezing conditions for several reasons including;
- Worries about the range substantially dropping off below -5 degrees C
- Uncertainties of how the car would behave in the snow (torque + RWD + short wheelbase)
- Regularly getting absolutely frozen being sat in the car with no heating
On reflection, I think I am going to miss the car and some of the freedoms it brings such as guaranteed free parking spots during busy times and as much “fuel” as I want for £10 a month. Looking at how many new EV and Hybrid models seem to be emerging at the moment, I would imagine that by the time my 3-year company car lease is up, we could have seen a significant improvement in EV technology and the future cars might be more tempting to the mass market.
I'm interested to see how things develop!
I've been watching this thread * also looking, quire seriously, at wheather or not we could manage with an electric car, and for 99% of the time the answer is a yes.
However, you can get a Nissan Leaf for under £20,000 pre owned, but the killer blow comes when you realise that the garage selling is over200miles away, and in reality, you will not actually be able to drive your new car home.
However, you can get a Nissan Leaf for under £20,000 pre owned, but the killer blow comes when you realise that the garage selling is over200miles away, and in reality, you will not actually be able to drive your new car home.
carreauchompeur said:
R500POP said:
However, you can get a Nissan Leaf for under £20,000 pre owned, but the killer blow comes when you realise that the garage selling is over200miles away, and in reality, you will not actually be able to drive your new car home.
You'd have to stop halfway!
If EV manufacturers had standardised on swappable battery units you could just stop at a participating garage on the way and swap some more juice in.
As they can't be arsed to do that you'll be stuck.
And so will they...
Picked up my demo Leaf yesterday. Someone had been hoofing it the day before so range on a full charge said 62 miles and I had 52 miles to get home 
The dealer set up Carwings on my iphone, showed me the controls and off I went. Its a very pleasant place to be. Uncannily quiet and so smooooooth. With careful driving in Eco Mode I managed it home with 20 miles to spare, and plugged her straight in to an outside 3 pin household socket.
Bimbled around in it yesterday afternoon. Mixed driving. Stuck around another 30 miles on it, returned home and plugged back in. She has completed an overnight charge, which took about 8 hours. When I logged into the car earlier it was with some relief I found the new range had adapted to my driving:
A full day with it awaits.
The dealer set up Carwings on my iphone, showed me the controls and off I went. Its a very pleasant place to be. Uncannily quiet and so smooooooth. With careful driving in Eco Mode I managed it home with 20 miles to spare, and plugged her straight in to an outside 3 pin household socket.
Bimbled around in it yesterday afternoon. Mixed driving. Stuck around another 30 miles on it, returned home and plugged back in. She has completed an overnight charge, which took about 8 hours. When I logged into the car earlier it was with some relief I found the new range had adapted to my driving:
A full day with it awaits.
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