What are some non-obvious issues you have with your EV?

What are some non-obvious issues you have with your EV?

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Discussion

DemiseoftheICE

Original Poster:

13 posts

22 months

Thursday 16th June 2022
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Don't mean the standard problems like range anxiety, lack of chargers or that some EVs have too few actual buttons. Any things you are noticing now that you never thought of when buying the car?

LimaDelta

6,520 posts

218 months

Thursday 16th June 2022
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Punctures.

I'm sure I've mentioned it in other EV threads, but I've never had so many punctures (four and counting) as I have had in the last 3 years (23,000 miles) of owning an i3. I guess the narrow tyres and high vehicle weight are a major contributor, but I think a lot of other EVs have more conventional tyre widths so perhaps don't suffer as bad.

OldGermanHeaps

3,830 posts

178 months

Thursday 16th June 2022
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LimaDelta said:
Punctures.

I'm sure I've mentioned it in other EV threads, but I've never had so many punctures (four and counting) as I have had in the last 3 years (23,000 miles) of owning an i3. I guess the narrow tyres and high vehicle weight are a major contributor, but I think a lot of other EVs have more conventional tyre widths so perhaps don't suffer as bad.
Same here, road debris punctures frequently.
First time i have had 295/35/21 tyres tho

South tdf

1,530 posts

195 months

Thursday 16th June 2022
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Had more punctures in the Polestar than all my previous cars put together.

Bloke in Kwik Fit informs me with his excellent scientific knowledge the motors in the magnets that draws nails towards the car. I am sticking with EV’s are much heavier in the same way vans get lots of punctures.

boombang

551 posts

174 months

Thursday 16th June 2022
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Getting told how painful ownership must be is a weird one. Sometimes ends in an interesting chat other times being told I am wrong.

It is really odd how often through work, family or friends an EV conversation starts, usually with someone saying 'I would never have one because...'

The majority of people seem to still think milkfloat, poor range and hassle to charge. It's none of those thinks and above all a delight for commutes and town driving.

Anyone who has then been out in it always remarks how quiet, smooth and pleasant it is to be in.

Maracus

4,235 posts

168 months

Thursday 16th June 2022
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boombang said:
Getting told how painful ownership must be is a weird one. Sometimes ends in an interesting chat other times being told I am wrong.

It is really odd how often through work, family or friends an EV conversation starts, usually with someone saying 'I would never have one because...'

The majority of people seem to still think milkfloat, poor range and hassle to charge. It's none of those thinks and above all a delight for commutes and town driving.

Anyone who has then been out in it always remarks how quiet, smooth and pleasant it is to be in.
This.

100% by someone who has never been in one or had one for any period of time.

plfrench

2,367 posts

268 months

Thursday 16th June 2022
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Nope, nothing negative at all to report in a year an 15,000 miles of my wife getting an e-golf.

At a push, the only thing would be that i've got an expensive ornament in the shape of an E350d estate sitting on the drive that I really don't use since having the e-golf unless we need the space for lugging things around. I just so much prefer driving EV that I choose hers whenever it is available. Can't wait till I get one of my own, but delivery is a bit slow at the moment biggrin

paradigital

863 posts

152 months

Thursday 16th June 2022
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Hardly because it’s an EV, but I dislike the indicators in the Model 3. The cancelling function of the stalk seems to take precedence over indicating, so if you need to indicate right then left in quick succession, most of the time you will only indicate right, then cancel the right turn when trying to indicate left. Certainly an issue on roundabouts. Could be easily resolved either by only allowing the stalk to cancel an indication in the direction the stalk is moved, not the opposite, or alternatively only allow the partial press to cancel an indication, allowing a full press to turn on indication regardless.

TheDeuce

21,545 posts

66 months

Thursday 16th June 2022
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Risk of being caught speeding...

Not big speeds but it's incredibly easy to exceed the limit around town because it's so smooth and qiuet. Driving casually in a 30, I look down and the speedo say 42...

My wife is worse than me at this!


Merry

1,368 posts

188 months

Thursday 16th June 2022
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boombang said:
Getting told how painful ownership must be is a weird one. Sometimes ends in an interesting chat other times being told I am wrong.

It is really odd how often through work, family or friends an EV conversation starts, usually with someone saying 'I would never have one because...'

The majority of people seem to still think milkfloat, poor range and hassle to charge. It's none of those thinks and above all a delight for commutes and town driving.

Anyone who has then been out in it always remarks how quiet, smooth and pleasant it is to be in.
That's quite a good one. It's also made me intolerant to other people spouting ill informed rubbish that they heard down the pub or on the Internet about EVs. Especially the ones that then regurgitate that as of they are some sort of authority on the subject.

It's obviously not going to work for everyone, but the willful ignorance I just can't cope with.

WestyCarl

3,248 posts

125 months

Thursday 16th June 2022
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Car parks.

People generally don't pay attention when walking around them but at least in an ICE car you can be heard. In an EV you can literally follow people down the car park pushing a trolley and they don't realise you are there.

SWoll

18,369 posts

258 months

Thursday 16th June 2022
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Struggling to think of any, and that includes range anxiety which is far more of a concern for non EV drivers than those that own them.

On our 3rd now, BMW i3 > Model 3 P > etron 55, and have covered 50k+ miles over the past 3.5 years with zero punctures, charging issues etc.

WestyCarl said:
Car parks.

People generally don't pay attention when walking around them but at least in an ICE car you can be heard. In an EV you can literally follow people down the car park pushing a trolley and they don't realise you are there.
Depends on the age of the EV. had that with the i3 and Tesla but the etron has the audible warning below 14mph that sounds like a spaceship and definitely gets peoples attention.

andy43

9,705 posts

254 months

Thursday 16th June 2022
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South tdf said:
Bloke in Kwik Fit informs me with his excellent scientific knowledge the motors in the magnets that draws nails towards the car.
And you gave him the keys to your car? rofl

C.A.R.

3,967 posts

188 months

Thursday 16th June 2022
quotequote all
boombang said:
Getting told how painful ownership must be is a weird one.
Yep - the most common retort being "have you made sure you've plugged your car in?" - no Dave, it's good for another 180 miles so I think it'll manage the journey home just fine.

paradigital said:
Hardly because it’s an EV, but I dislike the indicators in the Model 3.
Yep, infuriating. The stalks are 'two step' with a soft touch they will indicate 3 times for a lane change but you have to really press down on them to get them to indicate continuously, then like you say you can't quickly go from indicating one way to another.

Also Model 3 - it can't handle multiple phone calls. If I hang up on one call because I have another call it gets completely confused and the touch screen buttons to answer or hang up just don't respond. Pretty sure it's not just me because there are multiple instances on the online forums about it.

gmaz

4,398 posts

210 months

Thursday 16th June 2022
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People asking questions about it...

Q. How long does it take to charge?
A. It depends...

Q. What's the range?
A. It depends...

Q. How much does it cost to charge?
A. It depends...

DemiseoftheICE.com

Original Poster:

13 posts

22 months

Thursday 16th June 2022
quotequote all
gmaz said:
People asking questions about it...

Q. How long does it take to charge?
A. It depends...

Q. What's the range?
A. It depends...

Q. How much does it cost to charge?
A. It depends...
Haha yes probably need a standard Q&A page with you to hand out

DemiseoftheICE.com

Original Poster:

13 posts

22 months

Thursday 16th June 2022
quotequote all
TheDeuce said:
Risk of being caught speeding...

Not big speeds but it's incredibly easy to exceed the limit around town because it's so smooth and qiuet. Driving casually in a 30, I look down and the speedo say 42...

My wife is worse than me at this!
I think that is an issue we all share... Speeding tickets should be considered in the total costs haha

dino_jr

352 posts

176 months

Thursday 16th June 2022
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I have a tiny buzz/rattle in my Polestar driver window.
If it had an engine I'd never hear it smile

Pica-Pica

13,783 posts

84 months

Thursday 16th June 2022
quotequote all
paradigital said:
Hardly because it’s an EV, but I dislike the indicators in the Model 3. The cancelling function of the stalk seems to take precedence over indicating, so if you need to indicate right then left in quick succession, most of the time you will only indicate right, then cancel the right turn when trying to indicate left. Certainly an issue on roundabouts. Could be easily resolved either by only allowing the stalk to cancel an indication in the direction the stalk is moved, not the opposite, or alternatively only allow the partial press to cancel an indication, allowing a full press to turn on indication regardless.
My F30 has centring indicators. So after clicking to signal the stalk returns to centre. We had a thread on this a while back, some said it was confusing, others (like me) say that once you are used to it, you think ‘ why should it be otherwise?’.

WestyCarl

3,248 posts

125 months

Thursday 16th June 2022
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With all the usual "will it get you there", "how will you charge" type of questions I've got tired of trying to explain so my standard answer now is "no idea" end of conversation.