EV Owners Thread

[Cletus Van Damme]

I have found a 2yo 71reg Renault Zoe 100kW R135 rapid charge with 22k miles at Bristol Street in that electric blue colour. Anybody own a Zoe what do I look out for? Price is £11.5 k. Actually there is about five to choose from including the GT line for a few £ more.

I'd have a look on specific ev forum if was thinking of buying one of those. Not sure how long a warranty it has. They've been around for ages so I'm sure issues are well documented. I've been thinking about an EV, after much research think it would have to be a Hyundai or a Kia. Quite fancy an Ioniq 38 kWh, that looks a bit like a Prius, but not as bad. It's the longer warranty on the rest of the car that appeals with these, plus the reliablity, practicality and efficiency.

Got a few insurance quotes for EV's in the price range was looking at. Its disappointing how they appear to load the premium for an EV, but then again not surprising as anything to rinse more cash out of people. Never bothered with a quote for a Zoe, but the Ioniq was about £600 for me, I'm 54 with quite a lot of NCB, 10,000 miles per year, live in a low crime area, around double what I pay now. A Tesla Model 3 was £1400 at the cheapest. Obviously its quicker etc, but no thanks. Obviously I'm at the other end of the market where around 20K gets me a year old Hyundai compared to an older Tesla, Probably not an issue to people with bigger budgets. A car is just a means of getting from A to B as cheaply and reliably as possible to me.

The insurance is worth looking into with a Zoe though, also the price of wall charger if required. If you don't do many miles, might take you a long time to re-coup the outlay over a cheaper ICE car.

After a quick look on speak EV, the main complaints about the Zoe appear to be suspension issues, wearing out prematurely. Obviously better than something more costly. Whether it's how sh1te the roads are these days, or poor quality components, who knows.. Certainly wouldn't put me off one that kind of thing.

Is the Zoe really that bad?

 

[Grant Fondo]

How are you liking the i4 now you had it a little while?

Evening. Must have missed this one in my kamikaze death flight into the xmas shutdown. Sorry.
So, the BMW i4, all two tonnes of it. Not bad really. I took the wife's Mini Cooper S for a burn at the weekend and marvelled at the actual noise of an olden days engine. Anyone who says EV's are great drivers cars is deluded. Apart from that its great.

 

[dicko]

I'd have a look on specific ev forum if was thinking of buying one of those. Not sure how long a warranty it has. They've been around for ages so I'm sure issues are well documented. I've been thinking about an EV, after much research think it would have to be a Hyundai or a Kia. Quite fancy an Ioniq 38 kWh, that looks a bit like a Prius, but not as bad. It's the longer warranty on the rest of the car that appeals with these, plus the reliablity, practicality and efficiency.

Got a few insurance quotes for EV's in the price range was looking at. Its disappointing how they appear to load the premium for an EV, but then again not surprising as anything to rinse more cash out of people. Never bothered with a quote for a Zoe, but the Ioniq was about £600 for me, I'm 54 with quite a lot of NCB, 10,000 miles per year, live in a low crime area, around double what I pay now. A Tesla Model 3 was £1400 at the cheapest. Obviously its quicker etc, but no thanks. Obviously I'm at the other end of the market where around 20K gets me a year old Hyundai compared to an older Tesla, Probably not an issue to people with bigger budgets. A car is just a means of getting from A to B as cheaply and reliably as possible to me.

The insurance is worth looking into with a Zoe though, also the price of wall charger if required. If you don't do many miles, might take you a long time to re-coup the outlay over a cheaper ICE car.

After a quick look on speak EV, the main complaints about the Zoe appear to be suspension issues, wearing out prematurely. Obviously better than something more costly. Whether it's how sh1te the roads are these days, or poor quality components, who knows.. Certainly wouldn't put me off one that kind of thing.

Is the Zoe really that bad?

I have always liked the Renault Zoe. I like its size, just right easy to park practical five door good size boot with rapid charge. Nice range 249 miles perfect for us. Well proven engineering been around for years and getting better every year. Renault design and engineering, our Mk1 Clio lasted us for twenty + years. But I’m a bit disappointed with the rate the Zoe’s depreciation though. However I’m in my last few years before I give up driving and would be happy to say I’ve owned an EV. From a 1965 Singer Chamois (Hillman Imp) to a 2021 Renault Zoe that’ll do me.

 

[CXRAndy]

I’m a bit concerned that the dealer price is so low (£11k) after only two years. Do they depreciate that quickly and what’s it going to be worth in another 5 yrs? Joined the Zoe Facebook forum and they are concerned just how quickly they are dropping in price. Some members say buy on PCP and you have a guaranteed end value.

If you worry about vehicle depreciation, dont buy cars. Most of the devalue has already happened, so in actual cash terms not as much a hit.

Once your car hits 7 years old the losses are all baked in, it will be only worth a few thousand pounds if not less

 

[CXRAndy]

Evening. Must have missed this one in my kamikaze death flight into the xmas shutdown. Sorry.
So, the BMW i4, all two tonnes of it. Not bad really. I took the wife's Mini Cooper S for a burn at the weekend and marvelled at the actual noise of an olden days engine. Anyone who says EV's are great drivers cars is deluded. Apart from that its great.

That's it though, just noise.

I've never really been into loud exhaust sounds.

The handling of an EV surprises many due to COG being much lower. Depending on the EV, extra weight is more than compensated by extra grunt and acceleration. Unless you're professional standard racing driver where weight and performance are the pinnacle of handling, It doesn't really matter

 

[Grant Fondo]

Driving a manual petrol engined car again is quite odd after getting used to an EV, good fun though.

 

[CXRAndy]

Driving a manual petrol engined car again is quite odd after getting used to an EV, good fun though.

I find driving ICE, so unsophisticated compared to the refined EV

 

[icowden]

Driving a manual petrol engined car again is quite odd after getting used to an EV, good fun though.

So much extra work though. As soon as there's traffic, all that braking accelerating and clutching. Plus the new little Fiat even has a handbrake! I haven't had one of those since 2007!

 

[MrGrumpy]

So much extra work though. As soon as there's traffic, all that braking accelerating and clutching. Plus the new little Fiat even has a handbrake! I haven't had one of those since 2007!

You do know it’s quite common to have an automatic these days ! I obviously drive both an EV and a petrol, I really don’t see that much difference.

 

[Rusty Nails]

So much extra work though. As soon as there's traffic, all that braking accelerating and clutching. Plus the new little Fiat even has a handbrake! I haven't had one of those since 2007!

This is an aspect that worries me about this talk of self-driving cars. Being actively involved with the driving of the car helps keep the driver aware of what is happening both with the car and the outside environment. That is not work, anymore than putting one foot in front of the other when walking is work..it is walking.
The more autonomous driving cars take over responsibility the less that their "drivers" have to help keep them actively involved. Having safety devices to prod the drivers into staying aware is just recognising the problem and putting a sticking plaster on it, which is not likely to be resolved until we have improved, fail-safe technology, and a complete redesign of our roads and infrastructure.
There are two separate issues, admittedly inter-connected; EVs and self-driving and I am much more persuaded of the benefits of the former than the latter.

 

[CXRAndy]

Driving an EV is much much easier. This comes into being more alert for longer journeys. I don't feel tired after a long EV drive.

I let the car run its safety systems, like adaptive cruise, lane keeping, navigation, recharging routing.

I then have to only concentrate on the other drivers doing unusual manoeuvres around me.

 

[MrGrumpy]

Driving an EV is much much easier. This comes into being more alert for longer journeys. I don't feel tired after a long EV drive.

I let the car run its safety systems, like adaptive cruise, lane keeping, navigation, recharging routing.

I then have to only concentrate on the other drivers doing unusual manoeuvres around me.

I really don’t think that’s the car , more the driving style ! Driving the EV has made small differences in driving style to me , I’m just more conscious of the regen usage . Other than that zilch difference maybe smoother but that’s all . I’m neither more or less alert . I find all driving aids a PITA to be honest . In fact some useless.

 

[CXRAndy]

I find all driving aids a PITA to be honest . In fact some useless

My wife's the same, she never engages adaptive cruise. She complains when the car pulls her back into lane position.

I on the other hand use cruise almost on every journey. I use it for fast motorways, A roads and in stop start traffic, which is super nice where the car just pulls off when the vehicle in front moves ahead

 

[icowden]

This is an aspect that worries me about this talk of self-driving cars. Being actively involved with the driving of the car helps keep the driver aware of what is happening both with the car and the outside environment. That is not work, anymore than putting one foot in front of the other when walking is work..it is walking.
The more autonomous driving cars take over responsibility the less that their "drivers" have to help keep them actively involved. Having safety devices to prod the drivers into staying aware is just recognising the problem and putting a sticking plaster on it, which is not likely to be resolved until we have improved, fail-safe technology, and a complete redesign of our roads and infrastructure.

I kind of agree with you here. There is a middle patch in the Venn diagram of Cars needing a driver and Self Driving cars where there is a black spot. The cars can drive well but not well enough but humans are unbelievably bad at only stepping in when needed. I saw something about this somewhere.

Essentially asking a human to step in in an emergency is a terrible idea due to our lack of focus, slow reactions and processing. It's too late. If we aren't already looking and processing there is no way we can deal with something in time.

 

[CXRAndy]

Son's Model Y has had an delivery update, mid Jan to mid Feb delivery. He's super excited now.