EV Owners Thread

[BoldonLad]

Nope, stopped driving due to health. Health has returned, of sorts but am certain my next EV will be a mobility type one, as many years down the road as I can manage. Finances are fantastic without a car though I do miss it.

If anyone tries the same, makes sure you buy a big bike trailer. It removes many of the none car ownership problems.
My work and personal interests have always been heavily into science and technology. Geek by nature.

I pray they have got the regulations sorted properly so that Chinese Micro type EV becomes legal, 4mph sounds a nightmare. It hardly gets one past the corner shop.

A brisk walking speed. Sounds OK to me for a short journey, say 1-2 miles, but, above that, I think the elapsed time required would begin to be a problem, so, something more akin to a gentle cycling speed (say 10-12mph) would be more appropriate.

I have several times heard the "multi-storey carparks will have to be rebuilt to cope with EVs story, it is frequently repeated during Friday evening drinking sessions. However, so far, I have not found any reliable source for this, so, at present, I regard it as one of the many "urban myths".

 

[CXRAndy]

AIUI almost none are V2G compatible at the moment. DOn't know why this isn't being progressed.

Nissan leaf is VTG/H ready. There is something holding this next step back. Several companies have announced they have a VTG charger coming. Then nothing even after a couple of years. I'm holding onto my 60kW leaf in the hope someone does bring to market a VTG charger.

60kW of battery storage is not cheap to purchase. I've considered even going DIY as there a few guys who have done this.

USA is already ahead on this, Europe is dragging its feet including the UK

 

[albion]

Yes, in the every day small cars the weight difference is massive, the only way round being a very small battery.pthe Fiat 500e has a weight increase of 70%.

Maybe it has a decent size batery, myself expecting a 50% weight increase in your average runabout car.

 

[mustang1]

Interesting. Wasn't aware of any phones that don't have apps I never use yet can't delete to free up the space and processor power. Same, to an extent with laptops - can't (easily) turn updates off for example, yet I should be allowed to decide if I want them or not. Say no too many times, and they are installed anyway. Try un-installing the default (in-built) browser on a laptop, it's a big no no.

Ah yes, you are right about the default apps. Google has plenty on its android phones. In their defence, I suppose I could say that Google OS will have at least some apps that they won't let you uninstall. Whether that's a weak argument or not, idk. But Samsung installs a while later of rubbish on top of Android; I was kind of referring to that layer.

If we get into the nitty gritty of it, an OS is made of (I can't recall the technical terms) The Core and the ancillary stuff. The core is actually just a relatively small but the ancillary stuff on top takes a fair amount of space. Things like File Explorer, calculator, performance monitor, all those kinds of things.

Does an OS really need a file explorer and calc? Nah, but it's really useful to have. That "later of rubbish" I was referring to includes things like "free McAfee trial", free Some software trials, free subscription for 3 months, that kind of thing. Oh, and whatever Samsung put on their phones these days.

 

[icowden]

I have several times heard the "multi-storey carparks will have to be rebuilt to cope with EVs story, it is frequently repeated during Friday evening drinking sessions. However, so far, I have not found any reliable source for this, so, at present, I regard it as one of the many "urban myths".

It is. The origin of the story is in truth. It just isn't about EVs.

It started with Chris Whapples from the Institute of Structural Engineers.

He wrote a book and updated it:-
https://www.icebookshop.com/product...agement-of-car-park-structures-second-edition
Then I think he did some publicity and a press interview. During one of the interviews he said that some older car park owners might need to impose weight limits or seriously check their loading capacity as modern cars have become much, much heavier since the 1960s and 70s which is where many multi storey car parks date from.

He didn't say *anything* about EVs as far as I know. What happened next is that the one of the paper sources (possibly Reuters) conflated the weight issue with EVs and blamed electric cars. Then the papers all copied the article, meaning it's now all about EVs.

 

[icowden]

Yes, in the every day small cars the weight difference is massive, the only way round being a very small battery.pthe Fiat 500e has a weight increase of 70%.

No it doesn't unless you are comparing it to a 1960s Fiat 500.
A 1960s Fiat weighs 475kg. A 2014 Fiat 500 weights 865kg. A 2020 Fiat 500 hybrid weights 950kg. The eFiat weights 1365kg (42kwh battery).
So the eFiat is 43% heavier than the most recent edition of the ICE Fiat.

So yes, there is a difference due to the battery weight but not the difference that you are posting. Does the weight difference matter at this stage? No, not really. The motors are more than powerful enough to cope with the weight and the e-FIAT has a WLTP range of 199 miles. This is about half of the "range" of a petrol Fiat, but a decent range for a tiny EV.

 

[CXRAndy]

99% of road damage is from HGV. Heavy cars are not a problem

 

[mikeIow]

So, I accept that your on-going yearly costs are lower. But how much does it cost to buy each vs how much can you sell for? I.e. what do you lose as a result of depreciation on each. I've no idea of the figures, but they are needed for a total cost of ownwership calculation. As is insurance of each. And needs to be like for like car, so not a big ICE car vs small EV one.

If we're being picky, we can also factor in (say) 5% interest on the money saved in the bank for whichever car is cheaper to buy.

When we got our EV in mid 2019, I felt that it cost perhaps 8-10k more than the equivalent ICE variant.
Being a Kona, they did offer all flavours.
That said, the EV was far better finished than the ICEs. Heated/ventilated seats, adaptive cruise, & even the interior just looked better than the ICE equivalent: we looked at them.

The reality is that I doubt we will save much/any money on this car…..but sometimes your motoring is not all about £££s.
What we have saved is hours on petrol station visits (I value my time 😉), smelly diesel hands, and frankly the car feels like we are driving the future: the most fun hot hatch I’ve had: beats my early XR2/XR3/Colt Turbos 🤣
Smiles per mile is very high.

Can’t say I have much idea on the depreciation….we haven’t seen an alternative we would swap it for.
Quite liked the new Volvo EX30 when we saw one at a preview event, but it seems they have followed Tesla on the “hide everything on a screen” way of thinking 👀
I’m sure that saves them money, but I still think there are some functions that warrant having a simple button to turn. Radio. Heating. Heated seats. Probably a few others.
Not just me: see most online reviews of the Volvo & marvel how a company so focussed on safety can force it’s drivers to take their eyes off the road for so long 🙄

We did have a service late last year: saw the new Kona the showroom. That looked a very nice motor. Slightly bigger than our model (much more boot and rear leg space). Drivers seat auto slides back a little when you open the door to get in: quality!
Not planning any imminent change, but I have to say that would be the choice today if we did 👍

 

[CXRAndy]

We ordered a Kona EV, but it kept getting delayed in delivery.

The model 3 became available to order in the UK, so we ordered that as well.

The delivery race was on, no loss to us as each had small deposits which were fully refundable.

The Kona won the delivery, but only by a few weeks. It was ordered 3 months before the Tesla.

We decided to cancel the Kona at the last minute, took delivery shortly afterwards model 3 LR. It's done 80k miles since 2019.

 

[icowden]

Quite liked the new Volvo EX30 when we saw one at a preview event, but it seems they have followed Tesla on the “hide everything on a screen” way of thinking 👀
I’m sure that saves them money, but I still think there are some functions that warrant having a simple button to turn. Radio. Heating. Heated seats. Probably a few others.

On the flip side of this you have companies like VW who still have switches for some things such as the heating but who have failed to do any proper consumer testing. For example, There are buttons for both driver and passenger to adjust their climate control temperature, and to adjust the radio volume. These are absolutely invisible after dark, but you can't use the touch screen to adjust the heating temperature and thus have to flap around trying to find the damned switches. They have coupled this with using software that is from their ICE range meaning that it is slow and unwieldy when compared with Tesla, Polestar etc. The touch screen feels like it is from 2005 in responsiveness and layout.

I think some manufacturers need to start considering that user testing and regular software improvements are now part of the automobile ecosystem. Tesla are at the forefront and possible push too far, but many traditional ICE vendors are very much on the back foot. I love the ID4 but the software system would be my top reason for not getting another one when the lease renews.

 

[mikeIow]

True….the reviews on VW were awful from the start…..not on our radar at all.

Hyundai feel to me to have the best balance between tech and switchgear right now. We test drove the Ioniq 5 last year, just for kicks….it was very smooth, very high tech, just a bit larger than we need.

 

[potsy]

Do we have any BYD owners on here?
They seem to have some good reviews and will be expanding rapidly in the UK over the next few years, could be one for me by the time I'm ready to go EV...

 

[albion]

For the Fiat 500e to be 70% heavier than the current lightest 885kg 500 then the EV would need to weigh just under 1500kg, not the 1405kg of the current E500 heavyweight.

I am now sure my data came about yet interestingly,the original Fiat 500 was said to weigh from a superbly light 500KG, even lighter than one of favourite cars, the Citroen 2CV.

 

[albion]

https://www.caricecars.com/
590kg with a 200km range. There is a 300km version too.
Whilst a niche sports car it does show that 'light' can be done.

 

[icowden]

https://www.caricecars.com/
590kg with a 200km range. There is a 300km version too.
Whilst a niche sports car it does show that 'light' can be done.

Nice car too. £38k. Full review here:-

View: https://youtu.be/4aTzuUrdyIc?si=CnxCop0-pvPhXXBV