[Technology] Electric Vehicle

The Lemming Stomper · Apr 26, 2019

Second-hand Renault Zoe got from Palarse country Renault...

70 miles range on the battery, battery leased from Renault, charged from home in about 9 hours...

Top gadgets inside and only 15k on the clock...Just 6 grand (25 odd new)

Great for local driving and around the city, Russian roulette if taking someone to Gatwick

Tim Over Whelmed · Apr 26, 2019

Triggaaar said:
If you have other vehicles, the environmentally friendly option would be to stick with what you've got, rather than have another car. Building and then disposing of this new car has a greater impact on the environment than you'd offset with less petrol use.

I'd agree however it's replacing a car and allows us the possibility to explore EVs before we make the bigger choice of replacing company vehicles with EVs or Hybrids.

Surf's Up · Apr 26, 2019

I's wait for two to three more years - the tech will have been properly refined by then, There will be a lot more charging stations up and down the country, you'll get zillions more miles per charge and the prices will be on the way down.

Stumpy Tim · Apr 26, 2019

I have a BMW i3. Absolutely love it. It does 110 miles without a charge, though obviously comes down depending on mode. Around town I go into full eco mode and it will do 120 miles. Motorway driving has a smaller range - I could go from Brighton to Gatwick and back, and then to Gatwick again. I also have a charging station at home, so never need to use charging stations.

As an aside, it's worth looking at leasing options - that way the battery isn't your problem.

Nibbler · Apr 26, 2019

The Lemming Stomper said:
Second-hand Renault Zoe got from Palarse country Renault...

70 miles range on the battery, battery leased from Renault, charged from home in about 9 hours...

Top gadgets inside and only 15k on the clock...Just 6 grand (25 odd new)

Great for local driving and around the city, Russian roulette if taking someone to Gatwick

I also have a Zoe - great little car. Ours was £12k for an ex-demo and 2.5 years old. You will increase the range to more like 130 miles if you drive it in eco mode, which is generally fine.

We have another bigger car for long family trips so range anxiety isn't an issue.

The torque and smooth driving experience is a big plus. I was unsure about driving an electric vehicle - until I took a test drive and I was instantly sold.

Tim Over Whelmed · Apr 26, 2019

Stumpy Tim said:
I have a BMW i3. Absolutely love it. It does 110 miles without a charge, though obviously comes down depending on mode. Around town I go into full eco mode and it will do 120 miles. Motorway driving has a smaller range - I could go from Brighton to Gatwick and back, and then to Gatwick again. I also have a charging station at home, so never need to use charging stations.

As an aside, it's worth looking at leasing options - that way the battery isn't your problem.

Thanks Tim, will do!

Birdie Boy · Apr 26, 2019

The Lemming Stomper said:
Second-hand Renault Zoe got from Palarse country Renault...

70 miles range on the battery, battery leased from Renault, charged from home in about 9 hours...

Top gadgets inside and only 15k on the clock...Just 6 grand (25 odd new)

Great for local driving and around the city, Russian roulette if taking someone to Gatwick

I work just past Gatwick, it is a 70mile round trip for me, so that would be a bit hairy! On the plus side, there are 3 charging points at my work place, free to use. So if I had one at home, no problem. Will definitely look into this for my next car.

Papa Lazarou · Apr 26, 2019

Stumpy Tim said:
I have a BMW i3. Absolutely love it. It does 110 miles without a charge, though obviously comes down depending on mode. Around town I go into full eco mode and it will do 120 miles. Motorway driving has a smaller range - I could go from Brighton to Gatwick and back, and then to Gatwick again. I also have a charging station at home, so never need to use charging stations.

As an aside, it's worth looking at leasing options - that way the battery isn't your problem.

That's a very good point.. it's sometimes the onlty way to get one of the newer EVs, as they aren't easy to get hold of in the UK.

Papa Lazarou · Apr 26, 2019

Birdie Boy said:
I work just past Gatwick, it is a 70mile round trip for me, so that would be a bit hairy! On the plus side, there are 3 charging points at my work place, free to use. So if I had one at home, no problem. Will definitely look into this for my next car.

And that's a massive advantage - free charging at work should be offered by all companies (that can do this)

The ideal would be all offices with banks of solar panels and a Tesla Powerwall type setup to allow free / CO2 free charging.

Tim Over Whelmed · Apr 26, 2019

Why don't the Government drop VAT on EV's?

Tim Over Whelmed · Apr 26, 2019

Birdie Boy said:
I work just past Gatwick, it is a 70mile round trip for me, so that would be a bit hairy! On the plus side, there are 3 charging points at my work place, free to use. So if I had one at home, no problem. Will definitely look into this for my next car.

Until the next budget no doubt, benefit in kind!

Papa Lazarou · Apr 26, 2019

Tim Over Whelmed said:
Why don't the Government drop VAT on EV's?

Because they are evil.

Tim Over Whelmed · Apr 26, 2019

Papa Lazarou said:
Because they are evil.

Thanks for clearing that up :thumbsup:

To be honest if we're serious about the environment, I can buy a cheap small car for £15k or a similar EV for £36k, it's not easy to see what's got to happen to get better adoption.

Papa Lazarou · Apr 26, 2019

Tim Over Whelmed said:
Thanks for clearing that up

To be honest if we're serious about the environment, I can buy a cheap small car for £15k or a similar EV for £36k, it's not easy to see what's got to happen to get better adoption.

Yep. That's why I'm leaving it for a while. My old car died a year ago, and I'm waiting. Ideally there should be a larger 2nd hand market to allow me to pick one cheaper.

There are a few reasonably priced EVs locally on Autotrader.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-se...&insuranceGroup=&seller-type=&postcode=bn12ne

Marlton and Hove Albion · Apr 26, 2019

FWIW - Purchased a Tesla M3 (Mid Range) in Nov 2018 with 265 miles of range. Motivation was $7,500 in Federal Tax Credit if purchased before end of 2018 and no sales tax on EV. 6 months later - 7,000 very happy miles.

Easy here as charge point is in my garage and super chargers cover 95% of US, so haven't experienced any range anxiety. It's a brilliant vehicle (really a big iPhone with tyres) and will never go back to ICE.

No oil changes, brakes @ 200K miles, no fluids to check and top up, no stops at petrol stations, fast, smooth and self driving when it's fully refined. What's not to like?

The Lemming Stomper · Apr 26, 2019

Nibbler said:
I also have a Zoe - great little car. Ours was £12k for an ex-demo and 2.5 years old. You will increase the range to more like 130 miles if you drive it in eco mode, which is generally fine.

We have another bigger car for long family trips so range anxiety isn't an issue.

The torque and smooth driving experience is a big plus. I was unsure about driving an electric vehicle - until I took a test drive and I was instantly sold.

Thanks for the heads up re eco mode....Game Changer

Badger · Apr 26, 2019

seagully said:
It is strange as its US equivalent the Chevy Volt was very successful. Part of the reason I bought it though was due to the low price following Vauxhall discontinuing them.

I assume this is because Vauxhall (and Opel) is no longer owned by GM.
Although it seems like GM stopped making the Volt a couple of months ago too.

nwgull · Apr 26, 2019

I have an A3 hybrid and get about 25 miles per charge, which is perfect for my 22 mile commute to work, where I also have access to charge points in the office car park. Cost of running on the battery works out at approximatley 4-5p per mile. It's definitely worth getting a charge point installed on your driveway for convenience, and you can get cost of installation of this subsidised for up to £500.

BIK rate for fully electric vehicles is only going to be 2% for next tax year, so am considering going fully electric as a company car.

seagully · Apr 26, 2019

Badger said:
I assume this is because Vauxhall (and Opel) is no longer owned by GM.
Although it seems like GM stopped making the Volt a couple of months ago too.

This is true but Vauxhall stopped selling the Ampera in around 2014 I believe. Not sure if this coincides with them moving away from GM.

seagully · Apr 26, 2019

wakeytom said:
That is very good. Do you know what the charge time is as the golf on a normal plug at home was something like 14 hours (again too slow to use for daily commute as I often get in at 8pm then travel 630 the next morning)

If you got a home charger installed then you would expect that time to be cut in half so you could put the car on charge overnight and have a fully charged battery in the morning.

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