The Car Thread

[EpsomWolf]

“The authors said there was also a social justice argument for carbon-emissions based parking and road user charging.”

I think we’re getting to some of the silent truths about the underpinning agendas here.

 

[Kenny]

Had to order my company car today.
Has to be an EV.

So I had the following to choose from

ID.3
Polestar 2
Megane E-Tech
Kia Nero
Citreon C4
BMW i4 Sport


What would you pick from that list?

Normally have Tesla's on the list but they withdrew their support. Must something coming back as I am at their place in Solihull on Tuesday though.

 

[Sniffer]

Had to order my company car today.
Has to be an EV.

So I had the following to choose from

ID.3
Polestar 2
Megane E-Tech
Kia Nero
Citreon C4
BMW i4 Sport


What would you pick from that list?

Normally have Tesla's on the list but they withdrew their support. Must something coming back as I am at their place in Solihull on Tuesday though.

I’ve got an i4 being delivered next month but have no idea what it’ll be like. Has good reviews against the Tesla’s and was cheaper for the company to lease than my preferences (none of which are on your list although your Mrs has one that I liked).I’m getting battery anxiety already!

 

[Tredman]

Had to order my company car today.
Has to be an EV.

So I had the following to choose from

ID.3
Polestar 2
Megane E-Tech
Kia Nero
Citreon C4
BMW i4 Sport


What would you pick from that list?

Normally have Tesla's on the list but they withdrew their support. Must something coming back as I am at their place in Solihull on Tuesday though.

Polestar from those for me, i4 is nice but range is pap apparently.

Have a look here for comparisons: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...MzvvWJHrBS82echMVJH37kwgjE/edit#gid=735351678
and at the same guys youtube account for reviews: https://www.youtube.com/user/bjornnyland?themeRefresh=1

 

[Kenny]

I went with the i4. Few at work have one and are on the road a lot more than me and they seem very happy with the range.
Biggest drive I will do is up to Leeds and I can charge up at the office.

 

[Tredman]

I went with the i4. Few at work have one and are on the road a lot more than me and they seem very happy with the range.
Biggest drive I will do is up to Leeds and I can charge up at the office.

Would be my choice if range weren't a factor. Tesla if it is sadly

 

[Paddingtonwolf]

Ask for the cash alternative and buy a car you would like

 

[Kenny]

Cash option not that great really. Wouldn't get that much buying and leasing prices a bit shit for the miles i need per year. BMW giving Zenith a ridiculous discount dragged that car into my options. £52k car and no money leaving my account and all I need to worry about is the charging


Happy with the i4 choice...even though I won't see it for a while.

 

[MARKakaJIM]

Cash option not that great really. Wouldn't get that much buying and leasing prices a bit shit for the miles i need per year. BMW giving Zenith a ridiculous discount dragged that car into my options. £52k car and no money leaving my account and all I need to worry about is the charging


Happy with the i4 choice...even though I won't see it for a while.

Which battery/power option did you get with the i4? Had the option of a 35 Sport with my new job but the range didn't look great for me, if it had been the 40 (particularly if M Sport too) would've snatched their hand off.

Test drove a Polestar 2 the other week, seemed a nice drive but the ride was very firm which would probably grate after a while and whilst interior quality seemed top drawer it did seem to have a pretty impractical arrangement, which again I think would grow tiresome.

Currently waiting for a new salary sacrifice scheme to go live which should increase options but the start of November launch never materialized, then today should've been kick off day but still no login details been sent to anyone. Been a few 'spare' vehicles caught my eye while I've been waiting but nothing ideal so hoping patience pays off.

 

[Kenny]

It's the 35 Sport. Managed to get it upgraded with a few optional packs.

The others in the team getting 280 on average per full charge which is fine for me.

Who is your sal sac scheme with?

 

[MARKakaJIM]

Car Benefit Solutions I think, had never heard of them before. Will definitely provide many more options than the current scheme but time will tell if they're better or worse than the current lists. Mildly frustrating as previous employer had plenty of appealing choices through their scheme with Zenith but unfortunately it was pretty much the best part of working there so slight downgrade in car may be necessary to not be bored out of my mind for 8 hours a day.

Still not 100% convinced full EV is right for me yet. Majority of the time it would be fine as I can charge at home and the office but we do a lot of work on MoD sites which tend to be pretty remote so they could be problematic. UK holidays with lots of driving been a long standing concern too, though tax saving could go towards upgrading my partners car and having that as a the holiday car instead but think she's still got another 2 years to run on her PCP before that would come into play.

Was quite surprised a lad at work who took receipt of his Polestar last week saying how far under the advertised range he was getting so far, think new models supposed to be 330ish at full charge but he's not even getting 250. Obviously recent cold snap will be playing a part in that but didn't think the impact would be quite that stark.

 

[Kenny]

Mix of things that will reducing that range. Main one being the number they put out is partly bollocks anyway, then chuck in driving style and of course the weather.

So you can make a difference with 2 things. I found you soon change how you drive if you fancy getting the max out of the range. You will find the sweet spot speed wise for the motorway etc etc. With the cold weather, always use the pre-conditioning before starting a journey from home. Makes a big difference.

I've waffled on before about the experience driving the Q4 and now done 2 decent trips in that and the range will tell me around 290 on 100% which is less than they advertise. That got me to MK ok and and I didn't need to charge but I gave it a 10 min blast whilst having a coffee. Couple of weeks back drove to York and possibly would have made it back without a charge but the car park we were on had the 7kwh chargers. So plugged in to that whilst we hit the town and a few hours later just moved it to a normal spot with the battery upto 80% again and it cost us less than £10.

No idea if your Sal Sac provider will be able to get Demo's but look out for any manufacturer doing 48 hour test drives. Citroen had one last year. Whilst you probably won't take one of their offerings it is a good way of testing EV vehicles, see how you get on with range anxiety and all that .

 

[Kenny]

she's still got another 2 years to run on her PCP before that would come into play.

If you have done 50% of the repayments on PCP you can end the agreement early without charges. Read up on that if that opens the door for an early upgrade

 

[leedswolf]

https://www.topgear.com/car-news/electric/lotus-has-unveiled-ultra-fast-450kw-charger-and-no-its-not-lightweight?fbclid=IwAR04SAFREYj8p1iX76z5BQJ1ZZhJfBja6gYztOrmjL14hcW2W-o44goT3ek

 

[MARKakaJIM]

If you have done 50% of the repayments on PCP you can end the agreement early without charges. Read up on that if that opens the door for an early upgrade

Bit of extra reading doesn't make this sound all that enticing, have to pay 50% of the financial value so that includes the final balloon payment at the end so it'll be more than 50% of the finance period or you have to pay a lump sum in there potentially with a few attached. You're then surrendering the car too so any equity you've built up, which should work out quite well for my partner with super low mileage, gets surrendered to and you're back to starting from square one with whatever cash you've got in the bank.

 

[Kenny]

Bit of extra reading doesn't make this sound all that enticing, have to pay 50% of the financial value so that includes the final balloon payment at the end so it'll be more than 50% of the finance period or you have to pay a lump sum in there potentially with a few attached. You're then surrendering the car too so any equity you've built up, which should work out quite well for my partner with super low mileage, gets surrendered to and you're back to starting from square one with whatever cash you've got in the bank.

Its one of those situations that will fit certain needs.
I wasn't taking into account the fact that the car she has would obviously need to be replaced with something else, using your own money.

Brain is fried this week so was looking at the situation as it is for myself....thankfully in my role I just deal with the companies and have zero contact with the drivers!!...so for me I have a car on PCP but getting the company car so that can go and I have zero interest in any equity and will just want the car gone and monthly charge stopped then its just like I have been leasing the car for a while. I am currently short of the 2 years but the car value is currently pretty much equal to the outstanding finance. All comes down to when I get given a delivery date and if I want to get by in a hire car from work or stick with mine until then.

 

[Wolf Hunting]

Okay.
We just drove from home to Belfast then Cairnryan to Northumberland.
1st fatal error in the planning was not considering the charging time required.
When we got to Dumfries, I'd allowed an hour to charge whilst we went shopping (M&S Meal deals x 4 etc) and had lunch.
Got my 7kwatt cable out, plugged it in and it said, "Charging from 27% to 100% will take 4.5 hrs."
What?? Fucking hell! So we moved up a few places and used the 53KWatt charger which did it in 1.25 hrs.
There was actually a charging point (7KW) at the holiday cottage so that was good.
Apart from the time 2 diesel cars were parked at the slot outside the gym so I had to get some fucker out of the swimming pool to shift his car. Not happy. (Ironic that a man visiting the gym doesn't want to park and walk and extra 30 feet. Mutter, mutter, no one's ever used it before mutter)
So now we knew this, your 7Kw chargers are virtually useless unless you have at least a half day to spare and the return trip was perfect.
I think the 7KW was £0.44 per Kw and the fast one was around £0.53 Kw

 

[Tredman]

ABRP

ABetterRouteplanner is the world's most popular consumer EV routeplanner - both for beginner and experienced EV drivers. And of course for anyone curious about EVs.

abetterrouteplanner.com

Use it always for long journeys.

 

[Kenny]

With 7kwh you should be aware that is a slower charge, surely? Plugging in your own cable will always deliver 7kwh which will amazingly deliver...7kw per hour. As you say, great if you are at home or know you are on the car park for 3 or 4 hours. Which how it was when I was in York a couple of weeks ago. Always hunt out the fast chargers on long trips where you want to stop for 25-30 mins

Also beware of your timings - You leave you car plugged in and its done you will start to get charged for hogging the space and that will be more than the kw charge will be

 

[Alan]

I don't think your average person really understands how kwh translates to real world application. It's an odd metric.