When are you going fully electric?

Soldato
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17 Apr 2009
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It may come down to driver style and circumstance. I have a couple of routes to work and the one that is mostly dual carriageway has one section with 7 consecutive sets of lights so lots of regen braking and accelerating. I was definitely playing a bit to ease the boredom and would rarely let anything lead me away from the lights. As a result the rears were not going to make 10K miles so I've just consciously altered my driving to either match normal traffic or follow cars on left lane.

The i3 only has a choice of two tyre makes being so tall and skinny so I'll switch from Nangkang to Bridgestone to see if that makes any difference.

Yeah previously I kept tripping the traction control light and not just pulling away from stop. So I've modified my driving style and have gone from 4.5 mi/kwh to 5.1 mi/kwh on my commute. Mostly dual but no faster than 60 mph which is fine for a fairly short 18 mile commute route each way.

One common gripe on the i3 is the over sensitive pedal when in comfort (call it normal) which is the default mode when pressing Start. The ECO PRO mode is just a more pleasant way to drive overall so it's second nature now for me to press Start and then the mode button.

This is how I burned through tyres. 0-60mph dual carriageway traffic light GPs. My commute has loads of opportunities for it.
 
Soldato
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Considering changing my car to a renault zoe, as my vw up is getting on a bit and only use to go to town an back a couple of times a week. So you can either lease the battery or pay about £6k to own it outright i assume unless you plan to keep the car based on my mileage for about 6-7 years its not worth to pay to own the battery and just lease it?

The other factor to consider is residual value. The cars that come with the batteries outright have a higher used value, so the cost isn't ~£6k but actually considerably lower (because Zoe's without a battery lease are fairly rare).

If I was buying one for cash, or on HP, or PCP (with a view to keeping the car) then I'd go for owning the battery TBH. If it was a lease or PCP (with the intention to hand back) then it doesn't really matter. Battery lease usually has cheaper monthlies overall.
 
Soldato
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If I was buying one for cash, or on HP, or PCP (with a view to keeping the car) then I'd go for owning the battery TBH. If it was a lease or PCP (with the intention to hand back) then it doesn't really matter. Battery lease usually has cheaper monthlies overall.

I did some basic sums for a friend who wanted to buy a used Zoe not to long ago, and it came down to how long she wanted to keep it. At the low end of the market, which is where she was buying, and with the intention to keep it only 30-36 months battery lease worked out the better choice with not much in it financially overall.
Over three years finance + the battery lease it worked out at <£250 per month (22 kWh model), so about £9k in total, residuals for it after 3 years are expected to be £4.7k, so a total cost of £4.3k, or £120 per month for 3 years. It was ~£13k for a battery owned version, (~£360pm) and the residual's estimated at £9.2K, so £500 cheaper overall.
The residual difference was due to battery degradation according to the EV company, but they said it could go either way due to the buoyancy of the market currently, and in the near future.

I thin every person needs to do careful calculations, and work out what works out best for their situation. I'm considering getting the mother-in-law one as she now only works 3 days a week, and does ~40 miles in total, and a few trips to the shop and the pub for lunch etc. Need to see what works out best when paying in pound notes. :)
 
Soldato
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Even for the size of the battery pack at 35kwh in the Honda E the range seems bad, the Hyundai Ioniq which is a bigger car only has a 28kwh battery and goes 140 miles in the real world so not quite sure how they made it that inefficient.
 
Soldato
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Even for the size of the battery pack at 35kwh in the Honda E the range seems bad, the Hyundai Ioniq which is a bigger car only has a 28kwh battery and goes 140 miles in the real world so not quite sure how they made it that inefficient.

Until it’s tested it’s quite plausible that Honda are quoting worst case winter range so as not to disappoint people. I also haven’t read anywhere yet if the 35kwh is gross battery or the capacity available.
 
Caporegime
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Just picked up a Kona EV Premium SE. The Mrs absolutely loves it, no company car tax next year, it's rapid and it does 300 miles on a charge which will mean a charge once a week ish for her. She even likes maximum regen setting much to my surprise.

Charger network seems okish but can't see us ever having to use it with that range as I've got a dirty diesel Navara for the long trips and a 7kw charger on the house.

Keep suggesting the Kona to my parents as their next car, unfortunately it’s still just too expensive for what it is, even with fuel savings.
 
Soldato
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Keep suggesting the Kona to my parents as their next car, unfortunately it’s still just too expensive for what it is, even with fuel savings.

Depends on their mileage I suppose. The car's being bought through my company so it's the easiest way for me to make personal use of a company asset without being taxed to death on it.
 
Soldato
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Had an i3s demo since Monday and love it. Shame it has to go back tomorrow.

Between borrowing this and the Zoe earlier in the year I am convinced electric is the way to go for us but I am still struggling with the financial commitment to lease one through work for 4 years even though the additional cost vs my current 10 year old diesel car is only £~110 a month.
 
Soldato
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Had an i3s demo since Monday and love it. Shame it has to go back tomorrow.

Between borrowing this and the Zoe earlier in the year I am convinced electric is the way to go for us but I am still struggling with the financial commitment to lease one through work for 4 years even though the additional cost vs my current 10 year old diesel car is only £~110 a month.

Have you factored in the significant drop in benefit in kind tax next year?
 
Soldato
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Because it's a salary sacrifice scheme that doesn't make much of a difference to me.

The quote with black paint the only option is broken down (as a 20% tax payer, fully maintained and no deposit, 20,000 miles a year for 4 years)
Car £512.73
Tax saving -£102.55
NI saving -£61.53
BIK £14.44
Total £363.09
 
Soldato
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Have you factored in the significant drop in benefit in kind tax next year?

Look for a second hand PCP vehicle and you might be able to get close to £150. You get a newer car, reduce your fuel cost significantly, possibly your insurance price too, zero your vehicle tax, save the planet, become an awesome human and have a hoot driving it. :D
 
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Soldato
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9 Mar 2003
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The i3 is a nice car buts it’s pretty expensive for the tech these days. My money would be going to the new Zoe ZE50 with CCS for a ‘cheaper’ small EV.
 
Soldato
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The i3 is a nice car buts it’s pretty expensive for the tech these days. My money would be going to the new Zoe ZE50 with CCS for a ‘cheaper’ small EV.

Doesn't look like the new Zoe ZE50 is going to be very competitive against the older 41kWh models, if you need rapid charging then it might be a bit better but you are paying a heck of a lot extra for it, even the Q90 is a hard sell over the slower charging R110 for a 'cheaper' EV. £20k will get you a brand new 'i' model 41kWh S-Edition R110 with metallic paint, I can't find a UK price for the ZE50, but the DE price is starting at €31,990. Do you know if this is accurate?
 
Associate
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20 Feb 2007
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Ordered an MG ZS EV today. Top spec Exclusive model (44.5kwh) for £23,495. Should see close to 200 miles from a full charge.

Much better quality than I expected and it seems to have excellent reviews across the board and amongst YouTube EV channels.
 
Soldato
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Ordered an MG ZS EV today. Top spec Exclusive model (44.5kwh) for £23,495. Should see close to 200 miles from a full charge.

Much better quality than I expected and it seems to have excellent reviews across the board and amongst YouTube EV channels.

This seems to be the best overall value currently if want a new EV now. They are giving very generous incentives that may end soon so get your order in!
 
Soldato
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MG are Chinese though so don't expect great build quality. They are cheap because they are made on the cheap. Like most Chinese stuff.
 
Soldato
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I went to have a look at the ZS EV on Friday as my local dealer just got one in, very impressed with the fit and finish inside. I'm not someone who really cares much about interiors but it looked and felt just as good as anything else i've sat in. It has a lot going for it with a proper liquid cooled battery etc so will be very interesting.

Hopefully will get a test drive end of this week/beginning of next as for the price they're very tempting.

Currently weighing up either a new ZS or a a 1 year old Ioniq as they're both about the same price, will have to see how the test drives go and see from there.
 
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