The all things EV chat thread

[Imurg]

To my mind, the reason auto lights are great is that when you switch your engine on it looks like Blackpool illuminations...
Back in the day, when you switched the engine on, the dashboard didn't light up...it only lot up when you put your lights on.
It's so easy, these days, to see the dashboard lit up and assume that your lights are on...especially in fog.
To be honest, it's no big deal to have them on all the time - problem solved.

 

[ColchesterFC]

Oh no these are step above, I had that system on my honda

These ones will have the full beem on with traffic in front of you when it's really dark but it won't blind them

"Adaptive IntelliLux LED technology is available on the new Corsa, Astra and new Insignia, as well as the all-new Mokka and fully-electric Mokka-e, making night-time drives safer and more comfortable. The glare-free headlights automatically switch to main-beam outside urban areas, and continuously adapt the range and distribution of the light beam pattern to suit the road conditions and avoid dazzling oncoming traffic."

"The adaptive IntelliLux LED Pixel Lights on the new Insignia feature 168 individual LED elements. The high number of continuously reacting LED elements results in a seamlessly adaptative light beam that avoids glaring oncoming or passing vehicles while optimising visibility for the driver."

To me that just sounds like one more thing to go wrong. Or in this case 168 more things to go wrong. I'm sure they're great when they work, but it's when they stop working properly that you have problems.

Mrs Colch gets so frustrated with me as I refuse to use auto lights or windscreen wipers in our cars. But my C-Max still decides that it needs to change the setting on the windscreen wipers without me doing anything. I'll be quite happy with it on intermittent and then it will decide that they need to be on constant causing that horrible squeak because the rain isn't heavy enough for them to be on full. It does my head in. I'm perfectly capable of deciding what setting to put the wipers on and I don't need the car doing it for me. In light rain I don't even bother to put them on intermittent any more, I'll just flick the lever to clear the screen whenever it needs it.

 

[PJ87]

To me that just sounds like one more thing to go wrong. Or in this case 168 more things to go wrong. I'm sure they're great when they work, but it's when they stop working properly that you have problems.

Mrs Colch gets so frustrated with me as I refuse to use auto lights or windscreen wipers in our cars. But my C-Max still decides that it needs to change the setting on the windscreen wipers without me doing anything. I'll be quite happy with it on intermittent and then it will decide that they need to be on constant causing that horrible squeak because the rain isn't heavy enough for them to be on full. It does my head in. I'm perfectly capable of deciding what setting to put the wipers on and I don't need the car doing it for me. In light rain I don't even bother to put them on intermittent any more, I'll just flick the lever to clear the screen whenever it needs it.

Problem is the typical "man" attuides hold back technology. Autodrive cars when they come in , many moons you can put your house on the number 1 cause of accidents won't be a rare computer failure it will be a driver thinking na I know better than this I'll just drive

See it every day with trains.. If they are in auto they run a lot better than manual as the computer keeps them the perfect distance and max speed apart

You will get drivers take over and ever cause massive gaps by not driving to target speed or overspending when the limit changes and having the auto brakes applied

 

[PNWokingham]

Interesting read - not sure what many elecric cars will be worth at 6 to 10 years old. Batterry health will likely be the number one issue when buying second hand

https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/technology/battery-life-uncertainty-prompts-concern-over-used-evs

 

[road2ruin]

Interesting read - not sure what many elecric cars will be worth at 6 to 10 years old. Batterry health will likely be the number one issue when buying second hand

https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/technology/battery-life-uncertainty-prompts-concern-over-used-evs

To be honest my main concern about the EV's worth wouldn't be so much the battery health (although obviously a consideration) but the battery advances over that period. Even if mine kept the full amount it'll still be at the 260 odd mile range and how appealing will that be to buyers who can get ones that'll do 400+ or whatever the new tech allows.

 

[bobmac]

To be honest my main concern about the EV's worth wouldn't be so much the battery health (although obviously a consideration) but the battery advances over that period. Even if mine kept the full amount it'll still be at the 260 odd mile range and how appealing will that be to buyers who can get ones that'll do 400+ or whatever the new tech allows.

260 mile range would be more than enough range for me so very appealing, compared to the cost of a new car with a 400 mile range

 

[PNWokingham]

To be honest my main concern about the EV's worth wouldn't be so much the battery health (although obviously a consideration) but the battery advances over that period. Even if mine kept the full amount it'll still be at the 260 odd mile range and how appealing will that be to buyers who can get ones that'll do 400+ or whatever the new tech allows.

totally agree - i was also going to mention that but forgot! But battery being the key point and these the 2 main issues

 

[Deleted member 29109]

260 mile range would be more than enough range for me so very appealing, compared to the cost of a new car with a 400 mile range

260 miles is more than I used to get from my old M3 ?

And is way more than most people will need for 99% of their journeys.

 

[road2ruin]

260 mile range would be more than enough range for me so very appealing, compared to the cost of a new car with a 400 mile range

Indeed you are correct however I was talking about residual values of cars. Like anything, old tech gets replaced and I would imagine old EV's are more vulnerable to depreciation with the advances in battery tech.

 

[Deleted member 29109]

Indeed you are correct however I was talking about residual values of cars. Like anything, old tech gets replaced and I would imagine old EV's are more vulnerable to depreciation with the advances in battery tech.

True. But I think its mostly an issue for people buying second hand as most new cars will be bought with on kind of finance.

 

[PJ87]

True. But I think its mostly an issue for people buying second hand as most new cars will be bought with on kind of finance.

What was very interesting in that article was the last couple paragraphs where they stated that batteries in private EVs were performing better than expected

 

[Fade and Die]

260 mile range would be more than enough range for me so very appealing, compared to the cost of a new car with a 400 mile range

Bob whilst you are one of the forums biggest EV fanboys (I have you pegged at #2?)You are actually a perfect example of why EVs are not suitable for the majority of people…They are just too expensive. Even second hand they are out of your reach and by the time they are cheap enough what sort of range would you get from them?
Something has to change to bring the price down to a realistic level so they appeal to the masses. At the moment it’s all compromises and paying through the nose for the privilege.

 

[Bunkermagnet]

My Mazda has similar when you switch to auto light, it changes to full beam if it thinks there’s no other cars or street lights, very clever. Only down side, it can sometimes go on and off quick quickly if cars are going in the opposite direction, anyone behind me will think I’m a total nutter ?

My Mazda 3 has adaptive high beam, whereby you push the light stalk down into the high beam position and when the car thinks its ok it brings on the high beam. If you have another car coming the other way, and the car thinks it's ok, it switches off segments of LED's to reduce the high beam throw to not blind the oncoming car. It's a wonderful bit of kit to watch the high beam lights coming and going, but TBH I just normally leave the lights in normal mode on auto

 

[bobmac]

Bob whilst you are one of the forums biggest EV fanboys (I have you pegged at #2?)You are actually a perfect example of why EVs are not suitable for the majority of people…They are just too expensive. Even second hand they are out of your reach and by the time they are cheap enough what sort of range would you get from them?
Something has to change to bring the price down to a realistic level so they appeal to the masses. At the moment it’s all compromises and paying through the nose for the privilege.

EVs are expensive?
Really, I had no idea.

 

[Deleted member 23270]

Bob whilst you are one of the forums biggest EV fanboys (I have you pegged at #2?)You are actually a perfect example of why EVs are not suitable for the majority of people…They are just too expensive. Even second hand they are out of your reach and by the time they are cheap enough what sort of range would you get from them?
Something has to change to bring the price down to a realistic level so they appeal to the masses. At the moment it’s all compromises and paying through the nose for the privilege.

Agreed, I would love to go EV but what I want/require and what I can afford are two very different things.

 

[PNWokingham]

The new Civic Type R is now an eye-wateringly expensive 47K - i thought the old one was circa 35k last time i looked!

But, I would put money that in 10yrs time this will be worth a fudge-ton more than a mid 40k new electric car, and will probably continue to appreciate from that point

https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-review/honda/civic-type-r

 

[D-S]

“The Secret Genius of Modern Life” tonight on BBC 2 might be interesting on how EVs are built.

 

[clubchamp98]

Some advice if anyone knows.
My sons EV charging point has tripped the RCB ,when he has tried to reset the fuse trip it won’t stay up.
Is this a common thing ?
Is there any tricks to sort it ?
I am ok with normal wiring but this is above my pay grade.
He’s looking for the paperwork to see what the warranty says as it’s about 18 months old.
Any help thanks.

 

[road2ruin]

Interesting to see what the colder temps have done to the car. Up until a few weeks back I was getting 270 odd miles to a ‘tank’, about 3.7kWh with a battery of 73kWh. This has dropped to about 2.1kWh doing the same journeys. Range is about 160 miles give or take.

Was fully prepared for the drop in range but didn’t think it’d be quite this brutal!

 

[Fade and Die]

Some advice if anyone knows.
My sons EV charging point has tripped the RCB ,when he has tried to reset the fuse trip it won’t stay up.
Is this a common thing ?
Is there any tricks to sort it ?
I am ok with normal wiring but this is above my pay grade.
He’s looking for the paperwork to see what the warranty says as it’s about 18 months old.
Any help thanks.

Does it trip out when the unit is just on standby? if there is no obvious damage to the cable it must be a faulty unit. What make is it? The ones we have been fitting come with a 3 Year warranty.