The all things EV chat thread

[road2ruin]

The point for me is that I will stop but I want to stop when I want, where I want and forever how long I want. It isn't about non stop driving, it's about me being in charge, not the car or the charging points.

The idea that ICE drivers just want to drive all day isn't right, they just like the current system of flexibility and no worries on a long journey. At some point that freedom may have to go but until then it's a major barrier for those who do longer journeys.

Agree but you'd think from most of the comments on here that everyone is getting into their ICE vehicle and driving 500 miles a day and therefore an EV is just not practical. I agree, those people are out there however they are in a tiny minority of motorists. For the majority of drivers an EV would be more convenient than not. In the UK the average car drives 20 miles per day and approximately 70% of houses in the UK have off street parking. Straight off the bat an EV would make more sense for these motorists than an ICE car. Yes they might have to pre-plan their annual holiday (assuming they drive somewhere) more carefully however this is 1-2 journeys a year, for the rest of the time there would be no difference. As already mentioned, I am ignoring the cost side of things as we're talking about practicality and not money. When you bring money into it then it's a huge factor at the moment as the initial costs are high.

 

[bobmac]

And thats fine for you, but in other peoples situations they can drive for a few hundred miles without the need for a stop.

I know that, I was only giving my opinion, just like Robster did

 

[PJ87]

Agree but you'd think from most of the comments on here that everyone is getting into their ICE vehicle and driving 500 miles a day and therefore an EV is just not practical. I agree, those people are out there however they are in a tiny minority of motorists. For the majority of drivers an EV would be more convenient than not. In the UK the average car drives 20 miles per day and approximately 70% of houses in the UK have off street parking. Straight off the bat an EV would make more sense for these motorists than an ICE car. Yes they might have to pre-plan their annual holiday (assuming they drive somewhere) more carefully however this is 1-2 journeys a year, for the rest of the time there would be no difference. As already mentioned, I am ignoring the cost side of things as we're talking about practicality and not money. When you bring money into it then it's a huge factor at the moment as the initial costs are high.

Money is a major factor, with interest rates high I started to focus my savings on getting my Kia

Then Kia slashed there Apr to 2% on new EVs .. I even looked at the second hand ones and added the same money I had available to the quote and the Apr on the used one made the amount payable the same as the brand new one so I just ordered it.

Manufacturers will bring prices down with the law change that x amount of cars sold must be Ev and there will be deals to be had

But like with cutting tax on company cars so you get a lot of teslas without investment in chargers we will have more EV drivers not fully ready for them.

I agree about journeys , our longest as a family would be down to see my mate which is 150 miles. Charger near the hotel we stay in. Easily done in the Kia. But before I'd never of gone in the Corsa

 

[Deleted member 29109]

Agree but you'd think from most of the comments on here that everyone is getting into their ICE vehicle and driving 500 miles a day and therefore an EV is just not practical. I agree, those people are out there however they are in a tiny minority of motorists. For the majority of drivers an EV would be more convenient than not. In the UK the average car drives 20 miles per day and approximately 70% of houses in the UK have off street parking. Straight off the bat an EV would make more sense for these motorists than an ICE car. Yes they might have to pre-plan their annual holiday (assuming they drive somewhere) more carefully however this is 1-2 journeys a year, for the rest of the time there would be no difference. As already mentioned, I am ignoring the cost side of things as we're talking about practicality and not money. When you bring money into it then it's a huge factor at the moment as the initial costs are high.

An EV would suit my wife perfectly. She does two 18 mile round trips three days and an additional 40 miles two days during the week.

My usage is different. During the week I can do two or three days without my car moving off the drive. But I can also do a couple of 160 mile round trips or 3/400 mile round trips where there is very little infrastructure for charging at one end. I will generally do three hours driving without stopping. Getting home, I certainly don’t want to add any unnecessary stops to that trip.

My wife’s car is paid for, so only paying for fuel and running costs. When that dies she’ll probably get an EV. It doesn’t make economical sense now.

Cars the size I need that will cover the miles I want it to are waaaay too expensive.

 

[PJ87]

An EV would suit my wife perfectly. She does two 18 mile round trips three days and an additional 40 miles two days during the week.

My usage is different. During the week I can do two or three days without my car moving off the drive. But I can also do a couple of 160 mile round trips or 3/400 mile round trips where there is very little infrastructure for charging at one end. I will generally do three hours driving without stopping. Getting home, I certainly don’t want to add any unnecessary stops to that trip.

My wife’s car is paid for, so only paying for fuel and running costs. When that dies she’ll probably get an EV. It doesn’t make economical sense now.

Cars the size I need that will cover the miles I want it to are waaaay too expensive.

I'm not in the exact same situation but similar with the second car. The Kia I just ordered can do most of things we need. However until the kids are out of car seats I can't really get rid of the big car as for putting them in long trips and just throwing everything in the boot it's great. I did a price up I could get 10k from we buy any car for my 8 year old Alhambra then buy a 2 year old mg 5 for 15k and without the car seat issue we could have 2 EV no worries. Due to our driving habits . I'd then split the milage more as we will be using the Kia as much as possible.

It's good that used prices are dropping. Naturally when coming to replace a car if EV are similar or only bit more it will make it an option for more.

With your cost of EV for one you need, I would think if better charging network came in you wouldn't need to worry about having one with such long range aswell ?

 

[Mudball]

While we all fight about EVs and AI... here is the next madness
(my cars have voice control, but i have switched them off.... i dont need one more woman driving me mad in the car)

(From CES) VW to add ChatGPT to cars​

From adjusting heating and air conditioning to finding the closest Italian restaurant: Volkswagen will integrate ChatGPT capability into its cars' voice assistant, allowing customers to not only control basic car functions hands-free but to have "enriching conversations" while driving. The German automaker presented the technology at the CES electronics trade fair in Las Vegas, saying it was the first volume manufacturer to make generative AI a standard feature in its compact cars. Mercedes-Benz and General Motors are among other manufacturers currently running tests.

• The feature will be rolled out in Europe first in the second quarter of this year, in new Volkswagen models, including the electric ID line, Passat, Golf and Tiguan SUVs.

• ChatGPT was developed by OpenAI, which is backed by LinkedIn's parent company Microsoft.

From VW Board announcement >
Big news: At #CES2024, we’ve just unveiled our first vehicles in which we integrate #ChatGPT into our IDA voice assistant – together with our partner Cerence Inc.

With that, we’ll be the first volume manufacturer to offer the artificial-intelligence-based chatbot as a feature from the second quarter of 2024 in many production vehicles (ID.7, ID.4, ID.5, ID.3, all-new #Tiguan & #Passat, new #Golf).

In the future, our customers will have seamless access to the constantly growing artificial intelligence database in all Volkswagen models equipped with the IDA voice assistant and have researched content read out to them while driving.

A huge step for Volkswagen that underlines the innovative strength of our new products.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

'Enriching conversations' mmmmmmmmmmm

With the various cars I have had over the years, only one has had voice recognition which was actually reliable. A Seat Toledo, a really good car. The rest have been useless and I gave up on them very quickly.

 

[Jimaroid]

While we all fight about EVs and AI... here is the next madness
(my cars have voice control, but i have switched them off.... i dont need one more woman driving me mad in the car)

(From CES) VW to add ChatGPT to cars​

Yeah it’s an attention grabbing headline and press release but really it’s VW and Microsoft confirming they’re some way behind. This is no different to Siri, Alexa or Google Assistant that many other manufacturers are already using. All can be excellent with good utility and I’ve said before that Volvo’s latest Google integration is excellent and I really miss having it - I’ve yet to see a better Google+Maps+Navigation user experience.

I’ll be interested to see what VW and MS do here but that is a perfect example of the type of self-aggrandising buzzword laden PR bingo that creates completely wrong understanding of what the technology is in reality.

And what nobody will talk about is this type of AI is not a green product as it comes with some alarming “hidden” energy demands. Everything’s a bit of a mess really.

 

[road2ruin]

'Enriching conversations' mmmmmmmmmmm

With the various cars I have had over the years, only one has had voice recognition which was actually reliable. A Seat Toledo, a really good car. The rest have been useless and I gave up on them very quickly.

My present car has CarPlay so I use my iPhone with Siri, it’s finally an in car voice recognition system that actually works! The Hyundai one isn’t bad, it’s just Siri is better.

 

[Billysboots]

One of the biggest issues for me, having driven the Audi E Tron Q8 just over 170 miles today, is that driving them just isn’t any fun.

Where’s the fun in feathering the accelerator pedal on a motorway to get you to around 70mph, then coasting for a short distance, then feathering it again, then coasting again, all with the aim of preserving battery life in order to minimise stops and charging time? Over 100 miles driving like that on a motorway is just tiresome. Regenerative braking when off motorways can only do so much, and many of the marginal gains are lost the moment you accelerate as gently as you can from the next junction.

Sorry, but driving, for me at least, needs to be enjoyable, as I drive probably 800-1000 miles a week, every week. And driving EV’s long distance just isn’t fun.

 

[Deleted member 29109]

One of the biggest issues for me, having driven the Audi E Tron Q8 just over 170 miles today, is that driving them just isn’t any fun.

Where’s the fun in feathering the accelerator pedal on a motorway to get you to around 70mph, then coasting for a short distance, then feathering it again, then coasting again, all with the aim of preserving battery life in order to minimise stops and charging time? Over 100 miles driving like that on a motorway is just tiresome. Regenerative braking when off motorways can only do so much, and many of the marginal gains are lost the moment you accelerate as gently as you can from the next junction.

Sorry, but driving, for me at least, needs to be enjoyable, as I drive probably 800-1000 miles a week, every week. And driving EV’s long distance just isn’t fun.

How is that any different to driving any other car on the motorway?

Motorway driving in any car isn’t fun. Just turn the cruise on and steer.

 

[Billysboots]

How is that any different to driving any other car on the motorway?

Motorway driving in any car isn’t fun. Just turn the cruise on and steer.

I actually enjoy motorway driving. Always have.

And it is different to driving an ICE vehicle on the motorway. Yes, I’ll still drive one reasonably sensibly to maximise fuel consumption, but if I can’t manage that on a long journey I have the option of a quick pit stop.

You don’t have that quick option with an EV, so the constant feathering and coasting is your only option if you’re on the limit of a single charge range. Its just tiresome.

 

[road2ruin]

One of the biggest issues for me, having driven the Audi E Tron Q8 just over 170 miles today, is that driving them just isn’t any fun.

Where’s the fun in feathering the accelerator pedal on a motorway to get you to around 70mph, then coasting for a short distance, then feathering it again, then coasting again, all with the aim of preserving battery life in order to minimise stops and charging time? Over 100 miles driving like that on a motorway is just tiresome. Regenerative braking when off motorways can only do so much, and many of the marginal gains are lost the moment you accelerate as gently as you can from the next junction.

Sorry, but driving, for me at least, needs to be enjoyable, as I drive probably 800-1000 miles a week, every week. And driving EV’s long distance just isn’t fun.

Must admit I have never driven my EV like that and when I know I’ll need to charge using a public charger I won’t cut it so fine that I’d have to rely on that sort of driving.

In terms of EV’s being fun in general I’m coming from a 500 odd bhp Audi and my EV is far more fun off the lights with the instant power!!

 

[PJ87]

Must admit I have never driven my EV like that and when I know I’ll need to charge using a public charger I won’t cut it so fine that I’d have to rely on that sort of driving.

In terms of EV’s being fun in general I’m coming from a 500 odd bhp Audi and my EV is far more fun off the lights with the instant power!!

Would you make the same choice again if given the chance?

I know the only thing I'd of changed is to have gone for a leaf with the 40kw battery over the Corsa. I could have had that but I was worried the range wouldn't suit. The leaf would have been more suitable for my needs for an all round car for sure

For context I wanted the Hyundai kona 64kw but the deal had sold out so new ones were £150 a month more than the deal. The 40kw leaf seemed too small compared to a 50kw Corsa

Ironically a 40kw Kona which they had also would have been a better option car wise

That said the EV side has only let me down once. Just the vauxhall build quality I won't return to them again for any kind of car.

 

[Slime]

Just curious, but I wonder how many EV owners also own an ICE car as well.

 

[Bunkermagnet]

Must admit I have never driven my EV like that and when I know I’ll need to charge using a public charger I won’t cut it so fine that I’d have to rely on that sort of driving.

In terms of EV’s being fun in general I’m coming from a 500 odd bhp Audi and my EV is far more fun off the lights with the instant power!!

That is what annoys most I feel about EV drivers. Sprint away from the lights, then as soon as youre in front drop right down to dawdle speed to try and get back some of the juice you just spunked away being an ass. This year alone, I have seen 2 pedestrians on a crossing (admittedly just about late on the crossing) almost hit by a sprinting EV.

 

[road2ruin]

That is what annoys most I feel about EV drivers. Sprint away from the lights, then as soon as youre in front drop right down to dawdle speed to try and get back some of the juice you just spunked away being an ass. This year alone, I have seen 2 pedestrians on a crossing (admittedly just about late on the crossing) almost hit by a sprinting EV.

I can’t imagine EV drivers who are concerned with conservation of battery would sprint off from any lights.

 

[Mudball]

One of the biggest issues for me, having driven the Audi E Tron Q8 just over 170 miles today, is that driving them just isn’t any fun.

Where’s the fun in feathering the accelerator pedal on a motorway to get you to around 70mph, then coasting for a short distance, then feathering it again, then coasting again, all with the aim of preserving battery life in order to minimise stops and charging time? Over 100 miles driving like that on a motorway is just tiresome. Regenerative braking when off motorways can only do so much, and many of the marginal gains are lost the moment you accelerate as gently as you can from the next junction.

Sorry, but driving, for me at least, needs to be enjoyable, as I drive probably 800-1000 miles a week, every week. And driving EV’s long distance just isn’t fun.

I agree EV driving feels souless. There is no noise, no sense of achievement, no smell. The only noise is the heavy tyers on the road. On the flip side, trying to get a sense of fast you are travelling is disorienting. Many a times before i knew it or sensed it, i was way over the limit. i had to keep my foot off... And that would kick the regen on and slow it down.. then you feather it...and the cycle goes on. I havent tried cruise control in an EV and i would lke to see how that fares.

The most annoying bit is car manufacturers now putting the speed on the centre console/display unit. If you want to know your speed, you need to look away from the road... i blame Elon for it.

 

[Mudball]

I can’t imagine EV drivers who are concerned with conservation of battery would sprint off from any lights.

What is the point in buying a ferrari and driving it like a Punto.


I really enjoyed shooting off the line or the sudden acceleration. But then i live around 20/30 mile zones, so the novelty wears off quickly.. Though i know that I have DRS if I need it

 

[Bunkermagnet]

I can’t imagine EV drivers who are concerned with conservation of battery would sprint off from any lights.

Ok, I obviously must have mis-seen it then.