Reply With QuoteI’m going to pop to my local VW and Skoda dealers in the week and try and get a test drive of all three.Originally Posted by Franky Four Fingers
Drove the Enyaq last week, not quite as smooth as the Merc as you’d probably expect but for the money I was rather impressed with it.
I’m going to pop to my local VW and Skoda dealers in the week and try and get a test drive of all three.
You can get an MG5 immediately, the Enyaq will be about six months. I’m not sure about the VWs.
That rules the Enyaq out then.
If I was a taxi driver, I don’t think I’d look any further than the MG5; I had a drive in one and it was really pretty good, especially considering the price.
My daughter loves her ZS EV and she hasn’t had any issues with it whatsoever.
Quick question hoping you EV owners can help me with:
When you charge the car once it’s fully charged does the charger shut itself down?
Also if you left the car fully charged then went away for say 2 or 3 weeks, the will the battery be fully charged stil?
Thanks.
When your car is fully charged the charger shuts off yes as for leaving the car for a few weeks I’ve never done it but I can’t see why it’s not ok
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Yes, the car doesn’t take any more charge once it has reached the level you require.
A small point, but the car battery charger/s are actually on board the car. The box on your wall is actually just an EVSE (Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment) and it’s job is to ‘talk’ to the car and understand what charge rate it can take and also tell the car what power it can supply. They negotiate every time you plug in.
EVs also have a sophisticated Battery Management System (BMS) and that will look after the car battery longer term. In the majority of newer EVs, you can’t actually use the whole battery, it has a buffer to protect the long term health of the battery, so you can’t ever over charge it or run it completely flat. Most also have a DC to DC converter that will trickle charge the 12v ancillary car battery and ensure that doesn’t go flat whilst it’s sitting unused.
Basically, just let the car manage itself.
The onboard systems/computers do use some power when the car is parked, I heard that Teslas have approx 1% per day 'phantom drain', others may obviously vary but are likely to use some power also for the same reasons.
It’s probably a broad question and will vary by manufacturer but can you program or otherwise control how much current the car will draw from the electricity supply?
I’m thinking specifically about when plugged into a 13A socket. I think I saw somewhere that most/all cars will then limit it to 10A but can it be set lower, say to 7A?
You can on a lot of EVs, I think the ID.3 can be set to a 5A max draw.
Many portable EVSEs (or ‘granny’ chargers that plug into a 3 pin socket) can also be set lower Amps than the default 10A, to again reduce the load on a normal 3 pin circuit.
Longer term, it’s always recommended to get a dedicated charge point though.
Mine is pretty good but if I have sentry mode activated if can zip the battery 2-3% is not unheard of. Likewise if I keep waking the car up it will use battery whilst parked.
It is worth mentioning that the car is never off like a ICE car, it simply is awake or sleeping but using power all the time managing the battery, it makes some strange strange noises at time.
Pitch
Don't we all.
I really hope someone commercialises this idea.
I test drove the ID 3 and 4 today and the Enyaq just to see what that was like.
Really liked the 3 and 4. I found the regen braking much stronger on the 3 than the 4, almost one peddle driving. I also found the 4 gave slightly better miles per kWh over the same test route. 3.2 kWh’s for the 3 Vs 3.6 kWh’s for the 4.
I was very disappointed with the Enyaq which was a shame because I actually prefer the interior on that to the ID’s. Maybe it was because of the 21” wheels but I found the ride really jiggly and unsettled. The ID’s were a much nicer ride. Less road noise too I found.
I’m going to try the MG5 on Thursday just to see if it’s nice to drive. Who knows, the price and the ride may just win me over.
Ok so for me I live alone and work away for periods of time, I’m wondering if I could just leave the car plugged in for the time I’m away and that way the car would be fully charged when I came back. Or the other option would be to charge it fully then disconnect and then see what the battery life would be when I returned, I’d hate to think the system is draining itself whilst away if it’s never off and then would need another long charge when I returned home.
I would depend on the kind of duration you expect to be away I suspect
I tend to charge my ID.3 up to 80%, if I don’t use it for even 3 or 4 weeks it’s still on 80%. It doesn’t seem to suffer any vampire drain.
My wife’s Tesla is slightly different, it loses a few percent a week, even more if Sentry mode is on as Pitch mentioned.
You could always leave it plugged in and monitor its state via the App, then you can remotely start or stop charging etc.
Don't know if they make light timers for the required voltage, but programming an hour (?) of charging every day would certainly keep an eV battery topped off while away.
Connect the timer to a relay coil.Switch the load thro the contacts.
Just for ref
Left home this morning with 90% charge and returned with 28% after 187 miles of mixed A and B roads and M11 not hanging around. If I would have stopped for 10-15 minutes at Elveden SC it would have seen me home at well over 50%.
I can live with that.
Pitch
vw scirocco stats
Great stats. Do you find yourself less fatigued after milage like that in the Tesla? Are the driver aids/self drive etc any good?
Drove home from Bury at midnight in the pouring rain at the weekend, was battered when I got home.
Cheers bud.
TACC and AP are very good but far from perfect, I had two near phantom braking events today but I do seem to be getting better second guessing the system.
My last two new motors have been the latest Q7 and XC90 and I find my M3P equally as comfortable and probably smoother without a 6 or 4 cylinder diesel thumping away. With equivalent to 500bhp on tap and no noise you do have to have your wits about you when pulling onto a motorway/dual carriageway.
Pitch
100,000 + engines are the norm now many will do 2 or 300000 miles no problems, you’ll have to change the turbo because people don’t cool them down properly, also this fleet manager pandering of long service intervals screws engines.
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The new Kia EV6 looks very interesting. I might look into this when it is finally on sale and I manage to get a test drive in one.
If you weren’t already aware, it shares the same platform/skateboard with the Hyundai Ioniq 5.
Talking of strange noises, I was in a Tesla on my holiday, and the best thing about it is the farting noise you can set, when you switch on the indicators.
The acceleration was nearly as freaky as the total silence, apart from road noise. I was impressed. Sadly it's out of my price range. :(
I test drove the MG5 today for about an hour and a half and it was ok, but only ok. The footrest for your left foot was too close toward you so you would drive with one leg straight(ish) for the throttle and brake but your left leg is bent more. It felt odd and as such I couldn’t find a driving position that I thought felt “right”. It also had a really annoying spoken warning when you broke the speed limit. I know the easy thing to do is drive at the speed limit but there are plenty of roads around my way that are open and empty but are still 30mph roads. Now I’m not a fast driver but I’m not a Sunday driver either and as such I don’t mind doing 35mph on a 30 when conditions allow. If I couldn’t switch off the vocal warning it would be a deal breaker for me.
Question for the EV owners. What is considered a good miles/kWh return? So far on the cars I’ve driven it’s averaged between 3.2-3.6 for mainly town driving.
I’ve got a two hour test drive in an ID.4 tomorrow so that should be ample time for me to get an idea of the real world mileage.
I’ve also noticed that VW has pulled an Apple.
The ID.3 is available with a 45/58/77 kWh battery but the ID.4 is only available with a 52/77 kWh battery. The 52 is a bit too small with a range of 213 miles (the 58 kWh in the ID.3 returns 264) and the 77 kWh returns 324 miles which is great but it’s a whopping 7K more and it’s also over 40K so no government grant.
Decisions decisions.
When I drove the MG5, I don’t remember any warnings about speeding so it can probably be turned off.
It’s a competent car, great value but it won’t set the pulse racing! The acceleration isn’t too shabby though.
The grant is now £35k maximum, not £40k these days.
I get your drift, but that exact scenario cost me £100 and a SAC last week. Be careful out there!
I’ve driven 17k miles in an ID.3 now, starting last November fhat was pretty mild, but it was a cold snowy winter where I live and drive to frequently.
My long term average is 3.6 miles per kWh, which is mainly A road or M-Way driving and all long trips.
Miles per kWh is temp and weather dependent, but if it starts with a 3, then you’re usually doing ok. Some of the bigger full size Audi SUVs will be worse, as you’d expect given the size and power etc.
I get an average of close to 3.5 in my van which Is generally near the weight limit.
Thanks for the replies guys. I was pleasantly surprised by the acceleration of the MG5. It took off like a scalded cat.
While I’ve only had a few test drives so far, would I be right in thinking that owners of electric cars are more conscious of their driving with regards to miles per kWh than ICE motorists are with MPG?
I was doing my best to keep the cars as close to regen as I could.
Is that a novelty that wears off or not?
It wears off
I used to drive in eco mode but it’s boring
Driving in comfort mode makes little diff in reality and is more fun
All electric cars go like stink
My i3 is faster than most so called hot hatches m3 m4 etc in a sprint
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I think for me, and not that I used to hoon around or anything, I drive much more with economy in mind for sure.
I still like to enjoy the acceleration a bit now and again, especially in the Tesla, but generally speaking I’m in a different mindset nowadays, and happy to just go with the flow of traffic.
Driving around with the energy equivalent of under 1.5 gallons of unleaded petrol does that to me!
I remember the salesman giving me the line when I purchased my i3 back in the day, “the fastest accelerating BMW that they make, Sir”… “to 40mph…”
But yes, most EVs are quick off the line, and plenty quick enough for U.K. road use.
I think the smoothness encourages you to waft along rather than drive like a lunatic.
It’s slowing down where I notice it most, I’m far more observant and try to put the van into brake mode (it has D and B as well as eco which I never use) so that I use my brakes as little as possible.
You get to learn the best way of enjoying both the performance whilst extracting most miles per kWh after a while. For example in my e-tron it makes little difference to overall efficiency having it in eco mode versus comfort or performance, so I use the latter modes depending on whether the with and kids are on board. Also, contrary to popular thinking one-pedal driving is not the most efficient, as you lose the ability to coast. The e-tron has the flappy paddles for adjusting the amount of regen when lifting off the throttle so I use those a lot to only use the least amount of any kind of braking needed , and it still uses regen for braking if you do need to hit the brake pedal up to something like 0.3G of braking force. I also use the adaptive cruise control whenever I can which helps with efficiency I think, but in any case makes for an effortless drive on motorways and A roads.
I still only manage a maximum of 2.8 m/kWh though as I do like to use the acceleration and it’s not the most efficient EV.
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Same as mopeds at the lights Vs superbikes unless u really hammer it. Doesn't mean I'd want to be in a moped though.
Well, yes, the point I was making was similar to yours, 0-40 times are not really relevant are they.
The ID.3 has modest by hatchback standards 0-60 times, around 7 secs for the version I have, and a top speed of 100mph and never feels slow in any normal road situation.
The Tesla on the other hand, and plenty of other higher performance EVs, stand more than toe to toe with some very exotic ICE machinery. Daft 0-60 times and limited 155mph top ends.
I do miss the sound of my last serious performance car though, an in-line 5. Never had a V8, but a lot of performance saloons do sound epic!
I agree, was just making the point for Sweepinghoover's benefit.
We'll all be in electric at some point, just a question of for how long (I believe electric will be a stopgap for something else). As someone with a diesel who hates the sound of diesel I'll be happy in electric, I'm just not paying top whack early adopter tax right now.
Is it just me that thought Tesla’s styling looked really smart and new when they came out but now look a bit weird, looked inside one today and thought the inside looked a bit cheap and crap compared with other premium makes too for around the same price?
They are an acquired taste certainly, there’s only really the model S that I like.
Meanwhile, the Mach E, Ioniq5 and Kia EV6 are proper lookers IMHO
I think the model S still looks quite smart, the X and 3 (and probably the Y too) are just plain ugly from at least 1 angle and in the case of the X, from all angles!
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Another vote for the Model S but the new 2021 model, the old one was looking soo dated inside.
For me my model 3 looks great side on and the back end, it is like they had time to work. The front……. I think Elon said you’ve get two minutes to design the front end… GO. It is hideous.
The Performance sits an inch lower than the SR and LR and on 20” wheels it is liveable with on the looks front, but only and only very only just.
Pitch
I always thought the Tesla was one ugly car and as above along with the VW Audi and many other brands which are bringing out some really lovely looking ev cars i do wonder if Tesla is a one trick pony and IMHO think that in a few years they will struggle for market share against the established brands.
We are averaging 5.2 miles per kwh in the Kona, regen level 1 , normal/sport mode. just over 500 miles since delivery
What sort of driving are you doing to achieve that return? That’s an incredible range.
Must admit did not take much notice until I saw the lower figures listed on this thread, most of the mileage last week has been my wife driving north somerset to bath, approx 20 miles motorway, 15 miles a/b road.
Also now just checked again and we are up to average 5.6 miles per kWh.
It is the new 2021 facelift version that has 20 mile range increase over the older model with most gain due to change to Michelin Primacy 4 tyres plus other mods to further reduce rolling and wind resistance ( according to you tube! )
Recent fuel economy history readout, seems to give odometer total end plus inter trip on/off :-
20.08.2021 3 mi 6.9 mi/kWh
20.08.2021 3 mi 6.2 mi/kWh
20.08.2021 683 mi 6.7 mi/kWh
19.08.2021 675 mi 6.1 mi/kWh
19.08.2021 10 mi 6.4 mi/kWh
Last edited by genesos; 20th August 2021 at 18:24.
Those figures are amazing! The Koreans do have a reputation for making their EVs economical and we are in the middle of summer (allegedly) which is always better for range but >6m/kwhr is way beyond expectations.
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