[Misc] Electric Cars

[raymondo]

Here in the chickens household the wife has had her way. Our trusty Nissan Leaf will be leaving us at the end of the month, and being replaced by an MG ZS EV. There’s very good deals on them atm, as they’re being cleared out to make way for a new model in 2025.

I’m not a fan of SUVs, but the missus likes being sat higher up, and I can’t deny that having a real world range of 230-250 miles will be easier to live with than a real world 80 miles.

Should only need charging once a week, which will be a time saving, and will make the longer trips we do (Devon and Brighton) more straightforward, as stops become optional, though I’d always stop once on journeys of that length. It’s very much a “last generation” car, being end of life, but the new entries coming out soon don’t seem to actually be here yet. Kia couldn’t show me an EV3, Skoda couldn’t show me an Elroq, Mini couldn’t show me an Aceman.

There’ll be a choice of new and second-hand of all of those by the time we get around to trading in the MG. Plus whatever’s replacing the ZS EV in the UK, there are rumours MG will have solid state batteries in their range in 2025.

Hope you can post updates after some use - good to share experiences.
Lots of the MG SUV's on the roads around our way.

 

[Greg Bobkin]

I've had my shiny new VW ID3 Pro S for just about 3 weeks now. Salary sacrifice made it affordable. So many nice little features - such as the easy configuration to not charge the battery over 80% unless explicitly requested, which will help preserve battery life long term. It was slightly cheaper to get a higher spec model (go figure!), so it's also got things like adaptive headlights. Those things are taking some getting used to - doesn't feel right turning on the high beams and just leaving them on, but the system works so well. Being able to retain the high beam on the left side verge while not blinding the oncoming traffic is a revelation. Similar story with the cruise control - it's the first car I've ever had that remembers the settings even after being switched off, so it's ready to go again on the next trip - and it can be setup to auto detect speed limit changes (which it's pretty good at).

Not done any long trips yet to be able to see what the range numbers look like properly (next trip to the office next week), and it's getting colder already so I won't get peak summer numbers, but even an 80% charge is giving range numbers higher than anything the Zoe gave even in optimum conditions (unsurprising, it's a 50% bigger battery), so we might now be leaving the Prius at home even when we go on our Norfolk / Cornwall trips.

Few small annoyances with it: 1) Android Auto refuses to not play music. Even manually switching back to radio, AA kicks in 30s later despite all the settings on the phone saying not to auto-start music. I've had to disable AA on my phone, as for some unknown reason I've always preferred the radio when driving. 2) It doesn't remember the performance settings between trips, so having to put it back in Eco mode on start up every. single. time. 3) Same with D / B choice for driving. Zoe defaulted to B, ID3 defaults to D. I'm so used to single-pedal driving in B mode now, I'd like to be able to default it to B.

Better residual values, probably.

I feel your pain with the Android Auto setup. I've been running an ID.7 for a while and sometimes AA doesn't connect (even though the phone is connected) and other times it does connect when I don't want it to. Same as you, switch back to the radio and tries to re-connect – quite irritating, but I'm not sure. Your #2 issue sounds a bit odd – might need a software upgrade or something (I'd pay a visit to the dealer). As for #3, I think that's pretty common and you have to select a gear to start anyway, so I guess it's just one extra tap on the lever.

 

[Greg Bobkin]

Here in the chickens household the wife has had her way. Our trusty Nissan Leaf will be leaving us at the end of the month, and being replaced by an MG ZS EV. There’s very good deals on them atm, as they’re being cleared out to make way for a new model in 2025.

I’m not a fan of SUVs, but the missus likes being sat higher up, and I can’t deny that having a real world range of 230-250 miles will be easier to live with than a real world 80 miles.

Should only need charging once a week, which will be a time saving, and will make the longer trips we do (Devon and Brighton) more straightforward, as stops become optional, though I’d always stop once on journeys of that length. It’s very much a “last generation” car, being end of life, but the new entries coming out soon don’t seem to actually be here yet. Kia couldn’t show me an EV3, Skoda couldn’t show me an Elroq, Mini couldn’t show me an Aceman.

There’ll be a choice of new and second-hand of all of those by the time we get around to trading in the MG. Plus whatever’s replacing the ZS EV in the UK, there are rumours MG will have solid state batteries in their range in 2025.

These are a good car! Can't go wrong with many of the MGs. Like you say, plenty of opportunity to get one of the others (and many MANY more to choose from) next time around...

 

[Audax]

Better residual values, probably.

I feel your pain with the Android Auto setup. I've been running an ID.7 for a while and sometimes AA doesn't connect (even though the phone is connected) and other times it does connect when I don't want it to. Same as you, switch back to the radio and tries to re-connect – quite irritating, but I'm not sure. Your #2 issue sounds a bit odd – might need a software upgrade or something (I'd pay a visit to the dealer). As for #3, I think that's pretty common and you have to select a gear to start anyway, so I guess it's just one extra tap on the lever.

#2 is an odd one (and I will feedback when it goes in for first service, unless an OTA update fixes it before then). If you're quick, on switch on you can see it has remembered it was in Eco on the last drive then flicks to Comfort after a second or two. I did do a Google and can see others mentioning it as an issue with the new models. Suspect it's a software bug that'll get sorted out eventually.

 

[Bob!]

So, my 'old' ICE car has it's MOT on Monday, if it doesn't get through I'll be considering a new EV.
My favourite is an MG4 extended range as I want to do Essex to Sussex and back for football and family without having to top up.
I'm thinking maybe a 3 or 4 year lease , and then buying after that assuming that either/or prices come down or range goes up.
Basic question.
How does leasing work?
Is it upfront cost plus monthly cost, then give it back with no compensation at the end of lease?