EV general discussion

I've just ordered a Polestar 2 - arriving in January. Gives me some time to get a home charger installed.

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The Polestar does look superb. Bit out of budget for me though. Set myself a hard limit on PCP monthly cost. Don't really have the need for much more than a hatchback anyway :)
 
very nice - in that colour presumably



interesting ideas on the california specific (vs federal) subsidies -
As of December 3, 2019, single-filers who make more than $150,000 and joint-filers who make $300,000 annually cannot receive an electric vehicle rebate in California. Also, plug-in hybrids with electric ranges of less than 35 miles and electric or plug-in vehicles with a base price of $60,000 or higher are not eligible for the rebate, no matter what the income of the filer is.

Rebates are still available, although they're $500 lower than before. Plug-in hybrids get $1000, battery-electric cars can get a $2000 rebate, and hydrogen fuel-cell cars are eligible for $4500.

Roadway Discounts
If you drive an entirely battery-electric car, you might qualify for a Special Access Account that's valid for the 91 Express Lanes
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salary limit, and like hova lanes, some priority on the roads,
so, redesignate the hard shoulders here, or bus lanes ?, but, you can undertake there.

id4 vs id3, enyaq -
 
Journey said:
:D Lovely

Which charger you buying?
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Not sure which charger - I had quick Google and they all seem to do the same thing. Is there any advantage of going with a specific one?
Bravetart said:
The Polestar does look superb. Bit out of budget for me though. Set myself a hard limit on PCP monthly cost. Don't really have the need for much more than a hatchback anyway :)
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The Polestar 2 is a hatch back :)

jpaul said:
very nice - in that colour presumably
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That colour but not those wheels. They are part of a £5k Performance Pack which adds:
  • Brembo Brakes
  • Ohlins manually adjustable dampers
  • 20” Y wheels
  • Gold seat belts and valve caps
Seems a bit pointless on car which weighs 2.1 tonnes :p

There aren’t many options to select on the car; I just went with the colour and 20” V wheels
 
SDK^ said:
Not sure which charger - I had quick Google and they all seem to do the same thing. Is there any advantage of going with a specific one?
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Yes, different chargers offer different features, and apps. Some will allow much better and more granular control of your car charging, integrating with your electricity providers tariff's, and allowing you to minimise charging costs, and/or grid load. Others allow you to use your solar PV to direct charge to the car, or if you have a home battery storage unit direct power from that at a suitable time etc.

I have an Ohme charger which has great application support, and allows good integration with your electricity provider, meaning my car will only charge when it is set to, as I am on a multi-rate/variable rate tariff this works really well.

You also need to consider tethered vs. un-tethered, having a tethered unit means you can always have a cable in your car for using Type-2 chargers, which might not sound important but it certainly gets more use for me than the one at home stuck to the wall. Loads of places like Tesco/Lidl/retail parks and more have Pod Point charging posts which are generally free to use, but you need that type-2 cable to charge when at those places.

Other things to also consider are looks (if you care), and the size of the unit etc. for where it will be fitted. Mine can't be seen, so neither of these things mattered to me.
 
To play devils advocate I'd say that other than the solar aspect, they are all very similar. Mine is as dumb as they come but I can still use a third party app to link it my variable rate tariff.

I've got untethered too but the cable is stored in the car so that's a non issue. I'd have get tethered if I had a garage, but would still consider untethered if I just had a driveway since the cable enlarges the size of the unit.

From a financial perspective you'd have to charge a LOT to make the extra £100-300 pay itself back through energy savings.
 
The charger will be fitted to the side outside wall of my garage, which is the same wall as the fuse box. I guess going for tethered means you don’t have to remember to put the cable back in the car.
 
SDK^ said:
The charger will be fitted to the side outside wall of my garage, which is the same wall as the fuse box. I guess going for tethered means you don’t have to remember to put the cable back in the car.
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Yeah, this is the point I was making, if you happened to lose/break/forget the type-2 cable you are stuffed, unless you have EVSE.
 
I’d definitely recommend tethered. It’s way quicker and easier than having to get a cable out of the car every time you charge at home. I have a podpoint and the cable just wraps around the charger so you can’t see it when you’re not using it.
 
SDK^ said:
  • Brembo Brakes
  • Ohlins manually adjustable dampers
  • 20” Y wheels
  • Gold seat belts and valve caps
Seems a bit pointless on car which weighs 2.1 tonnes
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having to manually adjust the dampers so they work on the uk roads with 20" rubber-band tyres, does seem a bit convoluted .. my, similar aversion, is bmw M suspension.
(suppose manual adjustment, at least removes later ownership liability of the electric ones)

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jimcol...-in-sweden-and-norway-in-august/#76c151145899
A look at a stock chart might tell an investor that Tesla TSLA +2.8% was dominating the global auto market, or even the global market for electric vehicles. Nothing could be further from the truth. Tesla’s flagship Model 3 was outsold by Volvo-owned Polestar’s Polestar 2 battery-electric model in several key markets in August. The numbers I have—from Norway’s OFV and Sweden’s BIL—show the Polestar 2 with 504 units sold in Norway in August versus the 264 Model 3s Tesla delivered there. The Polestar 2 also outsold the Model 3 in Norway's neighbor Sweden in August, with 284 deliveries versus the Model 3’s 235.
..
I see no indication in my analysis of the registration figures—which are reported daily in some European countries—that availability has been an issue with Tesla's European sales as the Summer has progressed. Teslas sold in Europe are currently made at its Fremont, CA factory. I think buyers looking for CO2-emissions-free vehicles just have other options. That makes Tesla’s decision to build a new plant in Brandenburg, Germany a very questionable one. That facility, currently under construction, is being built to serve a market in which Tesla is losing to its competition. In my opinion it is an unwise use of capital.
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That’s just a nonsense article though isn’t it?

Comparing sales of a brand new car just launched with pre-orders and pent up demand and its supply targeted into a few (tiny but) key markets for EVs against one that’s been out for a year+ and is seeing more natural demand/sales and somehow concluding that’s a trend? Bizarre.

They describe Tesla’s July deliveries as ‘brutal’ but then acknowledge they deliver the cars all in one go as they come off the boat and September is the key month. What that likely means is that they didn’t actually have many cars to sell in Europe but that’s conveniently missing from the article.

No doubt when the ID3 finally delivers they’ll say how much they are ‘wrecking Tesla’ because they have had thousands of them sat in a car park for half a year and delivered them all in one go. :rolleyes:
 
Also Polestar will always sell well in scandi markets as its basically volvo as we know

Personally I prefer the polestar, I am seriously considering one for next car, I was going TTRS but I think now I may just scrub that itch for one last fast petrol and embrace the future

Polestar vs tesla, you will get better build quality with polestar, thats 100% certain
 
Mercenary Keyboard Warrior said:
Also Polestar will always sell well in scandi markets as its basically volvo as we know

Personally I prefer the polestar, I am seriously considering one for next car, I was going TTRS but I think now I may just scrub that itch for one last fast petrol and embrace the future

Polestar vs tesla, you will get better build quality with polestar, thats 100% certain
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For me the only advantage Tesla has over the Polestar is the Supercharge Network. Outside of home and work I’m rarely going to need to charge it whilst on route to somewhere so not having access to those is a non issue.
 
SDK^ said:
For me the only advantage Tesla has over the Polestar is the Supercharge Network. Outside of home and work I’m rarely going to need to charge it whilst on route to somewhere so not having access to those is a non issue.
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Agree for people doing mega miles the tesla network is unbelievable compared to the **** poor offering the rest get right now
It will change of course, simple logic tells you it will, there will be far more chargers. There is basically nothing (bar not overloading their incoming network) to stop any business or even house setting up a charge point and selling that capacity.
I fully expect supermarkets to move to a free vend if you spend £x every so often etc. Its no different to the 5p off a litre etc.
 
Oh I agree there, the polestar certainly will be a better built car. It’s a pretty tough one, on the one side you have the supercharger and the tech, the other side you have a better build, interior and hatch.
 
Mercenary Keyboard Warrior said:
as its basically volvo as we know
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They are on the high street in the UK too, and if I wanted a test drive or, post-purchase, access to the dealer, I'd be considering that in my purchase decision;
maybe I'm just outdated with respect to current, virtual, sales/post-sales processes.
The efficiency of a garage network for car support is compelling, albeit I rarely use the main delaer (BMW)
I suppose Tesla have had to make workshop manuals availible for 3rd part support (haynes?)

I couldn't find statistics for potential manufacturing capability for polestar versus tesla(500k total) vehicles;
since they are from China, I wonder if that will impact usa penetration,
like customer volvo familiarity in eu, tesla must have grown a similar patriotic bent, maybe the Mustang Mach will become more its competitor in NA, for compact premium segment.
 
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