When are you going fully electric?

Soldato
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Is it? its West Midlands preferred site but they havent got an investor yet and the Govt havent backed it yet, it was absent from the last budget and will take 5 years to build

https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/technology-news/coventry-gigafactory-plans-revealed

https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/theres-race-against-time-coventry-19973875

Even on the last visit by Kwarteng a few weeks ago, he wouldnt commit to the site and just said its one they are looking at.

https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/n...ss-secretary-says-having-gigafactory-20452372

unless you have some more up to date info?

As Jpaul said, our govt is ignoring this potential disaster to the UK car industry in favour of cheap meat from Australia and we should already be on building gigafactories just like they are doing already all over the EU.

As far as I know they don't have an investor yet you're right, progress is disappointingly slow.
 
Soldato
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Got to admit, I really like the look of the new Ioniq 5. Finally a car that looks futuristic, but not stupid.
I initially did from the front but I don't like all the clumps of cheap looking plastic. For me, also a bit too much electric powered tech (like rear seats if I remember correctly) that at some point will go wrong, probably out of warranty. Silver would be the only colour I'd go for as all the grey plastic blends in better.
 
Soldato
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Oh hai guys, long time no see only came on to the shop to get some bits, thought I'd have a browse here, login still works then..
Yea... just gone electric myself, picking it up from Cribbs Causeway on 19th June. Currently I'm tracking it doing 17knots just passing between SriLanka and the Maldives. Once the bucket of rust that is the carrier ship Hyperion Ray gets to Southampton, things should move a little quicker.
It's a Model 3 performance.
Will be trickle charging mine until I get a zappi sorted I think, house needs a bit of electrical work prior to that though as it hasn't changed since it was built in 1971
So what have you all got now?
 
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Soldato
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Oh hai guys, long time no see only came on to the shop to get some bits, thought I'd have a browse here, login still works then..
Yea... just gone electric myself, picking it up from Cribbs Causeway on 19th June. Currently I'm tracking it doing 17knots just passing between SriLanka and the Maldives. Once the bucket of rust that is the carrier ship Hyperion Ray gets to Southampton, things should move a little quicker.
It's a Model 3 performance.
Will be trickle charging mine until I get a zappi sorted I think, house needs a bit of electrical work prior to that though as it hasn't changed since it was built in 1971
So what have you all got now?
Nice, let us know how you get on.
 
Man of Honour
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Drove the electric Mini for a few hours last week - my first go in a proper full EV.

I really liked it - it was fun to drive, quick and quiet and smooth in traffic. But what I really liked the most is that it felt identical to the Mini we turned up in, only electric instead of petrol. No massive touchscreen, no wacky space age design - just a Mini, that's electric. I appreciate that this approach of simply electrifying a conventional car has downsides - such as the smaller battery and the fairly poor range (it was showing about 100 miles on a full charge) - but for a second car it was almost perfect. I really enjoyed driving it and I'd have one tomorrow if I needed to replace the current Mini. As it stands, we don't, but when we do I can't imagine why it won't be one of these.

The range thing is a problem - my fiancée drives back home to see her Mum for the weekend about once every month or two. It's just under 200 miles each way which the Mini won't do without a charge and the availability of working and quick chargers is sufficiently poor to make this an issue. Personally I don't see why we'd be bothered about this when our other car is a 530d, but there you go. If it was down to me I'd have no issue.

I think this is where the future of EV is for many - an EV car for local running around and a conventional car for those big journeys. It matters not to me that I can't do 500 miles to the airport and back in my EV if I've also got a 5 Series parked next it which can do that.

As a fan of refined automatic cars the Mini EV lived up to my expectations of what it would be.
 
Soldato
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. But what I really liked the most is that it felt identical to the Mini we turned up in, only electric instead of petrol. No massive touchscreen, no wacky space age design - just a Mini, that's electric.

That's what I want from an EV :)

My friend took me out in his model 3 a couple of weeks back, impressive performance but left me feeling I was in a PS5.
 

mjt

mjt

Soldato
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The i3 has the same running gear as the electric mini. It has iDrive like every other BMW. It has climate control buttons like every other BMW. It has cruise control buttons like every other BMW. Just because a car is electric, it doesn’t mean it needs to be the Starship Enterprise when it comes to controls.
 
Soldato
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Just because a car is electric, it doesn’t mean it needs to be the Starship Enterprise when it comes to controls.

Totally agree, but it is good to see manufacturers starting to examine a change in how things are done, rather than just stagnation, it will be good to see what sticks (improvements) and what is dumped and how long that takes.

One thing I think a lot of folk forget is that some people moving from ICE to a BEV, it will be their first ever automatic car, not to mention the move to one-pedal driving (if you opt to use it) and all the other conveniences a great deal of BEV's come with as standard, LKA, ACC etc. The ergonomics and usability of controls changes due to these differences and adapting to them takes some time, or some can't cope at all, or refuse to try.
 
Man of Honour
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One thing I think a lot of folk forget is that some people moving from ICE to a BEV, it will be their first ever automatic car, not to mention the move to one-pedal driving (if you opt to use it) and all the other conveniences a great deal of BEV's come with as standard, LKA, ACC etc. The ergonomics and usability of controls changes due to these differences and adapting to them takes some time, or some can't cope at all, or refuse to try.

Other than the one-pedal thing everything you mention there is a 'not cheap car' thing not an 'EV thing'. The majority of ICE cars I've driven over the last two years have had all of those features. Cars such as the BMW 5 Series for example are not available with anything but an automatic transmission anymore..
 
Soldato
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Cars such as the BMW 5 Series for example are not available with anything but an automatic transmission anymore..

And? What has that got to do with a Mini, or a Peugeot 208, or a Renault Zoe/Clio drivers, none of who are the target market for a 5 series?

Other than the one-pedal thing everything you mention there is a 'not cheap car' thing not an 'EV thing'.

That makes no sense, what is not a cheap car thing? Totally baffled by that sentence tbh, doesn't seem to work.
 
Man of Honour
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That makes no sense, what is not a cheap car thing? Totally baffled by that sentence tbh, doesn't seem to work.

You're trying to imply EV's are great because they have Lane Assist etc, as if this is benefit of an EV. It isn't - it's a benefit of not buying a base model Dacia. Most reasonably expensive cars have this functionality, regardless of the method of power.

Spec a Clio up to the price of a Zoe (is that even possible?) and it too will have lane keeping assist and an automatic gearbox..
 
Soldato
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You're trying to imply EV's are great because they have Lane Assist etc, as if this is benefit of an EV. It isn't - it's a benefit of not buying a base model Dacia. Most reasonably expensive cars have this functionality, regardless of the method of power.

No I'm not, if you actually bothered to read what I said - "and all the other conveniences a great deal of BEV's come with as standard" this is a result of BEV's being better specified from the factory to help support the higher initial purchase price.

Spec a Clio up to the price of a Zoe (is that even possible?) and it too will have lane keeping assist and an automatic gearbox..

Spec up the TCO, since that is the only fair way to do it, right? Why would you spec up a car and forget all the associated costs, 6 years running a car as an example, there is little to no difference, we went thought this like 100 pages back or something so you can dig it up. You seem to think like a lot of people I know, who don't do this, then say EV's are too expensive.
 
Man of Honour
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I don't even know how true your claim is - I can't recall any new car I've driven in the last couple of years not having most of these features.

There are many reasons to be pro electric cars, because some of them have lane keeping assist as standard is quite an odd one to pick.
 
Soldato
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There are many reasons to be pro electric cars, because some of them have lane keeping assist as standard is quite an odd one to pick.

What? Why are you try to spin this in to something? It was added as an additional benefit they may not have had before, with the primary things being, zero gears, and one-pedal driving as the highlights..
 
Man of Honour
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It was added as an additional benefit they may not have had before

What about the 2 extra doors most of them have? That could be an additional benefit too over their ICE car if it only had 3 doors before!

My point, which I am amazed you continue to miss, is that these are not benefits of EV. They are benefits of modern cars. Yes, if you drive a 1999 3 door Ford Fiesta with windup windows then moving to an EV could change your world because EV's have electric windows *and* remote locking, but most buyers of £30,000+ cars are not driving around in a base specification Fiesta with no kit so it's somewhat unlikely that these features will be that new to them and they likely already have many of them.

The benefits of moving to an EV are things like zero emissions operation, quiet and refined drive in town, great performance, flexibility and convenience of home charging, etc. Not the fact they too come with features most cars have these days. The VW Golf has had ACC standard across the range (Bar the base S model) for 8 years now?

The only reason these features appear to you to be an EV thing is because generally if a range has an EV, it will only be available at the top of that range and will therefore be equipped as you'd expect. The similar trim petrol model will likely have much the same spec.
 
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Soldato
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it's somewhat unlikely that the

See I can quote just a tiny fraction of your post...

What is unlikely?

Typical response - Something something, 5 series, and the I don't like, something, can't actually converse, blah, blah, blah, you have to take notice of me I drive a 5 series, and can't respond to queries or answer anything that was asked but can ignore it causer I drive a 5 series, and I've had an auto box since I was 12, and BEV's yes, no but because BMW, £30k+, LKA, what, that makes no sense....

Basically don't bother replying since you are just a troll.
 
Man of Honour
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Just to check I've had a look at the 208.

Lane Keeping Assist is standard across the entire range irrespective of power type. Active Cruise is not - not even on the EV model. You need the higher trim level to get it, which, guess what, offers a choice of EV or ICE.

Only one model - the GT Premium - has ACC as standard.

Incidentally although the Mini I drove did have ACC - it isn't standard either. You have to pay extra on it. Just like you do on the petrol Mini.

Basically don't bother replying since you are just a troll.

You're the one trying to get personal in a discussion about cars on the internet, not me. You are the one going off on some rant about how I can't converse, not me...
 
Soldato
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You're the one trying to get personal in a discussion about cars on the internet, not me. You are the one going off on some rant about how I can't converse, not me...

Nope you are the one who literally took a post I wrote quoted it and tried to ignore the MAIN points, and the use the secondary ones as if that was the MAIN thing I was referencing when it wasn't. You tried to push it further and further away from the MAIN points by obsessing over a something that was an extra, not the MAIN point and you can't stop yourself doing it, and then try and spin it to make it look like something it wasn't.

I'm done here anyhow, not wasting more time replying to someone who can't hold and honest conversation and just wants to derail it in to another 5-seires BMW debate.
 
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