EV general discussion

casper_uk said:
I think MG use LFP for the base model and NMC for the higher version models. I imagine there might be two manuals as I believe you treat the battery different depending on if it's NMC or LFP? Might be why the forum has a differing opinion.
Click to expand...
And my 120 D cell NiMh also requires cell balancing… people go too far down with LFP rules the world with BMS thanks to its janky voltage curve.

The forum has differing opinions and frankly that’s all they are. Opinions
 
bigmike20vt said:
I see GBeebies is banging on again about how EVs can have worse emissions than diesel cars. with a huge headline.
however on reading
it would appear it's a study just about brake particulate matter in general and isn't primarily about evs..... but there was just a throw away comment that EVs could be worse due to weight.

But the reality is the opposite as with regen most EVs rarely use the brakes....... who here who owns an EV have had to replace their brake pads through wear and tear (as opposed to being replaced due to age despite not being worn out)?

I have had to put new brake pads on all my past cars.....all accept my ipace (admittedly I have only had the ipace for 2 years but I am not expecting to need to any time soon) I would not be surprised if it's still on the factory pads even after nearly 54000 miles.

it is a dishonest take on the whole research but so many people will just see the headline and believe it.
Click to expand...

We've gone EV now too, but I do wonder about whether the low brake use is good or not. My experience in ICE cars is it tends to cause some issues once you need to touch them

My previous car was an Astra which I owned for ~14 years from new. I'm pretty easy going on the brakes and it didn't even have new front pads till it was 12 years old (~70k miles), at which point both front calipers seized because they weren't too keen on being pushed back in after so long. I wonder how many EVs will end up needing pads/discs/calipers as a whole job once it gets done? I might just have had bad luck though, and I suppose if you can avoid ever touching them at all you might be fine though!
 
Last edited:
DarkBahamut said:
We've gone EV now too, but I do wonder about wether the low brake use is good or not. My experience in ICE cars is it tends to cause some issues once you need to touch them

My previous car was an Astra which I owned for ~14 years from new. I'm pretty easy going on the brakes and it didn't even have new front pads till it was 12 years old (~70k miles), at which point both front calipers seized because they weren't too keen on being pushed back in after so long. I wonder how many EVs will end up needing pads/discs/calipers as a whole job once it gets done? I might just have had bad luck though, and I suppose if you can avoid ever touching them at all you might be fine though!
Click to expand...

Something I struggle to get a good balance with as I seem to use my brakes way less than average due to adjusting my speed proactively and it isn't actually a good thing when it comes to brake components. Noticed it the other day when a car in front of me (not sure if regen related) was braking regularly - over 20 times in 11 miles, while I used mine 3 times - when we had no choice but to stop at traffic lights.

For example they were going into a new speed limit and then hitting the brakes hard, whereas I was bleeding off speed so as to go over the line at the new limit.
 
Last edited:
Rroff said:
Something I struggle to get a good balance with as I seem to use my brakes way less than average due to adjusting my speed proactively and it isn't actually a good thing when it comes to brake components. Noticed it the other day when a car in front of me (not sure if regen related) was braking regularly - over 20 times in 11 miles, while I used mine 3 times - when we had no choice but to stop at traffic lights.

For example they were going into a new speed limit and then hitting the brakes hard, whereas I was bleeding off speed so as to go over the line at the new limit.
Click to expand...

That same Astra also had it's rear pad replaced at 7 years old because they started binding (and squeeling at speed). The pads had rusted in the carriers causing a ridge that stopped the pads releasing from the discs fully. In the case new pads solved the issue and the calipers were ok. The pads were probably only 25% used at most though. It does seem that low use of exposed components isn't always good! The EV has rear drums so at least that problem won't happen :p

I find in the EV I get a lot "braking" when the car is maintaining speed or distance, but it's all regen. I'm not sure if it's enough to actually trigger the brake lights in all instances, but it probably does a lot more than when I drove ICE. That said, because the EV coasts so much better then the ICE, just letting off to maintain flow is almost impossible in any sort of traffic without needing to regen a bit here and there.
 
SexyGreyFox said:
but chanjy says 'no' :)

The wife took it out at dinnertime to get 11% off it, I followed her on the tracking and she went all over the place with heating full on, electric heated seat full on, electric heated steering wheel and the window open because it was too hot in the car just to get the percentage down :)
What a waste of Kw.
Click to expand...

Your second sentence kinda proves my point... I'm saying why would anybody go to the effort of going out on a drive jto get 11% off the SoC just so they can follow a manufacturer recommendation to the letter :cry:

The pack is going to outlast you anyway
 
chanjy said:
Your second sentence kinda proves my point... I'm saying why would anybody go to the effort of going out on a drive jto get 11% off the SoC just so they can follow a manufacturer recommendation to the letter :cry:

The pack is going to outlast you anyway
Click to expand...
Indeed 100 miles a week I wouldn’t be wasting energy (or time) doing things like this. Why not just let it run down on its own through normal use
 
Last edited:
Rroff said:
Noticed it the other day when a car in front of me (not sure if regen related) was braking regularly - over 20 times in 11 miles, while I used mine 3 times - when we had no choice but to stop at traffic lights.
Click to expand...

Maybe if it is badly driven with aggressive regen, or you know if could just be someone also slamming the brakes on at the last second. I mean if the car was in from of you for 11 miles you'll remember what it was make/model, so you'll be able to work out if it has regen or not?
 
in general I agree with go with the manual. but it isn't always the case.
for instance my BMW i3 says when not in use always plug the car in and keep at 100%. This advice did change with later revisions.

imo (and it is just an opinion but I would say a fairly informed one) is don't worry too much about it but every now and then give your car a full charge to 100% (but do it when you plan to use it)
having a car sitting around for long periods at 100% or close to 0% is not great.... but doing it for a short period is ok and the BMS and the part of the battery which isn't accessible will cover you for short stints.
but don't lose sleep over it and don't deliberately run the battery down as that is just a waste.
 
Last edited:
My I-Pace lease ends in a few months and as I do a lot less miles I am going to go for a smaller used EV with a £18k - £22k budget.

I checked out the MG4, 2023 with 21000 miles and boy was it not good. It felt no more than just OK inside and perfectly acceptable but at no level did it feel “nice”, just meh. I suppose that is exactly what its aim is. To be fair I can live with that but the steering wheel/pedal offset is a big red line for me. The ELK kicked in twice in streets with lots of cars parked either side as I was forced to weave over the road markings. Also the grip wasn’t great in the wet conditions and had a couple of small wheel spins off the line without really trying. I suspect the tyres were still original and reaching EOL but I didn’t check because it has already been ruled out for the offset steering wheel. The UI was terrible and slow.

I also checked out an EX30 and the lack of drivers display and everything controlled on the screen is a big red line also. It drives me very well, far better than the MG.4 and even the RWD version had plenty of performance. It’s also outside my budget by a few grand but the lack of drivers display makes it moot.

ID.3 2022 model with 18,000 miles. Very basic inside, MG4 felt better and that’s a low bar. It drives far better and was more comfortable than the MG4 though. UI and touch sensitive steering wheel controls are poor. The utter basic level of trim you get was also disappointing, not even a reverse camera. The big factor was I can get a 2022 model with some warranty remaining for less than my budget.

Going to test a Megane E-Tech to see how it fits in the list of potential candidates.

I’ve ruled out anything that won’t give 250 Sumer and 200 winter combined driving miles.
 
Last edited:
Journey said:
Maybe if it is badly driven with aggressive regen, or you know if could just be someone also slamming the brakes on at the last second. I mean if the car was in from of you for 11 miles you'll remember what it was make/model, so you'll be able to work out if it has regen or not?
Click to expand...

Wasn't really important to me at the time what make/model it was, though fairly sure it was a Toyota. It was just another instance of where people as a generalisation seem to use their brakes a lot more than I do - the regen comment was more aimed at the wider consideration of how much is due to regen vs people doing it intentionally.

Slightly in a different way to how Ashley Neal means it but I've increasingly tried to pay attention to adjusting my speed both up and down so as to not come into conflict with other drivers - far more often slotting into gaps in traffic rather than just waiting until I have to make a decision at the point we'd otherwise come together.
 
Last edited:
Rroff said:
Something I struggle to get a good balance with as I seem to use my brakes way less than average due to adjusting my speed proactively and it isn't actually a good thing when it comes to brake components. Noticed it the other day when a car in front of me (not sure if regen related) was braking regularly - over 20 times in 11 miles, while I used mine 3 times - when we had no choice but to stop at traffic lights.

For example they were going into a new speed limit and then hitting the brakes hard, whereas I was bleeding off speed so as to go over the line at the new limit.
Click to expand...

Some people drive erratically. Speeding up and braking constantly. It's got nothing to do with regen. You should have noticed it before now. They also drive right up to people and brake hard last minute. Just poor driving habits.
 
OspreyO said:
Some people drive erratically. Speeding up and braking constantly. It's got nothing to do with regen. You should have noticed it before now. They also drive right up to people and brake hard last minute. Just poor driving habits.
Click to expand...

Not something I've only just noticed, just one instance I happened to notice more so than normal recently.
 
ICDP said:
My I-Pace lease ends in a few months and as I do a lot less miles I am going to go for a smaller used EV with a £18k - £22k budget.

I checked out the MG4, 2023 with 21000 miles and boy was it not good. It felt no more than just OK inside and perfectly acceptable but at no level did it feel “nice”, just meh. I suppose that is exactly what its aim is. To be fair I can live with that but the steering wheel/pedal offset is a big red line for me. The ELK kicked in twice in streets with lots of cars parked either side as I was forced to weave over the road markings. Also the grip wasn’t great in the wet conditions and had a couple of small wheel spins off the line without really trying. I suspect the tyres were still original and reaching EOL but I didn’t check because it has already been ruled out for the offset steering wheel. The UI was terrible and slow.

I also checked out an EX30 and the lack of drivers display and everything controlled on the screen is a big red line also. It drives me very well, far better than the MG.4 and even the RWD version had plenty of performance. It’s also outside my budget by a few grand but the lack of drivers display makes it moot.

ID.3 2022 model with 18,000 miles. Very basic inside, MG4 felt better and that’s a low bar. It drives far better and was more comfortable than the MG4 though. UI and touch sensitive steering wheel controls are poor. The utter basic level of trim you get was also disappointing, not even a reverse camera. The big factor was I can get a 2022 model with some warranty remaining for less than my budget.

Going to test a Megane E-Tech to see how it fits in the list of potential candidates.

I’ve ruled out anything that won’t give 250 Sumer and 200 winter combined driving miles.
Click to expand...
Cupra Born? We have one

ID3 in a prettier dress so it might work if the interior was the main issue. Not gonna lie the infotainment and touch buttons are basically the same though

Megane has the same Renault issue of a really ridiculously deep boot to make their volume goals but not sure if you're bothered by that. The nicer bigger screen also was only a later addition I think

edit: can see ID4 and Audi Q4s are down to under 22k now, worth a think?
 
Last edited:
chanjy said:
Cupra Born? We have one

ID3 in a prettier dress so it might work if the interior was the main issue. Not gonna lie the infotainment and touch buttons are basically the same though

Megane has the same Renault issue of a really ridiculously deep boot to make their volume goals but not sure if you're bothered by that. The nicer bigger screen also was only a later addition I think

edit: can see ID4 and Audi Q4s are down to under 22k now, worth a think?
Click to expand...

Yes worth considering thanks. Here in N. Ireland we tend to have less choice, so used prices are a bit higher. I would consider approved used delivery as an option.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom