EV general discussion

OspreyO · Tuesday at 15:44

turbot1984 said:
But the charging issue is only part of the story.... EV's are such a numb detatched driving experience, and the i4 is one of the best of that bunch. Based on a coupe, low slung, rear wheel drive .... but lugging 650kg of battery around, a Caterham with two people in it.

There are nice driving EV and there are terrible driving ICE cars.

Weight is only part of it. People buy SUVs then want a battery they can drive to the Alps without charging then complain it's heavy.

You drive a sports car with a small tank your not going to have good range. Likewise loading up a estate full of gear and full massive tank of diesel. Your track times are going to suffer.

How about a small EV or ICE with a small battery or tank because you're not driving to Scotland every other day. If you are buy a diesel.

OspreyO · Tuesday at 15:50

lordrobs said:
So it's not all about whether you have the ability to charge at home then, like you mentioned and their comment about still not wanting to run an EV even if they did have the ability to charge at home is still valid?

Well I would say home charging is large part of the positives. It's a very narrow use case were it's viable without it. That's because of fueling costs and depreciation driven by vested interests. VHS vs BetaMax. Being better isn't always the full story.

Absolutely. Lots of use cases where not having to public charge is more important than other considerations. Simply not wanting to is also valid.

Someone might run a unreliable classic as a daily. Because they want to. Sometimes it's about the heart not the head.

ICDP · Tuesday at 15:52

turbot1984 said:
But the charging issue is only part of the story.... EV's are such a numb detatched driving experience, and the i4 is one of the best of that bunch. Based on a coupe, low slung, rear wheel drive .... but lugging 650kg of battery around, a Caterham with two people in it.

Utterly irrelevant to your premise. This is about any honest EV owner telling someone planning to get an EV with no home charging that it would be a bad idea.

The fact you did it and concluded EVs suck is a you thing, not an EV thing.

Also the premise that EVs are numbing to drive is also subjective, because…

A) You haven’t driven them all and

B) I hate to break it to you, an i4 “ain’t all that” and is well known for its lack of driving feedback. It was the same in ICE form (I had one). It is decent but absolutely nothing special.

OspreyO · Tuesday at 15:55

ICDP said:
Utterly irrelevant to your premise. This is about any honest EV owner telling someone planning to get an EV with no home charging that it would be a bad idea.

The fact you did it and concluded EVs suck is a you thing, not an EV thing.

Also the premise that EVs are numbing to drive is also subjective, because…

A) You haven’t driven them all and

B) I hate to break it to you, an i4 “ain’t all that” and is well known for its lack of driving feedback. It was the same in ICE form (I had one). It is decent but absolutely nothing special.

My mate had a EV and sold it. He drives a lot of nearly classic cars, 80s and 90s hero cars. He said he could have made the EV work but he didn't want to. Fair enough says I.

ICDP · Tuesday at 16:00

OspreyO said:
My mate had a EV and sold it. He drives a lot of nearly classic cars, 80s and 90s hero cars. He said he could have made the EV work but he didn't want to. Fair enough says I.

That’s my point.

Your friend obviously knew he could make it work, but chose not too. That is a different premise to setting up your EV ownership experience for failure, then claiming EVs are a failure. Then calling out EV owners for daring to point out the ******* obvious.

OspreyO · Tuesday at 16:44

ICDP said:
That’s my point.

Your friend obviously knew he could make it work, but chose not too. That is a different premise to setting up your EV ownership experience for failure, then claiming EVs are a failure. Then calling out EV owners for daring to point out the ******* obvious.

Oh I agree. I'm curious why you'd buy a EV without a home charger though. That just doesn't compute for me.

Penfold101 · Tuesday at 17:08

turbot1984 said:
EV's are such a numb detatched driving experience

In your opinion about your EV.

VincentHanna · Tuesday at 17:09

Yeah I don't know where this thing about the BMW i4 being the best driving EV comes from. It's really not particularly special.

OspreyO · Tuesday at 17:25

Everyone loves their new (to them) car....

Quartz · Tuesday at 17:47

HOw are people finding their EVs coping with this cold snap?

OspreyO · Tuesday at 17:52

Quartz said:
HOw are people finding their EVs coping with this cold snap?

Heater is faster and better than any ICE I've owned.

Tinders · Tuesday at 17:57

Quartz said:
HOw are people finding their EVs coping with this cold snap?

Efficiency is poor, and it’s been a bit tail happy at times, but not let me down yet and it’s nice being warm and toasty quickly . Locally it’s been 2.3m/kw and on the motorway it crept up to 2.7. I have everything on , seats, heater, steering wheel and massage seat.

I’m glad the rear tyres were changed before Xmas, switched from conti eco to Pirelli cinturato. Handling doesn’t feel as good. But they do quickly grip on the whitestuff

gailjon · Tuesday at 18:49

OspreyO said:
He said he could have made the EV work but he didn't want to. Fair enough says I.

Just as long as he doesn't sit outside my children's school with his crappy ice car filling the air with pollutants I suppose...

Malt_Vinegar · Tuesday at 19:07

OspreyO said:
Heater is faster and better than any ICE I've owned.

This is actually so underrated, i love preheat and rapid warming

Diddums · Tuesday at 19:27

Malt_Vinegar said:
This is actually so underrated, i love preheat and rapid warming

Ye but what about a heated windscreen tho

Rroff · Tuesday at 19:35

OspreyO said:
Heater is faster and better than any ICE I've owned.

While some of the newer heat pump type techs are pretty powerful you can get ICEs with similar additional PTC heaters to EVs which will warm up the car far faster and better than waiting on the engine, even on petrol. Diesel without PTC is pretty miserable as it can take 5 minutes of driving or 20+ minutes of idling before you get proper heat coming through.

OspreyO · Tuesday at 19:42

Rroff said:
While some of the newer heat pump type techs are pretty powerful you can get ICEs with similar additional PTC heaters to EVs which will warm up the car far faster and better than waiting on the engine, even on petrol. Diesel without PTC is pretty miserable as it can take 5 minutes of driving or 20+ minutes of idling before you get proper heat coming through.

Which ones and I'll see have I owned any.

Journey · Tuesday at 19:43

Quartz said:
HOw are people finding their EVs coping with this cold snap?

Coping might be the incorrect word choice there. After 6 years I am coping still without having to scrape a windscreen, or de-ice anything on the vehicle, never get into a cold vehicle, or if stuck in traffic not adding mechanical hours to an idling engine to stay warm etc. etc.

Rroff · Tuesday at 19:50

OspreyO said:
Which ones and I'll see have I owned any.

Not easy to suggest as it depends on model, trim level and year, you'd know if you had as it makes a huge difference to waiting for the engine to start producing warm air.

Diddums · Tuesday at 19:56

When I was an apprentice in the construction game in Holland, all the posh builders had preheaters in their vans. Some were VW T5s, that's how far back we're talking. I'm not sure but I think they were dealer options, fitted by the dealers themselves. I was always jelly as my little Caddy SDI took about 18 months to warm up.