EV general discussion

GravyMonster · Friday at 15:42

Bringing this thread back from the usual word-salad nonsense derailments...

LiE said:
The brakes were the worst. Pre-owned on the i4 yea.

I picked up a well-specced i4 40 for the wife back in November, and she's loving it so far. Definitely recommended.

LiE · 2026-01-04T16:51:30+0000

Test drove the i4, we liked it. Much better than the Elroq.

Would need the Comfort Plus Package to get the electric adjustable seat with lumbar support / memory function. We have this on the Z4 and it's a must have for us.

A few examples of cars under 30k with comfort plus package.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202512168610578

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202510157158146

BMW i4 eDrive40 M Sport 5dr

usedcars.bmw.co.uk

The blue one has pretty much all the packages and is approve used.

The dark grey one has lovely red interior.

Kill_Phil · 2026-01-04T19:26:20+0000

@LiE have you been to test drive the polestar 2? Much more bang for your buck. Would be able to pick up a 24 plate for similar money

LiE · 2026-01-04T19:35:58+0000

I've decided to stick with my Audi A4 for the time being. The motivation to change isn't really there when the car I have is really good and fault free.

Diddums · 2026-01-04T19:38:14+0000

Do any of these cars have heated windscreens? We recently looked at a few new cars and none of them have heated screens anymore (Lexus, BMW, Mini). One of the salesmen said it was because the factory that made them was based in Ukraine and it got flattened in the war :confused:

Mr Jack · 2026-01-04T19:46:59+0000

Diddums said:
Do any of these cars have heated windscreens?

Just heat the car up before you get in and jobs a good 'un.

Penfold101 · 2026-01-04T19:53:59+0000

Diddums said:
Do any of these cars have heated windscreens? We recently looked at a few new cars and none of them have heated screens anymore (Lexus, BMW, Mini). One of the salesmen said it was because the factory that made them was based in Ukraine and it got flattened in the war

You don’t need them - most EV’s have preconditioning which melts the windows as its heats up.

Leave it long enough, and you can watch it clear snow!

You’ll absolutely cane the battery in doing so though…

Diddums · 2026-01-04T19:55:37+0000

Yeah good point, I didn't think of the preheating thing. Good shout, cheers.

Journey · 2026-01-04T19:56:27+0000

Penfold101 said:
Leave it long enough, and you can watch it clear snow!

Did that the other day, just because I was being super lazy and didn't want to get my hands cold.

Jonnycoupe · 2026-01-04T19:58:22+0000

Both mine do have heated screen. Game changer tbh as it’s just so fast aslong as you can live with the filaments.

JonRGV250 · 2026-01-04T19:59:52+0000

Diddums said:
Yeah good point, I didn't think of the preheating thing. Good shout, cheers.

As well as defrosting, your seat and steering wheel will be toasty (depending on car).

tamzzy · 2026-01-04T20:07:29+0000

honestly preconditioning is second best thing of owning an ev
(the best thing is the low running costs, ofc :cry:

)

Kenai · 2026-01-04T20:12:19+0000

Penfold101 said:
You don’t need them - most EV’s have preconditioning which melts the windows as its heats up.

Yours is probably getting a bit too hot if it's melting the windows

jpaul · 2026-01-04T20:12:47+0000

Heated windscreen's redundant with ev precon - the blower you can clear both screen and the pesky side windows, for a couple of kwh's

Journey · 2026-01-04T20:14:13+0000

jpaul said:
Heated windscreen's redundant with ev precon - the blower you can clear both screen and the pesky side windows, for a couple of kwh's

Something you'll never know, and lol couple kWh's you have no clue at all.

Penfold101 · 2026-01-04T20:17:43+0000

Kenai said:
Yours is probably getting a bit too hot if it's melting the windows

Can’t ice up if they’re a liquid!

Jonnycoupe · 2026-01-04T20:20:57+0000

jpaul said:
Heated windscreen's redundant with ev precon - the blower you can clear both screen and the pesky side windows, for a couple of kwh's

Not true at all. Plus you don’t always precon. And couple of kWh… that’s expensive use of energy - even if it was true.

Mr Jack · 2026-01-04T20:38:28+0000

Jonnycoupe said:
Not true at all. Plus you don’t always precon. And couple of kWh… that’s expensive use of energy - even if it was true.

The thing about preheat is that while it does use a lot of energy, most of that energy is getting used anyway if you drive for any length of time because you're going to want to warm the cabin anyway and, unlike ICE, there isn't much waste heat to warm the cabin with.

Jonnycoupe · 2026-01-04T20:43:24+0000

Yeah that’s fair but remember we aren’t talking in whole number of degrees of angles now we’ve gone down the Jpaul path. Proper acute tangents .

Which is why heating the glass internally to make a liquid layer of water for the wipers to push the rest of the material off is so much more effective that its done on the normal 12V circuit.

chanjy · 2026-01-04T21:20:18+0000

I love the heated windscreens, precondition works but it's much slower and more uneven. Wouldn't go out of my way to get a car with one, but do love them