EV general discussion
- Thread starter Ricochet J
- Start date
I'm looking forward to there being more choice in the electric estate market when I replace my Kona in Dec 2024. Coming from a Focus estate the boot on the Kona is hilarious so it'll be great to get some space back when the time comes. I can deal with it in the meantime, though.
Yep started converting my RX7 to 5.7L LS V8 in 2010 and by the time it was up and running with a few tweaks it had cost me £15K. That was also before shipping from the US became very expensive. I did a lot of the work myself though including installing the programmable ECU and tuning the engine to 90% with the last 10% being done on the dyno where it was safe to do. Even made my own inlet plenums from composite and other bits and pieces.
Swind Mini conversion kit almost looks affordable at ~£10K but no batteries are included.
https://swind.life/products/cmk/
I expect that was a bit a beast once it was finished. How much do you think you would have paid if someone else did all the work for you?
Even 10K for the conversion kit for a mini is a lot. Your probably looking at double to triple that for batteries, labor and any other restoration that needs doing. When you are spending that sort of money you are well into the territory of ‘what’s another few k for a full respray while the car is in bits’.
I tend to put electric car conversions in the same category as accident damaged (but repairable cars), in that it only makes financial sense if you do the labor yourself, it has some other sentimental value or a passion project.
Nearly everyone else is better off scrapping it and starting again.
Even 10K for the conversion kit for a mini is a lot. Your probably looking at double to triple that for batteries, labor and any other restoration that needs doing. When you are spending that sort of money you are well into the territory of ‘what’s another few k for a full respray while the car is in bits’.
I tend to put electric car conversions in the same category as accident damaged (but repairable cars), in that it only makes financial sense if you do the labor yourself, it has some other sentimental value or a passion project.
Nearly everyone else is better off scrapping it and starting again.
listened to mach-e report by ev man , who was saying it had 1/3 of space of id4 - stellantis full ev version of the new astra/306 estate is where my hopes are, to follow lead of MG ev5 estate.
he's quite critical of mach-e's handling, contradicting autogefeul on tesla Y comparative handling -
I do wonder if the tesla 3/Y compromise on stiff suspension is necessary to have a low clearance/non-suv vehicle that would not damage battery pack going over poor roads,
unless you have capability to change ride height.
His take on the Mach-e’s ride comes from the fact it’s branded ‘mustang’, mustang = sports car, so when you drive a mustang, you expect a sporty feel and the mach-e just doesn’t deliver.
He didn’t say it had a bad ride, he said it rode like any other SUV (soft feel and the corresponding body roll) and that combined with the numb steering feel meant they just aren’t sports cars and actually when pushing it, not very confident drive at all. That’s prettty much the opposite of a sports car.
If it was the Kuga EV I doubt he would have been bothered.
He didn’t say it had a bad ride, he said it rode like any other SUV (soft feel and the corresponding body roll) and that combined with the numb steering feel meant they just aren’t sports cars and actually when pushing it, not very confident drive at all. That’s prettty much the opposite of a sports car.
If it was the Kuga EV I doubt he would have been bothered.
Soldato
- Joined
- 19 Oct 2002
- Posts
- 17,691
- Location
- Shakespeare’s County
1/3 the space of a ID4? Put the glue down. Never seen that chap, with 50k subscribers and that format im not sure what value watching its adds anyway.
unless you are on about the Kona? Which is not a 'super efficient' EV. Its just a tiny one.
jpaul is like Socrates of this EV thread.
unless you are on about the Kona? Which is not a 'super efficient' EV. Its just a tiny one.
jpaul is like Socrates of this EV thread.
Could easily add another £10K for a garage to do the work as there's a lot of time spent working out the parts compatibility and wiring modifications. These days there are some good off the shelf ECU + wiring harnesses for LS conversions that simply didn't exist when I started mine.
Thread Title said:
"Sometime in March" would appear to be the answer to that question. Having had a PHEV (Passat GTE Advance) in the family for nearly a year, and having been dailying a PHEV (BMW X1 xDrive25e) since October, I've become accustomed to the ways of EV, and can do 90% of my current journeys on the 30~ miles or so a PHEV offers. I put down my deposit on a Model 3 Performance last week and am now waiting for information on delivery
Just setting expectations. Anyhow Tesla offer trade in if you don't plan to sell privately. I got 1k more than WBAC.
Yeah, Tesla's valuation was pretty much on the ball. My issue isn't so much one of where to sell, rather getting it back from BMW! They've had it since October.
Perhaps you could ask BMW just to buy it from you at the value you'll get elsewhere, and sort it out themselves. Seems ridiculous they can have your car going into 4 months.
£500 million loan guarantee supports Jaguar Land Rover’s electric vehicle plans 31 jan
(
Whether these electric Range Rover models will also use BMW-derived powertrains has yet to be confirmed.
JLR’s partnership with the German firm centres on shared development of new EV drive systems, but BMW already offers a variety of rear- and all-wheel-drive electric cars, including the new iX, which is available with three different twin-motor set-ups. The top-rung M60 car’s 611bhp, 811lb ft arrangement would endow the Range Rover Sport EV with performance on a par with – if not superior to – the forthcoming V8-powered SVR.
)
E: alliance was setup in 2019 to give jlr critical mass - but for brexit, would we have had a bigger bmw investment/factory in the uk.
(
Whether these electric Range Rover models will also use BMW-derived powertrains has yet to be confirmed.
JLR’s partnership with the German firm centres on shared development of new EV drive systems, but BMW already offers a variety of rear- and all-wheel-drive electric cars, including the new iX, which is available with three different twin-motor set-ups. The top-rung M60 car’s 611bhp, 811lb ft arrangement would endow the Range Rover Sport EV with performance on a par with – if not superior to – the forthcoming V8-powered SVR.
)
E: alliance was setup in 2019 to give jlr critical mass - but for brexit, would we have had a bigger bmw investment/factory in the uk.
Last edited:
Soldato
- Joined
- 19 Oct 2002
- Posts
- 17,691
- Location
- Shakespeare’s County
Next I’ll get told off for reciting pole impact stuff and tunnels on EVs from the internet if I comment any further on that mess above
Last edited:
I thought you might have added something about jaguars future ev platform, but, coincidentally, in todays news they are going(and financing?) it alone
https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/jaguar-details-bespoke-panthera-platform-new-ev-family
https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/jaguar-details-bespoke-panthera-platform-new-ev-family
Soldato
- Joined
- 19 Oct 2002
- Posts
- 17,691
- Location
- Shakespeare’s County
I’ll decline the offer, what possible value would I gain from sharing more than is in the press?
Is anyone placing any ‘bets’ on where Ford end up in their EV transition in Europe?
personally I think there future producing ‘cars’ in the EU is probably numbered.
In the US they have given up on anything that isn’t a mustang, big SUV, a truck or a van and they haven’t made a profit in Europe for a long time.
I know they have signed up to use the MEB platform in Europe but I can’t really see that being sustainable. They will not be able to differentiate their products sufficiently from VAG and everyone they sell one it makes VAG a bunch of money.
To me it seems like Ford isn’t going to be able to be competitive in their traditional ‘car’ segment here.
In the long term they’ll be falling back to vans, pickup trucks, larger SUV/crossovers and perhaps a few mustangs here and there which they sell globally. I think tell end up ditching ‘cars’ altogether here. It feels strange saying it as the Fiesta and the Focus were a staple for years but it’s already happened to the Mondeo.
personally I think there future producing ‘cars’ in the EU is probably numbered.
In the US they have given up on anything that isn’t a mustang, big SUV, a truck or a van and they haven’t made a profit in Europe for a long time.
I know they have signed up to use the MEB platform in Europe but I can’t really see that being sustainable. They will not be able to differentiate their products sufficiently from VAG and everyone they sell one it makes VAG a bunch of money.
To me it seems like Ford isn’t going to be able to be competitive in their traditional ‘car’ segment here.
In the long term they’ll be falling back to vans, pickup trucks, larger SUV/crossovers and perhaps a few mustangs here and there which they sell globally. I think tell end up ditching ‘cars’ altogether here. It feels strange saying it as the Fiesta and the Focus were a staple for years but it’s already happened to the Mondeo.