Soldato
- Joined
- 6 Jan 2012
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One thing I will say is that the thing shifts in Sport mode ... reckon 30-70 wouldn't be far off my 530d?
EV general discussion
- Thread starter Ricochet J
- Start date
One thing I will say is that the thing shifts in Sport mode ... reckon 30-70 wouldn't be far off my 530d?
I've driven the latest Countryman PHEV and was actually quite impressed with it. It's called a Cooper S because its got 220 HP when you combine the petrol and electric motors, which is approximately the same as any other Cooper S across the range (its not a JCW after all). £37k for a new car these days isn't actually considered particularly expensive either.
If it's that bad, take the bus
I am 2.5 years into ownership of the countryman PHEV and like it very much. It replaced an X5 30d that i had from new for a few years (second one and before that 5 series). It is more engaging to drive than the x5 was, slighly quicker on paper but feels much quicker in use and almost as practical. Very tardis like. Local driving on electric is great, for pottering around town it is fine, but it livens up no end in sport with the engine on.
To be fair, I'm more often a 65-70mph man, only occasionally higher. Not read the battery health but indicated range vs current charge levels leads me to believe that if there is any (readable) battery degradation it's very small.
Basically, I charge at home then drive to work. Then charge at work and drive home. It's 160 miles each way. Charging at work is around 9p per kWh delivered so pretty good. I'd say it's 55%home 45% work. The only shame is that 4 hours on Octopus Go won't give me all my energy needs on some occasions. Probably only fast charged 5 or 6 times when we've gone for days out to London or other day trips. Then it's only a splash and dash for 20 minutes to get us home whilst we are picking up a coffee or something. Never use public 7kW chargers.
The cars I've bought purely for the commute, Clio Mk.2, 2xClio Mk.4, Golf Mk.7 and the Kona have all delivered good economy. As Jonny says, it's a decent route and I generally take my time so it's no co-incidence. I worked out long ago that rushing anywhere when you've got to do it daily is a recipe for disaster.
I read the motorway miles he mentioned as drafting lorries
Never.
And yes, the Kona is smaller than it looks. Definitely a fair bit smaller inside than the Golf Mk.7 it replaced. Weight I believe is 1600+kgs which is pretty good for a 64kWh battery carrying car.
Thanks for that very interesting. Have you considered the Go Faster at 5h window once your current one expires? 0.5p more (or it use to be) but a full extra hour of charging, plus it allows use of appliance in off-peak while you are still awake.
Actually Octopus have promised me another year on Go at my current rates of 14p/5p because of a minor mishap. So I'm pretty pleased with that ( as long as they honour it).
Soldato
- Joined
- 19 Oct 2002
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- Shakespeare’s County
Yeah, they've been good to a lot of current users. I know they are allowing Go Faster still but they've blocked the 20:30 to 01:30, and the earliest is now the 21:30 to 02:30 segment, interesting though that the new Go rate of 7.5p/30p still applies to Go Faster so no penalty at the moment. I'm on the 5p/15p until August, not sure what I am going to do after that.
I can't wait to get a home charger (just need to get a home first!). Granny charging is so slow. My Kona is showing 5h30 left to charge from 85% to 100%, and that's on the maximum 10A setting on the charger (so about 2.3kW going into the car) 
Soldato
- Joined
- 20 Jun 2005
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- Derby
What a great review.
I watched this earlier, great video!
Rory was so wasted on Top Gear! These autotrader reviews he does are fantastic!
A few weeks it seems. Just signed a 4 year lease on an electric mini following a test drive on Saturday.
pits a cool car and very comfortable. The range isn’t half bad, does our “worst case” normal day with both of us into work and back and a shopping run, with another 15 miles to go… and that was in in 4 degree weather, heating, music, rain, sport mode and me driving like a child (test drive, had to be done!)
now to work out which chargers to get….any suggestions / videos / websites to recommend?
pits a cool car and very comfortable. The range isn’t half bad, does our “worst case” normal day with both of us into work and back and a shopping run, with another 15 miles to go… and that was in in 4 degree weather, heating, music, rain, sport mode and me driving like a child (test drive, had to be done!)
now to work out which chargers to get….any suggestions / videos / websites to recommend?
Chargers are a much of a muchness other than I’d recommend one with an attached cable (tethered).
Just get which ever has the features you want (smart, solar integration, monitoring, app support etc) that fits in with your tastes and price point.
It should be said that you need to book an installation NOW if you want any hope of getting the £350 grant which ends in March. The end to end process takes a few weeks and a lot of installers are already booked to the end of March.
The high end well regarded brands are Hypervolt, Anderson, Zappi then you have mid tear like Ohme, Pod Point, wall box and others. There are some cheaper ones out there but they don’t tent to be eligible for the grant as they are not ‘smart’.
Personally I have a hypervolt as it’s looks alright and deals with the cable well. I would have preferred an Anderson but I wasn’t prepared to pay an extra £350 for it.
Just get which ever has the features you want (smart, solar integration, monitoring, app support etc) that fits in with your tastes and price point.
It should be said that you need to book an installation NOW if you want any hope of getting the £350 grant which ends in March. The end to end process takes a few weeks and a lot of installers are already booked to the end of March.
The high end well regarded brands are Hypervolt, Anderson, Zappi then you have mid tear like Ohme, Pod Point, wall box and others. There are some cheaper ones out there but they don’t tent to be eligible for the grant as they are not ‘smart’.
Personally I have a hypervolt as it’s looks alright and deals with the cable well. I would have preferred an Anderson but I wasn’t prepared to pay an extra £350 for it.
Also, they're not chargers
indeed lol.
Soldato
- Joined
- 19 Oct 2008
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- 6,042
Will be interesting to see how the gov grant ending in March affects charger installation. It was probably mostly free extra cash being pocketed as is often the case.
It does seem that way for a lot of the dedicated installers, as opposed to just electricians who'll do the install at a normal rate, plus the device cost.
I don’t think it will have a huge impact, a lot of the big manufacturers only supply approved installers. They really have carved out a bit of a niche for themselves and most people go direct to the providers instead of approaching an electrician.
Lots of companies now just specialise in charge points and they have nailed their search engine optimisation that will be difficult to break.
In short I think it will be a really long time before the impact of the grant on the market will take a long time to unwind.
Lots of companies now just specialise in charge points and they have nailed their search engine optimisation that will be difficult to break.
In short I think it will be a really long time before the impact of the grant on the market will take a long time to unwind.
https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/toyota/357350/toyota-patents-simulated-manual-gearbox-electric-cars
I'll pass, buy hey might be a firm favourite for some of the regular change resistant members.
I'll pass, buy hey might be a firm favourite for some of the regular change resistant members.
