EV general discussion

More i look into it all, the more I am thinking wait 18-24 months before going electric.

The other car that would work for us is the Kia EV3. But it only recently came out so in 2 years time I might be able to get one at a decent price.

In the meantime will keep an eye on the Ioniq 5 as that is already in a price range I an happy with.
 
I had to replace the auxiliary battery on my PHEV 2019 Ioniq a couple of years ago. I now carry a small booster in the car as I had a couple of breakdowns after it had drained and I needed a boost charge. One at a car boot (tailgate left open), one requiring breakdown service (I never found why). If the car is left unlocked, light left on, or door/tailgate is left open it will drain the aux battery in a few hours. Other than those two incidents we have been happy with it.
 
Weird that there were a lot of EVs from different manufactures where they all had the same 12v battery drain issue. I believe this was a failure of the v12 battery management system. Whereas an ICE car tops the battery up when driven and then uses almost nothing so it's good every time, an EV can top the v12 battery 24/7 when the EV is being used or not. It's a failure of that system if the car allows the 12v battery to drain.

I had an issue once in the 16 months I've owned my Kona where I forgot about a message on the app warning my the boot wasn't closed and the next morning the car was dead. I knew about this v12 battery issue and already had a v12 battery starter, but it was in the boot which was a challenge to open by reaching over the driver seat to the boot open from inside! :) Used the starter kit and all good ever since I shut the boot properly.

But this no longer seems to be an issue in the newer cars?
 
TNA said:
More i look into it all, the more I am thinking wait 18-24 months before going electric.

The other car that would work for us is the Kia EV3. But it only recently came out so in 2 years time I might be able to get one at a decent price.

In the meantime will keep an eye on the Ioniq 5 as that is already in a price range I an happy with.
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Ioniq 5 or Porsche Macan :eek: is on my future second hand list, or Ioniq 5 first while I save for the Macan. Both are one hell of a car :)
 
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keyser van someone said:
Weird that there were a lot of EVs from different manufactures where they all had the same 12v battery drain issue. I believe this was a failure of the v12 battery management system. Whereas an ICE car tops the battery up when driven and then uses almost nothing so it's good every time, an EV can top the v12 battery 24/7 when the EV is being used or not. It's a failure of that system if the car allows the 12v battery to drain.

I had an issue once in the 16 months I've owned my Kona where I forgot about a message on the app warning my the boot wasn't closed and the next morning the car was dead. I knew about this v12 battery issue and already had a v12 battery starter, but it was in the boot which was a challenge to open by reaching over the driver seat to the boot open from inside! :) Used the starter kit and all good ever since I shut the boot properly.

But this no longer seems to be an issue in the newer cars?
Click to expand...
One of the issues on Ioniq 5 was the battery threshold to allow 12v charge was something like 60%, so if you had 58% main battery left it would not charge the 12v when not in use. Think it's something like 20 or 30% now not totally sure tbf.
 
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Have been using the Subscription Based IONITY Rapid Charges for 43 £P/KW.

But finally have had the Home Charger Installed by Octopus. He arrived at 9:30 and went at 15:20 for only a basic install a couple of meters away.

It took so long as he had an auditor with him, so it was all done “by the book” :cry: Good to know though.

We went for the Ohme Pod Untethered (Prefer not to have a reel of cable attached to wall at all times) for the one to two charges per week and it was the cheapest of them all.

Our Daytime usage is extremely low, so to Octopus EV Tariff we go for those really low off peak rates.
 
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TNA said:
The other car that would work for us is the Kia EV3. But it only recently came out so in 2 years time I might be able to get one at a decent price.
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I got a second hand Kia E-Niro 4+ back in January, nice to drive, could do with a bit more range, its good for between 250 - 300 if driven sensibly. Boot space is nowhere near as good as my Tiguan was though, but the rear seats slid forward in that.

Overall I'm pleased with the car, and its super cheap to run charging at home.
 
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Ron-ski said:
I got a second hand Kia E-Niro 4+ back in January, nice to drive, could do with a bit more range, its good for between 250 - 300 if driven sensibly. Boot space is nowhere near as good as my Tiguan was though, but the rear seats slid forward in that.

Overall I'm pleased with the car, and its super cheap to run charging at home.
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Any warranty on it? Like was it used approved or something? My worry is if a battery issue occurs it will be extremely expensive to repair/replace.
 
All Kia's come with a 7 years 100,000 mile manufacture's warranty, so I have just under 4 years left and about 59,000 miles which I'll never cover in four years.

The key is to make sure they had their 10,000 mile/12 months services. The newer Niro-EV is two years/20,000 miles.

Year 1 Check over and change the pollen filter. (done every year).
Year 2 Check over, change the brake fluid (done every two years).
Year 3 Check over, change the battery collant (done every three years).
And repeat.

These can be done at a Kia dealer or any VAT registered garage, just keep the VAT invoice detailing the work.

Kia says that missing a service, or it being late does not void the whole warranty BUT it may be a reason to refuse a claim for an item affected by the late service, I think they allow going over by up to 1000 miles, or a month or so, but that's at their discretion.

Until late December I was adamant I was not getting rid of my 15 year old diesel Tiguan, I had range anxiety (lack of range and lack of chargers), and what happens when it goes wrong. I've been a mechanic and workshop manager for many decades so am familiar mainly with trucks, more so than cars, but did pretty much all my own maintenance.

I realised that range is not really a problem, there are now plenty of chargers, and it doesn't take long to charge anyway (for example over lunch), and thirdly, Kia's have a very long warranty, the hard part was finding one that had been serviced on time.

On the subject of charging, the only time we charge away from home is when on holiday, so range is only an issue a few times a year.
 
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Warranty if its like MG's 7, don't cover the infotainment and other bits - see T&C's like that syntner select one thread

jpaul said:
yes - this MG5 isn't bad either - albeit the old one , from HUK -> £64 p/w, back into the £300p/m if you need 12K though.


but, if you owned one beyond a PCP,
when you look at what their accoladed 7 year warranty, exclusions are - hmm - maybe that is par for the course
https://mg.co.uk/files/2020-09-39/MGOnlineWarrantyStatement01.09.2019.pdf

WHEEL BEARINGS 36 months 45,000 miles ALL BALL JOINTS 36 months 45,000 miles ALL BUSHES 36 months 45,000 miles TRACK ROD ENDS 36 months 45,000 miles DAMPERS, STRUTS 36 months 45,000 miles RUBBER COMPONENTS 36 months 45,000 miles
INFOTAINMENT, CONVENIENCE SYSTEMS & DRIVER AIDS 36 months 45,000 miles
Click to expand...
 
So they cover none of the parts most likely to break then lol. Its like they know it's going to start wearing out at only 45k miles. These "infotainment" systems can cost £1000s and the car is unusable without it.

Compare that to Lexus/Toyota's...
 
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What do you guys think of 21/22 model 3s they seem "cheap" enough atm ?

Just handed back our bz4x, and looking for car ideas, for context we've had EVs since the first gen leaf.
 
They are good cars and one of the most affordable long range EV on the market. Suspension is firm but it is not horrendous.

22 plate is the latest version of the old model with the latest AMD based infotainment system. 71 plate has the older Intel based system.

Very few issues, so focus on the cosmetics - check the sills/qtr panels at the bottom of the front wheel arch and at the back where the arches flare out, those area can get pummelled with stone chips.

Check for uneven tyre wear and and suspension knocks. Suspension bushes and arms are a weak point but relatively cheap to sort out, 3rd party parts can be better, there are lots of options on the market.

Check for trim rattles, they are usually pretty easy to track down and resolve.

I imagine prices are getting suppressed a bit because of Musk, shop round it looks like a buyers market.
 
is the model3 insurance cheap enough ?, pasting from quotes I'd done


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m4rmite said:
You mean toyota /lexus aren't reliable as well?
Or they will use any excuse to get out of warranty work like any other manufacturer?
Click to expand...

I've had good service from them in the past. They even did £1000 worth of warranty work for me after the warranty had expired.
 
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