EV general discussion

I was on salary sacrifice for a Smart #1 until leaving my job at the end of this year. I t was a good deal for me, working out as about £380 per month net. This didn't factor in the child benefit repayment threshold however, with the sacrifice bring my pay down enough that I got to keep all the benefit. When I took the deal in 2024, I did compare against a PCP deal for a 4-year old used Leaf. Assuming very little value in the Leaf after a 4-year period (who would buy a leaf with a 9-year old battery), the insurance, service costs etc, then the total cost of the SS on the Smart #1 came out only a little higher. Was a no brainer for me, and the first time I ever treated myself to a new car.

In the end, I only had the Smart #1 for just under 2 years. There were no early cancellation fees due to me resigning from my Company, so it worked out really well. It was a good car, though not the most practical.

Once in my new job I will again compare SS options to used cars on the market. Possibly looking at the Ford Puma Gen-E. I like the look of the Renault 5, but might not be the best with two kids in the back. We still have the Scoda Scala for the long trips from Aberdeen to Hereford to see my family.
 
Oh great, another problem with the EX30 :( - received by email from Volvo yesterday:

Important - Vechicle (sic) Safety Notice
Volvo's quality follow-up procedures have identified a potential safety concern with a small number of EX30’s Single Motor Extended Range and Twin Motor Performance...
What is the issue?
Investigations have identified potential overheating of a High Voltage Battery cell. This could lead to a possible fire within the high voltage battery...
What are we doing to resolve?
Volvo takes this situation very seriously and is working with the appropriate authorities to launch an effective action as quickly as possible. You will receive further communication regarding the solution as soon as it is available.

What you should do now?
Do not charge your battery above 70%
 
Last edited:
RobPot said:
Oh great, another problem with the EX30 :( - received by email from Volvo yesterday:

Important - Vechicle (sic) Safety Notice
Volvo's quality follow-up procedures have identified a potential safety concern with a small number of EX30’s Single Motor Extended Range and Twin Motor Performance...
What is the issue?
Investigations have identified potential overheating of a High Voltage Battery cell. This could lead to a possible fire within the high voltage battery...
What are we doing to resolve?
Volvo takes this situation very seriously and is working with the appropriate authorities to launch an effective action as quickly as possible. You will receive further communication regarding the solution as soon as it is available.

What you should do now?
Do not charge your battery above 70%
Click to expand...
Crikey, that's a bit of a limiting factor!
 
Firegod said:
Just emailed the dealership to delay registration of the new Smart #5 until after 1st April 2026. Hopefully they will oblige. If I understand it correctly, but should save me £390 a year.

www.gov.uk

Vehicle Excise Duty for expensive car supplement threshold increase for zero emission vehicles

This measure is about increasing the Vehicle Excise Duty expensive car supplement threshold for zero-emission cars to £50,000.
www.gov.uk www.gov.uk
Click to expand...
Why?

The change is for cars registered from 1 April 2025. You don’t pay the ECS until a year after first registration, hence effective from 1 April 2026.

If you’ve not got the car yet, you are fine, assuming it’s below the new threshold.
 
Change of job early next year means my SS Polestar 4 is going back in a weeks time. Decided to go with something a bit different from the Polestar so looked at all sorts of things as having only gone with the Polestar earlier in the year I was not sure what to go with instead. Looked at the i4 M50, Tavascan VZ2, Kia EV6 GT, Taycan 4s, Audi A6/S6 EV all sorts of things, drove a few, and got very close to a i4 M50 but got messed about so had a another look round and came across a high spec E Tron GT with reasonable miles, 2 years warranty and roadside, next 2 services etc and which worked out about the same money as (an admittedly newer) i4 from a decent, close(ish) dealer who was happy to do a deal before the year end.

So went down and collected a 72 plate E Tron GT Quattro with the Comfort and Sound Plus pack (Parking system inc 360 camera, Sports Seat Pro heat and cooled, air suspension, B&O Sound system, full matrix headlights), Touring Pack (ACC) and HUD. Car is in very good condition, has decent tyres and interior and exterior all in good condition. Drove it back about 85 miles, and considering it was stone cold, temps were at 5c and it was pretty much all at 70 got 2.5mi/kwh, not amazing but not bad and the 800v system should mean charging away from home is very fast.





Overall its very very good to drive, but quite different to the Polestar, iPace and Mini that i'm use to, much more like driving an ICE car and getting used to not 1 pedal driving again. Very comfy, very very good sound system and not as big as you'd think (not as wide as the Polestar 4 and only a little longer)
 
Last edited:
It even says in the link
It will apply to zero emission vehicles (ZEVs) registered from 1 April 2025 onwards.
Click to expand...
Don't think you need to be faffing with delaying registering the car
 
Kenai said:
It even says in the link

Don't think you need to be faffing with delaying registering the car
Click to expand...
It's not very clear but I double checked via AI and it seemed to agree, and thinks the first registration date still determines whether you fall under the old or new threshold.

And the new threshold does not legally exist until 1 April 2026.

The car is due March so I dunno really.
 
b0rn2sk8 said:
Why?

The change is for cars registered from 1 April 2025. You don’t pay the ECS until a year after first registration, hence effective from 1 April 2026.

If you’ve not got the car yet, you are fine, assuming it’s below the new threshold.
Click to expand...
Missed this. See above. It isn't very clear to me.
 
Hmm yeah I see what you guys are saying.

The change applies retrospectively, meaning that most vehicles registered from 1 April 2025 will not be required to pay the charge.

And first year is free so yeah... Should be fine???
 
Yes, it will be retrospective because otherwise it would cause exactly the problem you think you have - literally nobody would want to register a car costing between £40-50k until April and it would cause chaos
 
Trying to warm the Mrs up to the idea of swapping out Audi A4 for a new car in 2026. Now that we have a Z4 M40i as our 2nd car I'm learning towards a spacious and comfy SUV. The BMW iX3 looks nice, I prefer it over the iX in terms of looks.

I think I can get 16-17k for my Audi so budget would land around 30k I think.

Probably will take a while for my wife to come round to the idea, she loves the Audi but it's getting on now, 8 years old, 9 next year.

 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom