EV general discussion

Haggisman said:
I'm not sure I'd put "Voice controls" and "perfect" in the same sentence

Me: "Play <album name> by <artist name> on Spotify"
Car: "Sure, playing literally the ****** music I can find (whose name doesn't sound even remotely similar to what I said)"
Me: "Stop!"
Me: *with slightly different pronunciation*: "Play <album name> by <artist name> on Spotify"
Car: "Sure, playing <some other drivel that makes me actively want to drive into the nearest solid object>"
Me: *with yet again slightly different pronunciation*: "Play <album name> by <artist name> on Spotify"
Car: "Sorry, I can't find <album name> by <artist name> on Spotify"
Me: *mumbling* "well it was there this morning you stupid ***** piece of ****"
Car: "Playing 'it was there this morning' by 'you stupid ***** piece of ****' on Spotify"
Me: "Just **** stop, I'll do it myself"
*Pull over at the soonest opportunity, spend 3 seconds searching for the album - oh look, it does exist on Spotify, there's a **** surprise :rolleyes:"

You'd think they'd have some kind of intelligence built into them, like, do I want to listen to an album I've listened to before multiple times by an artist in my favourites of a genre I listen to a lot, or some obscure song by an artist nobody has ever heard of in a genre I hate? Invariably it picks the latter!

or

Me: "Navigate to home"
Car: "Navigating to Home Stores Incorporated"
Me: "Navigate to <postcode>"
Car: "Did you mean <business name that shares a single letter with my postcode>"
Me: "No... Navigate to <Road Name>"
Car: "Navigating to <Business which shares road name in a completely different town 300 miles away from where I want to be>"

Maybe just my accent, but multiple devices across different vendors are very hit and miss - definitely more miss!
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I find most voice control systems are fine with basic stuff like temperature controls and even fan speeds. It’s even fine with seat heat on my Cupra Born for example. But try using Northern Irish place names and all bets are off.

“Navigate to Scarva”… proceeds to set a navigation point to Scarborough and politely informs me my route will require ferry crossings:D
 
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Yeah
ICDP said:

I find most voice control systems are fine with basic stuff like temperature controls and even fan speeds. It’s even fine with seat heat on my Cupra Born for example. But try using Northern Irish place names and all bets are off.

“Navigate to Scarva”… proceeds to set a navigation point to Scarborough and politely informs me my route will require ferry crossings:D
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I laughed at this poor example of voice control that exists in 2026:

 
My gen 2 Leaf has voice control for some things but I never use it. Apart from the Cornish/Scottish accent I have now got (apparently) most likely causing confusion I would only end up argueing with the damn car!!

Nissan sales must be slow, I have had multiple offers from them this past week, the latest being £5250 off a new Micra EV on top of the government grant. First it was the new Leaf which I think is just awful and now the Micra which I also dislike. I suppose next will be the cashcow!!
 
I’m considering chopping in a 2019 Astra (decent nick) for a used Leaf… WFH, in the office once/week (50miles each way) and the rest of the time local pottering. Wife works 6miles away and drives a 2016 Hyundai Tucson.

Anything obvious wrong in that plan? I’ve test driven the leaf a few years ago so know what to expect - slow charge overnight is fine.
 
Pez said:
I’m considering chopping in a 2019 Astra (decent nick) for a used Leaf… WFH, in the office once/week (50miles each way) and the rest of the time local pottering. Wife works 6miles away and drives a 2016 Hyundai Tucson.

Anything obvious wrong in that plan? I’ve test driven the leaf a few years ago so know what to expect - slow charge overnight is fine.
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What’s the incentive to go for an older car ?
 
Pez said:
I’m considering chopping in a 2019 Astra (decent nick) for a used Leaf… WFH, in the office once/week (50miles each way) and the rest of the time local pottering. Wife works 6miles away and drives a 2016 Hyundai Tucson.

Anything obvious wrong in that plan? I’ve test driven the leaf a few years ago so know what to expect - slow charge overnight is fine.
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Some great bargains on 2019/2020 Leaf's.
Have you done any research into them at all, or starting fresh?
 
So, an opportunity to replace my 2021 EQC SUV came up,and today I collected a late 2022 EQE saloon. I’ve always been an estate guy and the SUV was a requirement for parenting duties, but with another of them in the household I could upgrade to something else.

Im an equipment whore, and have always tried to go for top level trim and all options where I can. This is the EQE Exclusive Luxury, complete with nappa leather interior and a fully loaded equipment list you can find in the brochure below and in the spoiler tags.


Feature Specification
Exterior Body Features
  • Hyacinth Red
  • Black panel radiator grille with central star
  • Electric art exterior with front apron with chrome trim in the upper and lower sections
  • High-gloss chrome front splitter with flics and fins at the left and right air inlets in high-gloss black with chrome trim
  • Illuminated seamless door handles
  • Panoramic sliding sunroof with remote closing and opening including ventilation function
  • Rear apron painted in vehicle colour with lower section in graphite grey metallic and chrome
  • Rear boot
  • Rear side wing doors
  • Side skirts painted in graphite grey with chrome inserts
Body Glass
  • Acoustic privacy glass
  • Frameless windows
  • Heat insulating, noise insulating and infrared reflecting laminated glass
  • Heated windscreen
  • Heated windscreen washer system
  • Windows with remote closing and opening including ventilation function
Brakes
  • Anti-lock brake system
  • Electronic Stability Programme
Carpets/Rugs
  • Black velour floor mats
Chassis/Suspension
  • Airmatic air suspension
Driver Aids
  • DYNAMIC SELECT with a choice of driving modes (ECO, Comfort, Sport and Individual)
  • Mercedes me services
  • Parked vehicle locator
  • Power assisted steering
  • Remote parking function
Driver Convenience
  • Finger print scanner
  • Front wireless smartphone charging
  • Multifunction telephony
  • Remote vehicle finder
Driver Information
  • 12.3" digital instrument cluster display
  • 12.8" OLED central display
  • Active traffic sign assist
  • EQ navigation services - map (range display), display charging stations, programming of charging settings and pre entry climate control
  • Geofencing
  • Hard-disk navigation
  • Head up Display
  • MBUX augmented reality for navigation
  • MBUX Interior assistant
  • Mercedes Benz emergency call system
  • Mercedes me connect
  • Pre-installation for car sharing
  • Smartphone integration
Embellishment Trims
  • Black fine structure lower trim
  • Dashboard and belt lines in space grey ARTICO man-made leather with NEOTEX grain and red topstitching
  • Shipdeck wood main trim
Engine
  • Five recuperation levels
Entertainment
  • Burmester surround sound system
  • DAB Digital radio
  • MBUX multimedia system
Exterior Lights
  • Daytime running lights
  • Digital HD LED headlight with ultra range high beam, cornering, and enhanced fog light
  • LED High level third brake light
  • LED rear tail lamps with 3D helix design
Heating/Cooling/Ventilation
  • HEPA air filter
  • Infrared quality sensor
  • Thermotronic automatic climate control
Interior Features
  • AMG brushed stainless steel sports pedals with aluminium rubber studs
  • Electric art interior
  • Grey fabric roof lining
  • Heated steering wheel
  • Nappa leather upholstery
  • Storage compartment under center console
Interior Lights
  • Ambient lighting 64 colours with direct light lines
Packs
  • Acoustic comfort pack - EQE
  • Air balance pack - EQE
  • Driving assistance plus pack - EQE
  • Easy pack tailgate
  • Energizing pack plus - EQE
  • Interior light pack - EQE
  • Memory pack - EQE
  • Mirror pack - EQE
  • Parking pack - EQE
  • USB package - EQE
Safety
  • Rear door child safety locks
  • Three point rear seat belts
Seats
  • 3 seat bench in 2nd row
  • Climatised front seats
  • Comfort seats
  • Heated rear seats
  • Luxury front head restraints
  • Rear head restraints
  • Single front passenger seat
  • Split folding rear seats
Security
  • Remote door locking and unlocking
  • Speedfencing
  • Urban guard plus anti-theft protection hardware including Alarm and immobilizer
  • Valet protect
  • Vehicle tracking
Vehicle Charging
  • 170kW DC onboard charger
  • 22kW onboard charger
  • 90kWh battery
  • Charging cable for domestic plug socket, Type G (Mode 2) 5m
  • Combined charging system CCS-2 connector
Wheels
  • Summer tyres
Wheels - Alloy
  • 20" 5 twin spoke light alloy wheels

https://flic.kr/p/2se1fts

https://flic.kr/p/2se1FZo

https://flic.kr/p/2sdUPzy

https://flic.kr/p/2sdZxMv

Yes, I know it looks like an egg but should get a lot more mileage than the brick that is the EQC, and the wooden dash is on the list to be replaced when I find a spare £1500 :cry:

Oh, and the best bit?

4,400 miles.
 
Penfold101 said:
This is the EQE Exclusive Luxury, complete with nappa leather interior and a fully loaded equipment list you can find in the brochure below and in the spoiler tags.
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Are those the 22" wheels? They look enormous.

Edit: They can't just be 20's - but I forgot the luxury drops an inch from the premium plus, I thought it went up again.
 
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Journey said:
Are those the 22" wheels? They look enormous.

Edit: They can't just be 20's - but I forgot the luxury drops an inch from the premium plus, I thought it went up again.
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Just the 20’s on this year I believe - I’ll check tomorrow but shouldn’t need replacing for 20k miles at least I hope :cry:
 
Penfold101 said:
Just the 20’s on this year I believe - I’ll check tomorrow but shouldn’t need replacing for 20k miles at least I hope :cry:
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With the state of the roads where I am there are more pots holes that actual road, killed two tyres in less than a month. Does yours have the TV receiver and the heat pump, as I know it was missing on some 22 models?
 
Simon said:
What’s the incentive to go for an older car ?
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Not nessisarily older, just not new. Idea on EV is we do short to medium distance and lowing total mileage - Cheaper to power.
Journey said:
Some great bargains on 2019/2020 Leaf's.
Have you done any research into them at all, or starting fresh?
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Not into what’s on the market yet nope, a new idea as I’d looked at EVs from a work scheme but canned it off as not worth the £ at the time. 5 years later and a used model that’s not quite new to offset fuel prices and it looks more attractive. I’m seeing ‘19 plates around £7-8k.
 
You don’t do many miles tbf. So not sure it will save loads. What’s the star worth vs buying a leaf
 
pastymuncher said:
Nissan sales must be slow, I have had multiple offers from them this past week, the latest being £5250 off a new Micra EV on top of the government grant. First it was the new Leaf which I think is just awful and now the Micra which I also dislike. I suppose next will be the cashcow!!
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While not unique to Nissan, Nissan has a problem in that, as a gross generalisation, their car prices have got to the point where people still associate that kind of money with a premium brand, but then find that money doesn't even get your foot in the door with a premium brand these days so they tend to then flip the other way and buy the cheapest, often Chinese now, alternative - used to be Kia instead but Kia prices are going the same way lately.

They are also alienating their traditional market bases in a lot of cases, though I don't know if on the flip side they are having success in new markets when doing so - i.e. a significant portion of their original Micra market will not buy an EV Micra for various reasons - literally every time I'm in my nearby Nissan dealer there is at least 1 often 2-3 people who come through the door wanting to buy a new Micra then leaving disappointed when they find the original ICE line has been discontinued despite the salesman's desperate attempts to talk the EV Micra to them.
 
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Simon said:
You don’t do many miles tbf. So not sure it will save loads. What’s the star worth vs buying a leaf
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Yeah we don’t do crazy mileage, maybe 10-11k/year on mine. Astra is probably 6-7k so not much extra to fund.
 
Pez said:
Not into what’s on the market yet nope, a new idea as I’d looked at EVs from a work scheme but canned it off as not worth the £ at the time. 5 years later and a used model that’s not quite new to offset fuel prices and it looks more attractive. I’m seeing ‘19 plates around £7-8k.
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There's quite a lot of decent cars at that sort of price, you could pick up a Niro/Kona/Ioniq/e-Golf in that range. If you are selling privately and not trading in, then I'd be tempted to buy at auction as well, save a decent chunk of money if you research it properly.
 
Journey said:
With the state of the roads where I am there are more pots holes that actual road, killed two tyres in less than a month. Does yours have the TV receiver and the heat pump, as I know it was missing on some 22 models?
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Last two cars (Polestar and EQC) both had 20’s and aside from the bone-shattering ride of the former I never had any issues with potholes. Finger crossed this continues!

Don’t know about either of those, I’ll have to do some digging and get back to you.
 
Penfold101 said:
Last two cars (Polestar and EQC) both had 20’s and aside from the bone-shattering ride of the former I never had any issues with potholes. Finger crossed this continues!

Don’t know about either of those, I’ll have to do some digging and get back to you.
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Well enjoy it, very comfortable ride for longs trips. Don't try and lift the bonnet unless you have the proper brace or you can smash the windscreen!
 
Journey said:
Well enjoy it, very comfortable ride for longs trips. Don't try and lift the bonnet unless you have the proper brace or you can smash the windscreen!
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Random comment of the year. Talking about wheels and ride and we get into opening the bonnet. Why would you ever need to open the bonnet on these EV ‘ that never need servicing’

EV evangelist is strong here
 
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