When are you going fully electric?

I mean yeah fair enough, but the thread is "when are you going fully electric". My answer is I wouldn't mind going electric, I'm for it; but current tech isn't quite there yet for certain motorists to make the switch

I don't feel the urge to post in motorcycle threads about why I don't move pianos by motorbike.....just saying. I'm guess there's not many in Micra Owners club talking about towing twin axles caravans.

Doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out an EV isn't going to suit every one. There's nothing stopping (or penalising) anyone from buying a modern new diesel (for example) if they want one. So just go do that. Simple.
 
Last edited:
I'm surprised nobody has developed a 3g connected ODB adapter to take over some of the remote monitoring / control for cars that have had their connectivity nerfed.

ABRP can synch with certain ODB adapters to show live battery state with the eGolf. So you can use it for live route planning and navigation. Because the onboard VW navigation is disconnected from the internet and thus any live information about chargers. Battery state is also required for EV navigation much more than in an ICE

That's really the only main drawback for me on the disconnected 3G. I guess it would be nice if you could use your own SIM, it would remove any need for connecting a Smart phone, either via cable or wirelessly. But that's not critical as finding the nearest chargers on route.
 
i dont believe any of those BS "karen" videos.
The thing is, things like that are only funny when they are genuine, but now adays, the vast majority are just fake......

its a bit like youve been framed and all that crap. at the very start some were amusing (but then to be fair i was only 13 or 14), and i am sure there may be one or 2 genuine ones in their.... but the majority just look staged now and i cringe every time i accidentally see one.
 
Best of both worlds here, 2023 RS6 and 2023 RS e-tron GT. I have always been a "torque is King" guy, so I find myself picking up the keys for the GT 3 times out of 4 for the instant full power. Not great battery range but my commute is only around 28 miles.
 
My issue with switching to electric is towing my caravan. Granted batteries are getting better every year, but there's a long way to go before I can tow my caravan any reasonable distance with an electric car. You can forget about the quoted range on most electric cars pretty much straight off the bat, but when you add a caravan to the mix its a totally different story.
It is but it isn’t at the same time, it’s definitely not an insurmountable issue either. A few minor tweaks to the infrastructure would make it easier.
i think we have at least 1 EV owner here who tows a caravan but yeah you are right, it is one of the edge cases where evs are still a pita to go any distance with.

That would be me, I just got back from Wales for a week, 220 miles each way towing with my Model Y.

It’s not as rare as you might think, at the site I was on there was a guy with a Model X. When I was on my way back, an XC40 recharge was charging at Rugby services and they parked their caravan next to mine. There is a growing group on boomerbook of people sharing experiences.

The furthest I’ve gone is 330 miles to Devon just before the school holidays, no problem.

Range is an issue but it also isn’t. Most caravaners travel less than 100 miles for most of their trips.

The availability of chargers isn’t really an issue, there are plenty of them around en-route. I think we’ve done 7 trips this year, I’ve needed to charge en route on 3 of them and it was never an issue.

My Model Y gets a range of of 140 miles with a standard 7ft6 caravan on the back, the length and weight doesn’t really make much difference. I can eek that out to 150 by managing my speed a bit and sticking with the trucks. I tend to drive at max speed (60) and overtake as much as I can now I’ve got more confidence with it.

I’d love to have more range, but actually I don’t think I actually need that much more range. 140 miles is over 3 hours driving in the real world (when towing) and by that point I’m beyond ready for a break, it takes a hell of a lot more concentration than normal driving thanks to the standard on the roads these days.

It would be much more convenient if the car had 170-180 real world miles while towing. It would mean you can better utilise the optimal charging curve on the car to reduce charging times (e.g. I don’t need to go to such a high SOC). Beyond that, I think you’d start hitting diminishing returns very quickly.

Combine a bit more range with towing friendly stalls and slightly faster recharging and I think we will pretty much be there for the vast majority of caravaners. The Q6 etron looks like it will tick 2 of 3 of those boxes on paper so it’s not like the cars are not coming.

I think the below summaries EV towing currently…

The good:
You can charge your car from the caravan’s electric hook up - plenty of sites have sensible policies and pricing. The day to day is incredibly convenient.

They are incredibly good at towing, lots of torque and very stable thanks to the low centre of gravity.

The bad:

Some MSAs are simply not set up for tow cars needing to charge at the moment. The caravan parking can be in an area that you can’t get back to without going the wrong way down a one way road. The solution is to take your caravan into the car parking area, I’ve not encountered a problem but I’m sure some lovely human will try to make it one at some point, people gonna people at the end of the day.

There are a handful of trailer friendly rapid charging stalls in the entire country so you do need to unhitch, I’ve got it down to a couple of minutes but it could be better.

Car selection is poor unless you have deep pockets. You are looking at cars with a £50k list price to get 1600kg towing capacity, if you need 2000kg capacity, you are looking at a list price of £80k+ (until the Q6 etron launches). Even then, not all are viable, an ID.4 and its clones can only tow 1200kg - useless. Compare to ICE there is a plethora of cheaper ICE cars that will tow 2000kg.

Range needs to be a bit better, but as above, not that much better in reality. Ease of recharging needs to be improved.
 
My ID7 Tourer lease is booked for delivery on Thursday. £437 followed by 23 * £437 for £12k miles.
Nice little saving of nearly £1400 against the advertised price , and loads compared to PCP.
How did you beat the advertised price? Keen to know for future reference if you don’t mind :)
 
How did you beat the advertised price? Keen to know for future reference if you don’t mind :)
I sneakily waited for them to £%"k it up and then signed everything and kept quiet
I did discuss 2 and 3 years with them initially, starting with 2 with 1 upfront and then asked for 3 with 3 up front. Translating this to Santander seems to have unlocked happy mode.
 
I sneakily waited for them to £%"k it up and then signed everything and kept quiet
I did discuss 2 and 3 years with them initially, starting with 2 with 1 upfront and then asked for 3 with 3 up front. Translating this to Santander seems to have unlocked happy mode.
nice, signed it as quickly as you could haha

I missed out on the ID Buzz deal as it sold out, so ID7 might be back in the frame
 
Last edited:
My ID7 Tourer lease is booked for delivery on Thursday. £437 followed by 23 * £437 for £12k miles.
Nice little saving of nearly £1400 against the advertised price , and loads compared to PCP.
That's mega - proper review please!
 
I don't feel the urge to post in motorcycle threads about why I don't move pianos by motorbike.....just saying. I'm guess there's not many in Micra Owners club talking about towing twin axles caravans.

Doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out an EV isn't going to suit every one. There's nothing stopping (or penalising) anyone from buying a modern new diesel (for example) if they want one. So just go do that. Simple.

You're being a bit facetious with that reply aren't you, I don't think moving a piano with a motorbike is comparable to towing a caravan with an electric car.

I think my post was a very relevant answer to the question that this thread is asking "when are you going fully electric". My very simple answer to this very simple question is, when the range improved adequately enough for me to tow further.

I like electric cars and was not in any way critising anyone who does. It's a discussion about electric cars mate, take a chill pill.
 
I'm now in market for my first EV. I'm in the fortunate position being self employed that I can claim the capital allowance and offset my tax liability by a significant amount.
Test drove a Skoda Enyaq on Friday. It was er fine and on paper makes a lot of sense but not sure it really grabbed me. Competent.
Criteria for the car are
- +300 mile WLTP range (more better), as I occasionally have to make a Fife pilgrimage which is 440 miles.
- decent boot size for the dog(s) occasionally
- must be SUV (Mrs Calpol stipulation)

Also had a look at the Ford Explorer which the Mrs quite likes and I think I would consider the Audi Q4 45 as the interior is a bit classier than the Ford.
Checked out the Renault Scenic also which has good reviews but its interior is funky but not sure how durable it would be.

Any comments (waits for Audi software is pants)
 
It is but it isn’t at the same time, it’s definitely not an insurmountable issue either. A few minor tweaks to the infrastructure would make it easier.

You're absolutely right. If there were more quick chargers on rural tourist routes that would mitigate the need for an extended range.
 
Back
Top Bottom