I like Polos, so I probably want an iD3.
Not too bothered about bells and whistles, but I do want longer-range battery - which it seems to only come with the fancier versions.
Advice, recommendations (and disrecommendations), and suggestions of things to look for/ask about all welcome.
Renault Zoe. 245 miles range for less than 30 grand. I don't know why more people don't buy them. We've had ours for a year now, and it's bloody brilliant. I love zipping around in it in near-total silence. Whatever you get, make sure it can handle rapid-charging. We've done 14000 miles in our Zoe already, including several trips over 300 miles in one day. Yes, you have to think about where you're going to charge, but there are lots of good rapid charge networks out there, especially Instavolt and Osprey, that don't require apps (just a contactless card or your phone) and have chargers handily situated near fast food places, supermarkets, or, even better, a branch of Booths (Ripon, Penrith).
I've got a 2013 Renault Zöe, but it won't even manage 50 miles on a cold day so is probably not a good suggestion. Great for most local journeys though.
I've heard quite a bit of bad things about the ID3. I think mainly around the fact that it was launched with the knowledge that none of the software was working properly.
Knobs is what you want. Clever slidey stuff and touch screens are not the answer to everything.
Worth looking at the Fully Charged and Autotrader channels on Youtube, for reviews. Also Fifth Gear on Discovery+ is now fully electric (OK, there are a few hybrids).
Knobs is what you want. Clever slidey stuff and touch screens are not the answer to everything.
Definitely an idea I can get behind. But not a common view with electric vehicle manufacturers as far as I can see.
Far Eastern makers are definitely worth considering. They seem to have got ahead of the development curve compared to European makers.
What is the cost when your battery becomes unable to charge,due to age? I was told they ( a new battery) is upward of £20,000.
From what I've read they cost between $5,000 and $23,000 to replace.
Son #2 (who is an expert in such things) recommends the Fiat 500 electric version. Cheaper than others with a better range than many.
Probably about the same range as replacement internal combustion engines.
The length of the battery warranty is certainly worth considering, in case you get a "Friday afternoon" one, but that would be the maker's problem, not yours.
As a sort of benchmark, a Pylontech home storage battery is guaranteed to 6000 cycles. So, if you fully discharged and charged it daily, it would be guaranteed for 6000 days, or over 16 years. If you only discharge by 50% and recharge that is only half a cycle.
Battery life is now largely a non-issue as you will rarely do one cycle per day. Also the cooling systems, now employed, will mitigate degradation. It was the lack of liquid cooling that was the Achilles heel of early Nissan Leafs.
Fiat 500 is a smidge small, I think. And range is considerably shorter than the iD3.
This from Autocar "crash test results published by safety body EuroNCAP at the end of 2021 awarded the latest version of the Zoe a zero-star rating" rules out the Zoe.
The Hyundai IONIQ 5 is the only alternative currently catching my eye.
The Hyundai IONIQ 5 is the only alternative currently catching my eye.
They're great. Look like Th*r keyed the doors. I would have suggested it but it's somewhat bigger than a Polo.
If you'd consider something larger, I'm lusting for a Skoda Enyaq. Same base as an ID4 but with KNOBS. I will have to get a large dog, to justify it.
Bigger is the main thing putting me off the Hyundai. I don't really want to go larger than a Polo if I can avoid it.
I don't think that I can justify getting a large dog in order to justify getting a large car.
As a sort of benchmark, a Pylontech home storage battery is guaranteed to 6000 cycles.
That's LiFePO4, which has ~10 times more cycles than Lithium-Ion.
Anyone tried a Polestar?
There was a review of the latest one, on Fifth Gear, which was generally favourable but it fell down on range, somewhat surprisingly, IIRC.
Thanks Verdigris, that's surprising looking at the claims made for them. Next car is defo going to be electric but I've another 2 years to go on my S90 (which I really like hence the interest in Polestar) and I suspect/hope that's going to be a long time in EV development. At the moment range is an issue for me as I make 2 x 250 mile trips a week and I don't want to have to add a significant amount of charging time mid journey.