GolfGTIforum.co.uk
Model specific boards => Golf mk8 => Topic started by: Brenbo on 26 November 2022, 06:59
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More speculation about the Golf GTI names continuing as EVs:
https://www.thedrive.com/news/next-gen-vw-golf-and-gti-will-keep-names-but-become-evs
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So long as it’s identifiable as a proper Golf rather than one of those limp ID efforts I’m all for it.
Darned if I’d be able to afford one at today’s prices but it would be nice to see the GTI move with the times and stay on top of its game rather than becoming an archaic anachronism.
Abarth look to have done a great job with the 500e so no reason why VW can’t do a slightly bigger and more grown up Golf EV in a similar vein.
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I miss the KISS approach to interiors, it was always the golf's approach compared to rivals up until the mk8. Let the golf go back to what it was, simplistic ergonomically sound well screwed together interiors and let the ID range be the high tech bells and whistles range. I have no problem with a GTI with an EV powertrain as long as it isn't just a trim level but has the performance and distance range to justify having the GTI badge.
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No.
I've owned a Tesla Model 3 performance, and a Polestar 2 with the performance pack. Both fast, both incredibly boring to drive after you get over the acceleration. Heavy and don't corner well.
They should just come up with a new name for whatever it is.
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I’m really not sure where this EV malarkey is heading. It’s ok for the smug e-tron drivers round here who clog up the roads in their behemoths on the school run and have charging points on the driveway. What about the 2/3 of the city who live in high density terraced housing? Can’t see how the charging is going to work for them. Not that many will be able to afford an EV anyway. And what about long distance driving? Christmas Day, anyone?!
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A clear and simple ‘No’
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I’m really not sure where this EV malarkey is heading. It’s ok for the smug e-tron drivers round here who clog up the roads in their behemoths on the school run and have charging points on the driveway. What about the 2/3 of the city who live in high density terraced housing? Can’t see how the charging is going to work for them. Not that many will be able to afford an EV anyway. And what about long distance driving? Christmas Day, anyone?!
Will EV's become like the Betamax when someone invents a proper VHS alternative to clean motoring that doesn't rely on a charging network?
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Solid-state batteries could be a partial answer, but we are still at least a decade away from having those working and the cost (as with everything) could well prohibit the majority for decades after that.
Reliability, Robustness, Range and Recharge times are the key things and solid state batteries could offer great improvements in some of these.
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Will EV's become like the Betamax when someone invents a proper VHS alternative to clean motoring that doesn't rely on a charging network?
Well there has been for a long time the fight between BEV and Hydrogen.... clearly at the moment Hydrogen isn't happening BUT there is a lot of energy company investment in Hydrogen...
Hydrogen exists in two forms - Blue and Green....
Blue is made from fossil fuels.... which could be clean if you can execute carbon capture.
Green is made by using electricity to split water... assuming your electricity source is zero carbon the whole thing is zero carbon - which is no different to BEV really.
Of course Hydrogen would be a perfect analog for petrol road transport - same fuelling times as petrol. Same ranges too based on the limited number of models available today.
Additionally, Hydrogen could be easily used for aircraft, trucks and ships... unlike batteries.
But its all down to making the Green hydrogen a viable concept as it uses tons of electricity - which needs massive zero carbon base load on the grid..... which means probably nuclear, which everybody hates and takes decades to build just one for a cost of gazillions.
The major oil giants are just waiting for this Green Hydrogen moment.
If that can happen, expect to see your local petrol station deploying hydrogen tanks and nobody driving BEV's.... the VHS moment.
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I see personal car ownership dropping off and hiring cars becoming the norm. Cars are becoming unaffordable new and in a few years the left over ice cars will be too unreliable and evs not good enough with their worn out batteries for the more budget minded motorist. I think we'll all have to drive Morris Minors and MGBs as they will be the easiest to keep running!
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I see personal car ownership dropping off and hiring cars becoming the norm. Cars are becoming unaffordable new and in a few years the left over ice cars will be too unreliable and evs not good enough with their worn out batteries for the more budget minded motorist. I think we'll all have to drive Morris Minors and MGBs as they will be the easiest to keep running!
It will be like Mad Max😂
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Our Sustainability manager at work has been banging on about HVO (Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil) its 90% less emissions than diesel and can be used in most diesel engined cars/ trucks that could well be the alternative for most of the lorries on the road. I really stuggle seeing how a BEV truck can be viable.
The cynic in me thinks all there really expensive cars are a way of pricing the 'normal person' out of cars and into public transport
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The futurists dream of electric self driving pods that you summon with an app that take you to wherever you want to go - presumably if they have enough battery range...
Clever calculations allow ride sharing for optimum use of the pods, presumably you can pay extra to avoid having some smelly bastid shut in a mobile plastic greenhouse with you though.
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It will be like Mad Max😂
:grin:
The cynic in me thinks all there really expensive cars are a way of pricing the 'normal person' out of cars and into public transport
Public transport is rubbish and getting worse. I live on the outskirts of London where you'd think buses would be great. But for me to get to work for an early shift, I'd have a 25 minute walk, plus allowing a bit for disappointment to get a bus which would take another half an hour when I can drive door to door in 15 minutes. This is because my local 'hopper' buses don't start early enough. Even then, I'd have a 15 minute walk followed by a first bus ride of 15 minutes, then an unknown wait for a second bus that would take also 15 minutes. Problem is the first bus is 3 an hour but in the evenings only 2 an hour and it has taken me an hour plus to get home in the past when forced to use the buses. Absolutely pathetic.
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You will own nothing and be happy :lipsrsealed:
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Hydrogen is viable for hgvs as depots are able to store hydrogen and could provide a national network for them. Same goes for trains. Volvo have an EV hgv in trials. Be fun to get back in a Morris Minor ( my first car) but only the one time. :smiley:
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Hydrogen is viable for hgvs as depots are able to store hydrogen and could provide a national network for them. Same goes for trains. Volvo have an EV hgv in trials.
But it needs to be Green Hydrogen not Blue... Blue is a total waste of time.... mind you the whole Green/Blue thing is much akin to BEV's anyway - its only zero Co2 if the electricity source is zero Co2... ie nuclear AND wind/wave/solar... which it can't be in the UK for some time to come because of years of dithering.
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https://youtu.be/TyUiHafCdvM
Another interesting video by Harry on sustainable fuel.
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Long time no see...
I've come to the realisation that EVs make sh!te motorway mile munchers and am ready to come back to the ICE fold, but my timing stinks - there's bugger-all no stock and used stock is stupid money, lead times for new are still crazy. My local dealership can't even say when a factory fresh order for a GTI or R might be delivered (between 1 and 2 years). Phoned a few big dealership group who I have gotten to know via old DTD transactions and thrh have nothing coming through to grab.
We've got 2 Cupra Borns right now, absolutely great cars in every respect, except Winter range. Not a bother if you drive within range - 2p per mile to fuel when charging at home. I changed jobs last July and almost doubled my wage, work from home but I have to drive Newcastle to Milton Keynes about once a month (240 miles each way).
Over the last year, the likelihood of rolling up to a motorway services and finding a vacant charger that works is getting less and less outside the hours of 8pm to 8am. There's lots of new chargers but most people with an EV right now charge at home, so they don't need rapid destination chargers, they need rapid motorway chargers - the number of those has grown modestly in the last 2 years, but the number of EVs in the meantime has grown a lot more. On top of that, the cost of rapid charging has almost doubled with the Ukraine War, and Winter efficiency on an EV is 25-30% down on Summer figures. On Weds/Thurs this week, I drove down to MK with temps around freezing and my cost per mile was running at 24p (66p per kWh, 2.8 miles per kWh). There are dearer chargers than that. Turns a 3.5 hour drive into a 5 hour drive with a few charges, and costs more than running Super on a Golf R (current 7 speed DSG R giving about 43mpg sat on the motorway at 75mph I'm guessing?).
Looking to keep the wife's Born for her 30 mile round trip commute and everything non-long distance. Would have considered some old crapbox for doing the motorway miles, but old crapboxes are going for stupid money!
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Good to see you’re still alive MH!
You might just squeeze 43mpg out of an R on a long motorway haul if it was fairly flat, but running around in normal traffic and enjoying it a bit that’ll drop 25% easily unless you drive extremely sedately. And if you drive extremely sedately there are better options such as the 1.5 TSI.
So as an overall monthly average let’s say 33-35mpg, hefty car insurance and £575 a year just to sit it on the King’s highways.
There are a decent few R’s hitting the showrooms right now, unfortunately they’re in 20 Year spec and generally have £0 discount. VW seem to have punted a load of zero optioned 20Y R’s out for dealer stock.
There are also a reasonable amount of Polo GTI’s around in varying specs which would make decent mile munchers and have better MPG around the houses. Just circa £165 to tax too subject to our latest chancellor’s whim midweek.
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Good to see you’re still alive MH!
You might just squeeze 43mpg out of an R on a long motorway haul if it was fairly flat, but running around in normal traffic and enjoying it a bit that’ll drop 25% easily unless you drive extremely sedately. And if you drive extremely sedately there are better options such as the 1.5 TSI.
So as an overall monthly average let’s say 33-35mpg, hefty car insurance and £575 a year just to sit it on the King’s highways.
There are a decent few R’s hitting the showrooms right now, unfortunately they’re in 20 Year spec and generally have £0 discount. VW seem to have punted a load of zero optioned 20Y R’s out for dealer stock.
There are also a reasonable amount of Polo GTI’s around in varying specs which would make decent mile munchers and have better MPG around the houses. Just circa £165 to tax too subject to our latest chancellor’s whim midweek.
In an ideal world I'd buy a standard Golf GTI245 with a manual box if available tomorrow. I'm loathed to pay £20k or thereabouts for a 6 year old GTI or £30k for a 3-4 year old one using the current mad used car climate.
It's not so much the cost to fuel the EV (as depreciation costs usually dwarf the pump savings when switching cars), it's the fact that a 3.5 hour ICE journey is often a 5 hour EV journey, thanks to how often find yourself waiting for a charge or hopping from services to services looking for an unoccupied one. It really boiled my pee last week when I stopped at a services to find all chargers occupied, moved on to the next one and some guy beat me to the last one by 30 seconds (saw him backing into the space) - if I hadn't stopped at the other services, I would've had that one!
The 20R doesn't look like it'll be worth the extra, or that people would pay significantly more over a standard R at resale time.
Polo GTI+ is a good call as it is very economical for what's under the bonnet (Budack cycle pays dividends motorway cruising), but I really want a car that'll do occasional long family journeys comfortably as well as the commute, and having had a Polo GTI+ before, it's just nit quite big enough. Likewise, I don't think I want an SUV either.
GTI would (just) avoid the luxury VED, which is literally highway robbery as the threshold hasn't increased since its inception (0.5% of RRP pa would be a far fairer fee, would have the McLaren F1s paying more than a car tgat scrapes over the threshold by £200. There's a lot of GTEs on Autotrader pennies over the luxury VED threshold right now with about £700 off.
Seems my only viable option to go new without a wait right now is to go S3 - 5 new sportbacks on the Audi website £42-43k, but there's a £3k deposit contribution and DTD prices seem just shy of £5k with that deposit contribution, could try my luck to ask them to shave £2k off their margin for cars sitting ready to go.
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Funnily enough we were literally discussing S3’s on here a few days ago with their base price sitting just under the tax threshold and availability slightly better. There are a few year old ones knocking around with lowish mileages that will also duck under the £40k tax which are ok if buying cash.
My thoughts too on the R 20Y as regards to value unless you’re going to keep the car a few years when all the weird enthusiasts will come out of the closet willing to pay more money (as limited run sporty VW’s seem to have this strange cult following). This is what I hate about the enthusiast market as they want certain models and will pay big bucks (same with most marques and the JDM crowd) so long as certain extras are specced. Without these extras the cars are worth quite a bit less but it baffles me why if these guys are going to be such massive fusspots they didn’t buy the bloody things new in the first place and spec them themselves. I get it with Ed40’s as they want the seats but as someone who has crawled around a LOT of cars over the decades I’d take condition over spec every time. You can just imagine in a couple years “does your 20 Years have Akra and DCC mate?”
Personally I’d grab a stock one as I dislike DCC and wouldn’t pay £3.5k for an exhaust as I’m not 21 years old, but I just know the questions when selling a few years down the line…
Most ICE cars will probably feel a bit sluggish now you’re used to EV acceleration at sane real world speeds MH. I wonder if the NVH will seem odd as well now you’re used to silent running. At least you’ll get some exhaust pops with an S3! 😁
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Funnily enough we were literally discussing S3’s on here a few days ago with their base price sitting just under the tax threshold and availability slightly better. There are a few year old ones knocking around with lowish mileages that will also duck under the £40k tax which are ok if buying cash.
My thoughts too on the R 20Y as regards to value unless you’re going to keep the car a few years when all the weird enthusiasts will come out of the closet willing to pay more money (as limited run sporty VW’s seem to have this strange cult following). This is what I hate about the enthusiast market as they want certain models and will pay big bucks (same with most marques and the JDM crowd) so long as certain extras are specced. Without these extras the cars are worth quite a bit less but it baffles me why if these guys are going to be such massive fusspots they didn’t buy the bloody things new in the first place and spec them themselves. I get it with Ed40’s as they want the seats but as someone who has crawled around a LOT of cars over the decades I’d take condition over spec every time. You can just imagine in a couple years “does your 20 Years have Akra and DCC mate?”
Personally I’d grab a stock one as I dislike DCC and wouldn’t pay £3.5k for an exhaust as I’m not 21 years old, but I just know the questions when selling a few years down the line…
Most ICE cars will probably feel a bit sluggish now you’re used to EV acceleration at sane real world speeds MH. I wonder if the NVH will seem odd as well now you’re used to silent running. At least you’ll get some exhaust pops with an S3! 😁
Does a bare bones S3 with free paint dip under the luxury threshold? I was under the impression that the "list price" used for consideration included all OTR charges. If that's the case then the basic S3 doesn't slip under the threshold. Basic Ibis White S3 Sportback is £39045 before OTR costs and £40705 after. Can't seem to find 100% clarity on this point I just keep seeing "list price" on all websites with VED band info. There were 5 u allocated S3s yesterday and 4 today. 2 are in Belfast, so not keen on going to collect one of those! I used to average 35mpg in my 2015 Manual R, and do about 40mpg doing 80 on the motorway. Assuming 7th cog on the DSG would help a little on the cruising? There's about 1/3s delay on the Born sprinting off from mashing the accelerator, then its 100% torque, but pretty linear in delivery. Our 231ps "E-Boost" Borns run out of puff a fair bit later than our 204ps ID3s did. Great car to have if you have a home charger and never drive beyond the car's range, but Rapid charging is sh!te and expensive
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For the VED you take list price including add-ons minus first year road tax to calculate. There will probably be £800-900 first year road tax included in the OTR costs. I’m pretty sure it *just* scrapes under with white paint. Better check Audi haven’t hiked up another rise before signing on the dotted line.
This time last year I was very nearly about to be in a Born myself. Then things went completely tits up here and by the time it had settled down a bit it was no longer an attractive proposition (price hikes, electric hikes and so on).
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For the VED you take list price including add-ons minus first year road tax to calculate. There will probably be £800-900 first year road tax included in the OTR costs. I’m pretty sure it *just* scrapes under with white paint. Better check Audi haven’t hiked up another rise before signing on the dotted line.
This time last year I was very nearly about to be in a Born myself. Then things went completely tits up here and by the time it had settled down a bit it was no longer an attractive proposition (price hikes, electric hikes and so on).
Looks like the 1st year VED for S3 would be £945, plus £55 first reg fee = £1000. £40705 OTR, minus that grand, and it slips under £40k. Born is great as a car that doesn't go beyond its range, so we'd be keeping one of them.
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That sounds about right for the VED.
As for the fuel economy as compared to your old R, these newer EA888’s can be quite frugal, the AWD won’t help but they do freewheel quite often which is handy for extending range a bit on very long journeys.
At least with a lease the VED band is less relevant.
Of the 4 new ones currently up for grabs it looks like it’s only the Coventry car that’ll be sub £40k VED
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That sounds about right for the VED.
As for the fuel economy as compared to your old R, these newer EA888’s can be quite frugal, the AWD won’t help but they do freewheel quite often which is handy for extending range a bit on very long journeys.
At least with a lease the VED band is less relevant.
Of the 4 new ones currently up for grabs it looks like it’s only the Coventry car that’ll be sub £40k VED
I'm going to phone around all 4 today. Given that the current PCP deposit contribution is £3k and the DTD price is around £4900 discount including the £3k, I'll ask them all about matching DTD with finance. If one of the dearer ones match the DTD price and the white Coventry one doesn't, I'd probably swallow the extra VED. On paper, without the extra VED I'd probably go with the Turbo blue one at Tamworth. I expect I have a better chance of getting full DTD discount on one of the Belfast ones as they have 2 in one branch.
Lease prices at the moment are a bit more than I was expecting - buying cash usually does pay dividends unless you believe all those HUKD "millionaires" who claim to be making 20%+ from the money they would've spent on a car had they not leased. :grin:
I have a very economical driving style - not afraid of hammering the accelerator to get up to speed, but once there I preserve my momentum with good anticipation of the road ahead. Ave 35mpg in the old manual R and 40mpg sat at 80 onthe motorway DSG's 7th cog should improve on that.
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Interesting experience notes there MH.
I'm not quite sure how EV gets out of that rut. It seems the uptake of EV is far faster than the infra can cope and its not even those peak events like first day of school holidays or Christmas.
I guess its faster for a factory to turn out thousands of EV's and sell them than it is to install dozens of megawatt power supplies to a motorway services. Its also a bit chicken and egg...
I'm still in the market for a BEV but only to replace Mrs G's current Mini - we only use that for short runs and it does make sense for that.
My business trips... less sense.
While I keep reading about amazing new breakthroughs in battery tech it doesn't seem to be coming soon enough.
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Hi MH. FYI Belfast Audi is part of the Sytner Group. The dealership is a couple of miles from Belfast City Airport and about the same from the ferry terminal. I have travelled by ferry from Belfast to Cairnryan, on to Durham and return, easily in the same day.
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Hi MH. FYI Belfast Audi is part of the Sytner Group. The dealership is a couple of miles from Belfast City Airport and about the same from the ferry terminal. I have travelled by ferry from Belfast to Cairnryan, on to Durham and return, easily in the same day.
That's good to know, thanks. The 2 they have are probably least popular of my pick of the 4, being the most expensive (19" wheels. Red calipers, Comfort and sound pack, metallic paint as extras), but maybe with 2 in stock, there may be some better price reductions. I'll be trying my luck with all 4 shortly to see how the land lies.
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Interesting experience notes there MH.
I'm not quite sure how EV gets out of that rut. It seems the uptake of EV is far faster than the infra can cope and its not even those peak events like first day of school holidays or Christmas.
I guess its faster for a factory to turn out thousands of EV's and sell them than it is to install dozens of megawatt power supplies to a motorway services. Its also a bit chicken and egg...
I'm still in the market for a BEV but only to replace Mrs G's current Mini - we only use that for short runs and it does make sense for that.
My business trips... less sense.
While I keep reading about amazing new breakthroughs in battery tech it doesn't seem to be coming soon enough.
It's a tricky one with public charging. Everyone with a BEV right now has a home charger, so destination chargers needn't be rapids, but you definitely want rapids on the motorway, and lots of them. 2 years ago, I never waited for a charger or had to move on, now it seems 60% likely to have a wait or move on. With 65-75p per kWh at motorway rapids (most non-motorway rapids are no cheaper, so no point diverting to a nearby town/city as you would for petrol/diesel), and Winter efficiency taking a real hit, the BEV ends up costing 20-25p a mile.
Motorway efficiencies (72mph indicated):-
0C ambient with 16C heating is about 2.8 miles per kWh
5C ambient, 16C heating is 3.1.
12C ambient (the threshold for no battery heating), no cabin heating is about 3.7 miles per kWh.
20C+ with aircon to 18C and you're up at 4 miles per kWh.
Around the doors on short trips you'll do about 20% higher than those figures in the Summer. When they can build these things with a genuine 350 mile motorway range as light as a Golf, and fast charging takes 10 mins with lots of chargers where you need them, everyone will want one.
So shorter range second car, its great - want to buy my Cupra Born for the missus? :grin:
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With 65-75p per kWh at motorway rapids (most non-motorway rapids are no cheaper, so no point diverting to a nearby town/city as you would for petrol/diesel), and Winter efficiency taking a real hit, the BEV ends up costing 20-25p a mile.
Motorway efficiencies (72mph indicated):-
0C ambient with 16C heating is about 2.8 miles per kWh
5C ambient, 16C heating is 3.1.
12C ambient (the threshold for no battery heating), no cabin heating is about 3.7 miles per kWh.
20C+ with aircon to 18C and you're up at 4 miles per kWh.
woah! 20-25p per mile?!
Thats Range Rover V8 petrol territory.
Bonkers.
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With 65-75p per kWh at motorway rapids (most non-motorway rapids are no cheaper, so no point diverting to a nearby town/city as you would for petrol/diesel), and Winter efficiency taking a real hit, the BEV ends up costing 20-25p a mile.
Motorway efficiencies (72mph indicated):-
0C ambient with 16C heating is about 2.8 miles per kWh
5C ambient, 16C heating is 3.1.
12C ambient (the threshold for no battery heating), no cabin heating is about 3.7 miles per kWh.
20C+ with aircon to 18C and you're up at 4 miles per kWh.
woah! 20-25p per mile?!
Thats Range Rover V8 petrol territory.
Bonkers.
Bonkers in Winter, where your 65p kWh may only get you 2.8 miles. I have paid 75p per kWh at an Osprey charger. At home though, my overnight kWh costs me 5p (most paying 10-12p right now.
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Made enquiries about the white S3. The lass didn't suddenly start laughing down the phone for matching the DTD price, which is £3k deposit contribution and a modest £1858 off their margin. Waiting for her to call me back, she has a 3pm appointment.
Looking to get clarity on a few items of spec too - not sure if standard spec votes with front parking sensors or just rear. Audi website says standard spec get heated seats, but then one of the equipment packs says heated seats are in the pack. Wouldn't be the first time we see such an anomaly on a VAG website!
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A bit like some Carwow descriptions where 'Additional Options' include 'Front windscreen washers and wipers....' :grin:
I mean, who writes/checks these things?!
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That's good to know, thanks. The 2 they have are probably least popular of my pick of the 4, being the most expensive (19" wheels. Red calipers, Comfort and sound pack, metallic paint as extras), but maybe with 2 in stock, there may be some better price reductions. I'll be trying my luck with all 4 shortly to see how the land lies.
My wife has bought from them a couple of times. She can negotiate better than I can. On the most recent occasion in November, she had to haggle on and off for a week to agree a deal. If you do go back to them, I can give you the name of who she dealt with. He’s a petrolhead and took me for a run in a RS3. Good Luck!
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That's good to know, thanks. The 2 they have are probably least popular of my pick of the 4, being the most expensive (19" wheels. Red calipers, Comfort and sound pack, metallic paint as extras), but maybe with 2 in stock, there may be some better price reductions. I'll be trying my luck with all 4 shortly to see how the land lies.
My wife has bought from them a couple of times. She can negotiate better than I can. On the most recent occasion in November, she had to haggle on and off for a week to agree a deal. If you do go back to them, I can give you the name of who she dealt with. He’s a petrolhead and took me for a run in a RS3. Good Luck!
The white one in Cooventry sold today, she left it so long to get back to me, I made a quick enquiry for the Turbo blue one at Tamworth - they'll get back to me tomorrow. Also waiting for a callback on the 2 at Belfast. Might have a better chance of a deal at Belfast as they have 2 there, one in Navarro Blue, one in Mythos Black, with 19" wheels (not bothered) comfort and Sound pack (OK, would go without to get out if luxury VED), (red calipers - really not bothered) and the paint.
Tamworth just rang me back, someone has held it for 2 hours, but might not commit. Sounds like I won't get any discount there beyond the £3k deposit contribution.
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I know they are currently working 9am - 5pm. I’ll PM you with his name, number and email. Just in case. I found him to be good enough. He did take me for a spin in the RS3. :smiley:
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They look a lot better with the 19’s than the 18’s.
Having an in stock section on a manufacturer website is a good idea, it saves a potentially long fruitless phoning around session.
An email would be a handy move as sales people often check them out of business hours.
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They look a lot better with the 19’s than the 18’s.
Having an in stock section on a manufacturer website is a good idea, it saves a potentially long fruitless phoning around session.
An email would be a handy move as sales people often check them out of business hours.
That feature of the Audi website is a good one. 18" in a style I like, or 19" in a style i'm not fussed on, i'd probably rather not pay the extra I like the simplicity of the 18" 10 spoke star wheels - and they're painted, so no white worm. The 19" Trapezoids (the dearer of the 2 19" choices) look like a fussy version of Austins IMO.
So current standings are:-
White one with no luxury VED is out of contention.
Turbo Blue one in Tamworth with the 18s, red calipers and comfort/sound pack may or may not be sold, it was held for 2 hours. Seemingly no chance of a discount beyond the deposit contribution.
Belfast Audi has not 2, but 3 x S3s, the incoming Daytona Grey one was not on the Audi website. Daytona or Turbo blue are my favourite colours in the A3 range - Daytona's purple hues are a lot like the Pewter Grey I had on my 2009 Scirocco. I believe they're all the same spec - comfort/sound pack, red calipers and 19" trapezoid wheels. Would pick the Daytona grey over Nevarro Blue or Mythos black in a heartbeat.
The guy at Belfast doesn't hold out much hope for a meaningful discount beyond an amount that would cover getting to NI without a car and getting home on the ferry with it, despite having 3 x S3s. He said he'd ask his boss for me anyway. Maybe travelling to NI for one would put a lot of us in the GB off. If I thought they'd hang around a good while in NI, i'd hold out.
Either way, the DTD discount only extends another £1800ish beyond the £3k deposit contribution, and if I wait much longer, I bet the incoming VAG price rises in April will swallow half, if not most of that up.
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I have been in Belfast Audi a few times recently. They regularly have GB customers collecting cars. I too would pick Daytona Grey. It’s very subtle.
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Well the last 24 hours has been eventful, i've been dealing with all kinds of dealers today to try and get something sorted.
Tamworth Audi with the Turbo Blue S3 fiddled and farted on with considering my Born in part-ex and then another salesperson in the group sold it to someone else before they could make their minds up whether to get close to the quoted Motorway.co.uk price.
Contacted the 2 buyers directly that bought our 2 ID3s through Motorway. One wanted to seriously lowball me (he seemed so fair when I sold the ID3, he gave me an extra £200 for driving it to the dealership), and the other said he had loads of EVs that weren't moving while the World waits to see if Tesla drop their prices even more - and called Elon a twunt (how can you disagree with him?). Bearing in mind both dealerships are around London, you'd think that people driving into London daily would be wanting to avoid ULEZ and congestion charges and buy an EV to do so.
So back to the guys in Belfast. I have got a grand discount out of them, but with the bombshell that i'd have to come over to theirs twice - once to pay deposits and sign on the dotted line, then bugger off home, and then come back for the car about 2 weeks later. It was explained that NI cars heading to GB are manually taxed with the DVLA and if I took the car home as soon as it was taxed, i'd have every ANPR camera between Belfast and Newcastle flagging it as untaxed/unregistered on the way home and beyond before it got on the electronic system. Surely I could sign remotely with Docusign or Adobe, to save me the first trip, apparently not.
I can't believe that NI is left on the margins of UK systems to that extent - does no government system that works in GB function correctly when applied to NI? So as it stands, I would pay deposit on a car registered in my name, and then start my finance because it's officially mine, but have to come back again later?
Part of me thinks it's a sly ploy to make sure you don't get the car in your hands within the 14 day cooling off to withdraw from the finance should you choose to. I might be wrong on that point, but it seems that one of 2 things are going to happen:-
1. You effectively lose 2 weeks of your VED as the car is taxed 2 weeks before you can touch it.
2. You start your finance 2 weeks earlier than you get your car.
I hope that finance doesn't start before pick-up day. That's just inherently wrong.
Anyway, long story short, looks like i'm getting a Daytona Grey (Pearl) S3, with the 19" Trapezoid wheels, Comfort and Sound pack, and Red Calipers (£290 for a bit of paint, really?). It's built and awaiting a ship form Emden. Should be in NI within 4 weeks.
Saw and heard an S3 today, sounded great as it roared past my kids' school gates at 3:30pm at 40mph, which it obviously shouldn't have done, especially not at school finishing time. :rolleyes:
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I must admit to also looking at an S3 to replace my 7.5R. Whilst I love my 8CS and I’d love an 8R, the monthlies on an R simply don’t add up. On top of that, the lack of buttons in the Golf along with no backlight on the heating/sound controls mean that my wife isn’t keen on the Golf..
The S3 still has those old fashioned button thingies and the monthlies are significantly cheaper than the 8R it seems…
Yes, I was surprised to see so many physical buttons (which they still had the jog dial for MMI menu navigation). The £3k deposit contribution that just isn't there for the R goes a long way to the overall cost right now.
If you're doing it soon, i'd think about doing it right now with an in stock car - there are price rises coming next month. Maybe stick your reg in to motorway.co.uk and see what the Golf is worth right now vs what you might still owe on it. Sold 4 cars with them and always got within £200 of the amount they quote.
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Anyway, long story short, looks like i'm getting a Daytona Grey (Pearl) S3, with the 19" Trapezoid wheels, Comfort and Sound pack, and Red Calipers (£290 for a bit of paint, really?). It's built and awaiting a ship form Emden. Should be in NI within 4 weeks.
And the bonus of a nice Norn Irish reg :smiley:
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Anyway, long story short, looks like i'm getting a Daytona Grey (Pearl) S3, with the 19" Trapezoid wheels, Comfort and Sound pack, and Red Calipers (£290 for a bit of paint, really?). It's built and awaiting a ship form Emden. Should be in NI within 4 weeks.
And the bonus of a nice Norn Irish reg :smiley:
What's the Belfast prefix range on the plates normally?
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What's the Belfast prefix range on the plates normally?
MZ or PZ at the moment I think.
Top tip - don't try to drive into the City of London with NI plates on or if you do, expect to be hassled every 5 minutes.
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The registration series for Belfast City changed last month from YGZ to the new series which I believe is MZ so they will now go from AMZ through to the end of the alphabet. They go through each first letter alphabetically, for issue they usually start at the number 1000, lower numbers are sold at some stage. This is for Belfast city. Belfast straddles two counties, Antrim and Down and I believe the Audi dealer is on the County Down side, so there can be options which a dealer can confirm.
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What's the Belfast prefix range on the plates normally?
MZ or PZ at the moment I think.
Top tip - don't try to drive into the City of London with NI plates on or if you do, expect to be hassled every 5 minutes.
As Fred notes, I think its MZ or PZ for Belfast at the mo, so could be of the form AMZ 1234. There are 6 other county prefixes though all with a 'Z' as the 3rd letter except for Londonderry and maybe Fermanagh which still include an 'I' instead of the 'Z' - those counties register very few cars. Highly likely you'll get a Belfast reg from Belfast Audi.
Not sure if it's possible, but if you don't mind an Irish reg and are going to keep it, you may be able to ask for a particular sequence of numbers/letters if you are that way inclined - no harm in asking.
Not sure what the London issue is, Fred? Not heard of that. Over the years, coach companies on the mainland have often used NI regs - presumably to disguise the fact that you are going on a coach trip in a 20 year old wagon....
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Derry you mean right, not Londonderry?? :whistle: :whistle: :whistle: :grin: :grin: :grin:
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Depends which forum you are on.
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Derry you mean right, not Londonderry?? :whistle: :whistle: :whistle: :grin: :grin: :grin:
I'm from NI but I"ll keep my political views to myself since we are on a car forum....we don't want to start that :rolleyes:
All I'll say is that we're all on the same side come Sat night :grin:
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What's the Belfast prefix range on the plates normally?
MZ or PZ at the moment I think.
Top tip - don't try to drive into the City of London with NI plates on or if you do, expect to be hassled every 5 minutes.
As Fred notes, I think its MZ or PZ for Belfast at the mo, so could be of the form AMZ 1234. There are 6 other county prefixes though all with a 'Z' as the 3rd letter except for Londonderry and maybe Fermanagh which still include an 'I' instead of the 'Z' - those counties register very few cars. Highly likely you'll get a Belfast reg from Belfast Audi.
Not sure if it's possible, but if you don't mind an Irish reg and are going to keep it, you may be able to ask for a particular sequence of numbers/letters if you are that way inclined - no harm in asking.
Not sure what the London issue is, Fred? Not heard of that. Over the years, coach companies on the mainland have often used NI regs - presumably to disguise the fact that you are going on a coach trip in a 20 year old wagon....
Had no idea about the number plate differences in NI. Have seen those format plates before and assumed they were private plates.
It's a done deal, deposit taken, and i'm flying into Belfast on Sat morning (last seat on both planes!) to fly home again 3.5 hours later, just to sign some docs. Car is waiting at Emden, they will tax manually as soon as it lands in the UK, and keep checking the electronic systems for it to appear (they want to avoid that ANPR situation and won't allow it to go to GB until it shows on the electronic DVLA system). It also means that (unless he's got it wrong), my finance starts as soon as the car is manually registered with the DVLA, so the finance could be ticking along for up to 3 weeks before I can collect it (worst case). What a crazy situation.
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What's the Belfast prefix range on the plates normally?
MZ or PZ at the moment I think.
Top tip - don't try to drive into the City of London with NI plates on or if you do, expect to be hassled every 5 minutes.
As Fred notes, I think its MZ or PZ for Belfast at the mo, so could be of the form AMZ 1234. There are 6 other county prefixes though all with a 'Z' as the 3rd letter except for Londonderry and maybe Fermanagh which still include an 'I' instead of the 'Z' - those counties register very few cars. Highly likely you'll get a Belfast reg from Belfast Audi.
Not sure if it's possible, but if you don't mind an Irish reg and are going to keep it, you may be able to ask for a particular sequence of numbers/letters if you are that way inclined - no harm in asking.
Not sure what the London issue is, Fred? Not heard of that. Over the years, coach companies on the mainland have often used NI regs - presumably to disguise the fact that you are going on a coach trip in a 20 year old wagon....
Had no idea about the number plate differences in NI. Have seen those format plates before and assumed they were private plates.
It's a done deal, deposit taken, and i'm flying into Belfast on Sat morning (last seat on both planes!) to fly home again 3.5 hours later, just to sign some docs. Car is waiting at Emden, they will tax manually as soon as it lands in the UK, and keep checking the electronic systems for it to appear (they want to avoid that ANPR situation and won't allow it to go to GB until it shows on the electronic DVLA system). It also means that (unless he's got it wrong), my finance starts as soon as the car is manually registered with the DVLA, so the finance could be ticking along for up to 3 weeks before I can collect it (worst case). What a crazy situation.
If you don't fancy your NI plate you could always change to a GB reg. You might even be able to sell it and pay for one of your trips!
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What's the Belfast prefix range on the plates normally?
MZ or PZ at the moment I think.
Top tip - don't try to drive into the City of London with NI plates on or if you do, expect to be hassled every 5 minutes.
As Fred notes, I think its MZ or PZ for Belfast at the mo, so could be of the form AMZ 1234. There are 6 other county prefixes though all with a 'Z' as the 3rd letter except for Londonderry and maybe Fermanagh which still include an 'I' instead of the 'Z' - those counties register very few cars. Highly likely you'll get a Belfast reg from Belfast Audi.
Not sure if it's possible, but if you don't mind an Irish reg and are going to keep it, you may be able to ask for a particular sequence of numbers/letters if you are that way inclined - no harm in asking.
Not sure what the London issue is, Fred? Not heard of that. Over the years, coach companies on the mainland have often used NI regs - presumably to disguise the fact that you are going on a coach trip in a 20 year old wagon....
Had no idea about the number plate differences in NI. Have seen those format plates before and assumed they were private plates.
It's a done deal, deposit taken, and i'm flying into Belfast on Sat morning (last seat on both planes!) to fly home again 3.5 hours later, just to sign some docs. Car is waiting at Emden, they will tax manually as soon as it lands in the UK, and keep checking the electronic systems for it to appear (they want to avoid that ANPR situation and won't allow it to go to GB until it shows on the electronic DVLA system). It also means that (unless he's got it wrong), my finance starts as soon as the car is manually registered with the DVLA, so the finance could be ticking along for up to 3 weeks before I can collect it (worst case). What a crazy situation.
If you don't fancy your NI plate you could always change to a GB reg. You might even be able to sell it and pay for one of your trips!
I'll be fine with keeping it, just never made the connection between that format of plate and NI.
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Are you flying into the City airport?
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Are you flying into the City airport?
Unfortunately not, i've been told it would be very handy from the Audi Dealership. Belfast International, Easyjet flight from Newcastle (which is very handy for me at my end). £99.99 return flight for 3.5 hours on NI soil. :grin:
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Congrats MH, bit of a whirlwind purchase! I’d have definitely gone for the grey one too.
What’s happening with the Born?
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Are you flying into the City airport?
Unfortunately not, i've been told it would be very handy from the Audi Dealership. Belfast International, Easyjet flight from Newcastle (which is very handy for me at my end). £99.99 return flight for 3.5 hours on NI soil. :grin:
Bargin! City is a lot closer but more inconvenient at your end.
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I must admit to also looking at an S3 to replace my 7.5R. Whilst I love my 8CS and I’d love an 8R, the monthlies on an R simply don’t add up. On top of that, the lack of buttons in the Golf along with no backlight on the heating/sound controls mean that my wife isn’t keen on the Golf..
The S3 still has those old fashioned button thingies and the monthlies are significantly cheaper than the 8R it seems…
If you're looking to move quickly, Audi Belfast have 2 incoming S3s left:-
Navarro Blue Sportback - Comfort and Sound pack (B&O sound, full park pilot, rear camera, and I think, rear heated seats), 19" Trapezoid Alloys, Red brake calipers.
Same spec as above, but in Mythos Black Metallic paint.
There's a £3k deposit contribution right now, and for the mess around that buying from NI for GB seemingly gives, they have given me £1000 discount on top. They will not p/x a GB registered car (VAT declaration red tape), so you'd have to sell privately or through the likes of Motorway.co.uk, Cazoo etc.
With that price rise looming very soon, i'd do it now if you're going to do it. On Sun night, there were 5 available S3s nationally, and now there are 2 - those 2 above.
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Are you flying into the City airport?
Unfortunately not, i've been told it would be very handy from the Audi Dealership. Belfast International, Easyjet flight from Newcastle (which is very handy for me at my end). £99.99 return flight for 3.5 hours on NI soil. :grin:
Congrats on the new car. I am also from NI. There are taxis right outside the exit door of the international airport if you don’t fancy using public transport mate. Safe trip and it will all be worth it when you are driving your new car out in a few weeks.
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Congrats MH, bit of a whirlwind purchase! I’d have definitely gone for the grey one too.
What’s happening with the Born?
Wife's keeping hers, great car, cheap to run when charging from home. Rapid charging time and cost is just killing the benefit for me and the work travel.
Mine will be going on Motorway.co.uk, they indicate a value of £31900 right now, so should get within a few hundred quid of that if its not met. Have posted it on a few EV forums too, so that someone might grab a bargain and cheat a dealer out of their margin, but I doubt anyone will bite - lots of views, but at the end of the day, most people spend that kind of money on finance rather than privately.
Just hoping that Elon Musk refrains from pulling some dick move to cause the EV market to become jittery in the next month and see EV used values tank.
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Not sure what the London issue is, Fred? Not heard of that.
Well, once upon a time there were these fellas and they made a bit of a mess in the city and since then people haven't wanted them back....
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Not sure what the London issue is, Fred? Not heard of that.
Well, once upon a time there were these fellas and they made a bit of a mess in the city and since then people haven't wanted them back....
Thought we had left that behind in the 80s/90s..... With ANPR and goodness knows what other type of camera every 10 yards I would thought that the Police were a bit more sophisticated these days
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Not sure what the London issue is, Fred? Not heard of that.
Well, once upon a time there were these fellas and they made a bit of a mess in the city and since then people haven't wanted them back....
Thought we had left that behind in the 80s/90s..... With ANPR and goodness knows what other type of camera every 10 yards I would thought that the Police were a bit more sophisticated these days
Fred's description seems closer to Extinction rebellion these days. We were in London last year when they were gluing themselves to the roads outside Parliament, with the Police following them around London one of the days we were there.
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Going back to the original thread topic:
https://www.volkswagen-newsroom.com/en/press-releases/world-premiere-of-the-id-2all-concept-the-electric-car-from-volkswagen-costing-less-than-25000-euros-15625
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Going back to the original thread topic:
https://www.volkswagen-newsroom.com/en/press-releases/world-premiere-of-the-id-2all-concept-the-electric-car-from-volkswagen-costing-less-than-25000-euros-15625
It’s a hell of a lot more desirable to me than the hideous id2 life concept of 2021.
I’m liking it a lot and ticking a lot of boxes. I think the rear light band is reminiscent of Seat Ibiza circa 05-09
(Was Andreas Mindt ever designer at SEAT).
If they can get it all together and at the right price point, they might have a sale (with me).
Congrats to @Monkeyhanger on your S3. I look forward to your ownership experience after all your other reviews on your cars ( but I did miss the change from ID3 to Cupra (again interesting reviews on themj
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Going back to the original thread topic:
https://www.volkswagen-newsroom.com/en/press-releases/world-premiere-of-the-id-2all-concept-the-electric-car-from-volkswagen-costing-less-than-25000-euros-15625
It’s a hell of a lot more desirable to me than the hideous id2 life concept of 2021.
I’m liking it a lot and ticking a lot of boxes. I think the rear light band is reminiscent of Seat Ibiza circa 05-09
(Was Andreas Mindt ever designer at SEAT).
If they can get it all together and at the right price point, they might have a sale (with me).
Congrats to @Monkeyhanger on your S3. I look forward to your ownership experience after all your other reviews on your cars ( but I did miss the change from ID3 to Cupra (again interesting reviews on themj
I like that! :cool: IMHO much more stylish than any of VW’s current crop of EV’s. I’d be tempted if the price is right.
External dimensions are very similar to the current Polo. The rear also reminded me of a previous generation Ibiza.
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Going back to the original thread topic:
https://www.volkswagen-newsroom.com/en/press-releases/world-premiere-of-the-id-2all-concept-the-electric-car-from-volkswagen-costing-less-than-25000-euros-15625
It’s a hell of a lot more desirable to me than the hideous id2 life concept of 2021.
I’m liking it a lot and ticking a lot of boxes. I think the rear light band is reminiscent of Seat Ibiza circa 05-09
(Was Andreas Mindt ever designer at SEAT).
If they can get it all together and at the right price point, they might have a sale (with me).
Congrats to @Monkeyhanger on your S3. I look forward to your ownership experience after all your other reviews on your cars ( but I did miss the change from ID3 to Cupra (again interesting reviews on themj
Some of those spec figures seem pie in the sky unless VAG has some radical new battery tech up their sleeve that we don't know about yet which is a lot lighter than the current crop and with hugely improved charging.
The 295 mile (450km) range is dependent hugely on ambient temp and average speed. The trouble with EV range is, you need balls of steel to drive one of these cars to under 10% range on the motorway. Petrol and diesel pumps are everywhere, you will never fail to find one of those available and working within 5 miles of anywhere in the country, save for some really remote parts of Scotland. With an EV though, you might have a 30 min wait at the next charger, or it might be out of service and you have to move to the next one as your already tiny remaining charge diminishes.
Charging 10% to 80% in 20 minutes? In theory my 125kW charging speed Cupra Born does that, but it's impossible to achieve. You will never max out on 125kW charging rate from 10 - 80%, not going to happen. To get close to 100kW charging speed, you'll need a warm battery, warmer than 70mph cruising for 2 hours will do on all but the hottest of days, and you won't get it for 10 - 80% either, more like 10 to 60% on a really hot day after giving the car the beans for 20 mins. in reality, it's more like 40 mins to do 10-80%, and you'll probably spend 5 mins getting off the motorway, navigating the large motorway services and finding the charger/s in the farthest corner of the services. my most recent experiences are that the chargers will be occupied when you get there just over half the time if you charge between 8am and 6pm.
For a VAG BEV rated at 260 miles WLTP range (like the ID3/Born with 58kWh battery pack), you might get that driving like a nun, not exceeding 40mph, on a hot day. Sit at 70mph on the motorway, that's more like 200 miles from 100% to 10%, on a Summer's day, 180 miles at 10C ambient, with no cabin heating, or about 140 miles at 0C with heating on to maintain 16C cabin temp.
Looks a nice car though -although most concept cars look far better than the production model.
FWD is an interesting choice, the Born and ID3 are RWD and they're great with it. The FWD e-Golf is horrible in comparison and tramps like a bastard at the lightest of throttle loads.
Although great within range, to charge at home cheaply (if you have a driveway), BEVs won't really be compromise free as long range motorway cruisers until they can do 300 motorway miles in the Winter and truly (not "in theory") charge in 10 mins from 10% to 80%. We'd also need at least 2x as many chargers as there are fuel pumps in every motorway services currently. The "have nots" (no way of having a home charger e.g. Victorian Terrace, Flat, renter with no landlord permission to fit a charger) will end up paying more per mile than the haves - not sure how the government will even that score out.
Right now there's cheaper battery tech out there "LFP", with little to no dirty and expensive cobalt and nickel, but they're less energy dense than the NMC type used routinely, so you get heavier cars or fewer cells and shorter range.
BEVs still have a long way to go before they suit everyone, without even considering price. Could VW make this ID2 and sell it for less than 25k Euros, with a decent profit right now with the specs touted there? I seriously doubt it unless they ditch European labour and go to China, paying peanuts for the workforce and using Chinese Government heavily subsidised steel and batteries.
My Born is great to drive, but the charging experience away from home is truly awful and expensive.
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@Monekeyhanger
That’s a good summary. Interesting to hear your thoughts on EV ownership and the charging woes with current network.
All the tests on EV range I’ve seen suggest you need to knock 25-30% off the WLTP stated range and that’s in the (better) weather conditions. Looking at your previous post on winter range, things get really dicey on range.
I think solid state batteries are the game changer the industry needs but that is going to be much later in the decade.
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This will be the car that the ID.3 should have been. If they get it right then they’ll have another Beetle/mk1 Golf on their hands. It comes across like a ‘proper’ VW for the electric age which the ID.3 ballsed-up. A lot of learnt lessons are on show. Buttons are back, an iDrive wheel is in and the big screens are staying. There seems to be an intent of ‘quality’ about the whole thing.
So they clearly know something that we don’t about battery prices or EV scalability because I can’t fathom how they’ll manage it at a Polo price-point.
I’d bet that it’ll wear the Golf badge but they clearly haven’t decided yet. The size and front end is Polo-ish but there’s no mistaking that rear C-pillar and those arches. They’ve already said that they want the future electric Golf to take inspiration from the mk4 Golf… although the current Polo is mk4 Golf size! They’ve gently left it open to interpretation and feedback in that sense. What it does suggest is that VW sees the whole ‘big car’ SUV thing as a fad which doesn’t surprise me as this resource stricken era becomes BAU. Ironically the original Golf was VW’s answer to the 70s oil crisis as well.
Also, did anybody else spot the GTI 7.5 Parker alloys on it? :grin:
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This will be the car that the ID.3 should have been. If they get it right then they’ll have another Beetle/mk1 Golf on their hands. It comes across like a ‘proper’ VW for the electric age which the ID.3 ballsed-up. A lot of learnt lessons are on show. Buttons are back, an iDrive wheel is in and the big screens are staying. There seems to be an intent of ‘quality’ about the whole thing.
So they clearly know something that we don’t about battery prices or EV scalability because I can’t fathom how they’ll manage it at a Polo price-point.
I’d bet that it’ll wear the Golf badge but they clearly haven’t decided yet. The size and front end is Polo-ish but there’s no mistaking that rear C-pillar and those arches. They’ve already said that they want the future electric Golf to take inspiration from the mk4 Golf… although the current Polo is mk4 Golf size! They’ve gently left it open to interpretation and feedback in that sense. What it does suggest is that VW sees the whole ‘big car’ SUV thing as a fad which doesn’t surprise me as this resource stricken era becomes BAU. Ironically the original Golf was VW’s answer to the 70s oil crisis as well.
Also, did anybody else spot the GTI 7.5 Parker alloys on it? :grin:
Best feature for me is the mk2 Golf dials!
(https://i.postimg.cc/WbQjpn1Y/2289051-E-A688-4769-AB33-99-E1424186-A4.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/D8dRB1s1)
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@BanksyGTI. Oh my goodness yes that instrument cluster, I didn’t take that in. That is classic mk1.
When it rolled on stage I was, wow those wheels are homage to GTI wheels. They are trying to push the heritage links here.
They did everything but call it the new Golf. So interesting to see if this talk of ID Golf comes true. As a concept you can call it anything you like, so if no one likes it or they haven’t finalised plans then they don’t need to reverse it or have an embarrassing about turn.
Think you are right about taking a good hard look and revising the id3 template into an improved future range.
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That is a great looking car inside and out, but with the stated range, I can't see how it would cost less to build than an ID3 currently. They seem vague on the performance measure too with "<7s". They should be able to make a better guess than that, seeing as the 204ps ID3/Born is 7.3s and the 230ps E-boost Born is 6.6s, unless the impact of FWD and likely lots of tramping takes its toll. Its really puzzling why they'd ditch RWD for BEVs. With the uniform weight distribution (very heavy floorpan filled with battery cells, very low centre of gravity), my Born feels as stable as my Golf R was - nothing like an old BMW needing some paving slabs in the boot to counter the very light back end.
With those quoted charging figures, It would seem that the battery tech hasn't moved on at all.
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Apologies for going back to my S3 purchase, but I didn't want to start a new thread. I'm able to get a "factory" warranty extension to 5 years/90000 miles for the S3, but VW stopped us getting these years ago (I had one on my R) - the lack of consistency across VAG marques is just plain odd. I've taken up the extended warranty.
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@Monekeyhanger
That’s a good summary. Interesting to hear your thoughts on EV ownership and the charging woes with current network.
I agree - thank you very much Mr Monkey :)
All the tests on EV range I’ve seen suggest you need to knock 25-30% off the WLTP stated range and that’s in the (better) weather conditions. Looking at your previous post on winter range, things get really dicey on range.
As MH points out, its all do with ambient temps and also the WLTP figure is not based on pounding down a motorway at 60-70mph. The WLTP test involves stop-start which will allow for regeneration from braking. Pushing a 3 tonne housebrick down the road at a constant speed is very much worse.
WLTP really needs an extra figure for "motorway" but they won't because then people wouldn't buy them...
I think solid state batteries are the game changer the industry needs but that is going to be much later in the decade.
There are loads of touted battery designs that keep promising radical improvements but here we are cranking out the same old crap again and again.
The car OEMs are super slow at adopting new technology, always have been and it seems always will be.
Mind you, have you seen the German and Italian backlash about ending ICE in 2035 in the EU recently? I've no idea what the hell that is all about, but I presume something has changed....
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Id2 more interesting than the id3. I and many others don't need a large car. So a 4 metre long car is adequate for most uses. Also liking the mk1 dial option fingers crossed that makes it to the production option.
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EV will work for a lot of folk with drives and commutes, but have always thought the solutions would have to be across a range and that hydrogen would be one of them https://www.hagerty.co.uk/articles/news-articles/bmw-convinced-that-hydrogen-future/ (https://www.hagerty.co.uk/articles/news-articles/bmw-convinced-that-hydrogen-future/)
How it works https://www.bmw.com/en/innovation/how-hydrogen-fuel-cell-cars-work.html (https://www.bmw.com/en/innovation/how-hydrogen-fuel-cell-cars-work.html)
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Apologies for going back to my S3 purchase, but I didn't want to start a new thread. I'm able to get a "factory" warranty extension to 5 years/90000 miles for the S3, but VW stopped us getting these years ago (I had one on my R) - the lack of consistency across VAG marques is just plain odd. I've taken up the extended warranty.
That's really interesting, wonder if there is extended packages that encompass used S3 beyond the standard 12 months you get, will have to have a look into now,
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So long as it’s identifiable as a proper Golf rather than one of those limp ID efforts I’m all for it.
Darned if I’d be able to afford one at today’s prices but it would be nice to see the GTI move with the times and stay on top of its game rather than becoming an archaic anachronism.
Abarth look to have done a great job with the 500e so no reason why VW can’t do a slightly bigger and more grown up Golf EV in a similar vein.
The range of the e500 is still a bit crap though, relegating it to short range journeys, which , let's be honest suits 90% of the time for most people. Charging out and about for time/convenience/cost is where EVs fail.
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EV will work for a lot of folk with drives and commutes, but have always thought the solutions would have to be across a range and that hydrogen would be one of them https://www.hagerty.co.uk/articles/news-articles/bmw-convinced-that-hydrogen-future/ (https://www.hagerty.co.uk/articles/news-articles/bmw-convinced-that-hydrogen-future/)
How it works https://www.bmw.com/en/innovation/how-hydrogen-fuel-cell-cars-work.html (https://www.bmw.com/en/innovation/how-hydrogen-fuel-cell-cars-work.html)
Everyone says Hydrogen is too expensive/inefficient to generate, yet there are plenty of times they shut wind farms down because there's an electricity excess generation the grid can't do anything with. Using hydrogen generation to mop up all that excess energy going begging to be used seems ideal for hydrogen generation, maybe I'm being a bit too simplistic in my thinking there though.
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Took the 2CH dashcam out of my Born (90 mins to install, 12 minutes to remove) and gave it a final wash in readiness to sell to the Peterborough Seat/Cupra dealership on Monday.
Blew £100 unnecessarily on that Belfast flight as an incoming S3 closer to home popped up - Grimsby. Asked for £400 more discount than Belfast were giving and was agreed pretty much instantly (damn, should've asked for more!). Rebuffed all dealership extras and again, the car is waiting for a ship from Emden. Hopefully 1-2 weeks away.
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Took the 2CH dashcam out of my Born (90 mins to install, 12 minutes to remove) and gave it a final wash in readiness to sell to the Peterborough Seat/Cupra dealership on Monday.
Blew £100 unnecessarily on that Belfast flight as an incoming S3 closer to home popped up - Grimsby. Asked for £400 more discount than Belfast were giving and was agreed pretty much instantly (damn, should've asked for more!). Rebuffed all dealership extras and again, the car is waiting for a ship from Emden. Hopefully 1-2 weeks away.
Didn't you sign for the Belfast one?
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Took the 2CH dashcam out of my Born (90 mins to install, 12 minutes to remove) and gave it a final wash in readiness to sell to the Peterborough Seat/Cupra dealership on Monday.
Blew £100 unnecessarily on that Belfast flight as an incoming S3 closer to home popped up - Grimsby. Asked for £400 more discount than Belfast were giving and was agreed pretty much instantly (damn, should've asked for more!). Rebuffed all dealership extras and again, the car is waiting for a ship from Emden. Hopefully 1-2 weeks away.
Didn't you sign for the Belfast one?
I had reserved the Belfast one, but hadn't signed anything, as the easyjet flight was to go over and sign (really not sure why they couldn't do it remotely with Docusign/Adobe). All the red tape between NI/GB and having to register it 2 weeks before I could take it seemed a right faff. I was prepared to stomach that faff on the assumption I wouldn't get a better offer for an "in stock" (built but not shipped). Then one turned up 110 miles away with a better negotiated discount, so going with that one.
Given the recent drops in EV used values and having to offload mine, I will likely be car less for 2 weeks rather than 6 weeks.
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Took the 2CH dashcam out of my Born (90 mins to install, 12 minutes to remove) and gave it a final wash in readiness to sell to the Peterborough Seat/Cupra dealership on Monday.
Blew £100 unnecessarily on that Belfast flight as an incoming S3 closer to home popped up - Grimsby. Asked for £400 more discount than Belfast were giving and was agreed pretty much instantly (damn, should've asked for more!). Rebuffed all dealership extras and again, the car is waiting for a ship from Emden. Hopefully 1-2 weeks away.
Didn't you sign for the Belfast one?
I had reserved the Belfast one, but hadn't signed anything, as the easyjet flight was to go over and sign (really not sure why they couldn't do it remotely with Docusign/Adobe). All the red tape between NI/GB and having to register it 2 weeks before I could take it seemed a right faff. I was prepared to stomach that faff on the assumption I wouldn't get a better offer for an "in stock" (built but not shipped). Then one turned up 110 miles away with a better negotiated discount, so going with that one.
Given the recent drops in EV used values and having to offload mine, I will likely be car less for 2 weeks rather than 6 weeks.
Ah I see - hope it all goes well from here on