Thanks @Monkeyhanger. It’s good to see your thoughts again and it’s interesting to read about your experiences with all your vehicles.
Would you say in addition to the urban driving being better suited to EVs, is A road travel a good use of an EV (putting aside handling question)
Yes some of the ultra rapid charger (and even fast charger) prices are ridiculous from what I have seen. What I do find interesting is the Tesla superchargers which are Open to all are down in 51-59p per kWh range (lower if you take out the monthly subscription but that is only worth it with doing a lot of miles).
I notice a lot of VAG group were doing or are doing 0% PCP but these are mainly end of line before facelifts. But do you think a 0% deal (2 or 3yr) would make some sense? But would the GFV have to be a reasonable level or else your monthly payment is just covering the huge depreciation the EV would sustain.
It’s just interesting to see the evolution of the EV happening and now that more “normal” cars are appearing as EVs rather than constant stream of SUV derivatives makes it more interesting.
I do have a drive so home charging would be possible but the wider charging network for those times when you have to stray beyond your range does mean you need to go into it with your eyes open.
Don’t think I would be jumping this year, but it’s just interesting to read your own real world experiences and so interesting you got back into ICE via the S3. how are you enjoying it?
As @Hertsman has already said with cost of new cars, mine is more than likely a second hand one.
For me, the best thing about EV driving is remote car preheating in the Winter.
I would say that if you have no possibility of home charging, don't even think about an EV until you have to.
They drive fine in a sterile sort of way, as I said, a one trick pony in the 0-62 times for most of them, but it requires no skill at all to launch. Even the mundane EVs will beat most exotic petrol cars 0-20mph - instant full torque from 0 rpm.
Something I didn't mention is that this new Born will weigh about 160kg more than mine due to that bigger battery, I can't see VAG being able to hide that weight with better handling than the 58kWh version that I have.
The Born (and ID3) are a change from the usual SUV horde of EVs, and inside it's got an interior as big as a Passat (less bonnet, more cabin).
They drive fine for no thrills driving. Until they can get battery tech that allows for 1500kg kerb weight to make them nimble, driving a powerful EV is going to be like driving an unladen Arctic lorry cab.
The brake regen is fairly effective at levelling the playing field on terms of an uneconomic driving mode. I'm 20% more efficient than the wife in the S3 (good anticipations, coming off the accelerator earlier rather than braking late). In the Born, there's 5% between us. It doesn't replace braking, but I'd say 80% of my slowing down in the Born is covered by regen, which is about 70% efficient in recovering momentum rather than converting it to brake disk/pad heat.
The residuals on BEVs are too shaky right now to buy a new one. Buy a 2 year old one for half price (or less). I wouldn't have bought the Born new if I'd known how far the residuals would tumble.We bought 2 Borns off the back of buying 2 ID3s at a bargain price (£28k paid, on a £36k RRP) in 2021, and selling them a year later for £38k (where trade were selling them to Uber drivers for £44k as the Ukraine war had buggered supply of key components).
We bought 2 Borns at the height of the bubble for full RRP (£38.5k), so man maths says they only cost us £28k.
After getting a job that required a once a month 480 mile round trip, that Born commute became a PITA - rapid charging prices doubled, as more people got EVs, there seemed to be a 60% chance you would arrive at a charger due to necessity, to find it occupied and having to wait to get on it, and then wait 40 mins for the actual charge - I just wanted to get home. I sold my Born (wife kept hers, and it works well as a second car) at a time that almost no trader was touching BEVs, following Teslas shock £9k RRP drop absolutely devastating used values and leaving a lot of traders out of pocket. I got £31.2k for it a year old and consider myself lucky to get that, had to really ask about to get someone to buy it.
I do think that everyone who wanted a new BEV with their own money has had their curiosity satisfied and have generally been stung. The supply of new BEVs is pretty much just company cars propped up by rock bottom BiK.
My neighbour has his own business and got a Merc EQC 400 EV through it. The lease was up next year, but he gave it back early to get a Ford Ranger Thunder double cab pick up - read into that what you will.
