schmurnanAny of my UK followers got an #EV? Thinking of taking the plunge but need a sensible conversation (i.e. not asking angry people on reddit)
Slab Bulkhead@schmurnan You may want to see if @tillathenun is willing to chat. He has owned several EVs and driven many of them all over the UK and Europe.
Suzy Richards@schmurnan I've had a few over the years. Do you have off road parking at home where you could have a charger fitted? EV life is a lot easier if you can.
@serichards hey šš» we have a driveway and luckily already have a home wall charger because my wife currently has a PHEV šš»
MrRob.in 
š¬š§@schmurnan Iām a proper old school petrolhead and wasnāt very enthusiastic about #EV until I joined the fediverse and information and guidance from peeps like @serichards and @FlanFlinger persuaded me to consider them.
14 months ago our 2003 RAV4 died and we had to replace it with something. Had to be cheap to run and reliable and auto. Diesel and CVT gearboxes were an absolute no and the car had to be fun quirkyā¦
@schmurnan @serichards @FlanFlinger
ā¦ We chose a 2018 #SoulEV with the only compromises being the 100 mile winter range and only just big enough boot. We have only had to use public charging three times in a year
But year on and we are back in contact w/ daughter 100 miles is only just enough to get there and back so we considered chopping in the Soul
for an Gen 1 #e_Niro which although dull as ditch water meets our requirements perfectly.
The only problem was we couldnāt let go of the Soulā¦
@schmurnan @serichards @FlanFlinger
ā¦ so now we have two #EV and a v8 campervan š¤·āāļøš¤£
thefathippyI can't comment on the UK, but I much prefer driving my EV over my old Mazda CX3. All I really missed was shifting gears for corners, or hitting the right revs for a quick overtake.
1500km in & I couldn't care less. Even the slowest EV I tested (Ora) was quicker than my CX3, more torque & power, instantly available. I bought a fast one (MG4 XPower), but only use Sport mode for fun. Normal is sensible, but the power's there, Eco is more sensible, but still quicker than my CX3.
1/3
Charging. I have solar and charge very slowly with daylight. I have a garage and off street parking. So I have options. It's much harder if you don't.
Public charging can be very expensive to rely on - on a par with petrol in some places. I hope to rarely use it, some depend on it.
Service costs/frequency vary heaps between brands. Here, warranties vary from Tesla at 4y, to MG at 10y.
Using controls. Buttons or menus? Responsive screen? Voice control?
2/3
Do their safety nannies work well, or are they easily disabled?
How much range do you really need? I wanted a long range, but realised I haven't driven more than 300km a day in decades (I ride motos long distances) & anywhere I was likely to go would have chargers on the way.
How is software updated? Dealer free, dealer $$, or over the air? Get them to update as part of the deal.
I really like mine. I can't see myself buying a new ICE car again.
Be sure to test drive a few!
@thefathippy thanks man, all useful stuff! I think the EV6 (and probably EV3) have a load of physical buttons rather than touch controls, their range is more than I need (in a good way) and they apparently look like a traditional car on the inside. The Tesla is more āinnovativeā with everything controlled through the touch screen. Range-wise, I do a few 100-mile trips to Sheffield and back, the odd trip to CenterParcs and back. Not much more other than the commute.
IMO, being like a regular car is an enormous help to new users. We shouldn't have to relearn how to drive.
Teslas seem good, but *I* definitely don't want to do everything by screen. Turning a knob or pushing a button can be by no-look feel - much safer.
If you want to do 200 miles without charging, you'll want a WLTP of about 250 to give a safety buffer, Charge to 100% before leaving. If you top up at Sheffield, almost all EVs would work.
Kias get great reviews. š
@thefathippy I donāt think I have the mechanism to charge in Sheffield (friends we visit donāt have an EV), but I think itās around 95 miles so provided we have something with 250, as you say itās doable. The cars Iām looking at all have a touted range of 320+ so I should be fine. The controls such as climate, etc. wouldnāt bother me being on the screen; but I donāt think Iād get used to the speedometer being on there!
Jaime Visser@schmurnan Not from the UK but have driven my EV in the UK a few times. I switched slowly from a hybrid (Toyota Auris) to PHEV (Mitsubishi Outlander) to EV (2019 Tesla model 3, 2024 Tesla Model 3). With short range the PHEV was actually more of a hassle with charging. Driveway or garage charging is optimal but Superchargers are surprisingly cheap for Tesla owners. Between Superchargers and Fastned even long trips are a breeze. Feel free to ask if you want to know more about driving an #EV .
Richard Knott@schmurnan south London based, park in the street and have had a EV for 2.5 years, 25k miles. Most regular trip is to my mother, I work there one day a week to keep her company 30 miles away and drive to France every other month, about 500 mile trip. Done a few long trips in te uk, longest was to Cornwall this year, seen a saving of roughly Ā£1k a year in fuel, and Ā£300 in service costs.
@schmurnan I check for charging location ps on longer trips but other than that the car does the rest. Not noticed significant travel time increases, plan eating when the carās charging on long trips.
Something else I did before buying was checking for charging options for other common trips, like going to my sister or family on the south coast, usually found infrastructure better than expected (supercharger 5 minutes from sister, close than to me, slightly annoying š)
Something else I did before buying was checking for charging options for other common trips, like going to my sister or family on the south coast, usually found infrastructure better than expected (supercharger 5 minutes from sister, close than to me, slightly annoying š)
@richardknott see, real world examples of how doable EVs are for longer trips. The country is crippled with fear and range anxiety! What EV do you have, if you donāt mind me asking?
This is why the Tesla cars are so good for anyone that has range anxiety. All charging stops are all planned for you. You turn up and just plug in the car. No cards, apps or anything. It tells you when you can go and what battery percentage you will have at the destination.
I had other EVs before and would be scouring ZapMap and making plans for charging stops and spending ages looking for chargers that were the reliable networks in roughly the right place.
@serichards @schmurnan I believe the polestar will do so, based on Andrew tillās most recent video @tillathenun
My brother in law recently got one, but hasnāt done any long trips yet. (Heās been to Cambridge once but doesnāt count as long in my book)
https://youtu.be/YR1hEukgJ-Y?si=EeBIqiYd-NfOW50T
My brother in law recently got one, but hasnāt done any long trips yet. (Heās been to Cambridge once but doesnāt count as long in my book)
https://youtu.be/YR1hEukgJ-Y?si=EeBIqiYd-NfOW50T
A long(ish) journey using Google Maps in the Polestar 2. How easy is it?
@richardknott @serichards @tillathenun as a former Volvo V60 owner the Polestar really appealed to me. I like the Polestar 4 but not sure I could get used to no rear window. Plus itās more expensive than the other cars. Arenāt Polestar supposed to be on the verge of going bust? Or was that a rumour?
@schmurnan Erm, Tesla model 3 LR. He wasnāt (or at least publicly) nuts when I bought it