Electric Boogaloo

[Phmode]

But...buying an ex-rental might be a good idea. Let's face it, every ice car has had the nuts, bolts, screws and washers, cogs, gears and other reciprocating wotnots  thrashed off it since before it was ruined in. No such nuts, bolts, screws or washers, cogs, gears or other reciprocating wotnots to be thrashed on an electric vehicle.

Even the brakes will have had an easier time of it what with the 'one-pedal driving' malarkey.

[Matt]

But...buying an ex-rental might be a good idea. Let's face it, every ice car has had the nuts, bolts, screws and washers, cogs, gears and other reciprocating wotnots  thrashed off it since before it was ruined in. No such nuts, bolts, screws or washers, cogs, gears or other reciprocating wotnots to be thrashed on an electric vehicle.

Even the brakes will have had an easier time of it what with the 'one-pedal driving' malarkey.

I keep forgetting to mention that. Or forgetting I mentioned it.

One pedal driving in this car is super. I started my driving life using 3 pedals, then got to two, and now to one! I don't think the retardation is adjustable, it's just on or off for this car, but it's great on these roads, and predictable. It also worked great on a 10km stretch of proper steep gravel stuff I had to do. Was better at stopping the car without slipping than when I tried the actual brakes.

[chriscanning]

But...buying an ex-rental might be a good idea. Let's face it, every ice car has had the nuts, bolts, screws and washers, cogs, gears and other reciprocating wotnots  thrashed off it since before it was ruined in. No such nuts, bolts, screws or washers, cogs, gears or other reciprocating wotnots to be thrashed on an electric vehicle.

Even the brakes will have had an easier time of it what with the 'one-pedal driving' malarkey.

Perfect example of what I am on about,this electric thing is all very well when they have got going.but they haven’t18 months from now (at least) but what will happen one electric motor will come out on top and that’s just the motor,I had a situation where as the whole mountain bike trade changed spec and left us all high and dry.

Its where we are all at risk trying comparing our old internal combustion history to all this electric stuff,it’s a completely different ball game which isn’t a problem so long as one knows what one is getting into 😄

[farmer]

in answer to phmode, in a field or farmyard the speed is below when the steering assist kicks in... think it's 15 mph...maybe 20, as for the mountain....it's just too shiny and i haven't got the heart to do it.
as for electric, i think there is a lack of charge points outside the big cities/towns. brother has had a plug in hybrid for a while now and his biggest gripe is chargers not working...or disappearing ocassionaly. afew years ago the powers that be decided if a charger wasn't being used enough they uprooted it and placed it in a different site...so the small town chargers headed to big towns. that said they are more common now.
i don't see them as able to replace the i.c.e yet ...for haulage and distance work any way, cities could be the exception but going from country area to country area they aren't a realistic replacement.... yet.
electric motors are by and large similar, more poles, brushless even bearingless one now but i don't see major improvements there, batteries could be where its at.... thats a job for smart people.
anywho.. hope new zealand is nice, great to be where there are no snakes !!

[Matt]

Well I'm back now and today had to take my car in for some recall work. Something about an airbag not deploying, or overly deploying. It was the passenger one so I stopped reading after that bit.

Last time in I had some A class pretending to be a C class (An A class with a boot, or something, like the Jetta, whatever we call that), and this time they gave me a 200 mile old EQC.

Off I toddled and had a few surprising moments when I put my foot down and it went. Some faffing with the display told me it was dual motor (one front, one back).

Once home and after my morning sit-down-stand-up I googled to find it's just over 400hp. But with a range of maybe 190 miles at this time of year, varying greatly based on how used.

I have to admit - don't even think about trying to stop me admitting - that it was quite nice. I've never driven an SUV style thing before, but I still made it through some width restriction stuff by me without trouble placing the wheels. Not sure how it differs width wise to mine though. Ok it's 4 inches wider. Steering is a bit fluffy, not as weighty as I'd like, but like all modern cars it has "modes" so maybe they alter it amongst the other stuff.

It uses front/rear/all wheel drive based on demand and some other stuff I haven't thought much about yet. Pretty hilarious to floor it around 30mph and it jumps forward. I did that in my E350 leaving the dealer and it just span the rear after a second spooling up.

So yes, another quiet EV, refined, different to the Niro, but I'd have to drive both in the UK to determine my personal preference. EQCs are somewhat "cheap" though as current gen ones are now appearing 3 year, end of lease age.

[richtea]

Definitely getting affordable secondhand. Good BHP per £k.

[chriscanning]

Re reading this god know what the exclamation mark was doing so re-done e’m,but getting back to electric mountain bike the talk is always Shimano/Bosch/Brose we’re as cars are still only ‘Electric

Out of interesting how many of you have ditched your lead/acid batteries???

[Matt]

Definitely getting affordable secondhand. Good BHP per £k.

Yeah this and the early etron are now under 30k for early examples. Oh and the ipace. Alas the range is the stumbling block, but most 400hp cars are probably under 300 miles... Maybe! My old 325i wasn't much bryong 300. This dirty diesel has spoiled me with the nearly 600 mile range.

Edit: forgot some piccies

[Belco100]

Can't make my mind up on this, but I might be getting a EQC400.

Lots of good points - nice car, four wheel drive, reasonable boot space (for two dogs).

Bad points - real world range of 240 miles in summer dropping to 175 in winter . But looking at my current use it will only be a problem a few times a year - going to Birmingham for the bike show for example. All other big journeys are by bike.

Not even got it and have range anxiety.

[black-k1]

A friend of mine is looking at this. He has sent some time looking very carefully at his travel needs and has come to the conclusion that electric will work (4 wheels) but he has to allow a budget to cover hire cars for those occasions when greater range is needed.

[Matt]

Can't make my mind up on this, but I might be getting a EQC400.

Lots of good points - nice car, four wheel drive, reasonable boot space (for two dogs).

Bad points - real world range of 240 miles in summer dropping to 175 in winter . But looking at my current use it will only be a problem a few times a year - going to Birmingham for the bike show for example. All other big journeys are by bike.

Not even got it and have range anxiety.

Woo! I'm still going back and forth doing all the mental gymnastics.

Way I see it, at this price point (25-30k if we're talking sensible and used ones) there are three options, although one of em I've mostly discounted:

1. 2020+ Jaguar I-Pace
 Pro: Roughly this time it got a facelift which at least removed one of the troublesome 12v batteries, and maybe fixed the windscreen, plus better computery bits
 Con: Possibly still an issue with windscreens coming free of the frame and letting water in.
 Pro: If you buy it used-approved (which is still possible in the above budget) you can generally get a 2 year warranty, some kind of deposit contribution, and also a charge point installation at home.
 Con: Apparently Jaguar dealers. But also they forgot to ramp up spares production after the apocalypse so can take a while for any work to be done.
 Pro/Con: More sport over comfort, handling/suspension wise

2. 2020+ Mercedes EQC
 Pro: I think it's nice inside (though have yet to try the others)
 Con: Range seems possibly a bit worse than the Jaguar, but it's so difficult to know for sure. For every "it low range!" there's another one saying "it find for me!"
 Pro/Con: More comfort over sporty, handling/suspension wise
 Con: More difficult to get in the above budget from a dealer at present

3. 2020+ Audi e-tron 55
 Pro: Apparently the most comfortable
 Con: Pretty much universal acknowledgement that range is worse than the above two
 


Or something. I'm hungry and brain isn't working properly. One thing I really want with whichever, is the auto steering thing for the motorway. It's such a faff understanding this as every manufacturer calls it something different, and every one also has the EU5 or wtf lane departure thing to muddy the water. From what I can tell, the Jag HSE will have it by default, the EQC needs Premium Plus trim-level, and the Audi I believe has it by default.

Oh, and I think all of these fall into the whole pandemic chip shortage world of fun, where bits and bobs may be missing for 2021 onwards. In any case, whichever car I reckon an ideally-manufacturer approved warranty is a must!

[richtea]

One thing I really want with whichever, is the auto steering thing for the motorway.

I would have never have auto-steering unless it's off by default, like cruise control. It's bad enough having 'city braking' where the bloody car thinks I'm about to ram the hedge I'm parking towards. Grrr.

You're led to believe you can relax and take less care driving - like many people take much care anyway. "Let the car do it, sir, it won't make mistakes like you do."

When everything on the road is autosteering and utterly predictable that will be fine. That may never happen.

Next they'll take my gears away, I tell you.

[Matt]

Yeah the trouble with the two I've tried above, and actually all cars post maybe this year or last, is that regs now say the lane keeping assist has to be on by default.

To be clear I turned it off every time I started the car. The 2nd level, auto steer thing, I'd use on the motorway only. Although the near empty NZ motorways were probably ideal places for this. I might hate it in the busy UK!

[Phmode]

is that regs now say the lane keeping assist has to be on by default.

There will be a dongle thingle that plugs into the OBD port to turn it to off. It's like my stop/start phaff that is permanently off thanks to one of those wotnots.

[Phmode]

Next they'll take my gears away, I tell you.

Mini has already (announced it has?) made its last car with a manual gearbox.

At least when all cars are auto-steering the idiots won't be turning right in front of bikers.