The Car Thread: Mark III

[Wools]

So we are downsizing, moving out of big country house and into a flat in town so won't need the AWD diesel Volvo anymore. Need something small ish, but not too small basically. Should I be looking at electric, plug in hybrid, hybrid petrol or something else? Thanks car nerds!

I think the key to what you want, is how would you be using your car?

Fully electric makes total sense in a city so I would say yes to one. But would you be commuting out the city, do you have family a long way away that requires big miles? If so, a petrol or hybrid may be best.

What are you and the family thinking?

[Jamie]

I switched to electric recently too, bought a BMW i4 M50. Crazy fast, really comfy and pretty practical too.

Thinking about swapping my wife's petrol Golf for something electric next too, would've looked at the Abarth but she needs something a bit bigger with more boot space. Maybe the ID3 or Cupra Born.

[CMcK]

I went electric two years ago with an ID3. Really like it and haven’t had any issues going on my regular longer journeys to Wales and England. It’s smooth, quiet, spacious, surprisingly quick and rear wheel drive with even weight distribution & a low centre of gravity means it’s fun for a C segment family hatch. Costs less than £4.50 to charge it on cheap night time leccy.

[Jamie]

Same here, no issues with range either. I get around 300 miles on a full charge and can charge up the battery to about 80% in 20 mins on a fast charger. Love always leaving home with a "full tank" too.

Will give ID3 a look.

[dataDave]

I wonder what it costs to recharge now vs a tank of petrol, have you done the math?

This is for the year, almost.



It's probably closer to half that, considering we're charging at 11kWh while we're generating between 4kWh and 6kWh with the solar. From 15-20% up to 80% comes in at about €4.

[CMcK]

Same here, no issues with range either. I get around 300 miles on a full charge and can charge up the battery to about 80% in 20 mins on a fast charger. Love always leaving home with a "full tank" too.

Will give ID3 a look.

I must admit I wouldn’t pay todays price for a new ID3 or Born but second hand they’ll be much better value.

[Brad]

I think the key to what you want, is how would you be using your car?

Fully electric makes total sense in a city so I would say yes to one. But would you be commuting out the city, do you have family a long way away that requires big miles? If so, a petrol or hybrid may be best.

What are you and the family thinking?

Once in a while a 40 minute trip to the office. Otherwise just pottering about around the town and outskirt villages. We will have a motorhome for when we take longer trips to far away places! I'm concerned about how I'd charge an all electric when living in a flat though.

[Blobcat]

Decided to finally leave the AA after years of being overcharged for a service I rarely use and hopefully not likely to use since I got a relatively new car. Last time I needed their help they said they couldn't come because I didn't have the at home cover so I spent something like £70 to upgrade and pay some admin cost to get them come over to look at my car which unexpectedly died when pulling out of parking one morning and was dead to the world (I had to roll it back in the space). Only for the guy to say he didn't know what the problem was, guessed it was the fuse for the battery which I would need to take it to/ get from a specialist Nissan dealer which both nearest options are 2 towns away each direction. He then said he was sure my partner or dad could fix it if they had a socket wrench set and the part which is where I said I was better off fixing it myself.

That was 2 years ago and I have since changed cars (I ended up buying the part off Ebay and fixing it myself with a borrowed wrench kit). Over £30 a month with the cost of living was too much, but I would like some breakdown cover mainly to cover my ass when I drive far to see my mum and family. Any recommendations? I was looking at possibly the RAC.

[Wools]

Once in a while a 40 minute trip to the office. Otherwise just pottering about around the town and outskirt villages. We will have a motorhome for when we take longer trips to far away places! I'm concerned about how I'd charge an all electric when living in a flat though.

That is one of the issues with all electric cars; Your ability to charge at home will dictate what you want or need. The Abarth 500e Tourismo I'm looking at wouldn't work for people who can't charge at home. But if you can charge at home, the possibilities open up.

A Tesla or Polestar may be great for you so you can leave on a street, then plan on charging when you leave, if the journey allows. But if you want something more dynamic and fun, you may be looking at a much shorter range than those 2.

Prop Tip: Take a look at the Cupra Born which has only just come out and getting some good reviews.

On a side note; I went for a test drive in the Abarth and adored it. It was a lot more fun to drive than I thought, it was like a Tardis inside and so small from the outside. The alcantara everywhere was a nice step up from my M2C and the panoramic roof and other goodies are really impressive. The drawbacks of a small boot, small back seats and smaller range of something like a Born pales into he background as I enjoyed it so much.

I've done a deal to pay off my finance for my M2C and got more cash than I expected, so that covers the deposit fully, so it's an even more impressive deal. Will sleep on it this week and have till next weekend on the current offer. Very tempted.

That was 2 years ago and I have since changed cars (I ended up buying the part off Ebay and fixing it myself with a borrowed wrench kit). Over £30 a month with the cost of living was too much, but I would like some breakdown cover mainly to cover my ass when I drive far to see my mum and family. Any recommendations? I was looking at possibly the RAC.

I'm sorry to hear that Blob, really ****ty behaviour from the AA guy.

I must admit, I've not had any issues with AA myself. I get their most basic cover a day up front (Around £90 a year) and the few times I've used them, just pay a bit more for the blindside I've not paid for. Worked so far! Sounds like you're paying quite a lot per month, are you paying for an all signing grade of AA cover?

[charlesr]

In the future, flat owners will just park their car on the road and wirelessly charge from under the road I guess. Like wireless phone charging.

[fishbowlhead]

In the future, flat owners will just park their car on the road and wirelessly charge from under the road I guess. Like wireless phone charging.

No, they won’t, because the grid simply can’t handle even 10% of cars being electric and charging all the time, the infrastructure doesn’t exist nor does the power capacity.

I’m really not understanding the mentality that electric should be pushed ahead with, its a dead duck long term and just as environmentally bad as petrol due to the mining of lithium and the process to make batteries.

Combustion hydrogen engines are the only way forward for the planet, not the stupid half arsed efforts that are currently on the road, but the full combustion engines being tested that run on hydrogen.


Edit. Also that kind of tech would require the roads to actually be maintained, thats not going to happen.

[dataDave]

He did say future. So that could be around the year 2650, when F-Zero is supposed to take place.

[Lebowski]

No, they won’t, because the grid simply can’t handle even 10% of cars being electric and charging all the time, the infrastructure doesn’t exist nor does the power capacity.

I’m really not understanding the mentality that electric should be pushed ahead with, its a dead duck long term and just as environmentally bad as petrol due to the mining of lithium and the process to make batteries.

Combustion hydrogen engines are the only way forward for the planet, not the stupid half arsed efforts that are currently on the road, but the full combustion engines being tested that run on hydrogen.


Edit. Also that kind of tech would require the roads to actually be maintained, thats not going to happen.

I was listening to a podcast about this recently, where experts where talking about this as the replacement fuel source of the future, the only sticking point i can see is that its massively more combustible than natural gas, using this in your cars and homes is a massive safety concern as it ignites a lot more easily than natural gas, its flame is nearly invisible and it make steel brittle.

[fishbowlhead]

I was listening to a podcast about this recently, where experts where talking about this as the replacement fuel source of the future, the only sticking point i can see is that its massively more combustible than natural gas, using this in your cars and homes is a massive safety concern as it ignites a lot more easily than natural gas, its flame is nearly invisible and it make steel brittle.

Realistically its the only way for the planet to go forward, fusion power plants aren't suddenly going to pop up everywhere and provide clean abundant energy to charge all these vehicles suddenly put on the grids, and even if they did, there's not a hope in hells chance of there being anywhere near enough lithium to make all the batteries. I mean sure there's other stuff in the pipeline like graphene batteries, but they have been banging this drum for decades with nothing practical to show for it, and there has been absolutely nothing come along that can practically replace lithium batteries.

Safety concerns about hydrogen aside, existing engines can be converted to run the fuel, existing infrastructures can be converted to handle the fuel, and it just burns off as water. The safety issues can be worked out.

[Neon Ignition]