Looking at buying a new car

[John Bennett]

Granny charger is the 3 pin uk plug we use . Called a granny charger as it charges the slowest

Yeah, I just use a 13A mains socket adaptor for my hybrid.
Charges about 3kWh / 4 miles in an hour, so I guess applied to other cars, that would get you about 50 miles of distance if you left it charging for 12 Hours (although miles per kWh values seem to vary massively between cars - mine's about 2 miles, some quote over 4!)

 

[tb lilley]

I quite like the look of the Volvo EX30. I currently drive a 3 year old 2 litre diesel Range Rover Evoque. Auto. Most of the toys. Full leather. Which is a nice car from a swanning about point of view. But it's all fairly academic as I'm retired, and live just outside a small town, and nothing is ever more than a 5 minute drive away. I do less than 5,000 miles a year. Still - I do worry about something going wrong on the Range. I was recently quoted £1200 by the main dealer to replace a key ... Anyway, having a lot of work done on the house in next few months and I've included fitting an EV charger into those works.

 

[ZedEx48K]

I do worry about something going wrong on the Range. I was recently quoted £1200 by the main dealer to replace a key ... Anyway, having a lot of work done on the house in next few months and I've included fitting an EV charger into those works.

You can get a guy with a laptop to open the car in about 30 seconds anyway

 

[Chihiro]

I quite like the look of the Volvo EX30. I currently drive a 3 year old 2 litre diesel Range Rover Evoque. Auto. Most of the toys. Full leather. Which is a nice car from a swanning about point of view. But it's all fairly academic as I'm retired, and live just outside a small town, and nothing is ever more than a 5 minute drive away. I do less than 5,000 miles a year. Still - I do worry about something going wrong on the Range. I was recently quoted £1200 by the main dealer to replace a key ... Anyway, having a lot of work done on the house in next few months and I've included fitting an EV charger into those works.

My mate who works at Fujitsu...has one of those on company car they are Made in China (as Volvo is nearly 80% Chinese now) we went out for a spin it was very Tesla inside but fast & we dusted a ice BMW at the lights.

 

[tb lilley]

You can get a guy with a laptop to open the car in about 30 seconds anyway

This is true.

They write to me quite a lot - telling me to bring the car in for a security update. The problem there is (or so they tell me) that the more secure they make the car, the more they then have to charge me for a replacement key.

The car has 13,000 miles on it. It went on for its 10,000 mile service June last year. £550. That was for an oil change and a couple of filters. They must be getting close to being able to give their cars away, what with what they're making on servicing.

 

[TheDaddy]

Lots to choose from , i went for a Kia nero electric and its great ! A bit shit in wet / icy weather but the ABS is great so when you do slip it corrects you. I can do 310 in summer but winter its about 230 ish. One of my favourites bits is pressing the defrost button and 8 minutes later its completly clear !! Chuckling a few weeks ago at next door neigbour scraping away whilst freezing his tits off ! Lol

I looked at a few different ones but only had £20000 and the nero was just shy of that at 3 years old. The EV6 i would have loved but they were nearer £30000 and i was not willing to go that high.

Electric is great IF you are charging at home (I charge at work for free !) , if you are doing long journeys and need to charge at public chargers it works out more than a petrol car.

I would not go back now , i will upgrade this ib a few years ir so maybe. 7 year warranty on the KIA is great as well. I have a couple of minor issues all fixed under warranty.

Good luck !

Dave.

 

[John Bennett]

The range is a bit shit, it's not super quick and it's marmite looks, but I love the Honda E. Shame they stopped making it.
They went for top-spec (the dashboard is literally a panoramic fish tank with rear view cameras) rather than range.
A head-turner anyway and probably one of the few modern cars that'll be collectable in future.
I'd have one for a runaround if I didn't already have 4 cars

 

[Chihiro]

That's another point about having decent car now some git will pinch it with a lappy I read somewhere its getting so bad some people just go back to something old & normal.

I think ev is better for town & local stuff just a pain when you see family half way across the country as my sister in law found out.

But at lest ev is bringing back rwd something mostly lost.

 

[agent4125]

Not that I'm a fan of Elon in any way, but my Tesla model 3 has been the best car I've ever had by a country mile. I had a home charger from EO, it was shit and broke, so just used granny charger now no probs.

Car started with 360 range, I've had it 4 years now and it's down to around 340 range now, so not too bad.

Octopus here and charge over night on cheap rate, but with smart charging they often give us hours during the day with is nice as you can cook a roast dinner or whatever for next to nothing. Lots of free electricity windows with them too. Last summer I don't think I paid for charging for a month or two due to all the free electricity windows they kept giving us (I had the eo faster charger then)

Car has literally been a joy to drive. Decent space inside, very fast, comfy, amazing sound system. Only had 1 service so far, another due imminently. Last time all they did was change the Aircon filter!

Insurance for me is £560, which was the same as my previous Volvo XC90.

Charging when out was easy with the supercharger network. I think they opened them up to other EVs now.

Been nice not paying car tax to, but that's about to change annoyingly.

 

[mlynn]

you whole house loses electricity when you turn it off?

I assume you have a single RCD or dual RCD setup and an earth fault is causing that to trip and switching off other circuits?

Get a good electrician. This guy has a few videos on EV installation:

There is one EV charger where the guidance has changed.

Other links:

IET EngX® Wiring Regulations Discussions

Questions on electrical systems design, electrical installations and BS7671 Wiring Regulations.

engx.theiet.org

 

[Vorbis]

I assume you have a single RCD or dual RCD setup and an earth fault is causing that to trip and switching off other circuits?

Get a good electrician. This guy has a few videos on EV installation:

There is one EV charger where the guidance has changed.

Other links:

IET EngX® Wiring Regulations Discussions

Questions on electrical systems design, electrical installations and BS7671 Wiring Regulations.

engx.theiet.org

There's no trip, just when you turn off the separate box the EV charger is wired into it also turns off the power to the rest of the house.

 

[kingtreelo]

well, just got back from picking my new car up, went for a Mustang Mach EX in the end, beautiful beautiful car

drive it home about an hour, went to change the gears more than once

 

[LawmanAUT]

I bought an Tesla 3 dual 2019 at November 2024, after driving combustion car´s for 30 years. On the 2nd day of ownership, I knew I dont go back and dont regret my choice.
Sure, I had thoughts about battery and so, but
a) Tesla warranty for drivetrain and battery until March 2027
b) bought 1y warranty from the dealer for 390,- €, and I am able to continue purchasing warranty for another 2 years.

It´s like driving 2.0, I love it!
Andi

 

[Vorbis]

I'm sure it's a great car, but I couldn't in good conscience buy anything made by a company controlled by Musk. I'd rather walk

 

[Vorbis]

well, just got back from picking my new car up, went for a Mustang Mach EX in the end, beautiful beautiful car

drive it home about an hour, went to change the gears more than once

Other than the name not suiting it, lovely car.

 

[kingtreelo]

Other than the name not suiting it, lovely car.

yeah, its very SUV like, and also bloody big

 

[Vorbis]

yeah, its very SUV like, and also bloody big

I still can't get over the new Capri 😭

 

[kingtreelo]

I still can't get over the new Capri 😭

Crapi would have been more apt

 

[John Bennett]

I'm sure it's a great car, but I couldn't in good conscience buy anything made by a company controlled by Musk. I'd rather walk

'Swasticar' seems to be the new in-word 😬.
I suppose buying second hand isn't directly handing of tens of thousands to that arsehole.

There semes to be a fair few Teslas tearing around the roads and weaving in and out of traffic in a way they never used to - I'm guessing now they're a lot cheaper second hand, you get a... broader customer base buying them. 0-60 in 3.5 seconds is incredible, I just never found them interesting enough (probably as there's squillions of them around), but I hear nothing but good things from owners.

 

[kingtreelo]

'Swasticar' seems to be the new in-word 😬.
I suppose buying second hand isn't directly handing tens of tens of thousands to that arsehole.

There semes to be a fair few Teslas tearing around the roads and weaving in and out of traffic in a way they never used to - I'm guessing now they're a lot cheaper second hand, you get a... broader customer base buying them. 0-60 in 3.5 seconds is incredible, I just never found them interesting enough (probably as there's squillions of them around), but I hear nothing but good things from owners.

yeah, the second hand market for them has dipped a lot, we tried one and my wife thought it was great, very very basic inside though, like an Apple car

if the boot had been bigger on the 3 i may have been tempted, but i also hear the insurance is crazy for them due to the speed