For help, advice and discussion about stuff not related to aviation. Play nice: no religion, no politics and no axe grinding please.
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By PeteSpencer
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1786162
I never thought I'd hear myself saying this but when 'er indoors' Polo dies , its gonna be a Hybrid electric vehicle for replacement.

Not that she ever does journeys of more than 25 miles locally, in the winter she'd either have to freeze to death or run down the battery of a BEV in the first ten miles with the heating up full blast....

Peter :roll:
Flyin'Dutch' liked this
#1786289
PeteSpencer wrote:I never thought I'd hear myself saying this but when 'er indoors' Polo dies , its gonna be a Hybrid electric vehicle for replacement.

Not that she ever does journeys of more than 25 miles locally, in the winter she'd either have to freeze to death or run down the battery of a BEV in the first ten miles with the heating up full blast....

Peter :roll:

In any of the BEVs on the market now she will be absolutely fine even in the depths of winter, use the app to preheat and defrost and she will thank you for ever! The battery temperature has more effect than any heater use. The extra advantage of not having to stand on a freezing cold and wet petrol station for fuel will be even better.
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By JonathanB
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1786303
malcolmfrost wrote:The extra advantage of not having to stand on a freezing cold and wet petrol station for fuel will be even better.


I’ve been trying to explain this to my wife when she moans about having to plug in and unplug my PHEV when she uses it. That and the number of times you suddenly realise on the way to work that you forgot to fill up your ICE car on the way home!
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By stevelup
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1786309
Malcolm mentioned it above, but for me, the single biggest benefit of having a decent PHEV or EV is preconditioning.

It is absolutely fantastic getting into an already cool car in summer, or an already warm and fully defrosted car in winter.

That alone is worth the price of admission in my opinion.
#1786317
Interesting; my Model 3 arrived 51 weeks ago and I have yet to use the pre-heating or pre-cooling feature once. Admittedly it is ordinarily in a garage so doesn't freeze up, and I don't do a regular commute, but I just don't think to do it. Maybe I ought to ... :shock:
#1786329
Colonel Panic wrote:Interesting; my Model 3 arrived 51 weeks ago and I have yet to use the pre-heating or pre-cooling feature once. Admittedly it is ordinarily in a garage so doesn't freeze up, and I don't do a regular commute, but I just don't think to do it. Maybe I ought to ... :shock:

During the really hot period my car which is parked outside and after 2pm is fully in the sun was reaching 50+C so putting the cooling on (which the 3 will also do automatically) was brilliant! Going to work in the winter and not having to do any scraping? Priceless!
When people talk about time spent charging, they discount the roughly 10 min spent by ICE drivers every time they refill, and it's not like you can wander off and grab a coffee, you have to stand there :D Most of us only need external charging on long journeys anyway.
By riverrock
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1786400
I can do it on my Zoe from app, on a timer or from the key fob. I assume most EVs are similar.

On servicing, repairs etc - I believe in the states you must get your Tesla serviced or fixed by a Tesla authorised repair shop - they refuse to sell parts to anyone else (so you can't repair yourself or get an independent garage to repair / service). Is that the same in Europe? There were also significant delays in any repairs at one stage ( https://www.driving.co.uk/news/features ... t-repairs/ ) - is it still the same now?

I got my Zoe to be serviced by my local independent garage. It was their first EV - no issues on a standard service ("service" was really just a check of all the mechanical bits and change one cabin air filter).
By avtur3
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1786659
Flyin'Dutch' wrote:The mini-Panzer's lease expires before the first service is due. Another massive advantage of BEVs - no regular visits to the dealer/garage.


I can't remember which manfuacturer it was but I've just read that one of them has introduced a requirement for "battery coolant replacement" every four years at £650 a pop!

Being of a cynical disposition I'm expecting to see more extra's like this creep into the EV ownership experience, notwithstanding that the mechanics of an EV are fundamentally simpler and should require less attention. The problem is dealers have businesses to run and people to employ and pay and profit to generate.

That's not a knock against EV's, but any 'cost-saving' aspect of running an EV is going to come at someone's expense, and some will be looking to maintain incomes in a different way.
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By Flyin'Dutch'
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1786664
avtur3 wrote:Being of a cynical disposition I'm expecting to see more extra's like this creep into the EV ownership experience, notwithstanding that the mechanics of an EV are fundamentally simpler and should require less attention. The problem is dealers have businesses to run and people to employ and pay and profit to generate.

That's not a knock against EV's, but any 'cost-saving' aspect of running an EV is going to come at someone's expense, and some will be looking to maintain incomes in a different way.


I am not quite sure what the auto-distribution network of the future will look like. Almost for sure nothing like we have now, not only do EVs need a lot less fettling but I suspect that with cars becoming for more and more people just a utility rather than an object of desire and passion there will be a pearing down of models and variants.

You can see that already in the VW line-up which is being launched after the summer - all their PHEVs are powered by the same 1.4 TSI + leccy bit + DSG drive train, no endless power options.

And once we get into driverless cars - especially in urban areas, you will just dial up a pod to go into town or eat-out, and body shops?

The impending changes are going to make the landscape a lot different.
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By avtur3
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1786665
The end of the road for Mitsubishi in the UK and Europe. Having been quite a successful player in the Hybrid market place Mitsubishi has announced they intend to withdraw from the UK. There will be no more new model releases in the UK and many parts of Europe. It appears this is something of a surprise to the importer, Colt Car Company, and the dealer network.

I think many UK motorists have gained tax benefits from owning/running Mitsubishi PHEV's (particularly as company cars) so there is a demand out there for other manufacturers to take up.

It seems that the sales downturn caused by the pandemic has forced the decision. Colt Cars will be looking to find other brands to bring to the UK.
By riverrock
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1786667
Indeed - there will always be gotchas.
By design or not, on the Zoe, someone has decided that the car needs de-energised before a mechanic is allowed to change the brake fluid, and that to fully change the brake fluid requires connecting a computer to ensure that any fluid is actively pumped from every part of the system. Cost: £170 to £430 depending on who is doing it (some dealers seem to take the ****!). Expected to be done every 4 years (or you could just ask them to check that the fluid is still OK for a standard £7 test...)
Warning - gratuitous mention of nipples:
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