Would you have an electric car if you had the money for a new car and were in the market for one?

[Yorick]

smug

Pfft, I've not fuelled up since the end of October

I've not fueled up, ever

[Ditchfinder]

I'm pretty relieved that there's a bit of dryer weather here so I can park the dirty diesel up and use the Himmy for commuting again.

I think the wife's car (slc300) will be the one to get swapped as the ride is terrible on these crater strewn roads, her eyes are at the perfect height for being dazzled by anything brighter than a candle at knee height and you can't fit sod all in it.

Keep pointing out the R5 and Alpine but she's swayed massively by aesthetics although she is starting to realise there are no 'pretty' cars being made any more.

We can go for something on the smaller side though as we'll keep my X3 for practical stuff and driving out to France.

[wheelnut]

EV.jpg

We had 3 weeks in the US in October, started with a week in Michigan where everything was a huge Ford or Chevy pickup. Flew to Las Vegas where it was a little more European and then drove up to San Francisco and down to LA where it was loads of Teslas and European again.

[Taipan]

Think I found Mr Dazzle...

[MrLongbeard]

Without wishing to agree or disagree with any points he makes, he does make one rather large gaff in his impassioned speech, what with EV's cars were far more popular than ICE cars back in olde time days of yore..

Mr. LB, frequent long distance driver with a bladder the size of a house, unless I'm trying to sleep

[ZRX61]

EV.jpg

We had 3 weeks in the US in October, started with a week in Michigan where everything was a huge Ford or Chevy pickup. Flew to Las Vegas where it was a little more European and then drove up to San Francisco and down to LA where it was loads of Teslas and European again.

Once you get away from the LA or SF here in Cali it's trucks. I lived on a street with 22 homes, there were 12 full size crew cab Fords. I've driven both of my crew cab long bed Dually's in LA & they terrify the Tesla/RangeRover people (& they don't even know I'm armed).

[KungFooBob]

So leccy bills are going down in April.

The government are dropping the Energy Company Obligation Scheme and some other stuff.

This means a lower price per kWh.

I'm reading that my Octopus Intelligent Go cheap rates is dropping from 7p to 3.49p.

My car this month has averaged 3.3 m/kWh.

So to get 100 miles it would use 30kwh.

Add 10% for charging losses, etc...

So that 100 miles in April will cost me £1.16

(If I wasn't charging for free at work).

[Taipan]

Had my Tesla coming up for a year now. I'd never really expected it to stay, but with impressive performance, no servicing costs, cheap tax and insurance and now even cheaper leccy costs, its financial madness to get rid of it, no matter how much I want a C63S!

[v8-powered]

Had my Tesla coming up for a year now. I'd never really expected it to stay, but with impressive performance, no servicing costs, cheap tax and insurance and now even cheaper leccy costs, its financial madness to get rid of it, no matter how much I want a C63S!

Can you give me a warts and all review of it, what spec it is etc?
I was looking at getting a new one via work but that scheme hasn't appeared yet, and did look at a VW id4 but the reviews have scared me away - i may just buy a 3 or 4 year old Model 3 and use for the railway station duties etc.

[Taipan]

Had my Tesla coming up for a year now. I'd never really expected it to stay, but with impressive performance, no servicing costs, cheap tax and insurance and now even cheaper leccy costs, its financial madness to get rid of it, no matter how much I want a C63S!

Can you give me a warts and all review of it, what spec it is etc?
I was looking at getting a new one via work but that scheme hasn't appeared yet, and did look at a VW id4 but the reviews have scared me away - i may just buy a 3 or 4 year old Model 3 and use for the railway station duties etc.

You don't really want mine as the later ones are better apparently, excpet some have buttons for indicators and not a stalk!

Mine is a 2020 long range, dual motor, AWD.

Things I don't like;
The camera based cruise control thing is crap, even dangerous at times. No matter what the fanbois say, its shit compared to a radar based system imo. E.G. Going down the A13 sitting at 70, its saw a crate at the side of the road and I can only assumed it thought it was a kid, dog or alien, as the bastard thing did an emergency brake! If you put your foot on the accelerator it overrides it and you get used to it. Its known as phantom braking and is a PITA. I never use autosteer as that's crap too, as it tends to drive to close to the kerb and will hit all the low drains, potholes etc.
Panel fit and general levels of finish are pretty poor.
Despite looking like a hatchback its a saloon. Quite WTF Tesla did that is beyond me!

Things I like;
EV power delivery. Just pure linear grunt with no dips or hesitation! Glorious!
One foot driving. Regen braking does most of of the braking for you. Once you get it, you'll love it.
The central screen. Its so much more intuitive to see than flicking through switches and scrolling menus like my Velar had. Some hiccups there though, if you want to fold your mirrors in quickly its not a button press its a couple of taps away, but you get used to it.
Space! Its a very roomy car for driver and passengers. Huge boot with storage underneath where a spare wheel would go normally and the "frunk" at the front is good for a smaller things.
Preconditioning. Not unique to Tesla of course but it works very well. Heater controls on the fly take some getting used to though.
Running costs, or lack thereof. I never realised just how good EVs are here. I don't even have a home charger, as mine is the second car/toy but leave it plugged in and forget about it. If you're doing, say, over 100 miles a day you'll need a proper home charger or use the superb Tesla supercharger network.

Overall;
Despite being a petrol head in many ways, this thing has won me over. Okay, it could be twice as fast but I'll still miss the burble of a big engine, but have managed to resist going back to one as the Tesla is just so damn good overall.

Its quirky but you get used to it and learn to expect how the camera based system work and don't get surprised by anything after a while. I'm crap at doing most things on it but that's because I don't use it very often. I do use it a lot more than my Velar, as its safe to leave anywhere as they are just about impossible to steal.

Manufacturers are playing catch up to Tesla, okay some are there, and some even beating them I expect? But, the reason Tesla sold so many cars to companies is because they can do big daily mileages and charge quickly with the best supercharger network. The Tesla forums and Facebook pages often have owners that have come from other EVs, Hyundais, Nissans even Polestars and can't believe how much better a EV Teslas!

Despite the lovely power, I mainly drive mine in Chill mode (reduced power) as i think its a nicer drive like that. I turn regen braking down and lose one foot driving from time to time to keep the rust off the brakes too.

Hope this all make sense as i've scribbled it down during work breaks.

TLDR, yeah go for it.

[Taipan]

One other thing, it as a lot of bleeps an bong warning sounds going off, which are normally my fault for doing something wrong but it gets on my wife's nerves at times and she said its so noisy its like driving a hospital bed!

[ZRX61]

[Taipan]

Wow!

[MrLongbeard]

Wow!

Lies, manipulations, selective sourcing of figures

2025 was the Rav 4 https://www.statista.com/statistics/239 ... %20ranking.

2024 was also the Rav 4 according to another source https://www.autocar.co.uk/slideshow/bes ... world-3#20

[Felix]

smug

Pfft, I've not fuelled up since the end of October

Customers pay for my diesel.

[MrLongbeard]

smug

Pfft, I've not fuelled up since the end of October

Customers pay for my diesel.

I'll pay, if i needed it, I haven't driven anywhere since the middle of December so the tank is still half full of cheap diesel from when I last topped off in November.

Currently exploring me not having a car, or the wife having a company van instead of a car and sharing an EV, but tax / BIK shenanigans no longer make that as clear cut as it used to be.

[Felix]

I'll pay, if i needed it, I haven't driven anywhere since the middle of December so the tank is still half full of cheap diesel from when I last topped off in November.

Currently exploring me not having a car, or the wife having a company van instead of a car and sharing an EV, but tax / BIK shenanigans no longer make that as clear cut as it used to be.

Just had to dip into my new bike money to get another car. Mostly for the wife to use and as it never leaves our small town electric would have been a better choice. Not a hope in hell could i get a home charger installed as a 2nd had Nissan can be had for under 3k. Seen one at 2k and advertised as 70% battery and 75 miles when charged. I dont think my wife would do 75 miles a week getting round her customers.

[KungFooBob]

I think the NDA (or whatever you call it) has been lifted on the Renault Twingo reviews as a loads have hit the tinternest over the last 24 hours.

They're all absolutely gushing.

I like how they've made it look a bit like the original Twingo (Renault are the masters at this with their recent R5 and R4 EVs)

https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/renault/t ... c-city-car

https://www.carmagazine.co.uk/car-revie ... go-e-tech/

[Cousin Jack]

EV.jpg

We had 3 weeks in the US in October, started with a week in Michigan where everything was a huge Ford or Chevy pickup. Flew to Las Vegas where it was a little more European and then drove up to San Francisco and down to LA where it was loads of Teslas and European again.

Once you get away from the LA or SF here in Cali it's trucks. I lived on a street with 22 homes, there were 12 full size crew cab Fords. I've driven both of my crew cab long bed Dually's in LA & they terrify the Tesla/RangeRover people (& they don't even know I'm armed).

Last time I drove in the westeren part of the USA it was the Dodge Ram trucks that terifieded me. They were effing HUGE!

[Mussels]

I think the NDA (or whatever you call it) has been lifted on the Renault Twingo reviews as a loads have hit the tinternest over the last 24 hours.

They're all absolutely gushing.

I like how they've made it look a bit like the original Twingo (Renault are the masters at this with their recent R5 and R4 EVs)

https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/renault/t ... c-city-car

https://www.carmagazine.co.uk/car-revie ... go-e-tech/

Those lights kill it for me. Without them the car would be (more) ugly but they are just form over function and will be forever trapping dirt.
That was a bit harsh and it's far better than the widespread light bars all the way across that VW loves, but still pointless.