For those that remember me, I'm back for a quick update. Fiat Coupe replaced by Vauxhall Corsa 1.3 turbo diesel (hmm), then a sensible Mercedes A-Class C180 CVT (MPV style) for family duties. That one was interesting, particularly with cruise control, watching the gearbox move up and down the range to enable it to tackle steep hills (up and down) and still maintain speed.

And now? Renault Zoe R90 4.0. Just got it a couple of weeks ago - 2017 model. Here's to a future of range worry and charging at home.

And yes, I still really, really, really miss the Coupe.

Blimey Jim - this is getting spooky. you, me, stan and samsite have all popped up!

good to hear from you. All doing okay?

Odd how all of you have charging in common

Indeed. Yes, thanks. BrumAlison says "Hi!". How are you two doing?
Lockdown was tough, and her health wasn't great going in to it. But we're still alive and sane.

Electric here as well.....

I like the Zoe. There is one on my road and I love the Sci-fi sound it makes when it goes past.

Great to hear from you, Jim. And all the other alumni. My dad is on his second EV (Golf, following on from Up!) and is totally smitten.
As of a couple of weeks, I'm now working for those awfully nice Electric Highway people, so if anyone has any questions I'll do my best to find out ...

You can change the sound. Not yet checked how many options there are, and what they sound like.

Morning all

Was watching a show the other day which featured a company in mid Wales who convert classic cars to electric. They were doing a Land rover Defender but they tackle all sorts.

Interestingly they use Tesla kit for the conversion, so some pretty quick results.

Electric Coupe anyone? I know we'd miss the 5 pot sound, but what's the Italian for "insane mode."?
I guess the Turbo chassis would be the best base for the full fat Tesla power, but I'm sure the NA's could have a good balance between power and range.

https://www.electricclassiccars.co.uk/

I have no affiliation with them, but here's thier website for interest.

I'd wondered about that too, there's a place in the US that have converted a classic Fiat 124 Spider but a bit pricey at $35k

Yeah I suspect it would be expensive..... That 124 does look great mind.

I'd love to do an X1/9, it would be a perfect platform for it.

I'd do a Citroën DS. Can't think of a better car for converting to electric. I'd just waft around slowly all summer, window down, arm out, listening to 30s jazz.

Here in Norway, over 60% of new cars sold were electric as per october. But they want no conversions, and I think even changing to newer chemistry/batteries in existing electric cars are out of the question

I've got a proper Mini and saw the electric conversion kit someone announced this week. In many ways it would make sense (apart from a £10k cost!!) as my MIni isn't likely to do long journeys, but the A-Series is part of what makes a Mini. The place that rebuild the body of mine are currently building a Mini Sprint with electric conversion so I'll see what it is like, could be tempted but then again I'm not sure if I'll keep this Mini long term - can't afford to sell at the moment though as the repairs were more than I'd hoped, wonder if an electric conversion would make it worth enough to recoup costs?

Just looked at stats and year to date in UK circa 76% of all new vehicles sold are petrol or diesel (2:1). Way to go for the EV (r)evolution..........though sales of BEVs have increased by 150%

1.25m total car sales this year to 1.86m last year down 33%.

Looks the goods, but the seats are disgusting.

https://youtu.be/bwuIFLTQC0U

Fair play. If that was mass produced and was sensible money.... I think it would sell.

Seats are 'interesting' but I'm sure I could live with it if they were to offer me a freebie.



Maybe this is the future... Classic styling with cleaner emissions.

Hydrogen seems to still be on the table too. So perhaps we'll have a mix of options. Electric for commuting, hydrogen for mass transit and long journeys.

Thread resurrection ahoy!

We're now settling in to our post-self-employment-wage-slave-shift-work life.

MrsC has a 70-mile round trip commute (c15k/year), about 90% on the M5 and the 2008 Mini Clubman Cooper S is doing OK, especially now we've ditched the (frankly frightening) run flat tyres.

However, a number of factors are leading us to consider a lease on an EV:

- I work for a green energy company so can get very reasonable prices on electricity, with contracts specifically designed for EV owners and a discount on a Rolec charger.
- we're about to move to a house with solar panels
- there are free charging points at MrsC's work
- we reckon the overall cost of running the Mini is higher or no lower than leasing a brand new EV
- the Mini isn't getting any younger and will need replacing fairly soon before the mileage becomes too stellar

The main problem is the massively underwhelming EVs available for our £400/month budget.

What I'm struggling to find is real world data about EV servicing/insurance/consumables costs.

Jim.,

I've had a Tesla model S 75 since June 2018 ,just going thro the motions of selling it just now (for a a Guilia or Stelvio QF )

reasons are I think in the next few years there will be big changes in either electric or even hydrogen cars (which I think makes far more sense than electric) , the range is not great even tho it states 235 mls per charge thats driven at snails pace with nothing on in the car and a warm sunny day (also car now shows full at 224 mls!!and they recommend you only charge to 90% or you hurt the batteries ) --not real world Britain or even worse Scotland !! cold wet weather day range max is about 160 so at £10 for. full charge if charged at home thats £1 per 16 miles sounds ok ,but not when you calculate in the £75k cost of the car and getting offered £38k -Max £40k at less than 3years old with 31k mls on it , bought through the business so loads of tax advantages to work in too ,but if it wasn't ,I'd be very unhappy.
my friend has a Taycan with very similar figures ,again bought thro business to access tax gains ,but thats the only way it works financially

and both agree as a seocnd car a small EV makes sense ,but as your main driver ,not yet ..too many hassles ,and too much planning to make any decent journey a pleasure ,also you can't get up in the morning and say lets go here ..if the EV isn't charged and you don't know the relevant charging points along the way.

They are good to drive ,the tech on the Tesla is fun and app brilliant ,instant acceleration from standstill and zero running costs ,apart from charging and tyres ,Tesla don't even want to see the car back until the brake fluid needs changed or a fault but most faults are covered by their fleet of vans that come to you

so yes if getting one now I would only lease one ..can you not get the basic model3 for around £400 per month now ?

fee charging points are great ,for most day to day driving I have one near my business so thats ideal ,but even tho its 20mls to get back home in the winter it takes 30-32 miles of charge for the journey ,so in real world with a car that Staes 235 mls to a charge ,after I've charged to the 'recommended 90%' and gone home i'm down to 160 mls range which in the real winter world is 120 mls ...for me simply not good enough ,and before the batteries heat up the car will consume 30% more battery power per mile than when hot

i'm sure in the future all these issues will be solved or improved but for me just now ...back for a last blast in petrol power

just my thought for what they are worth

apologies for the above meant to press edit and obviously pressed quote and it won't let me delete

Thanks for the detailed reply, Paul. I agree with much of what you say - especially about the potential for game-changing new tech in the not-too distant future.
Our plan is to go for a 2-year lease, with no interest in buying it at the end, giving us a bit of flexibility in the medium term.
MrsC's commute is 35 miles each way with a charger at each end. The car will be a tool for commuting but just a newer, more efficient vehicle than the Mini for the same (or maybe slightly less) money. Another factor is that MrsC would like something with a higher driving position than the Mini for navigating dark, spray-soaked motorways.
Even in non-Covid-afflicted times, we don't travel much, so I don't think range anxiety will play a role very often.

I'm currently feeling slightly dirty as I have been leering at deals for Kia e-Niros.

No prob `Jim

Kia e Niro is highly regarded
good luck

Kia are much better since the tie up with Hyundai.

The Sportage has been well regarded for a long time too.

I think an e-car as a second car is ideal, since much of people's mileage is just short trips and commuting.

I must say I really like the look of the Corsa E.

Got good reviews too.

I can see us all going down the route pretty soon. Young people have less reason to stick to petrol and a strong relationship with IT.

I've read that very few of us travel long distances on a regular basis, so fear of running out of power is just something for us to get our heads around.

Cost saving per mile doesn't make sense to me yet, as electric car purchase is still quite expensive.
I would certainly look at the upcoming Dacia electric car.

Dacia then makes me reflect on new cars generally. They all seem to be crammed with a lot of IT. Is it all really necessary, I'm not so sure. This all adds to cost.

Pursuing the Kia e-Niro option for the time being, as MrsC was much more positive about it than I was expecting! She also wants to look at other cars, including the ID-3, which is fair enough.

My main doubt is that we can make the maths work without going for a longer lease than I want or putting down more of an initial payment that the sale of the Mini will raise.
One question I can't seem to find an answer to is this:

On a PCH (personal contract hire offering no option to buy at the end), will I need to find another £xK when it expires in order to get into another lease car or will my initial payment 'roll over' seamlessly and allow me to continue on similar payments?

While I'm here, does anyone have any recommendations for reputable but ludicrously cheap lease companies?

Apologies to the OP for the shameless thread hijack, but it is still sort on on topic...!

I have no idea where the break even point over extra cost for electric vs lower cost per mile is, but given the best use of these vehicles seems to be for short distance travel, I strongly suspect the answer is 'never'.

That said, although I'm not looking yet I suspect we will end up with a small electric here just for local commuting. The coupe can be collected for a few months when the sun shines.

think it will change ,hence the reason for selling just now ,it was good ,but has too many limitations for me just now .................and i've just today traded it for a Stelvio Quadrafoglio ......so has an upside

The Marmite styling of the Kia Soul EV is now at the head of the queue - identical running gear to the e-Niro, but slightly cheaper. Still not dream car territory, but that's not the name of this particular game!
Our spreadsheet indicates that the total monthly running cost of our two alternatives is almost the same at around £450 (not including tyres, screenwash, etc that applies equally to both).
We balanced putting in the £2.5k down payment against the £100 per month book depreciation of the Mini.
Our lease cost was based on 36 months and a rather crippling 20k miles per year (2 services for the Kia). Fuel vs charging was £250 - £65/month

So, our current (ho ho) thinking is that we'll probably go for the Kia simply for the peace of mind. Not till we've moved house though, in a couple of months...

It turns out that once you're on the leasing treadmill, you can take out another car at the end of your 36 months without having to find the extra X months up front, which would have killed this stone dead for us.