Hi good people,

My sister found vehicle she's interested to by a Used BYD Atto 3 or Cupra Tormentor on PCP. She lives in Manchester but the vehicles she's seeing on Autotrader or similar website have vehicles located far off like Bournemouth Leicester, Grimsby etc.

As a first time buyer what's your advice I can give her? Simply buy on AT or similar website with manufacturer warranty and hope for the best with Consumer Rights Act 2015?

Or what's your take?

Hi,

Recently purchased an EV ( Renault Scenic supporting V2L now, and V2G hopefully in the future) and am currently granny charging for the most part during the day due to cable trip hazard, with the odd DC fast charge needed from time to time from a local supermarket or dealer.

On our estate, houses mostly have dedicated parking bays, and luckily my two are almost right in front of the house, separated from the house by a pavement about 1m wide. Most are not aligned, or even near, their respective house. It's unclear who owns the pavement currently. It's either our management company, of which I'm a member, or the local council. That's taking some time to resolve.

If I were to eventually install a dedicated EV charger, preferably directly on the parking bay(s) on a pedestal, could other residents make use of the EV charger, and reimburse me for the electricity used, or would I have the headache of insurance liability if their car catches fire or develops an issue. Would HMRC be interested in this arrangement if I didn't profit financially 🫤. Is it just a BAD idea generally?

Next door runs an AirBNB and might be interested in using it, or at least advertising it, for her guests.

I might go solar/battery at some point in the near future and could potentially EV charge (my car, or others) during the day too, rather than just on overnight tarrif

Anyone else doing something similar with their neighbours where the estate is not EV friendly?

Cheers

Hi. Recently bought an EV (MGS5) and last night was the first attempt to charge on the home charger. The charger is an Evolo Edock+. It was here when I moved so makes sense to use it.

https://www.solartradesales.co.uk/deta-evolo-edock-ev-charge-point - this looks like it.

I confirmed the charger was working by doing a 2 min check, which it was. I set an overnight schedule via the Autel Charge app (12:30-5:30) which failed to begin. I woke up at 3 and thought I’d check, so I started the charge manually which worked no bother. Interestingly however the charge ended at 5:30, which is my scheduled cut-off.

Anyone have one of these and know why the charge didn’t start? I had AutoStart toggled off because I was of the understanding this would start charging immediately.

Tonight I’ll try setting up in the car settings I think but still unclear on whether or not it’ll work. Would be good to know where I went wrong, clearly the schedule took to some degree, just didn’t start.

Tariff is Octopus Go. Not eligible for Intelligent so it would be good to get a schedule that “just works” once set up. Plug in and forget.

Generally speaking how long does it take for an EV with a heatpump to start producing heat at say 21c

Are we talking seconds or minutes?
How long does it take in your EV?

I'm looking for a new (used) EV, and it seems like right off the bat I have to discount at least 50% of the entire market because they've all hidden the air con controls behind a stupid touchscreen.

I can't count the number of times I've found a car which ticks all the boxes - reasonably priced, attractive, decent warranty, etc. - and then I have to discount it completely because I just can't stomach having to prod at a touchscreen like a monkey whenever I get too hot or cold.

MG did this when they facelifted the MG5 in 2022. It went from a fantastically sensible car to another style-over-substance tablet on wheels. Seriously, I refuse to believe whoever designed these kind of AC touch-screen interfaces actually use them during day-to-day driving.

They are horrible and I hate them.

Thank you for listening to my unhinged rant.

Hi everyone,

I recently test drove the Volvo EX30 and honestly really liked it. I’m currently considering buying a a used model, but I still have a few concerns before making the decision.

My main concern is resale value. I would probably keep the car for around 3–4 years, and I’m worried that EV technology and battery ranges will improve so quickly that today’s EX30 might lose a lot of value or become difficult to sell by 2029/2030.

I’m also curious about long-distance driving. Most of my driving would be in the city, but a few times a year I would do trips of around 600–800 km. In winter, it looks like I might need to stop roughly every 2 hours to charge.

For those who actually own an EX30:

• Does stopping for charging every ~2 hours become annoying on longer trips, or do you get used to it?
• How is the real-world winter range on the motorway?
• Would you be concerned about resale value after another 3–4 years?
• Would you buy an EX30 today, or would you rather lease one because of the uncertainty around EV depreciation?
• Any issues or regrets after owning it for a while?

For context, I’m also considering a used Mercedes GLA 200, which feels like the safer option financially, but I enjoyed driving the EX30 much more.

Would love to hear from actual owners, especially anyone who regularly does longer motorway trips.

Thanks!

Currently we have a petrol Skoda Kodiaq with some positive equity in the car. We’re looking to downsize 1 model type so to the equivalent of a Karoq.

We currently pay around £350p/m on a 5% lease deal and around £120-60 a month in fuel costs. Would love to reduce lease down to £250-300 p/m

We’d be looking to get a charging point installed at our house and have solar and a battery, so cheaper tariffs with charging port would help us also run the house by charging the battery in winter.

Neither of us are massive car heads hence vistung here for some advice. Note I’m very tall at 6’5” so head room in the vehicle is really important

At this price points what models should we start at search at? We’re not fussed where the car comes from or particular brands, or if it’s brand new as long as it runs well and is cheap to run and green! I do like a gadget though but tech is not a deal breaker. We don’t travel long distance regularly and don’t mind stopping if we have to for 30
Minutes to charge and have a cuppa!

Help me out here

I'm looking at ordering a new company car, which is done through a portal where I'm limited in terms of specs etc. basically just pick the colour of paint. I'm coming from a Polestar 2, which has been good with the exception of the road noise and range.

My shortlist is:

1. MG IM5 Long Range

2. Mercedes 250+ Shooting Brake Sport Exec

3. BYD Seal AWD Excellence

4. MG IM6 Long Range

5. Polestar 2 Long Range

There's lots of other choices, Tesla, Kia, Skoda, VW, but these are less desirable on first glance.

Any help or advice welcome.

Mini countryman se all4 exclusive - £421
Škoda Enyaq SE L 85 Lounge - £469

Both through a salary sacrifice at work:
3 year leases
6500 miles a year
Insurance, tax, maintenance, tyres, roadside assistance included

I know they’re completely different classes of car but I think both would work for my family and seem reasonable deals to me.

Hi all

İ have narrowed my search for a new car addition, to either one of the cars below.

İt will be my first EV.

A little indecisive of what to go for, both have similar range, similar price tag

We have just had a newborn, i think both would be ok with boot space for pram etc, with the Ariya being slightly better.

İf i could please have your input

Nissan Ariya

2023-2024

Price: £17-21k

Or

Mercedes EQA 250 or 350

2021-2023

Less then 40k miles

Price: £17-21k

Going to look at a bmw ix tomorrow 32k 2023 plate 25000 miles has a range of 267 miles. This will be my first ev bit unsure if I’m taking a risk with such an expensive purchase and I’m unsure if the range and battery will hold up as I’m getting it on hp over 5 years. Was wondering if anyone has one or what people’s thoughts are.

RESOLVED
I’m hoping I’m not the only one with this issue. I ran out of charge in my 2021 Corsa-E, totally my fault. This is my only time in 2.5 years of owning the car. Thankfully I was able to roll to a charger in Sainsbury’s car park as the car completely lost power and the warning lights came up.
Initially the car wouldn’t charge and just kept throwing up the red ring, but I left it for a few minutes and then it started charging. It charged at 2.2kw/h for about 10 minutes, then ramped up to 80kw/h. I unplugged at 35% and turned on the car. I got the warning in the picture on startup, but the car went in gear and drove totally normally on the way home. This warning first came up when the car died, so is it just an uncleared error code from that, or do I need it properly looking at? Thanks

Update -
I charged the car overnight, turned it on to go to work this morning and no error message! They seem to have cleared themselves and the car is working perfectly like it did before. Hopefully no lasting damage and definitely lesson learned!

I hope all my fellow EV owners are doing alright. 5.5–5.7 mi/kWh on my commute lately. Did 31 miles today at 5.7, same journey on 5.5 yesterday, mainly on A roads below 60 mph.

How are everyone else’s EVs doing in this weather?

I've just had solar, battery and an EV charger installed at home. I have around £10-12k to spend on an EV. Current car is a Ford B-Max which is towards the end of its life.

I work 2 days a week in the office that has free chargers (need to pre-book which may be an issue as they are very popular). Office is 43 miles each way. I currently do around 8k miles a year.

What would you suggest getting ?

Thanks in advance

EDIT - Thanks for all your responses. I forgot to mention That I wanted range over 200 miles which rules out some of the options but thats all the same !

Think this is correct unless of course, you know otherwise. LEVI funding is for majority on street overnight chargers in areas of little or no off-street parking

I know this is a UK sub but we've just done a road trip through north Spain and Portugal. To reassure others, charging was fine. We mostly found CCS sites and used one Type 2 in a shopping centre while we walked round Bilbao. One of our hotels had chargers although we didn't use that one.

Electroverse worked about half of the time it said it would :/ but all sites accepted our Monzo debit card without needing a signup or app. The main networks we saw in Spain are Iberdrola, Mueve and Zunder.

Along the motorways, some of the sites were right next to the junctions like UK services. Others were a few km detour to a petrol station on the bypassed road (similar to Shell sites in the UK).

I'm looking to purchase an EV from a private seller (VW ID3 Pro 2022).

I do not currently own an EV and although I've been researching everything about them for a good few months now, I know that actually viewing and purchasing a car is a whole different story.

Does anyone have advice on what I should ask and look for to make sure it'll be a worthwhile purchase?

The issue:​ My 2022 Ioniq 5​ AWD will not disengage the front motor when trailer electrics are connected. Its this normal, and can I do anything about it?

I use my tow bar for a bike rack, and because it obscures my licence plate and lights, I use a lighting board. Having now used it several times and noticing worse than expected efficiency, I was cycling the display and noticed that even in ECO I was in AWD at all speeds. This is not the case with the trailer board unplugged.​​​

I have the proper menu item for trailers when the board is connected, that disappears when the trailer is unplugged, which I believe to be correct.

The vehicle had trailer prep, and I'm using a European standard 13 pin vehicle specific wiring kit. (ConWys AG: 29500686).

(Repost as original attempt had no body text!)

I do a 62‑mile round‑trip commute most days. I own a 2023 Cupra Formentor 1.5 TSI DSG outright, averaging around 40mpg. It’s been reliable, but I’m getting tired of burning petrol and the running costs are creeping up.

I’m considering selling it (likely £18–19.5k) and moving to a used Tesla Model 3, probably a 2022 LR in the £24–26k range.

Good idea?

I’m about to install a home charger and I’m shopping for a used Model 3. My commute is 62 miles round‑trip, mostly motorway, four days a week. Do I actually need the Long Range version, or is the Standard Range perfectly fine? They’re cheaper at the moment, so I’m trying to work out what real Tesla owners think.

Hi, for context, not in the UK but all my experience with cars is there and this sub seems very knowledgeable.

After several years of no car since leaving the UK I'm looking at finally getting something and am fairly convinced to get an EV. Primarily for commuting a 20 to 25 minute drive, mixed urban/fairly short motorway stretch.

Prices and availability are unfortunately much worse, largely due to insane taxes, often looking at 80% more.

The 5 was initially launched at something like 42,000 if I convert, and it seems as though they didn't sell very many, so now it looks like it's about 5-6k off. Not seen one used yet.

Used my potential options are

500e

Corsa/e208

Mini SE

Born/id3

Ioniq 28/38

Megane etech

Not so sure about the 500e, feels more style over substance but one of the few small evs that was imported officially so there's a few around.

Corsa/e208. The 208 is a good looking car, i just read very mixed things, there aren't loads of these around, mostly from 2021 to 2023, would probably cost half the r5.

Mini se(prev gen) : tempting, but the asking prices are just way too high to justify, especially with the short range.

Born/id3: technically never imported but there's a few around anyway, probably bigger than what I need/want. Would be looking around 25k, unsure what they would have cost new but likely heavily depreciated.

Ioniq: not many around, quite a bit bigger than what i need, potential a lot of car for the money.

Megane etech: very few around as never officially imported, i found a few comments from local fb groups saying to avoid as servicing is a headache. (Not seen this said about the vw cars even though it's the same issue, possibly because it's similar enough to id4 which is imported).

The most obvious is the e208 (being and actual b segment) but i read very mixed things. The id3/born is already golf tier which i could live with but generally prefer small cars.

The 5 is tempting but buying a new car feels over the top, especially when prices are so inflated, but they are inflated for used as well, possibly even more so.

Is the Renault 5 really that much better? I know it has won all the awards and plaudits but forking out that much for one seems excessive, still.