Any electric car drivers on here?

Mel

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My parents next door neighbours have 2 electric vehicles and one of them is used to commute from Larne to Lurgan daily, they love them.

We had a leaf in my old work, ugly to look at but I enjoyed driving it mainly because of the novelty factor and how silent it was, the range always decreased rapidly when I drove it as I was too fond of pressing the accelerator 😂
 

nobby

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the Hyundia Iconic is decent. have a friend who runs one over in England and he does a fair bit of travel and he is happy with the range it delivers.
i had a drive in it and as modern cars go it done what it said on the tin
 

svensktoppen

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Have a look at the Hyundai Kona, seems to hit the sweet spot of price v range v performance. And it's "just a car", does everything a car should do, in the way a car should.

Forget Tesla unless you're made of money and don't mind shocking build quality and ergonomics just to be seen in the latest iPhone on wheels.

Also forget drag racing and all that. That's completely missing the point too. Electric is about range, not a pointless drag race or two before the batteries overheat or you have to recharge again.

If you have off street parking and can charge overnight then you should manage fine with your ridiculously low miles. Seriously, get a bike, and then the M3/M5 for the weekend 😅 😇

If you can't charge at home or at work then forget it.

If you can do your weekend trips on 80% of a charge then you should be good on that too.

As for charging on the go, it is a bit of a palaver. Different plugs, different providers, different payment systems, some can be booked ahead, some can't and then you have to queue, etc. May be better here, but in England it's still a mess.
 
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gary87

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The Golf e is £232 a month for 24 months - not bad!


I would be surprised if an eGolf got you all the way to Dublin!

This iD3 thing seems to be the job - they are going to be c£25k after the government plug in grant with either 140PS or 205PS
 

saxo_man

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based on my annual mileage, I figured that why would I spend £500 on charging at home every night when I could just buy a small diesel and spend £1000 a year on fuel with vastly less outlay, it would have no range issues and I'd have an easy to sell car.

Based on my own data - we have put 15k miles of pure electric driving on a mixture of short and longer journeys over the past 12 months. To drive 100 miles costs £2.20 of electric using E7 rate, charging at night. Random top ups for free here and there in the town means it works out closer to £20 per 1000 miles.
 

svensktoppen

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"Free" topups are all but gone in England. All run through a variety of different private providers now, each with their own payment systems, subscriptions, different plugs, etc. And they do charge.

Same goes for "free" parking.

I guess it's a sign of the increasing maturity of electric that these subsidies are disappearing. Great if they're still available over here, just don't count on that to last.

The main economic case for electric as far as I can see is tax - road tax and congestion charges. Those are still subsidised for now.

Lower running costs for electric tend to balance out against the higher cost of buying/higher lease costs. Although on that one everyone is obviously different, and it's changing all the time.

It's a bit like the old "buy a more expensive diesel but get lower running costs" argument. It depends.

Factor in the still very real issues with long journeys, range, lack of infra beyond urban areas and major arteries, and it's not for everyone.

Just depends still.
 

Graham2

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I'm due to change May next years and the 0% BIK has me looking at a Model 3 Performance at the moment, going down to Tesla Dublin for a test drive at some point in the next few weeks.
 

svensktoppen

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Make sure you get a long drive in one on your own and have a good think about if you could live with the sub-par interior and genuinely horrific ergonomics just to drive the latest iPhone on wheels. And ignore the "tech" gimmicks you'll never use.

There are plenty of good actual cars around these days doing a really good job at being a usable electric daily, especially at the price.

No need to head for Tesla unless you absolutely want to of course.

If you do then no worries obviously, work away :cool:
 

Gaz

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Workmate just picked up a Tesla Model 3 and I had a passenger run in it the other day. Slightly strange experience in that there's only tyre/road noise and you can nail it from cold, but it definitely felt very quick off the mark. And if you're into the tech and oversized iPad screen, it represents a very different option to the usual contenders. I'm a petrolhead through and through so don't think it will ever be for me as I love the noise and feel of a petrol engine, but I can see why some people are going gaga for them.
 

svensktoppen

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@Ciaran

Did you get a look at an i3? If so what did you think?

Interested in this as genuinely thinking of changing my current car (excuse the pun lol) for an i3 or electric Golf.

The Golf is very good. And you can spec it pretty much like a "normal" Golf so you know what you'll get, and everything works like a "normal" car.

Have a look at a Hyundai Kona too.

i3 would be a bit smaller, more of a city car.
 

EVANI

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As someone who actually owns a Model 3, and after nearly 4,000 miles since picking it up in June, I can tell you it's without doubt the best car I've ever owned (I've had Japanese rally replicas and an M3 in the past).

The electric drivetrain is just superior, full stop. The lack of engine noise is the one missing component for our generation, but there are so many other positives that you'll soon forget that as you ride the wave of torque.

My SR+ has the smallest battery but I drove it from Manchester to Lisburn a couple of weekends ago. I had one 30 minute stop at the supercharger in Gretna - and that's a break in a 4 hour drive I would have been doing in any vehicle.

'Gimmicks'? I guess fart mode, but again, if you actually lived with the car you will be delighted with the tech. Best sat nav I've ever used, the car drove itself up the M6 on autopilot, warming the car remotely on a cold morning, all the stats from every drive emailed to me etc etc.

Petrol heads like us can understandably be nervous of an EV future, but you don't have to be. It's fantastic!
 
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Ciaran

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Ciaran
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@Ciaran

Did you get a look at an i3? If so what did you think?

Interested in this as genuinely thinking of changing my current car (excuse the pun lol) for an i3 or electric Golf.
I didn't - the guy had sold it. Not had a chance to look again, I'm in Dublin next week so might see if I can take a look at the Tesla.
Going to try and get to Bavarian at the weekend if I get a free hour or so.
 

Graham2

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Make sure you get a long drive in one on your own and have a good think about if you could live with the sub-par interior and genuinely horrific ergonomics just to drive the latest iPhone on wheels. And ignore the "tech" gimmicks you'll never use.

There are plenty of good actual cars around these days doing a really good job at being a usable electric daily, especially at the price.

No need to head for Tesla unless you absolutely want to of course.

If you do then no worries obviously, work away :cool:

The reviews of the Model 3 are resoundingly positive. I don't just want a usable car, I want something interesting. Free charge point at work, already have one at home if necessary, plus 0% BIK means I'm instantly £350 better off a month than I am currently running the GTE and still have a fully maintained and insured brand new car.
 

Gavlar

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Do Tesla's still have the paint/rust issue? I'd love a Model 3 but watching a review I wasn't aware that so much was dependant on the infotainment system, even to open the glovebox, adjust mirrors etc you've to use the screen. A few physical shortcut buttons would have been a good idea, can't be good having to take your eyes off the road for everything. The glass roof option looks superb though
 

Reno_LV

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Having driven @NIEVO tesla 3 (poor man spec I must add not even the performance model) on michelin pilot sports I can assure you this car will bring more smiles than a golf r, or audi rs3 etc. Handling due to low weight is phenomenal as is responsiveness of steering etc. Interior is personal preference (i am not sold on interior) but overall what a car for daily duties that performs like an evo. Get a test drive @Gee you won’t regret and i bet you will be sold
 

EVANI

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Do Tesla's still have the paint/rust issue? I'd love a Model 3 but watching a review I wasn't aware that so much was dependant on the infotainment system, even to open the glovebox, adjust mirrors etc you've to use the screen. A few physical shortcut buttons would have been a good idea, can't be good having to take your eyes off the road for everything. The glass roof option looks superb though

PMG did my ceramic coating and commented on how good the paintwork was and how little correction it needed compared to earlier cars. Time will tell how it holds up.

The mirrors are adjusted with the physical buttons on the steering wheel. And really, how often do you do this anyway? Sure there are times when more phyiscal buttons would be useful, but removing dedicated controls for everything in the car cleans up the interior, makes it cheaper to build and most of all means a software update can bring improvements and add new features.

Glass roof is standard on all Model 3's.
 

svensktoppen

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The reviews of the Model 3 are resoundingly positive. I don't just want a usable car, I want something interesting. Free charge point at work, already have one at home if necessary, plus 0% BIK means I'm instantly £350 better off a month than I am currently running the GTE and still have a fully maintained and insured brand new car.

No worries, whatever floats your boat and all that :cool:

Only saying there are other options. For example, an iPace wouldn't be a lot more than a Model 3 Performance with a few options, especially on a lease deal. And there's no comparison in quality and usability.
 
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