Electric cars

[Cassandra]

Do you have to be a NTS member to use the chargers? I'm going to have to find my nearest site now :)

At the Burns Birthplace Museum in Alloway you can park and charge for free without being an NTS member. You can then visit the shop and the cafe still without being a member but to visit the museum or the cottage you need to pay. Also in the area are the Burns monument and gardens. The Auld Kirk of Alloway (of Tam O’Shanter fame), Poets Walk and the Big O’ Doon are also freely accessible and in the summer during weekdays 11 to 3 the Church is often open with some rather fine stained glass.

At both Alloway and Culzean you will need a card, both ChargePlace Scotland (mine cost 10 pounds with a 5 year guarantee) and the Electroverse card (from Octopus) work OK. I don’t know about other NTS sites.

The other place I charged for free (about 18 months ago) was Port Logan Gardens. There is an entrance charge to the gardens but the car park and chargers are before the entrance to the gardens though there is a not much to do other than the gardens.

All of these chargers are 7kW the Alloway (2) one is open 10 to 4 and is quire often occupied or blocked by illiterate drivers, Culzean (4) ones are more likely to have availability but the spaces are quite narrow and a bit awkward to park in.

It used to be that you could identify the free chargers on the ChargePlace Scotland map (which is now totally useless) or the Elecrroverse map ( doesn’t now show many of them), zap map shows them but doesn’t indicate whether they are free or not. A couple of years ago there were 3 or 4 places around Ayr that were free but I can’t tell where they are now.

Sorry long answer! Forgot to mention the new murals inside the old railway tunnel at Alloway!

 

[fulabeer]

Yep. Same here with with octopus. The have knocked 3.5 p per jWh off both overnight and daytime rates. So my 7p is now 3.5! Costs me £2.50 now to drive 300 Miles instead of the £5 lol. How much does it cost to drive one of those fossil cars 300 miles again?

I'm not gloating over ICE car owners. It's pretty shit for anybody struggling financially.
It does show what i said a while back about oil/fuel independence though. The world is held to ransom by the oil producers and speculators.
Every crisis sees the same pattern over and over again. Instant price rises, yet slow drops. They quote the slow drops due to having to buy months in advance. So why does the price rise immediately?

At least having some EV owners around saves precious supplies of petrol/diesel for those with ICE.
It also means all those electric buses/vans/Trains running around Manchester will keep running around.

Imagine a time when Britain isn't beholden to world oil prices for transport.
We will still need oil derived products though. And natural gas needs will be around for a while yet.

This will convince a few to at least have a look at EV's.

 

[jrb]

We’re going to get the first £2 very soon.

Fuel Prices Near Me | Cheap Petrol & Diesel Near You | Fuel Finder UK

Compare petrol and diesel prices from 7,925 UK stations. Find cheap fuel near you on the live map, check trip and fill-up costs, and head straight to the best stop.

www.fuel-finder.uk

 

[Blue Maverick]

We’re going to get the first £2 very soon.

View attachment 187732

Fuel Prices Near Me | Cheap Petrol & Diesel Near You | Fuel Finder UK

Compare petrol and diesel prices from 7,925 UK stations. Find cheap fuel near you on the live map, check trip and fill-up costs, and head straight to the best stop.

www.fuel-finder.uk

View attachment 187733

That Octopus deal was only 5p last week as well, it changed in 24 hours, god knows how it’s going to go in July and then September!

 

[East Level 2]

The lack of cheap public chargers is the biggest barrier to EVs and PHEVs, though people might be happy to pay >50p/kW if petrol prices get any sillier.
Horror stories about battery fires and the ridiculous cost of replacement batteries are valid of course, but seem to be rare occurrences.

 

[jrb]

UK prices and spec are out for the Kia EV2.

The Kia EV2 website has crashed. Lol!

The 61kWh battery costs less than the 42.2kWh battery due to the UK Government’s Electric Car Grant.

Kia has announced that its smallest – and in its own words, 'affordable' – EV2 will cost from £24,245, ahead of its arrival later this year.

That includes a £3,750 ‘Reservation Saving’, while the carmaker awaits confirmation that it’ll be eligible for the UK Government’s Electric Car Grant.

https://www.topgear.com/car-news/electric/roll-roll-kia-ev2-priced-ps24245-uk

The new ID. Polo due out later this early is supposedly £22,000 for the entry level model.

 

[Centurions]

The Renault Twingo is getting a lot of love.

The game's been won – meet the new king of the city car

Renault's relaunched the Twingo as an EV and, good grief, is it a corker. Find out just how good it is on CAR magazine.

www.carmagazine.co.uk

Driven: the new Renault Twingo is so good, it really shouldn’t be this cheap! | Auto Express

The new Renault Twingo EV is clever, good-looking and a delight to drive

www.autoexpress.co.uk

 

[jrb]

The Renault Twingo is getting a lot of love.

The game's been won – meet the new king of the city car

Renault's relaunched the Twingo as an EV and, good grief, is it a corker. Find out just how good it is on CAR magazine.

www.carmagazine.co.uk

Driven: the new Renault Twingo is so good, it really shouldn’t be this cheap! | Auto Express

The new Renault Twingo EV is clever, good-looking and a delight to drive

www.autoexpress.co.uk

 

[Centurions]

Interesting review. I don't think the emphasis on not getting whiplash on acceleration means much given it's an 'A' segment car and it'll be more than fine in the 20/30/40 zones it'll typically find itself (or at least I find myself in :) ).

The range isn't an issue either given it's target audience and the use of older battery tech which is happy to be charged at 100% constantly means it's only about 20 miles shy of the Inster for instance which will normally be at 80% maximum (obviously, the occasional 100% for longer planned journeys will be an advantage to the Inster).

The squeaky dash is slightly disappointing but the boot could be a deal breaker for us despite the sliding seats. I have to have the 60% seatback down in our 208 to get the wifes new convertible wheelchair/walker in (laid flat) and that quite narrow rear opening looks like it could be a serious problem.

Edit: Given you can get a 5 Techno pre-registered very low mileage from Arnold Clark for £21,698 (pre-reg are from £23,945) the pricing for the Twingo is going to be interesting.

 

[Blue Llama]

Thanks for the response, not that I’ll ever but an EV.

Is there any risk though say in winter when you need lights and heating and the traffic is stop start for several hours?

EV motors don't tick over when idling like an ICE. Heated seats and heated steering wheel work off the 12v battery not the motor. Plus only serviced every two years, they don't have a lot of expensive to repair and replace parts that an ICE has. Performance is great, my Skoda Elroq will reach 60mph faster than any ICE under £80k. My need for a break from driving usually kicks in after 3 hours on the road in the EV or previously in ICE vehicles so charge whilst having a coffee and a slash. What exactly are the reasons you would never buy an EV?

 

[grunge]

I think there’s a lot of completion for EV’s at the moment as lots of price drops going on. You can now get a base model 3 Tesla for under £250 a month.

 

[mosssideblue]

EV motors don't tick over when idling like an ICE. Heated seats and heated steering wheel work off the 12v battery not the motor. Plus only serviced every two years, they don't have a lot of expensive to repair and replace parts that an ICE has. Performance is great, my Skoda Elroq will reach 60mph faster than any ICE under £80k. My need for a break from driving usually kicks in after 3 hours on the road in the EV or previously in ICE vehicles so charge whilst having a coffee and a slash. What exactly are the reasons you would never buy an EV?

The reasons I would never get one include:
Affordability
Adaptations I would need for it to be practical ( wheelchair Adaptive)

 

[SiMCFC]

Took out a Hyundai Ioniq 5 N for a test drive last week... probably the most fun i've had in a car since driving a Lambo Huracan on a track day a few Years back, i'm tempted to get one on lease via salary sacrifice if they will get somewhere close any of the private lease deals.

 

[jrb]

Interesting review. I don't think the emphasis on not getting whiplash on acceleration means much given it's an 'A' segment car and it'll be more than fine in the 20/30/40 zones it'll typically find itself (or at least I find myself in :) ).

The range isn't an issue either given it's target audience and the use of older battery tech which is happy to be charged at 100% constantly means it's only about 20 miles shy of the Inster for instance which will normally be at 80% maximum (obviously, the occasional 100% for longer planned journeys will be an advantage to the Inster).

The squeaky dash is slightly disappointing but the boot could be a deal breaker for us despite the sliding seats. I have to have the 60% seatback down in our 208 to get the wifes new convertible wheelchair/walker in (laid flat) and that quite narrow rear opening looks like it could be a serious problem.

Edit: Given you can get a 5 Techno pre-registered very low mileage from Arnold Clark for £21,698 (pre-reg are from £23,945) the pricing for the Twingo is going to be interesting.

Regardless of the pricing, if it is under £20K, there are still quite a few issues with it highlighted in the video, which wouldn’t make me buy it. As an EV run around, a city car, and 2nd car, it’s fine.

 

[Centurions]

Regardless of the pricing, if it is under £20K, there are still quite a few issues with it highlighted in the video, which wouldn’t make me buy it. As an EV run around, a city car, and 2nd car, it’s fine.

I've removed it from my own list, the dash issue would be annoying and in particular the small boot opening are deal breakers for me, however it is supposed to be a city car and/or a run around and for many people that would make it their one and only car.

 

[jrb]

I've removed it from my own list, the dash issue would be annoying and in particular the small boot opening are deal breakers for me, however it is supposed to be a city car and/or a run around and for many people that would make it their one and only car.

I’m sticking with the Kia EV2 which is being launched later this month, the ID.Polo, which will be launched in late Summer, apparently, and the Hyundai Ionic 5.(version 2) I might test drive the new MG4 EV. But at £30K, it’s well over my fixed budget.

 

[Centurions]

I’m sticking with the Kia EV2 which is being launched later this month, the ID.Polo, which will be launched in late Summer, apparently, and the Hyundai Ionic 5.(version 2) I might test drive the new MG4 EV. But at £30K, it’s well over my fixed budget.

I thought the ID.Polo was next year along with the Twingo and (potential) EV1. I'll have to do some research on it, cheers.

 

[Bill Walker]

Does anyone have experience or knowledge of the Polestar brand ? I'm attracted to the them and thinking about buying one.
Are they well regarded in the UK?

 

[Mazzarelli's Swiss Cheese]

The lack of cheap public chargers is the biggest barrier to EVs and PHEVs, though people might be happy to pay >50p/kW if petrol prices get any sillier.
Horror stories about battery fires and the ridiculous cost of replacement batteries are valid of course, but seem to be rare occurrences.

I always think if the will is there this could be quickly solved - remember how quickly pavements got dug up to get virgin cable to nearly every urban house.

 

[Feed the Elk]

That Octopus deal was only 5p last week as well, it changed in 24 hours, god knows how it’s going to go in July and then September!

It will go up.

It’s only down as the government have backed away from the green fuel levy afaik