Electric Cars (EVs)

Does anyone here own an EV yet?

We have just taken the plunge and bought our first!

A 2020 Hyundai Kona 64kWh Premium SE in metallic red for just 11995 Pounds.

This was the top of the range model when it came out with the longer range battery and all the optional extras. The 64kWh battery range is about 278 miles, which is better than nearly every other can in this size, in our price range, with most only having 45-50kWh batteries and a 180-200 mile range. We wanted a bit more in case we wanted to travel a bit further, but also so it doesn't need charging as often. It's also got the more powerful electric motor with a 0-60 in 7.5 seconds, which is more than enough.

My wife only does about 20 miles most days so it would only need charging once a week. And we have worked out a full charge will cost less than 7 pounds on a home charger (which we now need to buy and get installed).

It is the older shape Kona so not quite as smart looking at the newer one. The front isn't as pretty. But I gave it a test drive and it's really nice to drive and very comfortable. I was also surprised by the level of equipment for a car that is really a lower end EV. As the top of the range model it has full leather with heated and ventilated seats (in the rear too), wireless phone charging, a really good speaker system, heads up display, radar cruise control and auto radar adjusting regen braking, and other things most cars now have such as 360 degree reversing camera and parking sensors, a larger infotainment screen etc. It seemed to have every possible equipment I could think of.

So we are very happy with what is quite a bargain priced purchase. The Kona also gets some very good reviews for reliability and the car itself. The main dealer we bought it from also did a battery health check. The car has 45k miles on the clock and it's still showing 100% battery health. Reviews also show the range it shows is very accurate and you should get what it states, which is unusual.

We just have to wait now to pick it up next week.

I'm now a bit jealous as I still have my older Peugeot 508SW diesel. The car I really want though is the BYD Seal or the KIA EV6. But I was really impressed by the Hyundai.

Nope, not for me.

We picked the car up yesterday. My wife had to collect it as I was at work and she was a bit nervous as hadn't even driven an automatic (even though I've owned 3!). Her 12 year old Volvo is fairly basic compared to the new car. This is even the first car she has had with Bluetooth!

I took it out for a quick drive when I got home and it's nice, but not really my sort of car. We will use it when we go anywhere though to save a lot of cost compared to petrol. It's in very good condition for 5 years old and exactly what she needs.

We should be getting a wall charger installed in the next 2 weeks that will charge at 7kWh so take about 9 hours to fully charge the 64kWh battery from 0 to 100%. And with a fixed rate OVO EV charging package costing ?27 per month on our energy bills that should be all it costs. That also includes an extra 100 mile public charging credit each month. At the moment she was spending at least 200 pounds per month on diesel so this will save quite a bit.

At least it serves it's purpose, it will take you anywhere and you save money. Can tell you with my new car I'm definitely the complete opposite. Nice toys can also have disadvantages.

Exactly. This EV was never about the ultimate driving experience. It was triggered by the huge current increase in fuel prices and her Volvo breaking down at the same time and starting to have a few tell tail sounds that more work will be needed on it soon. It's mainly for her 6 mile daily commute to work and taking Tom to Swimming 5 times a week. For that it's perfect.

I did notice the new Audi A6 E-Tron on the road yesterday and that looks really nice in the Avant Estate version. And with a 470 mile range that's more like it. But then it does cost 65k Pounds. There are very nice EVs starting to appear but for me too expensive. Secondhand market in about 3 years time should be good.

We drove the EV to my parents in the New Forest over the weekend. We had about 93% charge when we left and about 45% when we got back home. That's about 47 miles each way, plus we made about a 10 mile detour on route and visited a seaside village on the way back for an Ice Cream so in total about 120 miles. So we are happy with that.

The home charger won't be installed for a couple of weeks so we tried the emergency 3 pin plug charger you plug into a plug socket in the house. This charged at about 2.4kWh and the car had over 90% charge in the morning, so that was more than good enough for my wife using it this week for work. This is more expensive to charge compared to a proper 7kW charger as that will be linked to our electric supplier on a special EV tariff that will cost about 7p per kWh on a monthly plan. I know EVs are not for everyone and I'm still a bit on the fence for longer journeys, but for daily use it seems more than good enough and far cheaper.

Why do they have to place owner serviceable parts in the hardest to reach places on cars?

I can understand a bit more on a car with an engine as they have to squeeze everything around the engine. In my 508 to get to the headlights one side has loads of room, but the otherside the battery is right in front of it so it's really hard to access.

On the new EV we have the same problem. You open the bonnet and there is a lot more room in there with each thing such as the battery, brake fluid and pipes all with loads of space around them. But they have placed the windscreen washer fluid bottle right in front of the right hand headlight access cover. The car has full LED headlights, but the cornering headlight that only comes on when you are turning a corner is an H7 halogen bulb, and it had blown. If it had been the one on the other side it was a 5 minute job. On the other side the washer bottle was completely in the way. I could only get one finger on the outside cover that needs to be unscrewed. I eventually got it to turn but then needed my wife's smaller hands to even reach the bulb holder to turn it. Stupid design.

I've heard this happens because designers work on things separately and don't consider accessing them after everything else is added. About time they did!

Our Volvo also has a stupid design to change a bulb. You have to pull out 2 huge retaining bars and then take the whole headlight unit out. Then unscrew 6 hex screws to open a cover where you can access all the bulbs. Why?

Not here....

Considered an EV Mokka back along. Drove like a bag of sh!t compared to a 20 plate Peugeot 2008 & that's where I went last December....

It's the Battery thing as well. - Still too new; - Still so "not" cost effective/longevity effective enough yet....

It is strange isn't it that Vauxhall is now part of the Peugeot PSA group, but their new cars are still cheap feeling (like they always were). I suppose they are using it as a budget brand and when you sit in one they just feel like a cheap budget Peugeot in the layout and style. Peugeot by contrast really upped their game since the 508 came out. Build quality is far higher and they feel a lot more solid. Move the interior and dash design off the new models too. The 3008 and 408 especially.

I was driving a 2023 Peugeot 308 SW 1.2 petrol for a couple of weeks whilst my car had a new clutch. And they are really nice to drive one you get used to the tiny steering wheel and different position. For a 1.2 turbo it's pretty nippy. I wouldn't buy a 1.2 though because of the wet belt.

Back to EVs. We were as sceptical as you over the battery life and charging. But as my wife's Volvo was probably going to start getting expensive as things like the clutch flywheel were starting to make some noise we decided to investigate and were surprised. And as she only did a few miles each day we have only needed to top up the battery once per week so far, and only on the slow 3 pin emergency charger as we are waiting for the EV charger install at home. That manages any 2.4kW let house so does take time over the weekend.

And we were surprised when we looked around at what was possible secondhand. Our Hyundai is 5 years old but has an 8 year battery warranty so that have us some piece of mind. We are thinking of this car as a stopgap and will look to upgrade to a newer one in a couple of years. But the equipment spec is brilliant. It drives really nicely. And my wife is enjoying how fast it is when needed.

Our EV charger has been delayed as our house in 1930s and the electric company have said the wiring needs surveying in thy road up to our meter and they might need to dig up our drive to replace it just to be safe with the extra load needed. This highlights how the country and government are pushing EVs by the infrustructure is not up to standard to cope with it. We have so many houses built around 100 years ago that will need wiring upgrades before they can have an EV charger. Thankfully the electric board side of the upgrade is free as it's their responsibility and they own it. Only from the meter onwards is ours and the actual EV install should be straightforward.

Southern Electric is coming out Monday to do a survey. Fingers crossed its straight forward.

I've now been looking at EVs for my eventual next car. One I like the most at the moment is the Kia EV6. They do a mental GT S edition that can go 0-60 in 3.4 seconds, but I wouldn't be going for that one as not needed, and in that model the battery range of hugely reduced. They do a more sensible dual motor version with a range I've 300 miles. Second hand these are already down to 17k.

Some potential good news.

The Electric Company came yesterday to survey where the cables were running into our house from the supply and to look at the head where the supply terminates at the main fuse and then on to our electric meter. The very good news is that the main junction for our supply is at the bottom of our drive, so that makes it very easy for them to upgrade the cable. The supply then runs in a straight line from there up the drive to the garage where our mains electric meter is located. He couldn't believe how old the main fuse metal enclosure was in the garage, confirming it dated to the building of the house in 1936 and commented it should be in a museum!. He also said that the incoming cable to the meter is the highest quality they ever made and would give us the strongest current with no voltage drop as the cable is a solid copper core (not twisted strands like modern cables but a solid block of copper as the core), encased in iron and lead. He said the cable is worth a fortune!

He also noted that we had three incoming fuses indicating our supply might actually be connected to 3 phase electric. We currently only have a connection from one of these fuses to our meter and consumer unit as a single phase. But he said he would investigate this as they would be able to install new equipment as 3 phase if it was already in place. If this is true then we have the ability to install a 3 phase EV charger which would charge as 22kWh instead of the 7kWh of a single phase home charger. This would be charging the car from 0-100% in 3 hours instead of 9. That's a huge difference if we can have that option.

Only thing to consider is the additional costs this might create. The meter would also need to be upgraded to 3 phase, which is free and performed by out electric supplier once the Electric Company have upgraded to main incoming wires and fuse. But we would then also need to replace out single phase consumer unit with a 3 phase one, which would mean an electrician rewiring the house with a new one. This for a new Single Phase Consumer unit is over 1000 pounds, so not sure for 3 phase. But it's worth looking into in case the cost isn't too much. But having 3 phase into the house but not using it yet would still be better as it would be there for a future upgrade.

Three Phase 440V has been an Industry Standard for years and we're lucky to have our 1857 built house completely modified/re-wired to current UK Legislation...

We desperately need a Garage on our Property due to current driveway/parking subsidence & have lots of options to make provision for, but would like to incorporate Solar Panels on the Double (wide) garage proposal we need to plan for.

There are also Security Camera requirements for the rear of our property where the garage is planned & all this ties in with our investment in Ubiquiti Networking Solutions.

Some elements of Solar Electric have a long way to go yet but if a few UV panels can put cash in your pocket & give you free Electric all year round, why not jump on the bandwagon to be a part of it.

True. We have opted for a EV charger that is solar and battery compatible, so if we fit solar panels at a later date we can take advantage, then an EV would be almost free to run. This is where solar battery storage is important as it can collect it all week in the daytime, then charge an EV at night or the weekend. That's a future plan though.

Regarding security cameras, we have been using Blink ones for some time now. The outside battery ones are pretty good. They run on lithium AA batteries and last about 6 months. The image quality isn't bad and they brought out a new version with colour night vision and higher resolution and framerate last year. We have one of those and it's fine for what we need. We also have some of their mini cameras indoors in key places. We have also installed them at my mother-in-laws now she is bed bound to keep an eye on the careers. We have an outside one looking at the front door and towards where people walk up to the door, and ones in the hall, kitchen and dining room. They are fairly well hidden. You can also use a local storage option with a USB stick to record footage, so don't need to subscribe to their cloud storage, although you do get 30 days free to try and convince you to subscribe. And the cloud storage is quickly to retrieve footage on your phone to quickly look, and if you have multiple cameras it actually edits the footage into a timeline based video that links them all. At Mother-in-laws this is almost like watching a documentary as you see them come to the door and unlock it, it then cuts to the hall as they open the door and walk through, then cuts tot he kitchen and back to the hall as they do what's needed. It doesn't do that for local USB storage but that seems to be the only limitation, I recommend Blink for cheap cost effective security cameras. Amazon often do bundle deals too that hugely reduce the price as Blink is an Amazon company,