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May 2021
10:58am, 24 May 2021
267 posts
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fuzzyduck79
VW ID4 going pretty well here after ~8 weeks ownership
Mainly used for short trips so far, did first lengthy drive in it over the weekend.
Range took a hit as described by theOtherRichard above when I floored it for an hour, with music and AC on the range was falling by about 2 miles for every 1 mile driven.
Paid £11 for a 40 min charge to put 100 miles on the range so I could get back without worrying, easy to find best rated charging point using Zap-Map app and there was one space out of two available.
Charging at home overnight costs much less (Octopus Go, 5p/kWh for four hours each night, costs £1.40 and think that would add more like 80-90 miles, but I leave it plugged in to 80% full when tariff goes back up)
Nothing to complain about so far, it's a far smoother drive. Bit of a shock going back to driving the wife's Mazda 3 the other day, some people point out electric cars are too quiet (bad for pedestrian/bike safety) but the flip side is ICE cars are quite noisy, I won't miss them honking down our road day and night come 2035 or whenever.
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May 2021
11:05am, 24 May 2021
14,478 posts
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larkim
I've paid more attention to car noise since owning the EV and it surprises me how at "normal" driving speed most EVs make a similar level of noise to ICE cars. Most of the noise is tyre / air noise (even when observed as a pedestrian or a runner).
It's at low speed or pulling away from traffic lights that the noises are clearly different. I nearly ran over someone in a car park a few nights ago as I was reversing and he had his head down looking at his phone and clearly hadn't observed me moving at all. Not that that wouldn't have made it my fault if I had hit him!!
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May 2021
11:12am, 24 May 2021
14,523 posts
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rf_fozzy
There's a sensible argument to be had for *all* EVs having reversing noises as mandatory like HGVs
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May 2021
11:13am, 24 May 2021
14,480 posts
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larkim
I think the noise that the Peugeot makes to simulate car noise only kicks in in forward gears; might be wrong though. Agree, some form of beeping etc would be useful.
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May 2021
11:14am, 24 May 2021
38,790 posts
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HappyG(rrr)
So, we may have an alternative approach in plan now.
My wife's 10 year old car is starting to do bad things, so the plan is she gets a bigger, older car (needs to tow things, carry larger loads etc.), so an ICE and runs it for a long time, I get a new, small BEV either cash or lease. Yay! I can start looking again!  G
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May 2021
12:28pm, 24 May 2021
20,852 posts
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DeeGee
Tell you what I was fascinated by this weekend. Pottering round the posh part of Walthamstow, my brother pointed out a lamppost which looked like it had been hacked and had a cable out of it.
Turns out that in areas where there are no driveways/off-road parking, you can request your lamppost be turned into a public access charging point and can plug right in to it, paying for use by using either a special cable or an app.
That certainly resolves the issue of cables trailing across pavements, and will make EV ownership that bit more feasible when ICE vehicles all command a congestion charge in London soon.
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May 2021
12:40pm, 24 May 2021
8,625 posts
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Too Much Water
Good idea if limited.
permit parking in my old area didn’t guarantee the right to an actual parking space, particularly a specific one by a lamppost. Probably more parking spaces than lampposts too!
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May 2021
12:43pm, 24 May 2021
14,528 posts
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rf_fozzy
"Good idea if limited."
Yes, because there are so few lampposts....
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May 2021
12:45pm, 24 May 2021
17,683 posts
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Chrisull
In Cornwall we have one lampost in the entire street. We border a dark sky area (where they will have no lampposts)
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May 2021
12:52pm, 24 May 2021
20,855 posts
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DeeGee
Yes, obviously not suitable for some areas, but maybe there's a similar non-intrusive possibility for dark sky areas and single lamppost streets.
The same company that installs the lamppost chargers also makes them into bollards, so could possibly do the same for posts which carry parking restriction notices...
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