Electric Vehicles
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Been driving a few more of late. Couple of write ups
BMW i4, E40. Proper proper well sorted car. Drives brilliantly, handling dynamics are absolutely on point and has just the right amount of power. Does a good job of taking advantage of the electric positives (instant power, smooth engines) and masking the electric issues (huge weight, complete lack of charisma / soul). The problem is ... the price. I got back to the showroom and the cocky, arrogant sales fella asking my thoughts and I waxed lyrical for a bit then said. It has one massive drawback. He looked confused. I just said the 420d right behind ou is 99% of the car at 75% the price. It's too expensive for what it is. Things have changed a bit since then (BMW has repriced it a bit) and it's now a more compelling argument.
BMW i4 M50. The fast one. And by fuck is it fast. It does lose a bit in driving dynamics though with the 4WD and the addtl weight. And truth be told, the speed differential is noticeable all the way though, but it's really really noticeable above about 60mph. Put the pedal down at 70 and your almost immediately doing 100. It's a seriously seriously impressive machine. But for such a fast car, it just has no soul. It's too perfect. There's no howling noise, there's no thrust as the engine spools up, there's just ... nothing.
I really really struggle to see the point of performance electric cars. Fast as fuck yes, but where's the soul?
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@MajorPom said in Electric Vehicles:
really really struggle to see the point of performance electric cars. Fast as fuck yes, but where's the soul?
People who owned horses felt much the same about the Model T I'm guessing 😜
I understand where you're coming from. I still appreciate a well tuned V8 rolling past.
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So after test driving everything we just ordered …….
A Tesla. Booooooo.
Model 3 performance. Black on black on black.
When push comes to shove it was the best all rounder. Long range, fast as Fuck, amazing technology and a design which makes it very roomy inside with loads of space for the kids shit.
Oh, and got 10k off list with 0% finance too.
And the wife LOVED it. Which immediately makes all other points (good and bad), moot.
It almost became a no brainer.
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@MajorRage said in Electric Vehicles:
And the wife LOVED it. Which immediately makes all other points (good and bad), moot.
Which is why I don't have an EV yet.
While my 2012 X-Trail still works, no car will be good enough to meet her budgetary requirements...
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I can say this tho:
If you are thinking of electric, try them all. No two car companies make similar electric cars. Even the Etron GT and Taycan which are the same platform are very different cars to drive.
I fully expected to buy the I4, but it didn’t happen.
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@MajorRage what do you put that down to? Everyone's sort of new at this, but is it targeting different audiences or the place the OEMs are coming from?
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@NTA good question - varying levels of technology research budgets are my guess.
You can tell where they’ve pigeon holed elec running gear in a gas car (i4, vw cars) against a ground up build. Summary by brand:
Audi will be the German winner. Their cars feel proper premium and getting the e tron out early means they are on gen 2 already snd the new q8 is absolutely superb. Target - premium customers.
BMW seem adamant on elec gear in petrol cars whilst their elec only offering looks hideous. I3 they would have learned a lot tho so next generations should be good. Ix3 pick of the bunch. Target - existing bmw drivers
Mercedes got it right building elec only but their cars look hideous and feel / drive designed for the over 60s. Target - blue rinse brigade.
VW have got it wrong - the cars simply don’t drive well. They are scaling back. Target - VW drivers.
Ford e Mach is brilliant. But the people seem
To disagree …. Not sure why. Spacious, good range, good looking. Maybe a bit pricey. Target- yanks.Kia I didn’t like. Felt like Kia trying to be something they’re not. Sales suggest ppl not with me here either! Target - trying to step up from being a budget car.
Porsche the best, fantastic car. But too expensive. Same as e tron gt. Both are proper sports cars which will appeal to true petrol heads. Target - petrol heads.
Think that’s all I drove
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I've just been reading how changes to fringe tax in Australia for novated leases have really pushed enquiries into EVs (especially Teslas). Not sure how much that translated into direct sales.
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@MajorRage said in Electric Vehicles:
@NTA good question - varying levels of technology research budgets are my guess.
Cheers. Good breakdown.
Here in Oz it is still revolving around lack of incentives and emissions standards, but as @nostrildamus says above: that may be changing in the novated lease market as certain taxes change gears. Pun intended.
I've driven or been in a few of the EVs we have available, mostly in the cheaper end of the market (i3 and Model S the exceptions). Compared to my aged pretend 4WD, very nice in terms of toys, but that would be true of any new car I sit in that has too many fucking alarms and settings.
MG is doing good business here at present, as are BYD, both through private purchase and lease. The Chinese are coming and they don't give a fuck.
I imagine the MG4 will be very popular as an alternative to the more expensive Model 3 in terms of hitting that "2nd car around town" market.
I can get a standard FWD Polestar 2 for around $70k drive away here, but the dual motor and/or long range climb toward $100k with bells and whistles. The Polestar 3 @ $140k? Uh... no thanks....
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I'm not a car person but I walk past a charging station on occasion (when it rains as it's in a covered car park) and am surprised by the number of Kia's I see charging. They seem to be pretty popular in my part of Oz. I've driven a BYD, VW, and Tesla and thought the BYD was the best of the lot.
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I found this interesting in terms of mining and some of the discussion about how we're going to wreck the planet going EV.
Logically it isn't a huge increase to the overall mining situation.
It is still an uplift of 1000% lithium required which is obviously big
However, it assumes everything will be lithium and not other chemistries. -
Month in on the Tesla.
I haven't fallen in love with it. It's a great car, and it is, as I said originally, like driving an iPhone.
Things I like
It's fucking fast, like proper proper fast. Goes like shit off a shovel and if your not thinking about what your driving and nail the accelerator to go past somebody / get through a light, it does actually hurt. Power is instant.
You adapt to the iPad controlling everything pretty quick. It's annoying the first time you need something (demisters etc), but it's not as bad as I thought
The rear space is truly colossal. Kids have so much legroom back there. Boot space is massive too, the drop box in the boot is great if you have a couple of shopping bags, chuck it in there and it doesn't move around. Really smart.
Handling is pretty good. Very sure footed & it does drive like a car half a tonne lighter.Things I don't like.
Build quality is just ok & the materials used are quite cheap. They wear pretty quickly & the inside lining will mark with the merest touch
Paint marks very easily. When you do what we did an go black on black on black, you've gotta work hard to keep it clean
Entry electronics are prone to failure. Need to keep the key card on you
Had 2 software updates & in none of them did it seemingly remember much about us - had to rein put a lot of things.Summary is that I have no regrets but I do wonder if I'd have preferred the I40. The wife, on the other hand, absolutely loves it, goes on about it like nothing else.
Blagged an invite to a Porsche driving day at Silverstone on Wednesday so it'll be interesting to see what I think of driving those after owning this ....
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@MajorRage
I was given a rental Tessla a couple of weeks ago - admittedly only the Y but I found it a deeply underwhelming experience.It didn't start off well when the numbnuts at Avis didn't tell me that you open the door by waving the RFID across the door pillar. I'm standing there feeling like the oldest stupidest guy in the world waving it across every part of the lock mechanism until I could find someone to help.
The drive was incredibly ponderous. I assume this is something Avis has done in the set-up, but it had no acceleration and felt like to had a tonne of bricks in the back.
Talk about cheap nasty and plastic. Interior was crap and didn't look like it was built to last more than 6 months.
The iPad did my fucking head in. I'm sure you would adjust quite quickly and maybe some sort of instruction would have helped but an old fashioned dial actually works better and is less distracting. I'm guessing you personalise your set-up and then don't have to worry about such things.
On the upside. The nav system is fucking brilliant.
Overall though a very lame offering.
Meanwhile partner having bought her EV 12 months ago - as her last car ever - is already looking at an upgrade. Because she's on the mailing lists and likes shiny new shit.
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I heard from a friend in NZ that Teslas in NZ are a far worse offering as the sales and service support are truly atrocious. Does your partner have that issue?
I also wonder about them on the roads here - I’m back at the moment and it’s like driving in a third world country. Like, fucking wow surprising.
If the build quality and ride aren’t just right in a car if that weight, it could be quite rough I imagine.
In Japan, I could see them being very different cars. As much as I miss my little Mercedes, I don’t think I’d want to drive it on 18s as I do in Japan with some of the massive bumps and potholes about.
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@Nepia said in Electric Vehicles:
I'm not a car person but I walk past a charging station on occasion (when it rains as it's in a covered car park) and am surprised by the number of Kia's I see charging. They seem to be pretty popular in my part of Oz. I've driven a BYD, VW, and Tesla and thought the BYD was the best of the lot.
is the BYD suspension ok? I was driving behind one the other day and it seemed to wallow a lot, soft ride perhaps.
And by Kia I assume you mean Niro? I don't see many of them and only one or two EV6s..
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@nostrildamus said in Electric Vehicles:
@Nepia said in Electric Vehicles:
I'm not a car person but I walk past a charging station on occasion (when it rains as it's in a covered car park) and am surprised by the number of Kia's I see charging. They seem to be pretty popular in my part of Oz. I've driven a BYD, VW, and Tesla and thought the BYD was the best of the lot.
is the BYD suspension ok? I was driving behind one the other day and it seemed to wallow a lot, soft ride perhaps.
And by Kia I assume you mean Niro? I don't see many of them and only one or two EV6s..
I didn't notice any issues with the BYD, it wasn't an uncomfortable ride.
As for the Kia, as I noted I'm not much of a car person (and really don't care enough to look at models), I just noticed there were more of them charging than other brands.
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I dunno how legit this is, but if so, don't put a dent in your Rivian.
Some alternative source suggest it is legit enough of a concern.
Rich Rebuilds Gets $37,000 Repair Bill For Seemingly Minor Rivian R1T Damage
The YouTuber known for bringing dead Teslas back to life got a nasty surprise from the body shop.
Rivian R1T fender benders can turn into $40K repair bills
When Ford switched to aluminum bodywork on the Ford F-150 in 2015 to cut the truck's weight, potential buyers spent a good while in online discussions
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For the Aussies on here:
2024 BYD Seal Price and Specs: Tesla Model 3 Competitor Launches Down Under
The BYD Seal electric sedan will launch in December 2023, priced from $49,888, taking on the Tesla Model 3, Hyundai Ioniq 6 and Polestar 2 . Get the latest price, specs and features in this detailed guid!
