Gerrycan

When we collected and drove our new Kodiaq PHEV home the other day we noted that the wife's phone case stopped her phone from sitting flush in against the surface in the wireless charger, but she could not be bothered to remove it from the case to see if the charging would improve from the apparent very slow rate. The blurb for our car says that the wireless chargers are cooled. Will probably experiment with all that when we go on a long trip in just over a week.

I found a mHev Ford suv we hired in New Zealand to be quite frustrating to drive. The small battery soon filled so the retardation recuperation would suddenly end partway down a hill and the braking characteristics changed without warning.

Disappointing no one has replied to you yet. Kodaq owners must be shy I'm not a Kodaq owner but should be this coming week, although only the basic PHEV version offered here is Australia so no pano roof and I'll be suffering from 'techshock' when it does arrive due to my current cars being pretty old. Kudos to you for checking the user manual before asking, surprisingly few do. If the Pano roof opening and closing link to unlocking and locking is not in the user manual, then it is probably not an option. Might be worth exploring VCDS options but if you cannot operate the opening/closing from the screen (only the physical switch) then I would be pessimistic. Page 141 in the Kodiaq User Manual tells you how to turn off the speed warnings or increase the warning threshold. Unlikely to be able to shorten the minimum distance on the ACC (VCDS again?). Best bet would be to estimate the minimum distance it is leaving and check with the dealer if it is correctly set. I was initially stunned when I drove in the UK (on the M25) by how close people drive at speed to the car in front. Took me a while to adjust to prevent the same problem of people jumping into the gap I left. Of course, BMW drivers did it without indicating. I've no real experience of wireless chargers but they are only rated for 15 watts and even that rate may be compromised by whatever protection holder you may be using for the phone? Glad you are enjoying your car overall though.

We have put down the money on a Kodiaq PHEV and now wondering if I might have been a bit hasty. Changing cars wasn't really important until we realised how much we could be involved in supporting my son's family with twins coming. Our main car is a 12 year old Octavia combi 1.4tsi which we will keep as it is still a flexible and economical car so the Kodiaq will replace my frighteningly old, incredibly reliable but unsafe 2003 Echo. Some good current deals meant I had a totally disparate 3 cars I wanted to look at, with a cut price and very efficient new model Tesla Model 3 (60-ish kwh battery and 572klm WLTP range), Kodiaq 1.5tsiMhev both at about AU$50k (25k pounds) and believe it or not a Renault (rebadged Dacia) Duster at AU$30k (15k pounds). The latter was a manual, awd, 1.2tsiMhev and would be brilliant for more adventurous Australian bush travels but although there was space for three child seats in the rear their safety would have been a bit of a worry. I should add I did not consider any suitable Chinese vehicles as I have not yet read a review where driving them was considered enjoyable. The Tesla was really impressive but not for child seats and it smelt of Musk. Wife would also not consider EV for long range travel which is reasonable considering the current lack of recharging infrastructure in our part of Aus. So we test drove the 1.5tsiMhev Kodiaq and were really impressed how such a tiny motor could move such a big vehicle, same torque as our Octavia but the car is near 400kg heavier. We had driven a rented small mHev Ford SUV in New Zealand and quite honestly I did not like it as it seemed to be fighting my attempts to drive economically. It would provide noticeable regen retardation when I wanted to coast but when descending a reasonable hill, the small battery soon filled up and suddenly I was having brake hard. I did not experience that in the Kodiaq test drive but it was just around city streets so not surprising. Back in the salesroom it transpired during negotiations that there was a Kodiaq PHEV demo for the same price and in the excitement we jumped at it. Back home we began to realise we had compromised in a couple of areas, no spare tyre, and we had not considered the that our current garaging arrangement was unlikely to provide a good electrical supply for recharging the battery efficiently. So we will buy a spacesaver to take away with us in the boot on travels to more remote parts of Australia and I have to contact an electrician to see what costs we are likely to face and whether I go for a single or 3 phase outlet. For a badge carrying luddite like myself the car will present some challenges but still very excited for next Tuesday when we collect it. I'm scouring the internet for technical information, but it is surprisingly sparce so I know I will have lots of questions and comments to post about here going forward.

Looking at a bigger car cos of twin grand kids coming next year. Brand new Kodiaq 1.5mHev at only A$49k drive away with 7 year warranty. (25k pounds) Economy at 6l/100 seems to good to be true for a 1700kg car. Anyone got experience on whether power is adequate and real world fuel use around town and on a run? The dealers dangled a PHEV in front of us and we fell for it hook, line and sinker

Cheaper models tend to be LFP (exceptions in Korean vehicles) and more expensive models use NMC due to better energy densities. I think it is important to clarify since it may affect how you (should) live with it.

My understanding (willing to be corrected) is that the Elroq 85 has an NMC battery which means the best procedure for slower battery degradation is to maintain the charge between 20 and 80%. It is ok to charge to 100% for range flexibility on a longer journey, and ok to run down to low percentages if you immediately charge it. It is leaving the battery for a long period at either higher or lower limit that causes the greatest degradation. LFP batteries (in the Elroq 60) are different insofar as they are far more tolerant of extended periods at the limits and even benefit from regular (weekly?) 100% charges to maintain correct battery level monitoring. I do get very confused on the vehicular heat pump option and what it does. I mean I understand how a heat pump works, and its efficiencies, and even have very effective reverse cycle air conditioning in my house. In an ICE vehicle the heat is supplied from the engine waste heat and the cooling from an engine driven cooling heat pump and the combination allows control of temperature and humidity, so that you can clear the condensation from the windows without freezing your man bits off. So, if you opt for a heat pump then it cannot just be a reverse cycle unit since you need both hot and cold elements to achieve the same de-humidification. Then there is the question of how battery temperature is controlled, essential for fast charging and longevity (original Nissan Leaf being a prime example of the consequences of not managing battery temperature). Does the battery have separate heat pumps circuits or share the passenger cell facilities?

Always difficult to comment on one-off journeys, especially when quoting the display figures (unless confirmed to be accurate against measured refuels) but yes, a 52mpg return from a 2.0tsi would be pleasing. I'd estimate that a 1.0 or 1.5tsi version driven in a similar manner/environment as you describe would probably get around 60mpg as the 2.0tsi is a nice performance engine but not particularly economical. With regard to fuel, the general published consensus is that if your car is capable of adjusting to better quality fuel then you can expect about 1% improvement for each increase in RON rating and a little more if the better-quality fuel has lower levels of ethanol than the mandatory 10% in UK 95 RON fuel. Ethanol has 10% lower energy density that 'pure' petrol.

I think a test drive before purchase would be mandatory (maybe you can wrangle an extended test over a couple of days since you are a long-time Skoda owner). It may have the herbs you require but consider that it is a two tonne vehicle and driven enthusiastically will probably wear through the tyres quicker than an RS. Surely some sort of home charging would be possible even if at a nominal 2400 watt. That should be enough to provide most daily local requirements and avoid the hassle/costs of regular public charging. I can't believe that warranties on Skoda are still only 3 years in the UK as they are 7 years here is Aus and have been for a while.

@TheWanderer , I'm curious about what is motivating you to consider a move to an EV from a 2023 Octavia RS? I have been giving the change some thought myself, but despite having several domestic factors in place (3 phase electricity, some solar panels but only generating about 2.5kw at best, off-road parking/garage, more clement winters than the UK) I can't quite justify the change at this time. The Elroq 85 is a two-tonne vehicle, no spare tyre, although not sure I like the idea of jacking up two tonnes by the roadside. Here in Adelaide, Australia the public charging infrastructure is pretty poor especially since (cheap) Chinese EV sales have gone through the roof and overwhelmed existing facilities where they are not affected by vandalism or poor maintenance. Things are probably better in the UK? EV is better around town but range is especially affected by cold and high speeds relative to an ICEV. What is the situation there regarding trained maintenance staff for EV when things go wrong (very poor here), EV depreciation and insurance costs. Also make sure the payload capacity of the car meets your needs (surprisingly low on many EV). I guess it depends on the majority of the type of driving you do (local or long distance) but even at the higher fuel costs currently hurting us it does not justify our making a change from our current (old) ICE vehicles. Have you test driven an Elroq and what was your experience relative to the RS?

The run in the previous post was painless but soon after my post I suffered really bad right foot pains and could barely put my weight on it. Took time off work, some anti-inflammatories, rested for a couple of days and then started some calf raises on the stairs when it felt better. Pain dropped very quickly and I could resume walking and back to work. Things felt really much better today and went for a 4km run. Don't know why but I had the quickest speed I've run in months. So far no adverse reactions either 🤞.

Welcome to the Forum! We have only visited the awesome South Island, but the North Island is next on our agenda. Is your Scout a petrol or diesel? My wife was always keen for us to get one but there were not many sold new and so rarely good ones on the Adelaide 2nd hand market. Hasn't really stopped us from hitting the dirt roads in our 1.4tsi though (when dry). NZ usually gets a bigger range of Skoda vehicle options and well before Australia does, I expect because of our now redundant Aus car industry protection special local design rules.

It may be a conceit, but I believe I have a reasonable idea on how to get good mpg from an ICE vehicle, especially around our urban environment and without breaking laws. I don't hyper-mile or drive slowly or do anything to annoy other drivers, I just allow a couple of extra metres and anticipate traffic conditions. I'm also aware that there is a difference in best economy and best efficiency of an ICE engine. I've got no real experience with EVs other than the occasional drive, but I am interested in them and read/view the reviews of any potential future purchase. The reviews annoy me as they often make illogical claims regarding consumption rates. For instance, there is often the statement that highway consumption is compromised because 'they don't get the opportunity to execute regen braking like they do in urban stop/start traffic'. Sure, regen braking will make some difference (recovering energy rather than wasting it with friction brakes), but surely the biggest influence is speed and overcoming the total drag (frontal area x drag coefficient) which increases fourfold when you double the speed. Open highway and on our rigorously policed speed limits I'm happy to average 100kph (100/110 kph speed limits) around my urban areas I am lucky to average 30kph (40/50/60 kph speed limits) out of peak traffic. Can anyone provide an idea of kw consumption is shown at various constant speeds? say 20/30/40 increments to 110 and I don't care if it is kph or mph. Can you confirm that you are better off using low regen and maintaining a steady speed rather than heavy regen braking? Similarly, can you coast (no regen, no current used) in an EV? Is it more economical to coast than using light regenerative braking? Be interested to hear informed opinions.

I would be inclined to follow procedures previously suggested by others before contemplating walnut blasting. Get a VCDS scan for possible fault codes and more targeted fault analysis. Stick an inspection camera down the intake to look at the intake valves to see how bad, or not, they really are. I'd also do a simple compression test for possible rings wear or valve seat issues.

10 year old battery is a good innings these days with stop/start tech, so yes, a new battery sounds a good idea. Best stick with AGM otherwise you will have to change the battery type coding.