Luckypants

Sorry I meant to reply to this earlier.... If your distribution board is full there are alternatives. For instance my supply is split after the meter via a Henly block with one set of tails going to the board and another to a weatherproof mini fuse box to feed my charger. All extra wiring is in the existing meter cupboard. There are ways and means.

You might investigate a charger in a garage / handy shed or mounted on a post by your drive before giving up on home charging.

I am not an Elroq owner, so cannot give a definitive answer. Based on my experience with VW ID.4 and ID.3 (they share the same chassis, powertrain and batteries as Elroq) I'd say you will get around 4 miles/kWh to give a max range of around 220 miles. (according to https://ev-database.org/uk/car/3031/Skoda-Elroq-50) 200 miles might not seem much but how long do you drive for before you need a break? Personally its 2-3 hours or four at a push. The overall average journey speeds are around 45 on A-roads and maybe 55 on motorway. Thats 4-5 hours of driving in a 220 mile range vehicle. Chances are you'll need a break before the car needs a charge, so plug in while you take a break. Elroq 50 can charge 10%--->80% in 25 minutes under ideal conditions, just enough time for a loo break.

If most of your journeys are short, the smaller battery is ideal. Buy the car that works for 99% of your journeys and don't pay extra for a bigger battery that you 'need' once a year. Certainly not. Charging is quite straightforward but I would recommend having a practice run when charging and time is not critical just to confirm to yourself it is a simple process. It is not entirely necessary. The in-car satnav will find chargers for you and charging can be taken care of with a credit card. You could also get an RFID card such as Skoda Powerpass or Electroverse to initiate charging without a smartphone. However, a smartphone will make things easier and allow you to access the Skoda app to connect to the car. One thing to consider given your low mileage. It may not be the cheapest option to go on to a 'Cheap EV tariff' for charging at home. The peak rate and standing charges tend to be higher than a straight forward domestic tariff so unless a large portion of your home use can be shifted to the cheap times, your overall energy bill may go up.

Well I'll give it a shot. 5 years / 70k miles in EVs, mainly VAG products. This is a fallacy in general as you point out. When driving in urban stop/start EVs will often perform better than comparable ICE in terms of efficiency, due mainly to the regen from constant braking but on the open road not so much. This is another pro in the urban EV argument. For me, 50mph in my ID.3 will give around 4.8 miles / kWh. In my previous ID.4 this would have been 4.1 for the reasons you give (weight & frontal area). Note the most recent ID.4 models have a more efficient motor than mine did and will give better economy.On the motorway I cruise at 65mph and get 4.2 from the ID.3 and 3.8 from the old ID.4. Yes in my experience you are. I use heavy regen for downhill sections like you would change down and use engine braking on ICE vehicles. Yes indeed. Many EVs have coast as default. VAG cars have an 'intelligent' drive mode where the car coasts for as long as possible then regens to slow you down for roundabouts etc. It relies on the sat-nav data to know about bends, junctions etc. and the ACC to look out for obstacles in front. Driving an EV economically is not witchcraft, but uses the same principles as you would in ICE. Speed above 60-65 really impacts consumption IME.

And its available without having to use their app. Furthermore the reduced rate also gets the electroverse discount 52p with the extra discount

My stepdaughter's partner is very interested in this new model to replace her Kodiaq.

On a recent trip to Cornwall my most expensive charge was 63.5p/kWh at Gloucester services. My public charge costs apart from that were on AC posts averaging around 53p. My average cost per mile on this trip (leaving out home charging) was 12.9p while the same trip in my previous diesel car would have been around 18.2p/mile. Public charging can be reasonable and currently public charging is competitive with fossil cars.

Press launch today for Skoda Epiq

250 will be fine. My ID.3 seems to have genuine 350 mile range in current weather (not had it in winter yet) and I hardly seem to charge it. I barely think about public charging now - it'll be a shock when we go on holiday 😁

Now if they would make an electric Octavia estate..... that would be my sweet spot.

Here's an example https://youtu.be/Fxxtv93ZZYo?si=L_DZcEFPlaIaOpyh

Already been reviewed by a number of Youtubers a few months ago. It looks pretty good. I'll be interested how it compares in size to the ID.3 Neo, as I'm thinking this could be the next car based on the boot space.

The Epiq is due out in September I think, based on the same platform as the VW Polo, ID Cross and Cupra Raval. Its not a proper small car being about the size of the Kamiq and certainly not sub-20K. https://youtu.be/3g3kDltISmY?si=CIU4aEBExRXlTTuy

"Community Projects' - they're a laugh. The local worthies get an office in the garden (now converted to a holiday let) but the ordinary locals get bugger all. We got £700 to plant daffodils approaching the village. My suggestion of free electricity for all in the 'benefit area' was laughed it by the developers but seems pretty fair to all IMO.

Having generation on the doorstep seems to have no bearing. Most of Scotland has generation nearby yet they have the highest standing charges in UK. I have about 200MW windfarm 3 miles up the road, second highest standing charges in UK. Yet those places in the South with no generation nearby have very much lower standing charges. Those furthest from generation should be paying most for the grid upgrades to carry power south not the least.

They should try living in North Wales or Scotland then! Actually my standing charges came down 1p a day to 68.7p

My Intelligent Octopus Go tariff has reduced to 5.2p overnight & smart charging and 28.83p peak. With the new ID.3 on the drive giving 3.9 m/kWh average so far I'm looking at less than 2p/mile on fuel costs.

The exclamation mark is normally next to the defective sensor. If they all show as defective (have an exclamation mark), there may be a bigger issue. The clean sensor message is just the default when a sensor is not sensing...

Does it not show you on the pictogram of sensors when in parking mode?

No, I was so outraged by the £300 odd increase that the guy couldn't explain I just told them not to renew and that I'm taking my business elsewhere. They didn't even try to improve the offer. The policy was due for renewal 2 days after the new car arrives so I already had a a renewal quote which I had negotiated down.

Well that failed at the first hurdle. My current insurer suddenly wanted £640 to insure the ID.3! Told them to foxtrot oscar. A quick confused.com later and the ID.3 is insured for £331 and the Citigo for £130. No longer on a multi-car policy but saved over £300 on the new quote for the ID.3 and Citigo from my existing insurer. I guess LV don't want my business.

My time with the ID.4 has come to an end. It has been a very good car and has lovely to ride around in. I thought I'd give the final costs for charging. The vast majority has been home charging, the first 3.5 years at Octopus Tracker rates (generally 2-3p below SVR) and the pst 18 months on Intelligent Octopus Go 7p/kWh. There were some free charges in the first 6 months of ownership as Tesco and Aldi offered free charging back then. Paid for public charging has been while away from home, usually on holiday - notably 3k miles around France in 2023. Since getting the IOG tariff my cost has averaged 2.95p/mile. The overall cost per mile for 63908 miles has been 5.09p/mile. Insurance comparable to previous Karoq, £390 last year and £452 for next year. Maintenance has been relatively cheap. First service was £280 at VW, second service was £180 at my local independent. 3x MOTs @ the going rate, no failures or warnings given. The car has been relatively expensive on tyres, due to having to replace 6(!) for punctures/pothole damage. Only two have been replaced due to wearing out. (and one of those got a thorn in the sidewall 10k miles later!). Basically I've found the car cheaper to run overall than the Karoq was and has repaid the slightly higher monthly cost of purchase with lower bills. I'll be keeping the same track on the costs of the ID.3 that will replace it, which I expect will be even lower due to lower insurance, better efficiency and lower monthly payments.