Luckypants

for the £55k price tag for an AWD model, the Model Y will take some beating. I do know folk who have taken advantage of high re-sale prices to sell VW ID.4 out for a Model Y, deliveries start in March. This is a Tesla plus often overlooked, they don't have massive lead times. Personally I've heard that Model Y has harsh suspension so would like to try one before commenting further. My ID.4 (and Enyaq I tried) has good ride for our potted Welsh roads.

HTH

Man, that was a load of arty *******s

Yes the VW ID family and other MEB cars do heat the battery at low temps. It is scary the amount of electricity used if both cabin heater and battery heater are running - I have seen 11kW draw while stationary! So power use on a cold commute of under 20 miles is pretty horrendous and the source of much ire from the ID community. VW are aware and claim it will be fixed in a major software update in the spring (too late to test this year!). It makes the car expensive as a commuting tool in winter. My cost for January has averaged 8.8p/mile while summer is more like 6p/mile. VW have stated there will be a service campaign in spring to upgrade a couple of components to make them updatable over the air and replace the 12V batteries with a different type to fix an issue with some cars going flat. At this time V2.4 of the MEB software will be installed to handle the updated bits. Then "shortly" after this V3.0 of the software will be sent out over the air to allegedly fix a bunch of the known issues. (At least this is my understanding of how this will go) So presently bad ju-ju in the cold, but kudos to VW as they seem to be spending quite a bit to get it fixed.

Apologies, I tend to forget Chademo as I'm looking as a CCS owner. Yes, Gridserve (and everyone else to be fair) have reduced access to Chademo plugs. The same has been levelled at them over AC only cars such as earlier Zoes. They are in a unique position here replacing and upgrading a legacy network - they have to maintain a service.

and on checking Twitter, Maz has new upgrades to report.

Well I don't quite agree. Replacing the unreliable Ecotricity chargers is a quick win, providing the same level of charging facility but more reliably can be done rapidly - over 100 service areas done in 6 months is good going. To build hubs needs planning permissions, new grid connections, agreement of the land owner and so on - all of which take time. I think we are seeing the ramp up in chargers now just with the sheer number of hubs Gridserve intend to build. I'm sure getting the chargers at the two locations you need working is better than you waiting 12 months for a hub to be built there? https://www.gridserve.com/2021/12/09/biggest-motorway-ev-charging-upgrade-in-uk-history-underway-with-11-new-ultra-high-power-electric-hubs-in-construction-plus-world-first-electric-forecourt-at-gatwick-airport/ As an aside on the Welcome Break pause in the roll-out, I think this was caused by the Competition and Markets Authority's look at UK charging at MSAs. Gridserve has given an assurance it will not enforce and exclusivity deal it has to avoid an full on investigation. rumour has it the Welcome Break will use this to install it's own branded chargers IN ADDITION to anything Gridserve do. Instavolt are also moving onto MSAs through it's tie up with Costa. Its coming and I think by the end of this year things will be much improved.

There have been a few posts about the MEB based VW ID. Buzz small van / people carrier, but its now been seen out and about testing, so I think its worth a thread all of it's own. Spyshots of exterior and interior here:- https://electrek.co/2022/01/27/leaked-peek-inside-the-new-vw-id-buzz-before-youre-supposed-to/ Video of it in Norway from Bjorn Nyland

Maz's map is really useful and he updates regularly. He announces updates via Twitter (@EpicWinningMaz). South Mimms and London Gateway are both Welcome Break MSAs, so the upgrade has been delayed. The out of service chargers are the old Ecotricity Electric Highway chargers, not run by Gridserve. Hopefully these will happen soon for you now Gridserve and Welcome Break have ironed out whatever was holding up the charger upgrades.

Gridserve have had a lot of stick when the upgraded charger roll-out stalled in September. There seems to have been an issue with Welcome Break MSAs giving permission for the upgrade. This seems to have been resolved now and the upgrades are going well. The hubs they are sintalling will be a boon, but these needs to be everywhere. With the sales of EVs on the increase, queueing at chargers is becoming a real issue so multiple chargers on motorways and trunk routes are needed. MFG EV Power seem to have the right idea, not messing about installing one or two chargers - they build a minimum 6 chargers at each new site. Gridserve still have some issues with their chargers that all need to be aware of:- First, there are two DC charge heads on each unit that should allow two cars to charge simultaneously, but they don't. The ABB chargers need a software update to implement this, but all signage indicate its possible. What happens now is, if I'm charging and someone else starts a charge on the other DC head, it stops my charge! Second, the chargers state 120kW charger but this is only true for 800V cars (e.g Taycan, EV6). Most cars are 400V and will only get 60kW max. This is further compounded by the fact the upgraded chargers are using the grid connection of the old charger it replaced, which does not always provide the power needed for 60kW - let alone 120kW! Gridserve have copped flak for this but until they install a new hub at the MSA I doubt this will change. Having said this is a problem with Gridserve chargers they are not the only ones with this issue. The MFG 175kW chargers are the same, only 175kW for 800V cars and 90kW for 400V cars - there is a small sticker on the charger that explains this though. Things are improving, but there is a long way to go before non-Tesla chargers match the Tesla Supercharger experience.

Best get an order in toute suite then. The Zwickau factory is flat out.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, not able to get a working smart meter in rural North Wales. My MP is trying (and failing) to get help / sense from the ministry that says 99.5% of UK covered.....

So what are you saying? That an independent VW specialist is now authorised by Nissan to fix batteries on Leaf's and Nissan hybrid cars? Using new parts I assume from Nissan?

Well I don't entirely agree. At 23p / kWh my ID.4 is costing roughly the same as my previous Karoq 2.0TDi. This is helped by free charging at supermarkets, but only 10kWh most weeks. If comparing apples to apples in this class of car, the costs are similar. However, smaller EVs that should be cheaper are not, so a petrol car makes more sense financially.

Using the charger schedule on my Wallbox is what I need to do on my ID.4. Same software = same problem.

Pretty sure Instavolt use Tritium and Osprey will be using the latest Tritium model at some of their new charging hubs.

Where is "down the road" or will that blow your cover?

Legacy car makers probably haven't even thought of this, just using a standard design paradigm that worked in the past. I suspect my ID.4 will have similar issues despite heated nozzles, if it ever gets cold in tropical Wales. I've already taken a leaf out of your book to put in -20C screen wash.

Wow. can I get that in my ID.4 next week please?

Also, in terms of charging hubs, look out for Osprey expanding their network using Kempower load balancing chargers and the very latest Tritium load balancing chargers to create more hubs. Instavolt are now getting onto that bandwagen, with a full hub at Banbury about to open. Motor Fuel Group (MFG) are building electric forecourts and hubs, gaining a reputation for reliability into the bargain. They already have several in London, one in Birmingham, Manchester, M6 and 3 in Bristol. Shell have opened an electric forecourt in Putney. Gridserve's second electric forecourt, in Norwich is nearing completion and a third one will be built at Gatwick in 2022. There is lots happening in the charging space right now. I expect to see some winners and losers in the coming year.

Gridserve have announced a partnership with Dobbies garden centres to install high speed charging hubs in some of their garden centres. For me, this takes care of the A5 corridor where the current sites with Ecotricity chargers have not agreed to Gridserve replacing them. Gridserve seem to have a problem with Welcome Break services and Eurogarages forecourts replacing chargers - this has stymied improvement in N. wales (and other places) but the Dobbies deal fixes the problem on the A5. The A55 is still ******ed. https://www.gridserve.com/2021/12/20/dobbies-garden-centres-rolls-out-ev-charging-with-gridserve/

He didn't actually say why he took it to Amsterdam for a new battery? Be easier to have it done in the UK. Even I'm aware of one firm offering such a service, without doing any research. Odd.

I saw my very first one last week. Much higher bonnet line than it looks in the photos I thought.

OK - what class is the Enyaq and what class is the Model Y? I myself would have said they are competitors but I don't know what class an SUV coupe crossover thingy would be? If I could wait, I'd be considering a Model Y versus Enyaq/Enyaq coupe versus ID.5/ID.4 versus EV6. Maybe I'm odd lumping them all together?

Interesting they are claiming best in class drag coefficient of 0.234 when its Tesla rival, the Model Y has Cd of 0.23. Perhaps they don't count Tesla in the same class?