peterhardy

When I was due to change my car the DS3 Crossback E-Tense was the only small SUV EV available. Whilst I do like the 2008, I wouldn't have chosen it over the DS3. I don't get this thing in reviews where they bleat on about manual seat adjustment. There's only me who drives my car. The seat was set to my liking on 2nd March when I got the car. It aint moved since and nor will it. I must agree with @shyVRS145 with regards to the glove box. Mine is pants. Cables wise, mine came in a bag too. I got both the type 2 and the 3 pin cables as standard. The bag isn't the best as the top flap velcro does a poor job of keeping the cables in if I want it vertical. It would be much better if there was an under floor area in the boot to store them. You can't have everything, I suppose! I had a nice ride to Seahouses yesterday. 77 miles there and free rapid charging whilst there bringing me back up to fully charged. Love it!

Are you my twin? 😁 No points on my licence but as I become an old fart I'm happier being in the slow lane ☺️.

I haven't 😁. Tbh, I'm really enjoying being much more laid back in my driving style. I just let the idiots go on their own sweet way and happily pull over to let the 'want to drive in your boot' numpties past. That doesn't stop me turning the air blue but I try to shake my head and think of my blood pressure more these days 🤣.

Horses for courses!

EV range is increasing all of the time. As mentioned higher up in the thread I reckon 140 worst case and over 200 best case, depending on the time of year etc. I regularly do over 100 mile round trips and finding charging points on longer journeys is not much trouble. The trip to Scotland I mentioned will be easy as a little research has identified various rapid chargers at each waypoint. The fact that these points are free to use is the iceing on the cake.

Mine is a Motability car, leased through their scheme.

That's a really good incentive! 6 years is a long time to pay for a car but with batteries having a 100,000 mile and 8 year warranty nowadays that's perfectly acceptable. A shame it's nor an option in England .

Hi @Roottoot Thanks for the suggestions. I took a new contract out last month so I'm sorted out for the next year 😀.

If I'm spending it anyway, what do I care?

Hi everyone! I thought it would be good to provide an update about my experience with the new car, for anyone thinking about getting an EV: The car itself - very happy with it! Ride and refinement excellent. Tech very good and all works. Buttons not the best for responsiveness and menus for everything as they all seem to be doing. I love the driving style of an electric car. Don't need to use the brake pedal much, with regenerative braking, instant response and serene driving experience. The best bit - Being tight, I try to use free charging as much as possible. Most bigger supermarkets offer this now and many towns have free charging points available too. I'm hoping to get a few days in Scotland next month where rapid public charging is all free! Working out my mileage since getting the car on 02/03/20 and the end of June, working out what I've actually paid for electricity in that time (via the Pod Point App), gives me an equivalent mpg figure of 250!!! This is better than I ever expected. If I get to Scotland next month I will do around 1,000 miles. I will fully charge before I leave and then when I get home. All of the 1,000 miles inbetween will be free. It's crazy, isn't it? I understand and appreciate that the government will look to replace their lost revenue once they have enough people using EVs. I reckon there's a way to go yet for that point to be reached. In the meantime, I'm going to take advantage of the current (geddit?) situation as much as possible. My wallet thinks it's Christmas every month! Best to all! Peter.

Thanks 😄. If I had a brain, I'd be dangerous! 17 days in Hawaii and then a week in Scotland... I'm not jealous, much 😁.

Two weeks to go! Pod Point are coming to fit my wall charger next Tuesday and I get the car on monday 2nd March. I hope the installation is better than their email response. I asked a couple of queries via email three weeks ago, got an instant acknowledgement, nothing since. Chased up after a week, another acknowledgement but still no response. I've rang them this morning, very fast pick up from the 'out of hours' team at 8:50am (???) who took my info and queries and said they would pass them on to HQ for them to call me back. No call as yet... My spare set comprising totally unused OEM Gemini wheel with Michelin PS4 tyre and OEM jack kit is now for sale in the classified section, if anyone is interested. Cheers, Peter.

Jeez, a positive comment. Steady on now! 😁

Bulb works out at £60 more for the year compared to my current tariff, when gas usage is included. Even with the £50 referral cash it's still not gonna save me any money. Thanks for the suggestion though 🙂. I think the better deals tend to appear as spring/summer starts. I'm going to keep a close eye out and check any offers carefully. It's just as well I love spreadsheets 😁.

You're 100% right! I'm locked in with EDF until July, unless I want to pay £70 to leave 😮. Hopefully there will be something better to be found once we get further into 2020 🤞. The styling is definitely out there but I like it. The interior is very plush with lots of good tech. I'm looking forward to trying something different too. Road holding wise, the Crossback is a mini SUV so an entirely different animal with an extra 300kg of battery to cope with too. The suspension has been reworked to handle this and the car rides well, holds the road well but is definitely no vRS 🙂. With most of my mileage now being around town (still around 10k/year) I'm not getting the benefits from the vRS but am getting the downside, i.e. 25mpg in this winter weather ☹️. Good tip, I'll do that now 😂.

Well, I'm going to be leaving team Skoda soon. I'm expecting my new car on 1st March. I've got my order in for a new DS3 Crossback E-Tense, the electric version of this model. I had a test drive last week and thought it was an extremely comfortable, relaxed and quiet drive. A bit slower than the vRS though with 8.9 seconds 0-62 and a top speed of 93mph ☹️. To be honest, the main appeal is saving money. I do loads of short runs and overall have averaged 31mpg at an average of 17p per mile. The DS3 should work out somewhere around 3.5p to 4p per mile so I will be saving a fortune 😀. It's proving difficult to find a true dual tariff contract that's not a rip off. I'm with EDF now who do an electric car drivers tariff. I've costed it out using the last full year's consumption and adding 10k miles per annum on with the electric car. A good saving? Not likely!! It worked out at £28 MORE than my current single rate tariff! Why? Because the daily standing charges are both higher, gas is dearer and the electricity peak rate is a chunk more expensive too. I'm gonna have to widen the net considerably to try to find something better. Some of you may remember my promise when I joined the forum that I would never buy another Skoda after the experience I had with their customer service department. I've kept my word. Even if Skoda had a comparable offering, I wouldn't have considered it. I'm a firm believer that the only way manufacturers will ever change is if their order books get hit. I appreciate that one customer is neither here nor there but you can only do what you can do. I wish you all the very best for Christmas and the New Year. I've had some good banter on here and firmly believe that this is probably the best forum I've ever been a part of. Ho, ho, ho! Peter. 🎅

It's worth mentioning that Motability follow the manufacturer's recommendations in this regard. If they say 2 years or 20K then that is what Motability will pay for. In other words, the car is handed back at 3 years old having had one service and oil change, in nearly every such case, I would think. The car will then be sold as having a full Skoda service history but I wouldn't be keen on spending my cash on buying a car which has had only one oil change in three years.

I must admit, I nearly went for this colour myself. It's a very close second to the blue and not very common.

Race Blue...The choice of champions!!😁😁

I believe this is the case, so occupants can get out of the car if it's involved in a crash.

The best colour 😁. Well done 👍.

The point you make is very true. It seems like one manufacturer is as bad as another! My issue with Skoda is with the complete nonsense and fibs I was told to explain away the delays with my car whilst other retail customers were getting their cars much quicker. That's why I won't give Skoda my money again. The car is great, overall, let down by crap customer service.

Appreciate the update. I totally agree with your view. I won't be ordering another Skoda after the fiasco I went through getting my car. If more people took their money elsewhere, things might change. I won't hold my breath though!

Totally agree! Best colour and gives an extra 15 bhp 😁.

I bought a full size Gemini and put a Michelin PS4 on it, as my spare. I also bought the Skoda insert with the jack etc. I can confirm that the boot floor will definitely sit flush, once you've hacked enough away from the foam insert. You can safely remove loads from the bottom which avoids the raised floor issue. You will also need to take lots off all around the circumference. The only other factor to maybe consider is the tyres being uni-directional. It then depends which side of the car the puncture is on as to whether the wheel is rotating in the right direction 😁. I wasn't too fussed as I would only have the spare on very short term, if that was the case. Touch wood, I've never needed it, so far, so I've going to shut up in case I tempt fate!!