Monkhai

As the previous poster states, there isn't a major service any more. This is probably as much information as you'll find these days: https://www.skoda.co.uk/owners/servicing-maintenance-fixed-price As an aside the Capital letters thing is considered bad form/rude on forums, as it's considered the equivalent of SHOUTING.👍

Moved this to the Octy II section for you 👍

Keep it friendly in here please!

So we're back at infrastructure will cripple the electric vehicle if they don't get on with it ASAP. I think for freight/trains/smaller towing fuel cells will likely come into their own, however the infrastructure problems there are a whole other level of bad.

Less weight and better efficiency are good, but as an example my daily commute for 2 years required 30-40L of diesel every day. Approx 350 miles or 175 miles each way, it should be easy with workplace chargers. As they don’t exist it becomes very hard. It all comes down to infrastructure, because if I have to fill up say 200 miles overnight it works. If I have to fill up 400 it doesn’t. If solid state batteries hold 3 times the capacity, the giving a car a 150kWh in a package the same size/weight as a 50-60kWh battery is great. It will help, but you still need to get 150kWh into it somehow. FWIW most people in my industry see 200-300 mile journey as normal and 500-600 in a day as long. We don’t get it paid for, just a flat 5p for electric. Better than nothing of course, but you can’t just use ultra rapid DC for 30 minutes at high prices.

I was a little bit struck by something when reading about solid state batteries, longer ranges on EV etc. If range is increased by any method other than efficiency, such as higher capacity or new battery technology, how do you charge them? I mean 7kW/hour is fine if your car has a <80kWh capacity and it’s not moving for 12 hours. It’s also fine for short distance top up chargers. However with 4-6 hour cheap windows and many people commuting, what happens if we end up with the promised triple power density? 150kWh batteries to do 500-600 miles sound great, but bar DC charging how do you fill them in a timely fashion? Does anyone else think this is a big problem coming down the line?

I hear what you’re saying but if the side airbags change it from a 5 start to a zero, they shouldn’t be optional in any spec. Pity the poor person that sees a car as 5 star but because they’re not flush enough to get above the basic model end up in a much less safe car. At least this way the car is at least this good in any spec (bad for Renault). I imagine they’ll decide fit them across the board to get a decent rating again. Don’t forget ncap updated the tests a few years back, so an old 5 might only be a 4 or 3 now. I do totally agree with you on the “driver doesn’t have to pay attention” gadgets mind. That’s just silly. On the up side, I for one am glad to see you have the airbags. 👍 What is said about most of our lives in less safe cars is true, but they shouldn’t be missing out key safety features which have this effect to make a cheaper trim level.

Not wanting to cause panic, but if anyone owns a modern Zoe, I’d be somewhat concerned by the below: https://www.euroncap.com/en/results/renault/zoe/44206

Can I ask is the car a rapid as your profile or an Octy?

It happens with the front assist sensor on the octy too. When I stopped at a service station I found the front of the car covered in a few mm of snow, but once I brushed it all off everything was just fine again.

That’d be a great second car

No 70+kW battery only the 58 😞

To be fair my battery just got replaced. Even with fairly regular smart charger sessions it wasn’t turning a cold car over too well. Add the battery drain from the camera and it’s toast. New battery seems to have no issues as long as it’s got a long-ish journey or a charge every 6-8 weeks

Same can be said for car parks without electric charging? The electric chargers and electric are paid for by those using them. They charge a fee to plug in and a fee per kWh. Oh and we probably all pay in tax, but save in tax spent on healthcare. Don’t forget all the nasty effects on the brain and cancer that have a possible link to things in fuel.

I’d say: <7kW unlimited and have plenty 22kW chargers are 4 hours (a typical day out) 43AC/50kW DC chargers are 90-120 minutes 100kW are 60-70 minutes 125/150kW are 45 minutes 200+ are 30 minutes. Basically long enough to fill a car with a typical long range battery from nearly empty to 80%. However I’d also allow a 15 minute grace period when the car hits 80% then start charging idle charges. That way there is an incentive to get the car off the rapid DC. Perhaps some car parks could offer a move from DC to a 7kW AC to get from 80-100% gets you free power if you’ve paid for the DC and moved the car. I have to say though I would probably see a use for say 6-12 bays sharing 2x22kW supplies which can configure to 2x22/4x11kW / 6x7 /12x3.5 and any viable mixes. That would allow faster charges and more charging points.

If it handles well I’ll have one, because the id3 was horrific on our test drive but otherwise decent range/price in the LR version

Yes, that was the 8p/30 p tarrif I was talking about, between 7.5 and 8.5p depending on 4/5 hours. However our neighbour got an EV and they won't take him, saying they are not accepting new customers (Which I understnad). To be honest, I think they need to drop the VAT to 5% on all the green heating/generation products for say a 5 year period, then after the 5 years start raising the price on gas. They could allow green energy to come in for a 5% VAT charge but fossile fuel generated electric gets 20%. A combination of market forces and government policy nudging people in the right way. As an example, I can't have a ground source heat pump and air source is too noisy due to proximity of neighbours. So we have a river/canal near to the house, but we can't use water source due to the abstraction/discharge licences. So a closed loop water source isn't an option as planning and construction costs would mean about 30k. Even if they came in on budget, the house would need major upgrades to underfloor heating systems to make it run or at the very least large oversized radiators. The electric bills go up (by more than the saving on gas) and I have to pay for the pump, then spend anpother 20-30k upgrading the (less than 10 year old) house. Basically I can see why people don't want to. We're waiting to hear if it's single or three phase, then going to spend money on solar, immersion controller and possibly a battery. Once that substantial investment is made, then we have an option to look at using electric more freely. I kind of guess my point is that yes it's broken. There are no grants or tax rebates on solar or heat pumps and really on moving away to electric cars. Electric cars are ideal for low mileage drivers, but the high entry costs mean that for these people you might as well buy a petrol car and wait a few year. If this goes on ad-infinitum, then we're all in trouble.

Right and I meant screenwash not coolant, so my error. However you used to be able to buy (admittedly for frozen north american market) a heater wrap, and tracer wires pipes which when combined with the heated jets allowed things to work at -20*C and beyond. Not saying it's perfect, but you'd hope EV manufacturers would thing of this. That or put a heater coil inside the tank so that the heat pump can dump heat in there if needed.

Bulb almost went pop and if they had you'd have been singing from a very different sheet. As has been pointed out, smart meters not available/working and having to be put in dumb mode so it doesn't turn off supply. Not being with a heavily discounted supplier and the one you are with offering ok, but not great rates. People are not taking on new customers for these tarrifs from other suppliers as they don't want the expense. Just like heat pumps for heating, sure the pump isn't too expensive (with a grant), but the extra investment needed to make it work efficiently (so cheaper than gas - even at todays rates) requires an additional investment. Fundamentally the tech is there, but it's too expensive and the government wants individuals to pay for it themselves, whilst talking green taxes up the wazoo. Spend some road tax (I know it's not that any more) investing in chargers, grants for home chargers etc. Look at EV and perhaps create the zero tax band for only EV with a certain efficiency per kWh, a low tax band for those that are efficient but heavy and a higher band for those that weigh over 2 tonne / are not efficient.

This... The Octopus tarrif for EV is now 7.5p/30p when I looked and no providers will take customers that are not aready with them. That is the problem for "cheap" charging.

They mostly do hybrids (particularly those that get used as taxi), but they said they are verified by Nissan and I have no reason to doubt them. They know VW are not there yet on electric and that electric cars need less servicing. As such they know they have to diversify to survive.

Wonder if they'll have a wrap around electric heater for the coolant tank as an option soon. trace wire down the pipes and a general heater on the main tank should do the job.

Leighter weight cars, better aerodynamics (why are most EV SUV shaped), better efficiency and maybe nick that 2 speed gearbox from Porsche.

Our local VW specialist is certified by Nissan for battery changes/cell group replacements on the hybrid and electric cars. Interesting, because that gives a new life to a worthless (before it becomes too known) leaf.

It's funny, because without the grants/cheap charging, the electric car doesn't add up . It's 25p /kWh at home, 8p/30p on the discounted tarrif. Add in the very high cost of leasing such a vehicle and that's the "fuel" savings more than offset. Then get rid of the grants and add in having to pay for the charger etc. Of course to make any sense with current electric prices you need solar, but the VAT on those is 20% not 5% for most installs. Basically we're going to say the buzzwords, but do nothing to get it done.