@Chris_42

When the car was handed over to you the tyres should not be '@the factory setting'.   The tyres at the Factory are put high for transportation & should then be re-set at the PDI, and the TPMS reset.

 

So the Tech / Fitter at Dealerships should know the tyre pressures recommended and set to that and not just leave the factory / transit pressure.

Just for the record, I’ve found out they should be 36 PSI all round, regardless of passengers/luggage, etc. 

@Chris_42  Where did you find this out from?

 

It sounds like dangerous nonsense from someone considering what the difference can be of the Kerb/ Unladen weight and maybe a driver to the 4 seats with heavy passengers and some stuff in the boot and then use and location / weather etc.

50 minutes ago, Roottootemblowinootsoot said:

@Chris_42  Where did you find this out from?

 

It sounds like dangerous nonsense from someone considering what the difference can be of the Kerb/ Unladen weight and maybe a driver to the 4 seats with heavy passengers and some stuff in the boot and then use and location / weather etc.

From the Škoda parts catalogue:

 

@Chris_42  Just crazy from Skoda. 

It will be interesting to know if SEAT show the same for the Mii Electric and VW for the e-Up! with the same tyres / wheels.

 

I wonder if the WLTP / RDE2 was carried out with over inflated tyres.

Edited 4 May, 20206 yr by Roottootemblowinootsoot

Just a quick update after a couple of months' ownership.

 

When I collected the car on a full charge, the range meter stated 107 miles, someway short of its WLTP figure of 161. I was reassured that this would steadily increase in accordance with my driving style/environment, etc.

 

Indeed it has. After modest increments over the intervening weeks (always following a fortnightly charge), I was pleasantly surprised this week to see a maximum of 163. Even better, when you start the car after a certain period, for reasons best known to itself the air con is always on and the climate control is set to 22º. Turning this off added a further 20 miles. Better still, on a six-mile round trip around town, the range increased further to 189 (owing to outbound downhill stretches and regen) dropping back to 183 by the time I'd returned home.

 

I guess this is the difference that warm weather makes; I'll be interested to see what sort of a drop-off I get during the depths of winter.

 

I've still not had the paint damage rectified because the dealer's only just re-opened. Hopefully when they get some more staff back, I can take it in.

Hi LuckyPants - standard cruise control, no ACC available.

 

We took delivery last week of a blue Citigoe IV - all is well, but I want to charge it faster aka from a wallbox. 
Soooo I bought a Tesla Wallcharger gen 2 which is all fine and dandy, but it won’t charge the car. Tesla wallcharger shows a green top led light - which according to their manual means the charger is ready to charge. 
 

Has anyobody have any experience with Wallboxes ? Anything I should look at ?

 

PS: it’s connected via 3 phase with Neutral and Ground.

On 24/06/2020 at 19:06, hataricus said:

Hi LuckyPants - standard cruise control, no ACC available.

 

We took delivery last week of a blue Citigoe IV - all is well, but I want to charge it faster aka from a wallbox. 
Soooo I bought a Tesla Wallcharger gen 2 which is all fine and dandy, but it won’t charge the car. Tesla wallcharger shows a green top led light - which according to their manual means the charger is ready to charge. 
 

Has anyobody have any experience with Wallboxes ? Anything I should look at ?

 

PS: it’s connected via 3 phase with Neutral and Ground.

which version of the Citigo did you buy, the lower spec doesn’t have fast charge unless you specify it as cost option

 

No offence intended but why buy a Tesla charger for a non-Tesla car? Tesla are known for having propriety standards and therefore not normally compatible with other EVs.  See this for instance from Smart Home Charge website https://www.smarthomecharge.co.uk/chargers/tesla/tesla-wall-connector/#:~:text=NOTE%3A this charger only supports,accessory for your Tesla vehicle.&text=Perfect if you have more,2.5m and 7.5m.

Also, why go for a 22KW charger for a Citigo that is only capable 7.2KW AC charging, unless you have another EV capable of faster charging?

 

 

Wouldn't pay that bloke from Fully Charged in shirt buttons = is he real.Quite a few people collecting must have gadgets from what I see.

Still,if they have the money to chuck at it,it paves they way for the rest of us ,when we have no choice in time to come.

 

How is brake assistance given I wonder - some from of electric driven vac pump to assist?  Do they slow on uphill grades......?

Edited 3 July, 20205 yr by Blackcountryman

4 hours ago, Blackcountryman said:

Wouldn't pay that bloke from Fully Charged in shirt buttons = is he real.Quite a few people collecting must have gadgets from what I see.

Still,if they have the money to chuck at it,it paves they way for the rest of us ,when we have no choice in time to come.

 

How is brake assistance given I wonder - some from of electric driven vac pump to assist?  Do they slow on uphill grades......?

 

You've never heard of regenerative braking? 🤔

3 hours ago, domhnall said:

 

You've never heard of regenerative braking? 🤔

Yes, but that is putting energy back into the system ,not increasing brake effort when needed............. a combustion engine  creates vacuum,servo used to assist pedal effort....presumably no servo needed with the drag created ,lifting off power?

Edited 3 July, 20205 yr by Blackcountryman

All I know is that I can ease off the accelerator and the car will glide more or less to a complete stop — pretty much instantly if using ‘B’ mode: the most aggressive of the four settings and the only one that makes the brake lights come on.

 

When using modes 1–3 carefully, I find it an excellent way of deterring tailgaters, as they soon back off when they’re suddenly closer than they thought. 😊

14 hours ago, Blackcountryman said:

Yes, but that is putting energy back into the system ,not increasing brake effort when needed............. a combustion engine  creates vacuum,servo used to assist pedal effort....presumably no servo needed with the drag created ,lifting off power?

So far I've driven 3 EVs since I ditched petrol. In none of them have I ever made much use of the brake pedal. Regeneration is used for pretty much everything other than emergency stops. 

On 25/06/2020 at 21:23, SurreyJohn said:

which version of the Citigo did you buy, the lower spec doesn’t have fast charge unless you specify it as cost option

 

My version has the OBC with fast (AC) charging, but I was reffering to a Wallbox - which is DC curent - in the Citigo limited to 2x16A = 7.4kWH.  
The Tesla wallbox charger works with any Type2 car, but not this one as it’s a lemon - sending it back to the original owner, as it it still under warranty.

 

Why did I buy a 22kW wallbox charger for my 7.4kW OBC ? Because 22kw is standard and the price differenbetween 7.4 and 22 is pea uts - I bought second hand, from the local market.

I meant I wanted to charge the car faster than the 12h+ ( pending on battery%) from the charger that comes with the car ( 1x10A), thus any walboox chargher would be ok ( most of them in my area are 3x32A).

 

Cheers,

Hata

 

 

On the subject of assisted braking, don't forget that with IC engines, it's only petrol engines with throttle bodies that have vacuum driven servos for the brakes. Diesels, for example, don't create a vacuum (comparatively) so they have a vacuum pump driven from (almost always) a belt on the engine.

 

I imagine - but have not checked - that an electric car has a similar system, or an electrically assisted mechanism to amplify brake force.

 

As an interesting aside, certain big caravans - US 5th wheels, in the main - that relied on the towing vehicle providing air pressure for air brakes (like a lorry, but that's quite the opposite concept to a vacuum servo on cars) became illegal unless the towing vehicle's mechanism for providing air pressure was mechanically connected to the engine. As fifth wheels were generally towed by pick-up trucks, this forced a change onto the type of trailer braking system, as there are no pick-ups that provide mechanically linked air pressure, hence a change to electric or hydraulic-electric independent systems on the caravan (i.e. it still works if you get a break-way separation). So in a roundabout way, it's quite interesting to learn where an electric Citigo (et al) gets its brake assist from and what happens to the brakes should there be an electrical failure. You see, if the motor is still spinning owing to the car still moving, a mechanical linkage can still work a servo, like on a diesel. Does anyone know (with facts, not guessing) how this is taken care of?

 

 

Cobalt-free batteries are coming. Prices will plummet.

Sadly I'm not an early adopter....

 

Edited 28 July, 20205 yr by freemansteve

All Electric Skodas have been coming for years now and finally there is the Citigo iV and in the UK the demand currently outstrip the supplies and the Enyaq will arrive eventually at whatever costs.

No idea how long it will be until prices plummet with any of the new model EV's that the VW Group are going to produce and get out on the market with their current technology let alone the next generation.

Maybe used ones will depreciate if VW's hype on the bigger vehicles have the snagging faults common with the VW group.

Edited 28 July, 20205 yr by Roottoot

I'm an Isle of Man (@ 30 x 9 miles) resident, so the car's lack of range won't be a consideration.

 

There are 3 things that the EV version will be of benefit to me.

 

1)  It's an automatic, so that'll give my ageing left knee an easier time prior to a total knee replacement and Covid has caused the cancellation of elective surgery.

 

2)  It's possible to set the heater and/or seats to come on whilst charging the car, so toasty warm (and safer) in the winter.

 

3)  No engine to service (oil changes/spark plugs/filters etc), regenerative braking will save on discs/pads and it'll mean the end of the dreaded noisy transmission on the fossil vehicle.

 

My Colours model is due for replacement in 4 years and I'll be buying electric next time around.

A (pleasantly) surprising range update...

 

Yesterday I took the car on its first extended trip on the open road. This was with a little trepidation as it was a 90-mile round trip with a fair few hills. Naturally, I gave it a full charge overnight beforehand to be as prepared as possible. With an official average range of 160, I accepted that this figure would take a slight hit when driving out-of-town.

 

There was a bit of traffic and I stuck to A-roads, never more than 50–55 mph, level 3 regen when needed, no air-con. However, having started with a maximum of 177 miles available, it took ages to decrease and I finished the trip (having travelled 91 miles, 12 of them super-urban) with 130 left on the indicator. This left the charge meter needle at slightly over half-way.

 

As I routinely charge it when it reaches that level, I plugged it in last night and awoke to a record 228 miles of range! This is approaching Renault Zoe territory and I'd never have thought I'd see it that high (the previous best was 189).

 

I'd always thought that the continual stop-start in an urban environment makes for better economy (what with the regen and all) but this has been a revelation. I'll be really interested to make the same trip in winter conditions and compare the figures.

Travelling at constant speed on a level road takes much less energy (see Newton's 1st law) than varying speed up and down even if some energy can be recouped during deceleration. Only as that constant speed gets higher do aero drag forces cause you to need significant power. 50 is probably a great compromise between drag losses and 'god this journey is taking so long' forces.

Unless you actually put the thing to the test then the range shown can only be used as a comparator, everytime I have fuelled up any of my diesel Skodas for the last 15 years they have shown a range that looks achievable until you get to about 1/4 of a tank and then it plummets away.

 

I know that the battery life indicators on computers, smartphones, tablettes, smar****ches etc all behave in the same manner, I think even when they dont want to inflate the figures its very difficult to compute battery autonomy from the cell voltage, at least with fuel guages these days they are very accurate but the deception of what is indicated in terms of range or tank level continues.