Skoda Enyaq

[Ootohere]

Yes people are buying and leasing cars at over £30,000 and £40,000 that they are getting a big tax break on, free or cheap charging, free parking etc with.  Actually there are people all around the UK doing it.  Using as a main car and working from them as they charge.   I have done 2,200 miles in 3 weeks now charging about every 160 miles which is about 4 hours of driving and only used chargers that I paid for costing less than 2 gallons of diesel in total.   Charging stations in Scotland can have cars from the council fleets charging, or the social care or NHS cars.   Soon instead of the over £30,000 ones currently used the AWD ones will be arriving to suit winter use around the country. 

 

No Frunk in the front of PSA EV's.

This is what you get under the bonnet in a e-Corsa, e-208.e-2008, DS3 e-Tense or a e-C4 Cactus.

Edited 2 September, 2020 by e-Roottoot

[FatWolfie]

Well, from what I’ve seen so far, it gets my vote.

 

as regards range, 300 is more than adequate (200 is entirely workable) for me and 99% of drivers when you think about how far you travel without stopping. There are of course exceptions but the huge majority of folk would be OK with that range IF you have home charging facilities.

 

great range debate video here by EVM. 

 

 

just need the books to open now for the deposit..

[CJJE]

So no spare wheel? Don't fancy relying on a tube of gunk which ruins the tyre and stops it being repaired. And don't fancy trying to plan my summer trips to France, Austria or Spain in a short-range electric car. 

 

As I've said, they're fine as a second car for local shopping trips but even the CitiGo is too expensive for that and you're better off with a small petrol car at a fraction of the initial cost. 

 

What will you tow your caravan with by the way??

[Ootohere]

@CJJE

Head for thinking and feet for dancing.  You seem to just be anti at present and not seeing the bigger picture.

Your paying near £6 for every 45 miles you drive in the UK.  

Paying for road tax, servicing and parking, and might pay congestion / low emission zone charges.

Paying BIK if using for business and private.

 

An open mind can help you see who and where people will use them, and plenty are doing long distance travel and going to be able to get into cities with their vehicle and not needing to park and ride.

Which can actually be handy where charging stations are at the park and ride places.

 

If you do not need or want an EV then nobody is making you get one for the next 20 years or so while ICE vehicles are for sale and then ones on the road can stay on the road.

 

If you want an EV that you can tow with then chose one of those.

Skoda are going to be building and selling them.

Edited 2 September, 2020 by e-Roottoot

[CJJE]

That's why I'm buying petrol while I'm still allowed to! 

 

Given twenty years to get batteries sorted out (if the rare minerals they consumed haven't rocketed in price by then, and they'll be replaced by hydrogen cars. But I doubt I'll still be driving by then! And I can't afford to keep a fleet of cars like you to select for today's journey

[Ootohere]

@CJJEi thought you did have more than 1 vehicle on the road. 

If you buy keepers then really keeping them on the road is less costly than changing vehicles every few years even if just running the one vehicle.

More recycling of materials is the solution with minerals and stuff that comes out of the ground or from under the sea.

After all everything does come out of the ground unless arriving on planet earth from outer or inner space.

 

If you were in Aberdeen and traveling up and down the east side of Scotland you would be fine for hydrogen as there as are filling stations and trained technicians to service your vehicle's be that cars, vans, busses or bin lorries.    

 

Electricity is plentiful to produce Hydrogen which can be stored.

Just as electricity needs storing if not being used as it is generated now from renewables.

 

Using Oil and Gas to produce electricity to produce Petrochemicals in refineries and cracking plants is very wasteful as the Diesel & Petrol producers know.

INOS and others know where they need to invest in energy and materials to provide transport.

Edited 2 September, 2020 by e-Roottoot

[CJJE]

43 minutes ago, e-Roottoot said:

@CJJEi thought you did have more than 1 vehicle on the road. 

If you buy keepers then really keeping them on the road is less costly than changing vehicles every few years even if just running the one vehicle.

More recycling of materials is the solution with minerals and stuff that comes out of the ground or from under the sea.

After all everything does come out of the ground unless arriving on planet earth from outer or inner space.

 

@e-Roottoot No I have my Golf at present which is being P/Xed for my Karoq.

 

I generally keep my cars for a fair while: I ran a Golf 4 GT TDI from November to 2006, then my Octavia L&K from 2006 to 2011. My Golf Plus only lasted from 2011 to 2015 as the new Golf SV was so  much better - and has lasted to 2020. I'll be getting a 5 year warranty with the Karoq and it could well be my last new car

[Ootohere]

There will be plenty used EV's around soon enough if you ever want a bargain.

Motability is the biggest group buyer in the UK and they are purchasing plenty to lease for 3 years and there are ones coming into auction and the motor trade.

Plus all the 2 or 3 year lease cars coming on the market and even newer ones.

Local to me Angus Council is sitting with many EV's not even being used by employees and going back to dealerships as new with very few miles done by them.

[OldBoyScout]

I half expected to see a regular battery under the PSA bonnet as per the e-Citigo. Pricing of the Enyaq seems reasonable as it starts in the same ball park as high end petrol, diesel and hybrid models from Skoda. I am not sure that I like the massive LCD screen, but on the whole it seems a very desirable car, and should do well in the market place. It is not for me, as I am retired and don't do enough miles to justify the cost, but I can see the appeal to business users and others. EVs are not for everybody yet but things are clearly moving in that direction. It needs to be a gradual process to allow the necessary expansion of the charging infrastructure.

 

[SC03OTT]

I actually quite like this. My preference would still be something like a traditional saloon as an EV. Like the Tesla S and 3. But affordable for me haha. 

[TheWanderer]

Nope. Not only ugly, but not enough range, nowhere near enough recharging points and they're all way too slow.

 

Several times a year I do runs of 350+ miles in a day and I don't want to be sitting around for ages whilst the stupid thing is charged back up. Petrol can be filled from 0 to 100% in a matter of a couple of minutes or so, so unless or until they can do the same with charging, I'll be staying firmly in the internal combustion engine camp.

[Ootohere]

?

Do you drive for 7 hours or more without a stop?

Several times a year while doing a 350+ plus run you would have to stop maybe once to charge and then charge again at the end of the run or sometime later.

[CJJE]

According to Skoda, as standard the Enyaq can be charged overnight in six to eight hours. Or as an option, it can be connected to a rapid charger that will give you 80% charge in 38 minutes. 

 

When I go on holiday, I go self-catering where you're lucky if there will be a 13 amp socket anywhere close to where you're parked. So you'll need to hunt for rapid chargers in Tescos or wherever while you're shopping. And when I drive up to the Trossachs (say 300 miles for me) or down to Cornwall  (270 miles) I'll only be stopping for a quick coffee break or a half-hour lunch at a pub. So yes it can be done, but until charging points are as readily available as petrol pumps, then you'll be queuing to use one. Remember they're tied up for 40 minutes or so compared with a petrol pump being in use for say 4 minutes. So you need ten times as many while the propaganda is currently comparing charging point numbers with petrol stations on pumps!

[Ootohere]

@CJJE

Have you actually looked at the number of filling stations and pumps at them and actual charging hubs and charging stations and how many vehicles can charge at charging hubs etc.

Many use them maybe for 10 or 15 minutes and then continue and are not filling up from 20-80% or to 95  or 98%.

In Falkirk there are 26 chargers now at the hub.

Places people stop are installing chargers in quite big numbers and wanting customers.

There are now filling stations in construction with EV's being catered for for a quick turnaround.

 

You will not find a Rapid charger at Tesco's or Asda's.  

Lidl might well have Fast or Rapid chargers you pay to use.

You will find 50kWh and 100 kWh rapid chargers near the main routes and more and more as 2020 / 2021 goes on.

 

You will charge just fine over night where you take a 3 pin plug charger with you. 

 

You will find pubs and eateries in Scotland that have Rapid Chargers and more are putting them in.

There is a choice between the Borders and the Trossachs. 

 

The Scots are not stupid and if there is free energy or very cheap they will seek it out.

£40-£50  saved on fuel buys a nice meal and even pays for a room with breakfast and a EV charging point.

 

Purple are Rapid Chargers and Blue Fast Chargers.

 

A 10 meter charger with  3 pin plug.

Edited 2 September, 2020 by e-Roottoot

[TheWanderer]

37 minutes ago, e-Roottoot said:

?

Do you drive for 7 hours or more without a stop?

Several times a year while doing a 350+ plus run you would have to stop maybe once to charge and then charge again at the end of the run or sometime later.

 

If I'm going long distance, I'll usually run non stop from home to Cheshire and beyond, do the business I have to do and then straight back (drop off parts or collect parts etc) and straight back or across to Folkestone for the CT (don't visit the terminal apart of a "comfort break") of a very few mins if that, otherwise straight onto the shuttle and away on the French side.

 

I don't usually return from Cheshire via the direct route, often returning via Cotswolds if it's summer, although I will go back the more direct way if it's late autumn or winter and dark. It's still 345 miles there and back and roughly 6½ hrs driving with minimal stopping, of course you're going to have to factor in additional load for headlights, heating etc in winter. 

 

It's a long day and I don't want to be sitting around at a charging point for any length of time more than what I would be for filling the car up with petrol. A trip from home to Somerset and back is 300 miles or more, again it would require a >30' stop to go there and back and have you tried to find a charging point in the West Country or on the more open stretches of the A303? There aren't any. 

 

An EV isn't a viable option or proposition for the foreseeable future. Not until they can do a ultra fast charge that does the same as a petrol pump. 

 

[Ootohere]

^^^ Not for you then.

But hardly matters to Skoda UK or the VW Group as the demand will likely outstrip the supply that they can get into the UK.

KIA have upped their imports as the waiting lists  are too long.

 

PS 

Look at your hourly rate of pay or how productive you are in 1 hour, and does  that come out more than an hour sitting charging costs considering that you are not buying petrol or diesel, 

and as a business user the tax savings can be considerable.

High mileage business users can be £600 a month better off driving an EV.  Many are on their Tablets or Phones working in the hour spent charging.

Edited 2 September, 2020 by e-Roottoot

[TheWanderer]

My hourly rate of pay is between £32.50 and £48 per hour. 

 

That increases again by 5% in April and another 3% minimum 2022.

Edited 2 September, 2020 by TheWanderer

[Ootohere]

Man maths means that charging while eating is quite well paid then as you were not buying the petrol needed to get 40 mpg for 350 + miles.

It is very much about how you want to look at things.

EV's do require a change of lifestyle or time management.   HMRC are making it worth the effort if any effort is needed.

[TheWanderer]

On long drives I eat at start or end, I may snack very lightly en route, I never stop for a main meal such as lunch, tea or evening meal at a restaurant or cafe. 

Edited 2 September, 2020 by TheWanderer

[Ootohere]

@TheWanderer

What ever then as you said it was several times a year.

Some are doing that kind of journey more than once a week.  It is good that you have choices,

[TheWanderer]

OK, who's going to pay for a cable run of 15m or so from our house (G2 listed) to the garage under a footpath (paved) and into the garage or carport and who's paying for the high power ultra fast charger?

 

How much is this all going to cost? I would suspect at least £2k, if not more.

[Ootohere]

For commercial / business users that Its covered by grants.  Maybe too much bother for some to look into the economics of it.   In Scotland also grants, and for private users chargers can be installed free to them and vehicles purchased with 6 year interest free loans.  

 

http://goultralow.com/fleets-and-businesses/grants-incentives

 

Scotland.

Edited 2 September, 2020 by e-Roottoot

[match14]

Wonder if there will be optional extras the entry level car seems well specced at £33450 but misses front parking sensors and its a fair jump in price to the next model.

[TheWanderer]

Still wouldn't want one.

 

Not enough charge points and it takes too long to charge, like I said I'm not adding anywhere between 10 and 60mins to my overall journey time, when I can do a refuel (to get me home) in 3-4 mins.

 

It's simply no contest. It might be OK for tree hugging townies who want to jump on the environmental bandwagon for show and placate their green buddies. (Faux environmentalists) 🙄

 

There's already too many Chelsea Tractors around and yuppies who we don't want or need. 

Edited 2 September, 2020 by TheWanderer

[KeteCantek]

Not sure why anyone is debating if BEVs are for them and especially if not. 

EU mandates mean mild hybrids, phevs and BEVs will be the only choices outside of performance oriented cars.

BEVs suit a certain type of buyers that can take advantage of the tax breaks and charging routine that works for them. 

I am a fan of BEVs (I'll take a free taycan) and it's annoying to see EVangelists go on about how and how BEVs are better but it's also annoying to see the opposite giving all the reasons they won't buy a BEV. 

End of the day, get something that suits you. Make no mistake, VAG will sell significant amounts of BEVs this year and year on year after that. 

 

Edit: I wanted to say I am a fan of BEVs but they are too expensive (for the range/spec) to me as I like to buy used. Maybe in 5 years or so there will be a good amount around and I might be driving one. 

Edited 2 September, 2020 by KeteCantek