Superb IV - L&K 1 year on

[ERIK99]

Thanks for estimated cost, which I cannot agree with. 

All the family car diesels that I've had over the last 10 years have all done in excess of 60mpg making your comparison somewhat biased towards EV. In fact, even my petrol Superb PHEV, easily does over 45 mpg, on a run, which is not great, but is a factor in my current usage.

 

I can do most trips (by number not distance) using all electric which is great, with charging at home. In a year I am ding about 6000 miles on petrol and 2000 miles all electric. Not very far really to justify a diesel but they have better drivability for me, plus the economy. 

My biggest issue is on long trips, of which I do about 20 a year, all of which can be over 450 miles over a few days, or up to 1000 miles during a 2 week UK holiday, which we now have to do instead of going abroad . My experience of finding a charge point that is usable has been very poor at anywhere other than motorways where you have to queue, potentially for hours, and where there is no queuing system to make it work fairly, which is pretty silly, plus there is no way to put my car whilst waiting.

The decision NOT to go all electric is based on wanting to use the latest super fast chargers to get the benefit of not having top stop for 2 hours just to get enough charge to get home, or having to pay over 69p per kwh at current rates on motorways and out of the way sites, where there is no competition.

The energy crisis has already hit petrol but the biggest rise will come very soon for electricity both at home and on commercial public chargers, therefore your current rates on not realistic. I will not join any subscription schemes because they are not good value for my limited use. Pay as you go rates will get ever more expensive in an attempt to encourage subscription customers. 

Until the government "gets a grip", instead of "messing about" with the EV charging system the UK will be a very bad place to be, except for Tesla drivers, who have the least reliable cars , and are overpriced, but if you gave me one I would have it and put up with the problems, maybe !!!

 

I'll reconsider the whole EV thing in maybe 3 year time, but for now its a big NO for me.

[Ootohere]

You are charging publicly on slow chargers in your hybrid, so really that is no comparison with longer trips in an BEV. I take it you are not a business user then. Just a private driver.  I am surprised you fell for the hybrid kidology.    You can indeed get 60 mpg with a TDI or other diesels.  That is not what it is all year round if doing only 15 miles a day each way.  So what needs looking at is what the average is over the year with the type of use the TDI is doing.  I got 63 mpg on trips and 25: mpg the weeks I was around home doing 5- 10 miles a day.  PS several times a month I do 450 miles a day by EV.  My own one is not efficient so 1 hour extra is needed for every 150 miles to charge.  But in more efficient ev,s that is not the case and I get away with one or 2 30 minute charging stops.    PPS no way do you need to pay 69 pence to Ionity, but plenty business users might occasionally wanting on a 350 kW charger.  But then the BIK is rather a nice saving they have. 

Edited 27 March, 2022 by roottoot

[Ootohere]

Pita is public charges that are 7/22 kW AC and 50-100 DC and hybrids are blocking the bay for hours.  But then Muppets in BEV,s will also plug into a AC 22kW and get only 6.6 kWh charging.  

[ERIK99]

1 hour ago, roottoot said:

Pita is public charges that are 7/22 kW AC and 50-100 DC and hybrids are blocking the bay for hours.  But then Muppets in BEV,s will also plug into a AC 22kW and get only 6.6 kWh charging.  

This is what I have found, far too many times, especially Tesla owners blocking Tesco and other FREE charge locations to use a 7KW charger.  Not worth the hassle or the very real risk of being stuck with no option but to site and ait, possibly for hours at a time.

[Ootohere]

I was there today charging i do most days for maybe 20-40 minutes occasionally 1 hour, i see hybrids that are there for hours and hours.

I have done 24,000 miles in 18 months for under £100 paid in cards and electric using mostly free Charge Place Scotland Chargers and since locally my council are charging free PodPoint.  (I have been paying at PodPoint 50kW chargers recently because CPS & BP Polar have been pathetic in Scotland)

I see it all happening.

Edited 27 March, 2022 by roottoot

[ERIK99]

1 hour ago, roottoot said:

You are charging publicly on slow chargers in your hybrid, so really that is no comparison with longer trips in an BEV. I take it you are not a business user then. Just a private driver.  I am surprised you fell for the hybrid kidology.    You can indeed get 60 mpg with a TDI or other diesels.  That is not what it is all year round if doing only 15 miles a day each way.  So what needs looking at is what the average is over the year with the type of use the TDI is doing.  I got 63 mpg on trips and 25: mpg the weeks I was around home doing 5- 10 miles a day.  PS several times a month I do 450 miles a day by EV.  My own one is not efficient so 1 hour extra is needed for every 150 miles to charge.  But in more efficient ev,s that is not the case and I get away with one or 2 30 minute charging stops.    PPS no way do you need to pay 69 pence to Ionity, but plenty business users might occasionally wanting on a 350 kW charger.  But then the BIK is rather a nice saving they have. 

Not convinced at all.  I've had an EV for 8 days on holiday (ID4), and it ruined the whole holiday, being too scared to go very far because we were wasting time and money just looking for chargers, which were in very short supply, which meant that the ones we did find were either in use or out of order, or so slow that we had to waste 2 to 3 hours to get anything like a decent charge. 

All that is needed to convince me to go EV, is to be able to do fast charging at home, at a sensible cost,  in a family sized estate, with a low level load line, that can reliably do 350 miles, that has 2 electric seats, with a SAT NAV designed for EVs (that actually works), at a price that is no more expensive that the equivalent sized ICE car, that is reliable, has 7 year warranty on everything, that will hold its value, and the Government to realise that the current and planned infrastructure is hopeless and get major changes put in place.

Let me know if this every happens because I'd love to go EV, there is a lot to be gained, unfortunately it will not happen in the UK for another 10 to 15 years.

[Ootohere]

Location location location makes a difference to what suits people and their particular circumstances.

EV's do need a lifestyle change for many, or they might be fine with them as their life,work balance suits.

Some have plenty time to travel and not money to spend on petrol and diesel or the UK tax payers help with them having an EV to get about in cheaply.

[ERIK99]

9 minutes ago, roottoot said:

I was there today charging i do most days for maybe 20-40 minutes occasionally 1 hour, i see hybrids that are there for hours and hours.

I have done 24,000 miles in 18 months for under £100 paid in cards and electric using mostly free Charge Place Scotland Chargers and since locally my council are charging free PodPoint.  (I have been paying at PodPoint 50kW chargers recently because CPS & BP Polar have been pathetic in Scotland)

I see it all happening.

Sounds great - but why blame hybrid drivers. That may well be your experience but so what. Any stupid EV or PHEV driver doing the same is why it will never work as easily as going to the local petrol station, or home charging. 

It sound to me as though you the sort of river that stops me from doing the same sort of thing.

If I lived next to a free charge point I'd be there whenever I could as well, but I'd never risk it for very long, and I would certainly not sit in the car wasting my life away for hours just to get a free charge.  This is most likely people who work near these points, so the fault is really with how Tesco, and other sites manage usage, which of course they don not do at all.

[Ootohere]

It is just i know many of those charging and they have home or workplace chargers but they are happy to just abandon the car all day or overnight to get free charging.

Others like me might top up and if someone needs to charge just move on and charge later.

 

That is the joy of lots of time available and being tight but not ignorant and greedy.

 

PS

I waste my time on the internet and am charging my phone and tablet.  I would be doing the same in a house or somewhere else.

(I do pop into the supermarket and pick up my reduced price fruit etc, sometimes i have a bit of a walk or cycle as i have a bike in the car.)

 

Many are doing their work while charging, arranging meetings and doing orders etc as they are 'Commercial Travellers'  Business users etc. 

They used to drive ICE Vehicles and still had to do the work online or in hard copy.

They are happy to tell you what their company 'Executive Car' or Light Commercial vehicle used to cost in fuel and tax and what their EV's cost in comparison. 

Edited 27 March, 2022 by roottoot

[ERIK99]

2 minutes ago, roottoot said:

It is just i know many of those charging and they have home or workplace chargers but they are happy to just abandon the car all day or overnight to get free charging.

Others like me might top up and if someone needs to charge just move on and charge later.

 

That is the joy of lots of time available and being tight but not ignorant and greedy.

There was a time, when I first got this PHEV, with charging at around 12p per KWH, on a 7kw charger, and at about 4p per mile when charging at home, that I thought EV  was defo the way to go. But it is very different now. My home electric cost has already more than doubled BEFORE the increase in April this year, and the likely 50% more (at least) later this year, and next.  I used to be on a fixed deal that was great, but of course that was lost when the supplier went bust.  That makes the comparison with ICE cars a very much closer thing.  If I did a total cost of ownership over 3 years then EV is a big extra cost, in part because of the very large extra cost to buy the EV in the first place.

If this silly Government was serious about EV ownership it would be increasing the the grants not running them down to nothing.

[ERIK99]

12 minutes ago, roottoot said:

It is just i know many of those charging and they have home or workplace chargers but they are happy to just abandon the car all day or overnight to get free charging.

Others like me might top up and if someone needs to charge just move on and charge later.

 

That is the joy of lots of time available and being tight but not ignorant and greedy.

 

PS

I waste my time on the internet and am charging my phone and tablet.  I would be doing the same in a house or somewhere else.

(I do pop into the supermarket and pick up my reduced price fruit etc, sometimes i have a bit of a walk or cycle as i have a bike in the car.)

 

Many are doing their work while charging, arranging meetings and doing orders etc as they are 'Commercial Travellers'  Business users etc. 

They used to drive ICE Vehicles and still had to do the work online or in hard copy.

They are happy to tell you what their company 'Executive Car' or Light Commercial vehicle used to cost in fuel and tax and what their EV's cost in comparison. 

I can see the sense in high mileage users going electric, and that is the biggest target for the Government, as it should be for the biggest gain from an ECO point of view. I used to be one of those people, and if I was now, (retired 5 years ago) I would have been an early adopter of cars like the Tesla.

Now being in a very different situation, EVs are not going to fit my new lifestyle for a very long time.

[Ootohere]

I grabbed 12 months fixed at 28 pence a kWh with Eon Next but will not charge at home even to preheat plugged in while the council charger 1/2 a mile away is 23 pence a kWh.

(that will go up, and used them once since they started charging last year.)

 

I stop and charge free in Perth on the way home where plenty new chargers are being installed.  That can not stay free though. 

 

Pity the likes of Stirling Park & Ride has 70 chargers and only 4 are 50 kWh ones and not all always working or blocked by BEV's on the 22 kW AC.

 

Perth is getting better CPS provision  and next to the 12 Tesla Chargers that Tesla drivers often will not use while the CPS are free.

It is a pity CPS can not allow TESLA Drivers charging free on Superchargers.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

 

Edited 27 March, 2022 by roottoot

[aerofurb]

On 27/03/2022 at 02:16, j caff said:

Another way to preserve battery is to program your route into the satnav that way the car knows where you're going and will keep battery available for congested parts of the journey. 

Is this actually the case? I haven’t seen such a capability from my Columbus (MY2020), for sure.

 

Can I ask where you found out this info from?

[Patent]

I think this has always been the case since the golf GTE. If you use the onboard satnav it tries to arrive at the destination with nil charge remaining.

Edited: it's not actually shown in the manual or the brochure!

Edited 29 March, 2022 by Patent

[j caff]

2 hours ago, aerofurb said:

Is this actually the case? I haven’t seen such a capability from my Columbus (MY2020), for sure.

 

Can I ask where you found out this info from?

The salesman told me it was a feature and to always let the car know where you're going for a long journey. It definitely works for me, unfortunately it doesn't take into account the return journey. 

[ERIK99]

5 hours ago, j caff said:

The salesman told me it was a feature and to always let the car know where you're going for a long journey. It definitely works for me, unfortunately it doesn't take into account the return journey. 

If using the superb IV there is very little scope for "holding back much charge" if you only start out with about 25 mile of electric range, and I do not believe that this sat nave is good enough to do this, it barley gets the best route in any conditions, let alone know where the zones start and stop, and to "guess" how far you will be travelling on electric only.

[aerofurb]

Well, I’ll do some more experimenting but I didn’t get the feeling mine was planning ahead at all! 
 

I normally drive in Sport mode, as I like feel and ride and it recharges to the set level. 
 

I did suss the other day that I can use my individual setting (basically Sport mode for suspension and steering) when running in EV which I much prefer. Only took me 12 months….!

[MarkyG82]

9 hours ago, Patent said:

I think this has always been the case since the golf GTE. If you use the onboard satnav it tries to arrive at the destination with nil charge remaining.

Edited: it's not actually shown in the manual or the brochure!

Only on the second generation GTE (since superb IV). Previous version didn't get this feature.

I find it relatively straightforward to get the car in the right mode. Generally EV for anything town. Then motorway cruising etc hybrid is good. Can put it in charge or GTE (sport) mode if you know you need charge at the other end. Though GTE mode the adaptive cruise is more aggressive so stop start traffic is nicer in ev.

 

It's the wrong type of car for regular long journeys anyway. I'd get a 1.5 for that. Or a 190 TSI if I could find one. Fancy combustion cycle and all that.

[Patent]

1 hour ago, aerofurb said:

Well, I’ll do some more experimenting but I didn’t get the feeling mine was planning ahead at all! 
 

I normally drive in Sport mode, as I like feel and ride and it recharges to the set level. 
 

I did suss the other day that I can use my individual setting (basically Sport mode for suspension and steering) when running in EV which I much prefer. Only took me 12 months….!

If you drive in sports mode it won't do the fancy sat nav thing because sports mode tries to maintain 50% battery at all times

[aerofurb]

Well, I won't be seeing this function, as I'm in Sport mode whilst in hybrid mode, as I prefer the ride and handling.

 

I've mentioned on other threads that I think that the benefits of operating a PHEV are very mission dependent. For me, it's perfect - Monday-Friday, the work commute is 4.5 miles each way in EV mode, charging on cheap rate electricity with a home wall charger. Pretty much every other weekend through the year, I have a 105 mile journey to the south coast and back. That journey is a mile of town to start, then 8 miles of 30/40 urban at the end with the middle bit on dual carriageway A-road and the M3/M27. No charging when away overnight. EV mode used for the M3 traffic crawl and the urban bits, then use whatever battery life is left for the last few miles on the way home. I, too, use EV in 30/40 mph environments but hybrid (ICE/EV doing its own thing) above 40 mph.

 

In the way I operate, I also think you have to engage with the drive system more to get the best out of it - unlike petrol, diesel and BEV where you only have one 'fuel' to use. Again, this isn't for everyone but I enjoy it!

[Patent]

Yeah they have a place and are a good gateway for many people.

 

Electrification sceptics (mostly) trot out the same lines that did the rounds when they introduced diesel cars, and fuel injection, and catalytic converters, and ECUs, etc etc.

 

It's not perfect, but neither is petrol 🤐

[MarkyG82]

4 hours ago, aerofurb said:

 

In the way I operate, I also think you have to engage with the drive system more to get the best out of it - unlike petrol, diesel and BEV where you only have one 'fuel' to use. Again, this isn't for everyone but I enjoy it!

 

This. I enjoy the challenge of optimising the fuel modes. The car as a whole isn't that thirsty on a run even if you have no charge. The mpg isn't as bombproof as a diesel but I imagine other petrol cars would suffer just the same if you have a heavy right foot. But then in sport/GTE mode we have a car that can pull like a diesel.

[j caff]

On 30/03/2022 at 17:15, MarkyG82 said:

 

This. I enjoy the challenge of optimising the fuel modes. The car as a whole isn't that thirsty on a run even if you have no charge. The mpg isn't as bombproof as a diesel but I imagine other petrol cars would suffer just the same if you have a heavy right foot. But then in sport/GTE mode we have a car that can pull like a diesel.

Very true it's an economical engine anyway, my last figures from a full tank of petrol were slightly better than the 150 diesel it replaced, the next set of figures are going to knock all previous records out of the park, it could be another 3 months before I need to get petrol...

[globalste]

On 26/03/2022 at 22:46, Patent said:

@noiseyv

 

E-Boost is sports mode. You'll have enabled this either by pushing the sport button by the gear lever or by using the mode button and selecting sport. This mode will use the petrol engine to charge and maintain battery level at 50%

 

To preserve electric, when you switch to hybrid, untick the "auto" box and then you can set the desired battery level to be held by using the up and down arrows on the battery graphic. This was previously known as "battery hold mode"

Can I ask what the benefit of doing this is?  If you set desisred battery level for example 50%, doesn't that just reduce the amount of distance you can drive on battery for?  Is this a way of trying to reduce emissions, eg 10miles out of city, sit on motorway 70miles, 10miles into city.

 

Cheers

 

[Patent]

I don't know the exact reasoning but you may prefer to have more battery available for city driving?

I personally never bother with it