3 hours ago, toot said:

 

 

 

The Atto 3 has been a sily price for a Chinese import but the sea creatures range Dolphin, Seagull etc should come in at proper prices hopefully ie closer to what they sell at in China which, in the case of the Atto 3 was almost twice what it sells for in China where as more like a quarter more should be more like the uplift of price when one add import duties and transportation cost. 

 

BYD will be looking closely at what SAIC/MG are doing and try and mimic MG's winning formula.  What is a difference is that MG went for rear wheel drive but the BYDs are FWD.  A big area of debate as these cars, compared to many of the small ICE car, and many European EVs, do not just have 100 to maybe 135 hp, which is a typical level of the big selling Stellantis cars as well as the big selling Zoe in most recent guise, these cars can have 200 hp plus, presents its own issues.  Torn on whether its right to go back to RWD or stick with FWD as most small cars are these days unlike the 80s and before.  A revolution in the small electric cars is happening where these cars are not the heavy and slowish option compared to the ICE competitors but now the EVs will be far higher performance and not that much more to buy and of course a fraction of cost to run.  I can see hp limit options for insurance which when one turns 21, 23, 25 when can unlock another 50 hp, another 100 hp which will mean the insurance will rise.  Insuring a TESLA can be very expensive for dual motor/performance versions. 

 

In the vein of EVs suddenly becoming the fun, and not just the ecological and cheap to run option, Europe should soon have the MF Cyberster which should hopefully well less than £40k with current massive drops in battery pack costs.  The MGF reborn for the new century ?

 

 

Edited 22 April, 20233 yr by lol-lol

around 200 ps / fwd / 60 kWh battery, efficient,  and not a big car just what i will be happy with, estate preferred. 

4 minutes ago, toot said:

around 200 ps / fwd / 60 kWh battery, efficient,  and not a big car just what i will be happy with, estate preferred. 

 

 

FWD due to the easier/safer drive in low grip conditions ie very wet, snowy, muddy etc ?  There is a lot of macismo crap is saying RWD is best and FWD is more average or below average talented drivers.

 

I thought Toyota solution for the Prius, as an option for bad whether, snowy conditions, was to add a tiny electric motor, so not a full blooded half the power to the rear but just a few percent of power, all you need to get rolling in super low traction conditions. Toyota are being interesting in their strong believe that hybrids are the future and not pure EVs.  Also Stellantis boss recently saying that there is not enough Lithium in the world to give every car a full EV battery, only enough for a small (1 kwh like Renault ETECH) hybrid battery.  That has all changed with the big arrival of Lithium ion phosphate using less lithium and sodium using no lithium. 

 

MG have got so many things right, I was very tempted with the MG5 estate and lots of Youtube videos.  If only they could get the software for the nav, audio etc it would be almost perfect but then that is the US banning Google from being fitted in Chinese machines but that is easily overcome with a Western phone and an additional on da sh screen. 

 

I drove Rear Wheel Drive Automatics almost all the time when young, i preferred Mini's Austins, etc etc. then Jimnys in RWD unless AWD selected, i am driving my Shogun in RWD and the one thing you know is do not boot them early or when still turning unless you want the tail out, or to do a 360 when the surface might not provide grip. 

My reaction time with short RWD vehicles was never great and is worse now. 

The Dolphin is making its UK launch at Fully Charged live south on Friday. I'll check it out on Saturday and see if it's any good

23 minutes ago, wyx087 said:

The Dolphin is making its UK launch at Fully Charged live south on Friday. I'll check it out on Saturday and see if it's any good

 

I was thinking of going Sunday as son is working Saturday.  Sunday is cheaper but I suspect it might be a day with less going on on Sunday.  Have not planned the route so not sure doable in the Zoe.

 

I test drove the Dolphin at EE London. It's a very good car, good material inside, drives well, got all the toys (except heated steering wheel, so that's a no go for wife's car).

The only thing it absolutely sucks is the artificial pedal delay. There is about 0.5-1 second of delay before motor responds, it's unacceptably long. Sports mode reduces it slightly but still not driveable.

I don't know if it's the same for more expensive cars in their line up. If it is, I would have a very dim view of BYD as a brand to do such a thing.