Electric Vehicles: What have you spotted?

[NewcastleFalcon]

Its nice when you see an EV just quietly going about its business in Pleasantville. One of my local EV's, a red 17 reg Leaf, and the second Leaf for that family, quietly springing into life, and with barely a whirr and no fumes, off to drop children off at a party or heading down the shops. Made the diesel offering I was sitting in from Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino quite the dinosaur in comparison, and as if to confirm the impression on came the DPF regeneration light which required the dinosaur to sit at 2000 revs for 10 minutes while the DPF burnt itself clean again. You couldn't make it up!

Regards Neil

[white exec]

Marginally better than having to throw on another lump of coal, Neil.

[CitroJim]

Saw a Leaf today on my bike ride... It was in the most horrible brown colour... Not a nice autumn leaf brown but more like a decomposed leaf you'd see on a dank winter day...

Revolting

[RichardW]

Lanark - Cockermouth - St Bees, plus a 20 mile bike ride to Seascale and back yesterday and I only saw 2 EVs - a Zoe here in Lanark (twice!), and a white Tesla S S/B on the M74.

[Zelandeth]

Do believe I spotted one of the electric versions of the Kia Soul outside the train station today if the lack of grill and blue trim was anything to go by.

Given they're such odd looking cars to start with, that treatment actually works well on them I think as it just makes them look more like something from the future. Will see if I managed to snap a photo tomorrow if I get a chance.

[Mandrake]

Saw a Puegeot Ion in the wild today for the first time! Same colour as mine too...

Somewhere between John 'o groats and Thurso, parked on the side of the main road. A customer of that Jonathan Porterfield chap I suspect.

[Hell Razor5543]

I spotted a maroon Nissan Leaf marooned on the hard shoulder of the A329M this morning (near to the Wokingham turnoff), while heading to Ascot. I also saw a silver Citroen CZero (silver) when heading back to Reading this evening.

[CitroJim]

Do believe I spotted one of the electric versions of the Kia Soul outside the train station today if the lack of grill and blue trim was anything to go by.

Given they're such odd looking cars to start with, that treatment actually works well on them I think as it just makes them look more like something from the future.

I quite like them, I thought at first they were a bit ugly but they've grown on me a lot... Bit like a Citroen Cactus, they are a refreshingly different style in a sea of bland mediocrity

[white exec]

...and the Yeti too.

[CitroJim]

...and the Yeti too.

Yes...

[myglaren]

Another white Leaf.

[CitroJim]

Another white Leaf.

Given the wet weather at the moment, I suspect it might have gone mouldy.... Was it furry?

[RichardW]

The dark grey Tesla S going the other way on the way home from work is mostly a daily spot now, so someone (well paid!) must be using it to commute.

[Mandrake]

The dark grey Tesla S going the other way on the way home from work is mostly a daily spot now, so someone (well paid!) must be using it to commute.

I wonder how many Tesla's are owned outright though - probably very few! Very likely it is on PCP and just taking a larger than reasonable chunk of their monthly wage compared to a less expensive car.

I've never understood the allure of PCP - you're basically renting the car as the balloon payment at the end to take ownership is carefully crafted to be too expensive to be worth it by the time the car has depreciated.

I've always been of the "buy old, buy cheap to own" brigade, and let someone else pay for the depreciation.

I'm curious to see what value a 10 year old Model S will have, and what condition they'll be in by then. Early signs are that the batteries in the Tesla's are lasting exceptionally well both in terms of failure rate and capacity loss, far outperforming other marquees, probably due to their unique series/parallel configuration of smaller cells and sophisticated liquid cooling/heating of the individual cells.

However it's still a car, and still has other things to wear out and break! Things like the electrically operated door handles and suspension joints/bushes seem to be a weak point of the Model S - both perfectly DIY'able repairs, but I've heard of a few cases of the centre console screen/computer failing, and whilst you can still drive the car without it (it's a separate system more or less like an entertainment system which just also happens to be able to do things like open the sunroof, control the climate control etc) it does mean a lot of the features of the car are inaccessible without it working...

[RichardW]

Car cos are in the business of selling cars - if you make a PCP only a few quid more a month than a 3 year old HP to buy outright, who isn't going to be tempted by the new metal (if you're in the mindset of spending £x / month on a car)? There may be a bubble coming in that the market ends up flooded with 3 year old ex PCP cars which depresses the prices and leaves some finance houses nursing a hangover - good for us buyers of used cars though! Tesla site suggests you can have a Model S 75 for £520 / month - although that does involve a £15k downpayment!!